Eating = Diet                            

         Quit unfortunately the word DIET on a sociological basis has been attached to weight loss or the need to manage what you eat for physical reasons. Although this is one of the dictionary definitions the greater meaning or bottom line of the word is that whatever we consume or ingest in the way of food solids or liquids is our diet. With an ever increasing problem of obesity globally, I've come to believe that the lack of knowledge of food and of eating is the actual cause. Now I'm no doctor and this is my opinion but it takes a degree as a dietitian to decipher what is actually required by our bodies on a daily basis. 
         Society has adopted because of this lack of knowledge, the idea of what our body needs more in the way of amounts of food rather then by its true characteristics, such as calories, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, proteins, specific fats, and other nutrients. These are the raw fuels our bodies actually need and use geared to our physical activity. The simple truth about food and eating is the less you do the less you need to eat, because if you are not burning up what you filled the tank up with, it will save it for a rainy day/time of famine. 
         We have over time conditioned ourselves with this amount of food concept to the point our bodies are graving more and more. This brings me to the point of Empty Food DIET! 
          People have come to treat their expensive vehicles better than their own bodies, but the analogies are there. The empty foods we have adopted for our diets can be likened to running your car on a cheap blend or even something other then gas. It might run but it sure isn't healthy for it, in turn shortening its lifespan! We don't do this to our vehicles because they have become so expensive and we need them to last as long as possible. 
         Once your body has given you the signal that it is in need of food, it doesn't define exactly what it requires, yet only reminds you that it is hungry. So we just put in food and more times than not these are of the nutritionally empty food category, containing little if any of the required fuels from the list below. The point of focus here is that we need first to change our psychology on the process of eating in direct proportion to the purpose of eating!

    Doneness of food cooked is directly proportional to what goodness is left. Over the last forty years we have learned to cook our food to a point of uselessness to eat it. Turning most if not all ingested food solids into empty fiber our bodies can do nothing with, yet its need for nutrients forces it to hold on to it. Which in turn drives the human body to crave more food in search of the nutrients it is lacking. You just don't put bricks in a wood chipper. When cooking nutrient retention is or should be the number one priority and focus. 

So now we are going to take a closer look at the list below:

                                 * Calories
                                 * Carbohydrates
                                 * Vitamins
                                 * Minerals                                                          Drink Link
                                 * Proteins
                                 * Fats 
                                 * H2O 



   Calories:  The dictionary defines calories as: a/ A unit equal to the kilocalorie, used to express the heat output of an organism and the fuel or energy value of food. b/ A quantity of food capable of producing such an amount of energy. 
      Calories are the high octane fuels we ingest that our bodies deliver to our cells. Most of the foods we consume on a regular basis have a considerable amount of calories in them and take a very disproportionate amount of sustained physical activity to burn them up. This high octane value means that you can get very far on very little of them. These you just do not want sitting around unburned off! In math terms 100 – 60 = 40 + 100 = Storage. 
      Just remember that energy usage or output must always be greater then energy input. Metabolic rates vary from person to person and it determines how fast your body burns up these calories even while at rest. We’ve all heard of or seen the person who can eat anything and everything while not gaining an ounce. While on the other hand there is the one who says they can’t even look at food without gaining weight. 
      Most doctors believe that our metabolic rate is part of our genetic inheritance. We can however raise it with regular sustainable aerobic activity, while also increasing our muscle-to-fat ratio. By eating nutritious food you can maintain an efficient metabolism while also ensuring your intake doesn’t fall below roughly 1200 calories per day.

    Carbohydrates : or saccharides [Greek basically meaning "sugar"] carbs are pretty simple molecules while also being the most abundant molecule filling multi-rolls in many living things. Carbs and their derivatives are the major key in the functioning of our immune systems, fertilization, pathogenesis, blood clotting and development. 
      The very basic carb units are much better known as glucose, galactose, and fructose, while the commonly known sucrose and lactose are two monosaccharides. Carbs also require much less water during digestion then proteins and fats and are the most commonly known fuel source for our bodies and cells. 
      On the other hand proteins and fats are primarily the building block components of body tissue and our cells. Depleting such resources for energy production is a big No No. Carbs however are NOT listed as essential nutrients. Interestingly enough though our brain can't burn fat and therefore needs glucose for its energy. Based on the evidence for risk of heart disease & obesity, many institutes and organizations are pushing to have the dietary guidelines of 40-65% be reset to 55-75% of total energy requirements be from carbohydrates.
      Some popular diets such as the Atkins diet, treat carbs as the root of all evil body fat and excess weight. If you want to try a low carb diet at least include some fruit, vegetables as well as some whole grain carbs every day. The body breaks down carbs when eaten into their simple sugar form. Once these levels raise in our bodies the pancreas releases insulin. Insulin's purposeful action is to drive the glucose directly into the cells. 


    Vitamins: Click HERE to watch a video on vitamins


     Minerals:


    Proteins: are simply long chained amino acids, yet there is nothing simple about them in reguards to what they are needed for. Proteins are mainly the building instruments of cell growth and also cell and tissue repair. One of the most important aspects of proteins is that they are the only source of nitrogen from a food source intake, making them unique in that sense.       



    Fats:Which is a nutrient, classified into two categories of saturated or unsaturated depending on the carbon to carbon chain structure in the fatty acids. The saturated fat category do not contain these double bonds in the fatty acid chains. Specifically butter and animal fat is of this category which tend to be in solid form when at room temperature. Studies done to date show these fats pave the highway straight to heart disease. While unsaturated fats such as olive oil and canola oil are in liquid form at room temperature and are also divided again into polyunsaturated & monounsaturated. Much research shows that the monounsaturated category are quite beneficial in the fight against heart disease.           
       
      H2O:AHHH and here we are at water. The, and I do mean THE most important substance we ingest. Take food away and we can survive for a few weeks or so, BUT take water away, and in a few days max we're dead! So what's the importance of water?? Well while at a young age we are comprised of nearly 70% water. In our later years this drops down to around 60%, which is not healthy by any stretch of the imagination. This is due mostly in part to our lack of taking in PROPER fluids in the right amounts. Now here's the kicker about the bill of goods we've been sold with no receipt. Your bottled water, expensive or other wise, sports drink, coffee, tea, pop or soda, DON'T cut it! Bottled water is mineral deficient and purified water is acidic. Most current fluid intake passes right through us never reaching the end goal of the cellular level where it is needed. A healthy cell consists of about 90% water and most people walk around with a much lower percentage, totally unaware of their dehydrated state. Our bodies must maintain a pH balance of 7.35 to 7.45 and thank heavens we all have a mechanism that does this automatically. After you pour in a soda/pop which has an acid pH level of 2.0 your pH balancer is extremely hard at work doing its job. Most of our common fluid intakes today are very acidic in nature, such as soda/pop at 2.0, Powerade at 2.6, AMP at 2.7, Lipton Iced-Tea at 2.8, Gatorade & Full Throttle at 2.9, Red Bull at 3.3, Coffee at 4.0 and beer at 4.5. One of the most popular infant rehydration solutions is Pedialyte & Hidramilac are 4.3 to 5.1 pH. You can see the thin line your pH balancer works in, so it is also obvious that none of this is any good for you if not outright harmful!  Learn more about DEHYDRATION here  

  
   
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