Proper nutrition - the foundation of human health. It is food we take, that ensures development and continuous renewal of cells and tissues of the body, is a source of energy our body is spending not only while physical exercise, but also during rest.

Food products - sources of substances which synthesize enzymes, hormones and other regulators of metabolic processes. Metabolism underlying in human body’s lofe is directly dependent on nature of nutrition.

As we can see, feeding directly provides all vital functions of the organism. Composition of food, its properties and quantity determine growth and physical development, work, illness, neuro-psychological condition, life expectancy.

With food our bodies receives a sufficient number of substances: proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, trace elements, minerals … Adequate, but not excessive. And in correct proportions. Strictly speaking, all theories of nutrition, which have recently appeared like mushrooms after rain, which we consider and analyze in other articles, try to solve this problem. In this article we describe in detail a traditional, classic view at correct, healthy food.

So, basic rules of nutrition.

1. Compliance with proper diet

Proper nutrition is essential for our body. The best schedule of nutrition - four meals a day. Intervals between meals while four meals a day schedule are 4-5 hours, this way load on digestive tract is distributed evenly, food is fully processed by digestive enzymes are well absorbed.

While four meals a day schedule breakfast should be about 25% of daily diet, lunch - 35%, afternoon snack - 15% and dinner - 25%. Dinner is recommended no later than 3 hours before sleep.

Unfortunately, eating four times a day is possible not for all. Most people eat three times a day. Breakfast with three meals a day should be 30-35% of daily diet, lunch - 35-40%, dinner - 25-30%. With three meals a day it is particularly important to avoid too great breaks between meals. The biggest break should not exceed 6 hours.

And it is quite unacceptable to eat only 1-2 times a day.

It is important to eat at the same time every day. Only this way working rhythm of gastrointestinal tract is provided. Our body, so to speak, “remembers” meal hours and “prepares” all digestive organs to work in advance.

Failure to comply with diet can lead to serious disorders of digestive system, as well as affect health status in general adversely.

2. Adequate but not excessive calorie diet

The amount of energy contained in a diet (in other words - calorie diet), should comply with energy the body wastes.

Too meager meals, when energy value of daily diet does not cover energy expences, result in a negative energy balance. In doing so, the body mobilizes all its resources to cover the deficit of energy. The body starts firstly using all incoming food substances as a source of energy, including proteins, and secondly, “burning” accumulated energy reserves, not only fat, but also protein of tissues, what leads to protein deficiency .

A positive energy balance when daily calorie diet is significantly greater than energy expences also leads to unpleasant consequences - emergence of obesity and related diseases: atherosclerosis, hypertension and many, many others …

Thus, both positive and negative energy balance adversely affects health, leading to metabolic disorders, functional and morphological changes of various body systems.

Information on composition and energy value of foods is placed on packaging of virtually all manufacturers. Recall that, when one gram of protein is burned in the body, 4 kilocalories, 9 kcal fats, 4 kcal carbohydrates are secreted. More or less detailed tables of composition and caloric content of products can be easily found on the Internet.

3. Correct ratio of main food components (proteins, fats, carbohydrates)

The average ratio of used proteins, fats and carbohydrates should be 1:1:4, with big physical loads - 1:1:5, for intellectual workers - 1:0.8:3.

Proteins

Proteins provide growth and development of the organism, are an essential component of all tissues and organs. Only with involvement of proteins growth, development and regeneration of cells and tissues of the body are possible. Proteins play a vital role in development of enzymes and hormones, provide protective functions of the organism (immunity). If you try to express the role of proteins in one sentence, one can say that proteins - are basic building blocks for our body. This is why proteins are necessary and indispensable components of food, without which we simply can not survive.

While lack, especially long, of carbohydrates and fats in the diet, proteins are involved in energy metabolism, ie are spent on current energy needs of the organism.

While long lack of food proteins protein deficiency is developed. Protective properties of the organism (immunity) are reduced, activity of endocrine system is disrupted (pituitary, adrenals, sex glands, liver suffer particularly). Development of various enzymes and hormones is breached.

