Basic Nutrition

Can you lose weight and be healthier without exercising? YES! The answer is: NUTRITION!!!

Exercising is important for achieving a great figure but it is not the most important thing. Nutrition is. Why do you think that is? How many calories can you burn in one hour while exercising? 300-500 calories, depending on the type of exercise, intensity, your fitness level…
How many calories are in a single pound of fat? 3500 calories!!! So we need to spend 10 hours in the gym just to lose a single pound of fat. And this is oversimplification. We are assuming that you are having a normal, healthy diet plan. But what if most of your calories come from sugars? You can spend the whole day in the gym and still not make any progress. This is because there are other factors influencing body weight.

Insulin is the most important hormone that is influenced by the type of food that you are eating and he is the one deciding where that food is going to be stored. When you eat a high carb meal, insulin levels spike. If the glycogen levels (sugar stored in the muscles and liver) are low, then most of it will be transported there. If those levels are high already, then guess where all of that food will go! Fat cells. So the type of food and the timing is very important. But so is the quantity. Not every person needs the same amount of calories. The more muscle mass you have the bigger you BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). This is the amount of calories needed in a 24 hour period without doing any physical activity.
Activity level increases the need for food. So a more active person would need more calories. But not all calories are the same.

There are three macro nutrients, which are the source of calories.
Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat.

YES, FAT!

Although many people are trying to avoid it, it is necessary for proper function. It is essential for hormone production and proper hormonal function. It protects the body organs from shock, it helps maintain normal body temperature. It is needed for healthy skin and hair and its necessary for proper absorption of the fat soluble vitamins. It is energy dense and it has 9 calories per gram of fat.

There are three types of fat: saturated, unsaturated and trans fats. Trans fats are the worst kind and should be avoided. They raise the bad cholesterol and at the same time lower the good one. They create inflammation and they increase insulin resistance. Insulin resistant environments store most of the calories as fat, and even worse, cause diabetes. It can be found in fried foods, margarine, vegetable shortenings…
Saturated fats should be present in no more than 10% of the total amount of calories. Red meats are usually high in Saturated fats. It can also be found in fried foods, butter, cheese, palm oil…
Unsaturated fats can be further in poly and mono unsaturated fats. These are the good kinds of fats and can actually improve your health and well being. They improve the blood cholesterol levels, decrease inflammation and a number of other health benefits. At least 20% of your daily caloric intake should come from unsaturated fats. They can be found in fish, nuts, seeds, avocados…

CARBS

Basically, there are two types of carbs: simple and complex. And although both groups contain 4 calories per gram, they do not affect the body in the same way. Simple carbs hit the bloodstream much faster and they raise the insulin levels. Simple carbs are carbs that have one or two sugar molecule. Glucose, fructose and galactose are monosaccharide and they are the simplest forms. by combining two of them we get the disaccharides: sucrose, maltose and glucose.
They are found in candies, sodas, syrups, cakes, cookies…

Complex carbs are carbs that have more than two sugar molecules and they do not affect the insulin levels in the same way the simple carbs do because it takes more time for them do be digested. Complex carbs are found in legumes, nuts, starchy vegetables, whole grains…

PROTEIN

Protein is an essential nutrient for the body. Protein can be found in all of the body’s cells and it is the major structural component of all cells in the body, especially the muscles. Protein is used for growth, maintenance and repair of tissues. It is also needed for forming blood cells. Aside from that, protein can also serve as a fuel and it contains 4 calories per gram, but that only occurs when carbohydrates and lipid resources are very low

During digestion protein is broken down into 20 amino acids. They are used for building muscle tissue and repairing damaged tissues. That is why protein is very popular with the athletes, especially with the bodybuilders. Amino acids are divided into three categories: essential, non-essential and conditional amino acids.
The essential amino acids can not be produced by the body and they must be supplied by protein rich foods. There are 9 essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine, valine, histidine, lysine, tryptophan, methionine, phenylalanine, and threonine.
The non-essential amino acids are made by the body during protein breakdown or from the essential amino acids. There are 4 non-essential amino acids: asparagine, glutamic acid, alanine and aspartic acid.
The conditional amino acids usually are not essential except under certain conditions. For example when someone is ill or it is under stress. There are 7 conditional amino acids: glutamine, arginine, tyrosine, serine, proline, glycine and cysteine.
There have been many studies and debates about how much protein you need to consume and it all depends on your level of activity and your goals. For example, a healthy individual that is not doing any exercises and does not want to build muscle should take 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. Now if you are exercising those need will increase drastically.
The body can not save excess protein for long-term usage so if you consume too much of it, the excess will be excreted. If you take too much protein for a long time you can damage your kidneys. On the other hand protein deficiency can cause a lot of problems. Some are: mental retardation, diarrhea , failure to grow, inactivity, muscle atrophy and many others.
Some foods that contain protein are: Chicken thighs, Chicken breast, Turkey breast, Milk, Salmon, Mussels, Tuna, Shrimp, Lean beef, Pork loin, Chicken sausage, Turkey bacon, Eggs, Greek yogurt, Cottage cheese.