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Fitness Nutrition - using food to maximize any fitness goal...
How is food related to wellness, health, and sports performance? This page will answer the following questions:
(NOTE: This Fitness Nutrition Section is to help you understand the basics of nutrition. Over the coming weeks, you'll be able to find some of your favourite fitness nutrition subjects directly from this page using the Table Of Contents feature below!) Whatever your fitness and exercise goals are- whether you want to lose weight for health reasons, to see your six-pack abs, or to fit into your favourite clothes... Or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, if you want to gain weight because you're underweight, or you want to pack on muscle and bulk up... Or, whether you're an athlete and your goals are to play better, beat your personal best, or improve your performance... ...You must know that whatever goals you have, however hard you train, and no matter what fitness workout program you use-- none of these goals can be maximized without proper nutrition. Getting the right fitness nutrition information can make the difference between achieving the results you want and falling short on your goals. Understanding the basics is the first step... First, what is nutrition? How do you define nutrition? The classic definition of nutrition is that it is the sum total of the processes involved in eating food and how the human body then utilizes these foodstuffs. The 'processes' we speak of generally include ingestion, digestion, absorption, transport, and metabolism of the foodstuffs found in the foods we eat. The 'foodstuffs' are typically nutrients. This then begs the question, what are nutrients? Nutrients are those specific substances contained within the food that essentially serve a physiological or biochemical function in the body (we'll define 'substances' in a moment...)
Your body requires substantial amounts of certain nutrients everyday, and only small amounts of other nutrients. Those nutrients which are required in substantial amounts are referred to as 'macronutrients'. They include carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and water. The nutrients which are required only in small amounts- generally less than 1 gram per day, are called 'micronutrients' and include vitamins and minerals. Some minerals and electrolytes are required by the body in larger amounts than 1 gram and can therefore also be considered macronutrients. Side Note: There are Electrolytes in my sports drink! What are electrolytes? Electrolytes are minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and chloride that conducts electricity for the passage of fluids through cellular membranes. They allow a constant exchange of nutrients and waste products between the cell and its fluid environment. Electrolytes can be acids, bases, and salts and usually dissociate into ions carrying either a positive or negative charge. Many sports drinks contain electrolytes to increase fluid retention, promote drinking, replace electrolytes lost through sweat, and also... to increase palatability! Either way, all nutrients serve a purpose in the human body.
1. They regulate metabolism. Nutrients facilitate and maintain many physiological events of human metabolism. The primary nutrients that serve this function are vitamins, minerals, and proteins. 2. They promote growth and development. For example, protein is required for tissue growth and repair, while calcium and phosphorus are needed for the bones of the skeleton. 3. They provide energy. Muscles need energy to contract. Your body has some energy reserves but most of it has to be obtained through the nutrients contained in the food we eat. The nutrients predominantly used as fuel are carbohydrates and fats. Protein can also serve as a source of energy but its use as a fuel is usually limited.
To be more precise, our body is made up of 65% oxygen, 18% carbon, 10% hydrogen, and 3% nitrogen. Atoms are the smallest unit of an element. They are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. All elements consist of these same three subatomic particles. The only difference between elements are the numbers of protons, neutrons and electrons they possess. Generally speaking, protons are positively charged, neutrons are electrically neutral, and electrons are negatively charged. The smallest atom is hydrogen. It consists of 1 proton and 1 electron. A carbon atom is composed of 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons. Attractive forces called chemical bonds serve to bind atoms together. These bonds are a source of potential energy. Two or more atoms that are bound together form molecules. Two or more molecules bound together form substances. Depending on the forces interacting between molecules, the substance either takes the form of a gas, a liquid, or a solid. Water for example, contains 2 hydrogen atoms linked together by a single chemical bond to 1 oxygen atom. Many of us know its chemical formula, H2O ('H' being the symbol for hydrogen and 'O' for oxygen). Except for water and minerals, all nutrients contain carbon. So, where do carbohydrates, fats, and proteins come from? Carbohydrates and fats are formed through the specific linkages of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. Proteins too, are formed from carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms except they have the distinction of also containing nitrogen atoms. Nitrogen atoms cannot be burned by the body. In simplistic terms, they combine with hydrogen atoms to form urea. Urea is excreted in the urine.
Along come animals that feed on plants or they feed on other animals that have eaten plants. We come along and... well, you get the idea. These are called cycles. Atoms themselves are not destroyed during chemical reactions. They just change their form and become cycled over and over again, indefinitely.
In actuality, your body uses this energy to perform 3 different types of 'biologic' work. "Work", can include transport work (i.e., moving substances between cells and their surroundings), chemical work (i.e., cells involved in chemical reactions for repair, maintenance and growth including making muscle as a result of weight training!), and mechanical work (i.e., muscular contraction). Hence, fitness nutrition is about the foods we eat. Food contains nutrients which contain energy. We ingest this food. The food is digested and absorbed. Nutrients are used for metabolic needs, growth and development, and to supply us with energy. This energy is released when the chemical bonds between molecules are broken. But do all nutrients contain energy? How do we know how much energy a slice of pizza, an apple, or any food provides us with? And, did you know we eat about 2,000,000 calories everyday? This is the subject of our next topic! To continue on to your next topic, drill down to the bottom of this fitness nutrition page!... Fitness Nutrition Section- Table Of Contents:
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Where do you get your fitness nutrition and diet information?
Of the 94 elements identified in nature, only about 12 are common in living organisms. The most abundant elements in the human organism are oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. Together, these 4 elements make up 96% of the mass of a human being. 
