Food – Energy and Nutrition

In the previous two editions of GrownUps we looked at exercise and discussed some general points that hopefully were useful in helping to understand why exercise is important for us as we age. We also discussed some general tips and ideas that might help us to exercise in a sustainable and fun way.

Another key in addition to exercise as we age that is helpful in ensuring we live active lives is what and how we eat. The food we put into our bodies has a significant role in how our bodies perform, in as much as the same way our cars need good fuel to run efficiently. I thought in this month’s edition of GrownUps we could look at some general facts about food.

Food can loosely be divided into three groups; Fats, Carbohydrates and Protein. Let’s look at these groups a little closer.

Fats

Fats can be classified into two main categories, saturated and unsaturated.

Unsaturated fats are actually essential in our diet for the body to function at an optimal level. Unsaturated fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated) help to reduce our levels of cholesterol and reduce the chance of heart attack as well as aid other bodily functions. Foods that contain unsaturated fats include, some vegetables, raw nuts and fish.

Saturated fats, (including trans fats), are the bad fats that we eat in our diet. These fats are found in heavily processed foods, and diary products and some cooking oils, butter and in convenience foods and takeaways. Saturated fats are very harmful to our bodies and contribute to obesity, heart attack and stroke and a host of other preventable diseases.

Good nutrition is not about cutting out the fat in our diet but rather focussing on eating mainly the good fat and eliminating the bad fats as much as possible.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are made up of saccharide or “sugar” molecules and can be classified as either complex or simple.

Complex carbohydrates have large amounts of saccharides joined together and are found in foods such as vegetables, bread, potatoes, pasta, cereals, rice and legumes.

Simple carbohydrates have one or two saccharides joined together and are found in fruit, milk and table sugar. Getting the right amount of carbohydrate in our diet is really important as carbohydrates are the main providers of energy in our body and allows our body to work efficiently. Excess carbohydrate (in particular simple carbohydrates) is stored in our body as fat.

Unfortunately for our society, sugar is added to most of the processed foods we eat, so unwittingly we consume far more simple sugars than we should and over time become addicted to them. This is one of the reasons why in New Zealand we have escalating rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Protein

The main function of protein in the body is to assist with the growth and repair of damaged tissue.  Protein helps in the formation of muscles, hair, nails, skin and organs, such as the heart, kidneys and liver. Protein has a secondary role also in providing some energy for our body.

The main sources of protein in our diet come either from animals and fish and plants. The amount of protein that we eat should be increased as we age as during this time muscle mass declines and body fat naturally increases. There is also research that suggests that following an injury or surgery the amount of protein you eat should be increased to help with the healing process.

So that covers the main food groups that we all eat on a daily basis. The question is, how much of each should we eat? What is the balance so we can maintain a healthy body weight and an active lifestyle? This is what we will cover in the next addition of GrownUps.