Unit 1 Flashcards
Carbohydrates
Provides energy and serves as building blocks for bigger macromolecules, and ensures the proper functioning of the nervous system, the heart, and the kidneys.
Simple Carbs
Consist of one or two basic units. Examples include surcrose and glucose. Simple Carbs are more processed, digested faster, lower in dietary fiber, lower in vitamins and lower your performance.
Complex Carbs
Long chains of simple sugars that can be unbranched or branched. During digestion, the body breaks down digestible complex carbs into simple sugars, mostly glucose. Glucose is then trapsorted to all our macromolecules. Glucose can be stored in the body for fututre use.
Protein
Provides structure to bones, muscles and skin, and plays a role in conducting most of the chemical reactions that take place in the body. Amino acids are the simplest units of protein and are the foundations of it.
Fats
They are insoluble in water. The three main types of lipids are triglycerides, phospholipids, and sterols.
Vitamins
Organic compounds made by plants and animals that can be broken down by heat, acid or air. There are 13 of them.
Water-Soluble Vitamins
These vitamins cannot be stored in the body and therefore any excess is flushed from the system via urination. These vitamins include vitamin C and all of the B vitamins.
Vitamin C
Absorption of iron, immune function, wound healing, eg. citrus fruits, bell peppers, strawberries. Deficiency in this vitamin causes scurvey.
Fat-Soluble Vitamins
They do not dissolve in water, but are stored in one’s liver and fatty tissues for future use. These vitamins include A,D,E and K.
Vitamin K
Regulates blood clotting, supports bone and heart health, eg. kale, collard greens, brussel sprouts. A deficiency causes significant bleeding, poor bone development, osteoporosis.
Minerals
Minerals are solid inorganic substances that form crystals and are classified depending on how much of them we need. Minerals exist in soil and water and cannot be broken down. Many minerals are critical for enzyme function.
Trace Minerals
Minerals that are only required in a few miligrams or less including molybdenum, selenium, zinc iron, and iodine.
Iodine
Ensures proper thyroid functioning. eg. seaweed, cod. A deficiency causes goitre.
Macrominerals
Minerals that are required in hundreds of miligrams such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and phosphorus.
Calcium
Builds and maintains strong bones and teeth, helps the blood circulate, and helps muscles to contract. eg. seeds, cheese, sardines. A deficiency causes osteoporosis.
The Balance Act
Canadians are finding it harder to maintain a healthy body weight because of the easy and constant access to food and a decreasing need to move while accomplishing daily activities. To maintain a steady body weight, the energy spent should approximately equal the energy consumed.
Positive Balance
Refers to a situation where energy intake from food exceeds energy expenditure from activity (fat gain).
Negative Balance
Refers to a situation where energy expenditure from physical activity exceeds food intake (fat loss).
Energy Balance
Energy balance also has to do with what’s going on in your cells. When youre in a positive energy balance (more in than out) and when you’re in a negative energy balance (more out than in), everything from your metabolism, to your hormonal balance, to your mood is impacted.
Calorie Expenditure
Calorie expenditure is the measurement of the number of calories you burn or use during any physical activity including breathing, walking, running, exercising, etc. The amount of calories you burn depends on the amount of muscles your body uses at once to perform that task you are doing. The more muscles you use, the more calories your body burns and the higher your calorie expenditure.
Total Daily Energy Expenditure
TDEE is the number of calories or energy burned in a single day. It is measured based on three factors; basal metabolic rate, thermic effect of food, and any physical activity you do.
Thermic Effect of Food: Energy used to digest and metabolize food
Physical Activity: Anything from crossfit to twiddling your thumbs
Basal Metabolic Rate: Calories you burn at rest
Basal Metabolic Rate
Your BMR measures the amount of calories your body needs to keep functioning while you are at rest. Factors that can affect your BMR include:
Gender
Weight
Height
Age
Ethnicity
Body composition
Genetic factors
Thermal Effect
The thermic effect of foods means the amount of energy our body requires to complete digestion, absorption, and disposal of ingested food. The amount of energy required varies for different foods. Fods with higher-thermic effects increase your metabolism more quickly because your body requires more energy to properly digest them. Foods high in thermal effect include:
Protein
Cabrs
Alcohol
Physical Activity
If an exercise is more intense or requires more muscles to complete, you will require more muscles to complete, you will require more calories to complete the task. It is important to find exercises that have a balance between the calories your body needs to burn and the calories you consume in a day.
