Macro & Micro-Nutrients & Their Impact On Our Health & Well-Being

“As your body moves and works each day, it must use energy” (Sizer & Whitney, 2016).

Food is this energy; it is necessary to survive for the body to grow, repair and function. Finding the best food to promote optimal health is then a duty, to give every cell and body system the best tools to function at its best.

WHAT ARE NUTRIENTS & HOW DO THEY POSITIVELY AFFECT OUR HEALTH & WELL-BEING?

Energy-Yielding Nutrients (EYN) come from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The body can use these for the energy that they contain. One interesting fact about protein is that it has energy, which the body uses, and it also provides essential materials needed to help form tissues in the body.

Vitamins and Minerals used to be a mystery to me; even now, I am learning so much about these strange necessary micro-nutrients. I find it interesting that all vitamins and minerals act as regulators, meaning that they assist in all body processes that maintain life, such as; digesting, moving, healing, and even obtaining energy EYNs.

There are six classes of nutrients, and they are measured in grams to weigh them or in calories in terms of the energy they provide. There are three primary energy-yielding nutrients or macro-nutrients Carbohydrates ( 4 calories in a gram), Fat ( 9 calories in a gram), and Protein (4 calories in a gram). Energy-yielding nutrients are essential for providing the body with energy and assisting in building tissue structure. Vitamins and Minerals or micro-nutrients are vital since they act as regulators for all the body’s major systems such as “digesting food; moving muscles; disposing of wastes; growing new tissues; healing wounds; obtaining energy from carbohydrate, fat, and protein; and participating in every other process necessary to maintain life”(Sizer & Whitney, 2016). Water is most important for our body to function optimally. “The body constantly loses water, mainly through sweat, breath, and urine, and that water must constantly be replaced. Without sufficient water, the body’s cells cannot function”(Sizer & Whitney, 2016).

Ensuring that you eat the nutrient-rich foods your body requires to function and eat appropriate amounts of food to sustain your life is needed to find the healthy balance between being underweight or overweight. When a body is underweight, they risk losing nutrients quicker and possibly die from starvation or die quicker from illness. Overweight and obese individuals are more at risk for chronic diseases. The list of serious diseases is much longer than the list of being underweight. This list includes coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, liver disease, low quality of life, arthritis, and cancer. (CDC Overweight & Obesity, 2021) Coronary heart disease is caused by atherosclerotic blocking of one or more blood vessels that supply the heart. When a major artery becomes more than 75% blocked, blood flow restriction to the heart muscle causes chest pain. This type of chest pain occurs most frequently during exercise or emotional stress when the heart rate increases and the heart works harder than normal (Powers & Dodd, 2017).

Stay MOTOvated!! Live MOTOvated!!

Refrences

Sizer, F., & Whitney, E. (2016). Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies — Standalone book (14th ed.). Cengage Learning. https://content.ashford.edu/books/Sizer.2199.17.1

CDC Overweight & Obesity. (2021, March 23). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/index.html

Powers, S. K., & Dodd, S. L. (2016). Total Fitness & Wellness, The Mastering Health Edition (7th Edition) (7th ed.). Pearson. https://platform.virdocs.com/r/s/0/doc/573887/sp/177719502/mi/568203957