Foods That Harm, Foods That Promote Health

A Biochemical and Nutritional Perspective in Health and Disease Prevention

Stefan A. Hulea, Ahmadi

• Publisher: Universal Publishers
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781627343480
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Nutrition, Dietics & Bariatrics

This book looks at fresh (fruits and vegetables) and processed foods from a biochemical and nutritional perspective, as well as the relationship between their content in micronutrients and phytochemicals and the major killer diseases such as cardiovascula

Chapter I

Structure, properties, metabolism and biological role of macronutrients (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates)

Simona Oancea

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1.1.Introduction

Consumers today are becoming increasingly aware that a healthy, more balanced nutrition is of paramount importance for maintaining good health and preventing disease. The increasing market share of organically-grown foods (free of herbicides and pesticides) is a clear sign that consumers are demanding products that do not pose a risk to public health.

The present chapter describes the biochemical and nutritional properties of those nutrients that are required in significant amount for human nutrition and are consumed to meet the energy and nutritional needs of the body. These nutrients are called macronutrients.

Nutrients are defined as chemical elements or compounds found in food, that are needed to build, repair and protect our body. Through their nutrient content, food provide the following main functions:

•Structural: food provides the body with the substances required for growth and cell renewal

•Energy: food supplies the energy for the basic functions of the body

•Regulation and protection: food provides the body with the substances required for protection and regulation of metabolic processes.

The dietary nutrients are shown in the Table 1.1. (1):

Table 1.1.Dietary nutrients.

Macronutrients	Percentage of body weight	Micronutrients	Percentage of body weight	Water	Percentage of body weight
Proteins Lipids Carbohydrates	17 13.8 1.5	Vitamins + minerals	6.1	Food + nutrient	61.6

Macronutrients are the nutrients that are needed in large quantities (tens or hundreds of grams) per day. Micronutrients are those nutrients that are needed in small amounts (mg or μg) per day.

In addition to these biomolecules, food contains other compounds such as dietary fibers and phytochemical substances, that are not required for nutritional needs but provide certain physiological benefits.

The Table 1.2. shows the caloric values and the content of macronutrients of major foods (1).

Table 1.2.Caloric values and the content of macronutrients of major foods.

Food product	Proteins (%)	Lipids (%)	Carbohydrates (%)	Calories (%)
whole milk	3.5	3.5	4.5	65
kefir	4	2.8	1	59
yogurt	3.2	2.6	1	54
cow cream cheese	13	9	4.5	155
cow diet cheese	18	0	4	90
sheep cheese	18.9	24	1	305
hen eggs	14	12	0.6	174
lean beef	20.4	2.2	0	104
fat beef	12	24.5	0	277
lean pork	20.4	6.3	0	142
fat pork	15	30	0	340
mutton	17	12	0	131
lamb	18	20	0	260
chicken	20.1	10.2	0	177
liver pate	19.6	19.5	0	261
sausages	18	26.9	0	321
ham	24.9	20.7	0	294
green peppers	1.1	0.2	2.5	17
red peppers	1.3	0.4	7.3	39
potatoes	1.7	0.2	17.4	80
cucumbers	0.8	0.1	3	13
green onion	1	0.2	3.5	20
onion	1.4	0.2	9	40
mushrooms	4	0.15	3.3	26
cauliflower	2.4	0.2	4.9	25
zucchini	0.9	0.1	3.2	18
green beans	2.4	0.2	7.6	35
peas	6.7	0.4	17	90
carrots	1.1	1	9.1	40
tomatoes	1	0.3	4	23
salad	1.3	0.3	2.8	15
garlic	7.2	0.2	26	137
cabbage	1.6	0.1	5.7	25

Except for human breast milk, the only food which supplies the right combination of all nutrients needed by a human for the first six months of life, no other food provides all the required nutrients for optimal growth and health. For this reason, a healthy balanced diet should be based on eating different kinds of food, preferably selected according to the guidelines provided by nutritional sciences experts or government agencies specializing in food policy matters. Dieticians and nutrition specialists have created nutritional guidelines directed at the general public to promote good nutrition and health and prevent disease, Food Guide Pyramid, Healthy Eating Plate of Harvard School of Public Health1 (Fig. 1C), Food Balance Wheel, The National Dietary Guideline. The oldest food pyramid, designed by the USDA agency in 1992 (Fig. 1A) is a nutritional guide that assigns foods according to their nutritional value and the recommended daily consumpti...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Table of contents
• Foreword
• List of contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter I: Structure, properties, metabolism and biological role of macronutrients (proteins, lipids and carbohydrates)
• Chapter II: Metabolism and Nutrition—health implications
• Chapter III: Water, the big, little understood player in biological systems
• Chapter IV: Essential fatty acids in health and disease
• Chapter V: Low-grade systemic inflammation—Role in disease initiation, progression and its relation to diet and nutrition
• Chapter VI: Metabolic syndrome—causes and consequences
• Chapter VII: Diabetes
• Chapter VIII: Heart disease—Development and prevention
• Chapter IX: Cancer—its origin, development and treatment/prevention
• Chapter X: Caloric restriction, health promoting and aging
• Chapter XI: Foods that promote disease
• Chapter XII: Foods that promote health
• Chapter XIII: Probiotics—the friendly bacteria that are essential to good health
• Chapter XIV: Whole foods diet and disease prevention
• Chapter XV: Conclusions and the need for closer integration of nutrition science in medical schools’ curriculum and clinical practice