Excess of proteins in a diet also adversely affects our body. “Extra” proteins are included in energy metabolism, and some products of their disintegration are far from harmless. Load on liver and kidneys is increased, reaction from cardiovascular and nervous systems also can take place. Excess of proteins stimulates growth of putrid microflora in the intestine.

It is important to keep a balance of animal proteins and vegetable ones. The share of animal proteins should be at least 55%, as they contain all essential amino acids in optimal ratios. Proteins of vegetable origin do not contain some essential amino acids. In addition, animal proteins are digested much better than vegetable.

Fats

Fats, like proteins, are an indispensable component of nutrition. Fats make up different tissues of the body and are a major source of energy. Fats contribute to assimilation of liposoluble vitamins (A, E, K). Some components of fats are indispensable factors in food, which are necessary for normal development of the organism. When fat deficiency, one can suffer from disruption of central nervous system, weakening of immunity, modification of skin, kidneys, sight …

According to chemical composition, fats are a complex group of glycerol and fatty acids. Properties of different fats and their biological activity are determined by fatty acids, which are divided into saturated and unsaturated.

For normal functioning of the body polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUNFA) are most important. They are a structural component of cell membranes, connective tissue and other tissues and fluids. PUNFA increase resilience of the organism to infectious diseases, emergence of malignant tumors. They established connection between PUNFA with exchange of B vitamins (pyridoxine, thiamin), as well as exchange of choline. If you lack PUNFA (linoleic, linolenic, arachidonic) there appear dryness and various skin lesions, elasticity of vessels is broken, blood cholesterol is increased. The deficit of polyunsaturated fatty acids provokes ulceration of stomach and duodenum, leading to delayed growth, reduced resistance to environmental factors, inhibits reproductive function. PUNFA are not synthesized in the body, ie, belong to indispensable substances.

Of other important “parts” of fats we should note phospholipids. They are a part of structure of cell membranes, involved in transport of fat in the body. In largest quantity these substances are found in nervous tissue and tissues of brain, heart and liver. The need for phospholipids is 10 g per day. A large number of phospholipids is found in egg yolk (10%), raw unrefined vegetable oil (1-4%), butter (up to 0.4%), embryo of seeds of wheat and rye (0.6-0.7%).

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates - are the main source of energy for our body. 50-60% of energy consumption is provided by carbohydrates. When physical load, carbohydrates are consumed in the first place, and only after exhaustion of their stocks energy consumption is filled by fats and proteins.

The lack of content of carbohydrates in a diet can lead to development of hypoglycemia, which main symptoms include - general weakness, drowsiness, memory impairment, headache … Carbohydrate starvation leads to accumulation of ketone compounds - products of incomplete oxidation of fats and proteins.

Excess of carbohydrates leads to increased formation of fat and, consequently, obesity. In addition, many researchers believe that excess of carbohydrates in a diet contributes to development of pathological violations on the part of liver, kidney, gastrointestinal tract and other organs.

Average daily adult requirement of carbohydrates is 400-500 g. It is desirable that their main sources in our diet would become products of plant origin, in which carbohydrates constitute at least 75% dry matter. Unfortunately, today we get more and more carbohydrates, using large quantities of sugar and sweets, but not fruits and vegetables …

Vitamins

Vitamins have a special place among vital nutrients.

Vitamins are involved in virtually all biochemical processes in our body. They are necessary for function of endocrine glands and their hormonal activity, improve mental and physical efficiency, maintain stability to adverse effects of environmental factors (heat, cold, infection, intoxication …).

Lack of vitamins leads to pathological states such as beriberi and Hypovitaminosis. Beriberi - is the severest form of vitamin A deficiency. Beriberi is developing in absence or very large shortage of some vitamin in a diet and cause such diseases like scurvy (deficiency of vitamin C), rickets and osteoporosis (with a shortage of vitamin D), pellagra )vitamin PP), beriberi (vitamin B1).

