Food is your fuel
Food is your life support system
Food provides not only the energy you need to function every day, but also the nutrients required to build all of your body’s tissues (from your bones to your muscles, fat, and blood).
Nutrients in food are also used to produce substances involved in all the chemical processes that take place in your body millions of times a day.
We take in calories, energy, with our food, and different kinds of nutrients.
There are two broad categories of nutrients:
• Macronutrients, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, which supply energy and are needed in large amounts to maintain and repair body structures
• Micronutrients, vitamins and minerals, which help regulate chemical processes and build strong bones and are needed only in small amounts.
Fiber, while technically not a nutrient, also is part of a healthy diet due to the way it aids in helping to keep your digestive tract healthy, so you can absorb your nutrients from your food well.
We will look at calories, and then each of these categories in turn in our next installments of Food for Life.
