MACRO AND MICRO NUTRIENTS
Keeping it simple helps you make a better choice
Our bodies are miracles.
Get a cut and your body will heal it. Break your leg…bam…it will repair it! This also includes: shave your legs and DANG IT…is there a REASON we need hair on our shin in this day and age?!
The natural growth of a body is like a plant growing from a seed.
Plant a seed good soil filled with nutrients, make sure it gets water and sun then watch it blossom to its full potential.
Science has proven that the right (or correct) balance of macro and micro nutrients is not simple at all.
According to the USDA’s website an article by Adrienne Youdim, MD, FACP “Overview of Nutrition: Macronutrients” starts off strong with “Nutrition is the science of food and its relationship to health. Nutrients are chemicals in foods that are used by the body for growth, maintenance, and energy. Nutrients that cannot be synthesized by the body and thus must be derived from the diet are considered essential. They include vitamins, minerals, some amino acids, and some fatty acids. Nutrients that the body can synthesize from other compounds, although they may also be derived from the diet, are considered nonessential. Macronutrients are required by the body in relatively large amounts; micronutrients are needed in minute amounts.”
The bottom line is: we need vitamins, minerals, some amino acids and some fatty acids.
As we age there are plenty of road signs telling us: GET UP AND MOVE! That burns energy which means EAT!
A progressive loss of lean body mass can occur with aging. Starting after 40 years old women lose about 11 lbs and men 22 lbs of muscle! Add in the lack of nutritient-dense foods plus sedentary lifestyles and that will increase. Ref: Merck Manual Overview of Undernutrition by John E. Morley, MB, BCh.
Mr. Morley writes, “Aging decreases basal metabolic rate (due mainly to decreased fat-free mass), total body weight, height, and skeletal mass; from about age 40 to age 65, mean body fat (as a percentage of body weight) increases to about 30% (from 20%) in men and to 40% (from 27%) in women.”
So let’s get outside, build up our fat-free mass (imagine what body parts we’re talking about) and eat foods filled with nutrients.
For our campers: bring multiple sets of varying weights to camp to do, especially if you are a believer in the science of our bodies and want to stave off “old age” problems.
Just for kicks take a minute to look at different foods you eat and compare them to the Percentage Daily Recommended (%DV) of an adult consuming a 2,000 calorie reference diet. Remember: your personal daily values may be different.
I use Nutrition Data for a quick and detailed report. Personally I love charts and maps and could spend hours just staring at them “imagining” scenarios that apply to my own life or plans.
If you are wondering what your daily requirements should be, visit the USDA’s National Agricultural Library where health care professionals go to calculate the information.
References:
Overview Of Nutrition by Adrienne Youdim, MD, FACP
http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/nutritional-disorders/nutrition-general-considerations/overview-of-nutrition?qt=&sc=&alt=#
Undernutrition by John E. Morley, MB, BCh
http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/nutritional-disorders/undernutrition/overview-of-undernutrition#
Sarita Shoemaker 