Nutrition and Diet

Nutrition and Diet
Food is not simply a physiological fuel. It is a social phenomenon. In between we eat on average three meals a day and are subjected to a great deal of pressure on what we should eat, from manufacturer and advertisers, from experts and quacks and from custom and habit. Nutrition is a topic of conversation on which the average person can hold an opinion much as he holds opinions on nuclear weapon, the environment or taxation. Yet nutrition is unique among such controversies because the attendant opinion can be acted on at the individual level. A resident of Europe or North America cannot escape the threat of nuclear warfare, environment decay and certainly taxation. But they can change their diet any way they please without seeking permission, either by making an informed decision based on a sound understanding of nutrition, or by whim.

Nutrition controversies are not new. The Greek philosophers linked the four elements of cosmos – air, fire, water and earth – with four humors of man – blood, bile, phlegm, and black bile. Individual foods were assigned to humors. Accordingly, Hippocrates recommended pepper combined with honey and vinegar, for the treatment of feminine disorders. The ancient Chinese also held diet high in their medical kit-bag.

The old Chinese expert said: Experts at curing disease are inferior to those who warn against disease. Experts in the use of medicines are inferior to those who recommended a proper diet. The Egyptians believed the gut to be the root of all illness and sought considerable relief from the usage of figs.

Such early views on diet were theoretically arrived at by careful, logical thought. The first experimental evidence linking diet and disease was the relation between the incidence of scurvy aboard sailing ships and the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables. In the ensuing centuries, scientist employed the present day approach of experimentation to understand digestion, salivation, respiratory metabolism and the biological need for certain nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, amino acids and essential fatty acids. This quest extended well into the present century.
Nutrition and Diet

Vitamin in Fresh Juices

Vitamin in Fresh Juices
If looking for vitamin potency, fresh juice can deliver. Just choose the vitamin wanted and drink the juices that contain them, It’s as simple as that.

Vitamin A (retinol) promotes normal growth and development, foster proper eyesight, maintains clear, healthy skin, and has been linked to cancer prevention. Fresh carrot or green juices contain an abundance of pro-vitamin A (beta carotene). Pro-vitamin A is easily converted to usable vitamin A in the liver. Unlike synthetic vitamin A, which is toxic in high doses, pro-vitamin A from food sources is safe even in large amounts.

Vitamin B complex is a group of vitamin that works together to help the body digest and use the energy in carbohydrates. B complex also promotes resistance to infection.

Components of B complex are: vitamin B-1 (thiamine), vitamin B-2 (riboflavin), vitamin B-3 (niacin), vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), vitamin B-12 (cobalamin), biotin, choline, folic acid, inositol, and pantothenic acid. Whole grains are among the best natural sources of B complex. But fresh juices, especially green and sprout juices, and cirrus juice made with a high sped juicer contain significant amounts of B complex vitamins, as well.

Vitamin C is regarded popularity as a panacea, capable of curing colds, heart disease, cancer and other ailments. However, the clinical evidence that vitamin C does any of these things is inconclusive. What has been proves is that vitamin C is an antioxidant – a substance that protect important molecules and structures in the cells from being destroyed by oxygen. It helps protect the nerves, glands, joints, and connective tissue for oxidation, and also aids in the absorption of iron. All fresh fruit and vegetable are excellent sources of vitamins C.

Vitamin E is another important antioxidant. It helps to function and promotes the use of fatty acids. Because studies on animals show it to be true, scientists hypothesize that vitamin E may also protect fertility in woman and men. Fresh beet, celery, and green juices contain vitamin E, as do whole grains and nuts.
Vitamin in Fresh Juices

Age Factor in Food Digestion

Age Factor in Food Digestion
The complex process of digestion/absorption can be optimally effective only when the gastrointestinal tract and accessory organs are totally developed and fully functioning. Not only must the muscular tube (alimentary canal) with its mucosal lining and endocrine cells be operating efficiently in conjunction with the nervous system, but the accessory organs (pancreas liver, and gallbladder) with their important digestive secretions also must be physiologically mature.

The feeding of infants is based primarily on the degree of maturation of the gastrointestinal tract and accessory organs. Good examples of the emphasis on gastrointestinal tract maturity are the care given to the fat in infant formula and the time and sequence of the introduction of various foods into the infant’s diet. Only those fats processing, an ease of absorption comparable to that in human milk are used in commercial formula, and the introduction of solid food, beginning with baby cereal usually occurs no earlier than 4 moths old.

The infant pancreas, although structurally mature at term, is unable for several months to produce enzymes sufficient for effective digestion. Pancreatic lipase, alpha-amylase, and the proteolytic enzymes are in too short supply to accommodate digestion of a mixed diet. Digestion of fat is a real concern because there is a deficiency of bile salts from the liver as well as low lipase release from the pancreas.

Solid foods cannot be handled efficiently by the infants’ gastrointestinal tract much before 4 to 6 months, not only because of the deficiency of pancreatic enzymes but also because of poorly coordinated gastric motility. Antral mixing during the very early months of the infant’s life is insufficient for the proper digestion of solid foods.

Particularly attention must be given to the introduction of unmodified cow’s milk and egg white into the infant’s diet. During early infancy intestinal mucosal permeability is greater than normal, and many large molecules, such as low molecular weight proteins, tend to be absorbed intact. Although this absorption has it positive side in that neonates are able to absorb immunoglobulins from their mother’s milk, the increased permeability may allow absorption of proteins such as lactalbumin and egg albumin. Usually by the age of about 2 years the gastrointestinal tract has reached maturity, and digestion/absorption normally becomes efficient, effective process.
Age Factor in Food Digestion