Our bodies use each fuel in the foods we eat in a different way so varying the percentage of one fuel or combining two fuels will produce different results. The three fuels also play differ- ent roles in building and maintaining the bones, muscles, and organs in our body.
You really are what you eat.
The composition of the fuels that give us energy to live and function are also the build- ing blocks of our bodies. And because you really are what you eat.both the human body and food supplied by Mother Nature are composed of the same organic compounds:carbohydrates, protein, and fat, then it only makes sense that we maintain our bodily structures with the intended building blocks designed by Mother Nature.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates play a major role in energy creation and regulation, but they are limited in their structural contribution. They don’t directly build the mortar and bricks of our body’s construction, but they do affect the quality of the construction. For example, they protect our stomach linings from the harsh acid environment and help lubricate our joints. They also make up one of the three basic parts of our genes or DNA. Carbohydrates also play an important role in the regulation and release of the mood hormone serotonin as well as the growth and the storage hormone known as insulin.Serotonin levels can affect your mood and mental clarity. Insulin is one of the key players in the fat storage game. All of these starring roles—energy production, quality of construction, and regulation make carbohydrates like a quarterback on a football team. They are key players and they also make some important decisions in the game.
Protein
When it comes to safeguarding our structure, protein plays the biggest role of all. If carbs are like a quarterback, protein is like the rest of the team, plus the coaches, recruiters, fans—even the stadium.
Protein’s structural contribution to the body is well known (eg. muscles and bones),but what is more essential is its job as the main chemical component of enzymes.
At this moment, every single biochemical reaction occurring inside of us is dependent upon the 10,000 different enzymes swimming around in our bodies.
Enzymes are not only made of protein, they are also the only substance capable of breaking down the protein that we eat and then using it to build all the protein structures in our body.
Enzymes are vital to the body because they are responsible for the rate at which chemical reactions occur. This “rate of reaction” is essential for life because any enzyme deficiencies or dysfunctions can result in serious or even life-threatening health problems. Like assembly line workers, enzymes can also add new elements to existing parts or break down structures for other purposes, like growth and healing from injuries.
Protein is the major component in such bodily structures as muscles, tendons, bone, hair, and internal organs. It is also the main chemical component of hormones, blood cells, antibodies, and chemical messengers (such as insulin, which is responsible for regulating metabolism).
Growth, reproduction, metabolic processes, and even emotional responses are dependent on protein.for life because any enzyme deficiencies or dysfunctions can result in serious or even life-threatening health problems. Like assembly line workers, enzymes can also add new elements to existing parts or break down structures for other purposes, like growth and healing from injuries.
Protein is the major component in such bodily structures as muscles, tendons, bone, hair, and internal organs. It is also the main chemical component of hormones, blood cells, antibodies, and chemical messengers (such as insulin, which is responsible for regulating metabolism).Growth, reproduction, metabolic processes, and even emotional responses are dependent on protein.for life because any enzyme deficiencies or dysfunctions can result in serious or even life-threatening health problems.
Like assembly line workers, enzymes can also add new elements to existing parts or break down structures for other purposes, like growth and healing from injuries.Protein is the major component in such bodily structures as muscles, tendons, bone, hair, and internal organs. It is also the main chemical component of hormones, blood cells, antibodies, and chemical messengers (such as insulin, which is responsible for regulating metabolism).
Growth, reproduction, metabolic processes, and even emotional responses are dependent on protein.
ENZYMES
Enzymes control all critical chemical reactions, from energy production to blood clotting. Their dysfunction is the cause of many serious and even not-so-serious medical conditions.For example, most people are familiar with lactose intolerance, a condition in which ingesting milk and milk products causes great digestive distress. The problem is caused by a deficiency in the enzyme lactase, which breaks down lactose(milk sugar). Lactose is a combination of two simple sugars: glucose and galactose.
Normally, these simple sugars can be absorbed into the blood stream after lactase divides lactose, but lactose as a whole cannot be absorbed through the intestinal wall. Without the enzyme lactase, the accumulation of lactose in the intestines attracts water and causes the diarrhea associated with this condition.
The unused lactose then becomes food for the intestinal bacteria, which may produce gas and discomfort. It is not a life-threatening enzyme deficiency like he- mophillia, but a very unpleasant situation for someone only missing one out of 10,000 of their normal enzymes.
Overall, its job is limited to a few special interests, but the contribution it makes is huge. Fat’s main job is to keep cells and us alive. Fat is vital to basic survival. As much as we try to rid our diets of fat, without it the most basic structure in our bodies—the cell—could not exist. Fat molecules make up cell walls, which are responsible for keeping cells intact and maintaining their interior environment. Fat’s main job is to keep cells and us alive.
Our life processes all occur in watery environments that need the natural repelling properties of fats and oils to keep everything in its proper place. Simply put, the oily cell walls keep the good watery things in and the bad ones out. You may never look at yourItalian salad dressing the same way again!
The sex hormones testosterone (male) and estrogen (female) are also pre- dominantly constructed of a fat derivative. And fats form the basis of myelin, a substance that coats nerve cells, like the plastic insulation around an electrical wire.Cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis are conditions caused by damage to the fatty myelin covering around nerves.
Unfortunately, fat gets a bad rap for being the lazy building block. It snuggles up under the skin, forming that infamous spare tire that develops around the waist. But unlike protein, fat prefers to burn itself off as fuel. Though fat’s role as a structural requirement is relatively simple, its role in the makeup of the food we eat is quite complex.
The average consumer is well aware of the endless arguments over the benefits and evils of saturated, unsaturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and trans-fats. Unfortunately much of the truth about fat has been misinterpreted or misunderstood.
CHOLESTEROL
Cholesterol is many things (both good and bad), but there is one thing it is not: caloric.
The fat you eat and the cholesterol in your body are two differ- ent things. Cholesterol is a typeof fat found mainly in our cell walls—but it is not a type of fat used for fuel. Like dietary fat, however, it has an important role. Along with dietary fat it helps form a protective coating around cell walls. It also helps build hormones, like testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen. The problem with cholesterol is that we can get too much of it. Because it is essential, the body has the ability to produce what it needs on its own. If it is in short supply, we can actually make cholesterol from fat. Too much cholesterol is bad enough, but too much fat and cholesterol can collect in our blood vessels and is a proven lethal combination that contributes to our high rate of heart disease.
Shellfish, such as crab, lobster, and shrimp are great protein sources, but they contain some of the highest concentrations of cholesterol in their cell walls. The meat in shellfish is low in calories only because of cholesterol’s inability to be recognized by the body as a fuel. Even though shellfish is a great source of lean, low-fat protein, you may want to check your cholesterol level if you eat it more than two to three times a week.
I hope that you are starting to see why any diet that cuts out an entire food or fuel group just doesn’t make sense.
Once you learn how to effectively combine the three fuels and learn how to manage your intake, you will no longer make your food choices solely on taste or convenience or impulse. If you look at food as fuel and building blocks and select unprocessed varieties that provide all the benefits a healthy, fit body requires, then your weight and fitness goals will be within reach.
Any diet that cuts out an entire food or fuel group just doesn’t make sense.I want to stress that if you eat for your body’s needs, you don’t have to sacrifice anything in the way of taste, texture, or eye appeal. I’ll show you how to make creative choices to a point where eating what you want and eating what you need, will become one and the same.
Now that we’ve covered the basics of how food creates energy and provides the building blocks for all of your body parts, it’s time to move on to your body’s need for another kind of energy, the kind you exert—exercise.