Transcript File
Healthy Diet
Noadswood Science, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Healthy Diet
To understand the importance of a healthy diet
Energy
Where do we get our energy from, and what do we use it for?
Our energy is derived from food - whereas plants can produce
their own energy from sunlight, we must consume food
This food is our raw material - needed to make new substances
for: energy (movement etc…)
growth and repair
health
Balanced
A balanced diet contains the different nutrients in the correct
amounts, keeping us healthy
Certain foods are not necessarily 'bad' for us, but eating too
much of them could be
Foods contain nutrients: these are substances which provide
raw materials for the body (we need nutrients, along with fibre
and water for a healthy diet)
There are seven different nutrients, and some foods are
particular rich in certain nutrients…
Food Groups
What are the 7 food groups?
Carbohydrates
Fat
Protein
Vitamins
Minerals
Fibre
Water
Essential?
Nutrients are found within different foods, and they all play
important roles within the body
Nutrient
How the body uses it
Food sources it is contained in
Carbohydrate
To provide energy
Cereals; bread; pasta; potatoes (sugars
and starch)
Protein
For growth, making new cells and repair
of our bodies
Fish; meat; eggs; dairy products
Fat
To provide energy, as a store of energy &
for insulation
Butter; oil; nuts
Minerals
Needed in small amounts to maintain
health
Salt; milk (calcium); liver (iron)
Vitamins
Needed in small amounts to maintain
health
Dairy foods; fruit; vegetables
Fibre
To provide roughage to help keep food
passing through the gut
Vegetables; bran; wholemeal bread
Water
Needed by cells and for body fluids
Fruit juice; milk; water(!)
Balanced
Different foods contain different substances - there is no one
food that contains all the substances the body needs. Instead
you must eat a wide variety of foods - balancing your diet
Different people need different amounts of food. You need more
food if you are particularly active, are pregnant etc… (the
amount of energy food contains is measured in kilojules (kJ) - if
you are more active, your kJ intake needs to be greater )
If we eat too little food, we will use up our store of fat and
become too thin. If we eat too much food, especially foods rich
in sugar and fat, we will increase our store of fat and become
too fat
Poor Diet
If you have too little of a particular nutrient, we say that you have
a deficiency in that nutrient, e.g. fibre deficiency can lead to
constipation
Mineral deficiencies - e.g. iron deficiency can lead to anaemia
(too few red blood cells); iodine deficiency can lead to a swelling
in the neck called a goitre
Vitamin deficiencies - e.g. vitamin A deficiency can cause
blindness; vitamin C deficiency can cause scurvy (makes the
gums bleed); and vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets (legs
bow outwards in growing children)
Vitamins
Many deficiency diseases are caused by a lack of vitamins and
minerals
In 1747 James Lind scientifically proved that eating fruits
prevented scurvy: He took 12 men suffering from scurvy
He gave them different treatments
He found those given fruits (such as lemons) were cured of
the disease
In 1795 the British Navy started giving lemons (or their juice) to
sailors
Metabolic Rate
A healthy diet contains all the different nutrients in the correct
amounts, and provides the right amount of energy for each
individual
An unbalanced diet can lead to a person becoming
malnourished – they may be too thin or too fat as a result, and
they may suffer from deficiency diseases
Respiration is the chemical reaction that allows cells to release
energy from food – the metabolic rate is the speed at which
such chemical reactions take place in the body
Metabolic Rate
Metabolic rate varies because of several factors, including: -
Age
Gender
The proportion of muscle to fat in the body
The amount of exercise and other physical activity
Genetic traits
The metabolic rate increases as we exercise and stays high for
a while afterwards
Basal Metabolic Rate
Metabolic rate is the rate at which your body burns calories
Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate when resting
You can inherit a high BMR
You can also increase your BMR with more exercise (increasing
your muscle to fat ratio)
Malnourishment
Malnourishment is a person with an unbalanced diet – these
diseases are due to malnourishment: Anaemia – lack of iron
Obesity – too much fat
Kwashiorkor – too much carbohydrate and no protein
Anorexia – too little food
Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)
RDA is the amount of a specific nutrient which is
recommended for consumption per day – food packaging must
clearly show this for each nutrient
A balanced diet should contain fats, proteins and
carbohydrates in roughly these amounts: carbohydrates
(red), fat (yellow) and protein (blue)
It should also contain minerals, vitamins, fibre and water
RDA
Food labels on products show the RDA of different nutrients
within the food, usually per 100g and per serving of food…
Look at the food labels for a variety of foods and work out your
average RDA % (are you having less than, the right amount, or
more than what is recommended for a specific nutrient)?