Hypovitaminosis, ie a slight lack of vitamins, of course, is not so terrible, as a deficiency disease, but also can not guarantee us anything good. While hypovitaminosis people observe such unpleasant phenomena as reduced immunity, efficiency, memory, insomnia, sick, and others.

Not only lack is dangerous, but also excess of vitamins. Modern medicine exactly knows cases of hypervitaminoses A and D. As for other vitamins, an opportunity of hypervitaminosis while excessive consumption is not precisely determined. Hypervitaminoses are usually met in an acute form, so when hypervitaminosis A people suffer from severe headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, peeling of skin and body, hypervitaminosis D - abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, headache, pain in bones and muscles, increased blood pressure, kidney function is violated.

Consumption of vitamins depends on gender, age, body weight, severity of work, balanced diet, physiological state (pregnancy, lactation), health, climate and other factors. The need for vitamins increases with inadequate insulation, hard mental work, hard physical labor, exposure to low temperatures.

Mineral substances

Mineral substances are involved in all biochemical processes in the body, are a necessary component of all organs and tissues. Thus, calcium is the basis of skeletal bone, copper, iron and magnesium are needed for transportation of proteins and carbohydrates through cell membranes, iron provides transport of gases in blood. Various minerals are necessary for normal blood coagulability, excitability of muscle and nervous tissue …

Our body gets all minerals from food, so they are indispensable components of nutrition. When lack of certain mineral substances we face various health disorders. For example, various violations of activities of central nervous system may be caused by lack of sodium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, chlorine, bromine, iodine deficiency leads to reduction of thyroid function and development of goitrous disease. In turn, an excess of certain minerals is also harmful to health.

Balance of minerals, both among themselves and with other nutrients is also important. Thus, uptake of calcium is dramatically reduced when excess of phosphorus and magnesium, and with little fat and liposoluble vitamins. The most favorable ratio of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium - 3:2:1.

Water

Water is essential for normal functioning of human body. All physiological fluids: blood, lymph, saliva, gastric juice, pancreatic juice, bile, intercellular and intracellular fluid, and the rest represent aqueous solutions of either disperse systems. All biochemical and metabolic processes, the whole metabolism of human body occurs in aquatic environment.

How much water should we drink? The answer to this question is not as simple as it seems. Lack of water and its surplus are harmful for our body. With insufficient water consumption we can face dehydration - very bad condition, leading to severe violations of functions of various organs. Excessive consumption of fluid has a negative impact on work of heart, organs of secretion and several other body systems, overloading them, increases sweating, promotes leaching of vitamins and mineral salts from the body.

We should not forget that water is contained in significant quantities in nearly all products we eat. For example, most vegetables, fruits and berries contain 75-90% water, meat, eggs, potatoes - up to 75%, milk, cream, kefir, yoghurt - 80-88%, different varieties of bread - 35-45%.

Our body has an excellent indicator of water scarcity - a sense of thirst. Probably, there is no need to describe what it is:). Note only that it is necessary to distinguish between true and false thirst. True thirst is caused by actual lack of water in the body, false - drying of mucous membranes of respiratory tract. To satisfy false thirst just rinse your mouth, or drink a few small sips of water slowly.

Scarcity of water in the body, causing a real thirst, may occur either because of lack of income liquids, so-called water fasting, either due to a significant loss of water (with a strong vomiting, diarrhea, excessive sweating, burns, etc.). In the first case, thirst should be satisfied with simple water, in the second - salty or mineral water. Avoid carbonated water: carbon dioxide it contains can increase thirst.

And a few more tips:

• Try to avoid spicy, salted, smoked foods, especially in hot weather or before severe physical loads (sports, heavy physical work);
• Do not drink much water before heavy work, sports, during and immediately after them. It is even better to abstain from drinking before and during exercises (except for very much wither, like marathon running).
• It is better not to drink during meal, and not immediately after it, but no less than half an hour before and an hour and a half after meal.