FITNESS COLLEGE
As learned in Nutrition 101, nutrients are life-sustaining substances found in food. Nutrients work to supply one's body with energy, structural materials, perform maintenance on and repair of the body's tissue.
There are six major classes of nutrients: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water.
CARBOHYDRATES
Carbohydrates are the MOST important nutrient for exercising muscles; they are the fuel for muscle activity. Adequate amounts of carbohydrates are essential not only for muscular performance, but for the brain and central nervous system.
The principle functions of carbohydrates are to: (a) serve as the primary energy source for working muscles, (b) ensure that the brain and nervous system function properly, and (c) help the body use fat more efficiently.
With the recent popularity of low-carb diets, it is important to remember that carbohydrates serve many VERY important roles in a healthy body. With this in mind, restricting one's carbohydrate intake for any period of time is not recommended. Moderate and frequent servings are highly recommended for getting/staying fit and healthy.
PROTEINS
Protein! Protein! Protein! The building block of muscles. The main function of protein in the body is to build and repair body tissues (muscles, ligaments, and tendons). However, protein is also important for the synthesis of enzymes, hormones, and antibodies. It is also important for fluid transportation and energy.
The body uses protein for energy only when one does not consume enough carbohydrates or calories. This is why a low-carb diet is not recommended; protein will be used as energy instead of its intended purposes. Although there are some extremely popular diets out there today that indicate using protein for energy is satisfactory, it is Fitness College's view that this is most certainly NOT satisfactory. Here's an analogy: buying a Ferrari to pull a boat to the lake. Sure, the Ferrari's engine is strong enough to pull the boat (for the first few times anyway), but wouldn't a truck or SUV be a better choice? The extra strain on the Ferrari's engine will undoubtedly create undue stress on it, whereas a truck's engine was designed to pull items such as a boat. The same holds true about using protein for energy instead of carbohydrates.
Protein is comprised of a specific combination of 20 different amino acids, of which eight cannot be synthesized by the body. Therefore, these eight amino acids must be supplied by the foods eaten.
FATS
Fats main function is to supply essential fatty acids, which is necessary for the proper functioning of cell membranes and for transporting fat-soluble vitamins.
Fat is the most concentrated source of food energy. It supplies more than twice as many calories by weight as proteins or carbohydrates; fat provides 9 kcal/gram vs. protein's 4 kcal/gram and carbohydrate's 4 kcal/gram. The avoidance of an increased consumption of fat is HIGHLY recommended to help ward off heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and some types of cancers.
VITAMINS
Vitamins are food substances that are necessary to bring about biochemical reactions in one's metabolism to release energy, transport and consume oxygen, and maintain cell integrity. Each of these are very important functions in maintaining a healthy body.
Although by eating healthy, the body gets the correct dosage of vitamins it needs, supplementing with a simple one-a-day vitamin is still a good idea. Generally, no harm will come from this. As a rule of thumb, supplementing a specific vitamin is not a good idea, so clean out those medicine cabinets of all those different vitamin supplements and replace them with one bottle of a one-a-day vitamin.
There are two types of vitamins: water-soluble and fat-soluble. Water-soluble vitamins are not stored by the body and any excesses are simply excreted by the urine. However, fat-soluble vitamins are stored in body fat. These excesses are "trapped" in the body until used, thus it is not a good idea to over-indulge in these vitamins as toxicity can become an issue. However, unless extra supplementation of these specific vitamins are taken, which has already been stated as being not a wise decision, one should not worry about toxicity.
MINERALS
Minerals perform a variety of functions in the body such as building tissue for bones and teeth (calcium and phosphorus), being important components of hormones (iodine and thyroxine), forming hemoglobin (iron), regulating muscle contractions and body fluids (potassium), and conducting nerve impulses and regulating normal heart rhythm (potassium).
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