Food, nutrition and health

• Protein is needed for growth, repair and maintenance
• Protein is needed for repair to repair our muscles, tissues and organs after illnesses
• Protein is needed for maintenance to make enzymes for digestion and antibodies to stop us getting ill
• HBV foods/High biological value foods contain all of the essential amino acids that we need, mainly found in meat, dairy, fish. Eg of plant-based HBV foods are soya beans and quinoa
• LBV foods/Low biological value foods do not contain all the essential amino acids we need like peas, lentils, beans.
• Not enough HBV Protein, we need to combine LBV foods in order to get all the essential amino acids we need, for an eg, beans on toast or hummus on pitta bread
• Children who are growing need a lot of protein for relative to their size and body mass
• People who are physically active need protein to maintain weight, grow muscles and repair
• Excess protein means it puts strain and pressure on the liver and kidneys which help process proteins— DANGEROUS!
• Deficiency of protein means body is unable to repair tissues, growth is slowed, wounds don’t heal quicker as immune system doesn’t work properly without protein meaning it will be easier to catch infections
• Deficiency of protein means hair, skin and nails won’t grow fast and get into poor condition, cannot digest food properly so some essential nutrients won’t be obtained by the body
• TVP: textured vegetable protein, made from soya beans (soya flour) which is used to make a dough and when baked, it has a meat-like texture.
• Soya: they can be eaten as a whole in salads, can make soya milk and processed to make protein alternative like tofu
• Tofu: a soft white substance made from mashed soya beans, or curdling soya milk, can be soft or firm or extra-firm
• Fats provide energy, nutrients and insulation
• Fats provide a concentrated source of energy, source of fat-soluble vitamins A,D,E,K , forms an insulating layer of fat under skin to keep us warm, the layer of fat helps protect our bones and organs, bodies use fat to make cholesterol (essential part of all cell membranes)
• Unsaturated fats have double bonds between carbons, saturated fats do not have any double bonds
• Fats made up of fatty acids and glycerol - triglycerides
• Fatty acid chains are made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms
• Body breaks down fatty acids during digestion
• Saturated fats: unhealthy, solid at room temperature, eg butter, lard, cheese
• Unsaturated fats are healthy, soft or liquid at room temp, comes from vegetable sources high in fat eg vegetable oil
• Monounsaturated fats are healthy fats that contain ONLY one double carbon bond, come from olive oil, avocadoes, nuts, seeds
• Polyunsaturated fats are healthy fats that contain more than one double carbon bond, come from oily fish, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil
• Fat should make up no more than 35% of our food intake daily, 11% being saturated fat.
• An average adult should consume 70g of fat daily, 20g being saturared.
• Excess fat leads to weight gain, and fatty deposits build up in arteries meaning coronary artery disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes
• Too much saturated fat means increased blood cholesterol levels
• Lack of fat in diet means fat-soluble vitamins A,D,E,K are absorbed in body meaning vitamin deficiency
• Lack of fat means the body will use the fat stored for energy meaning weight loss, and less insulation so the layer of insulating fat will decrease which also means the body won't be protected much from breaking bones
• Carbohydrates is split into two types: sugar and starch