Diet Facts

Your diet is what you eat. A good diet includes the correct amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, fibre and water.
Most of the food that you eat is fuel for the body, provided mostly by carbohydrates and fats.
Carbohydrates are foods made from kinds of sugar, such as glucose and starch. They are found in foods such as bread, rice, potatoes and sweet things.
Fats are greasy foods that will not dissolve in water. Some, such as the fats in meat and cheese, are solid. Some, such as cooking oil, are liquid.
Fats are not usually burned up straight away, but are stored around your body until they are needed.
Proteins are needed to build and repair cells. They are made from special chemicals called amino acids.
There are 20 different amino acids. Your body can make 11 of them. The other nine are called essential acids and they come from food.
Meat and fish are very high in protein.
A correctly balanced vegetarian diet of eggs, milk and cheese can provide all the essential amino acids.
Fiber or roughage is supplied by cellulose from plant cell walls. Your body cannot digest fiber, but needs it to keep the bowel muscles exercised.

This entry is filed under Interesting Facts.