Notes

nergy and take longer to digest because
the body must break them down into
simple sugars first bread tortillas rice
and sweet potatoes all contain complex
carbs
why exactly do you need to eat carbs
well your body needs carbs for energy
cogs fuel your muscles for big race get
your brain through a hard test and keep
your organs functioning but make sure
you choose your carbs wisely eat complex
carbs rather than simple carbs and
choose fruits and veggies over processed
foods such as candy and donuts replace
white bread with wheat or whole grain
bread and white rice with brown rice
let's move on to the next major nutrient
fats fats are greasy and hydrophilic
meaning that they don't mix with water
to be more precise we can use the term
lipids which refers to fats in both
their solid and liquid forms we'll use
the terms fats and lipids
interchangeably lipids cushion and
protect our bones and organs help us
absorb certain vitamins keep our skin
healthy and insulate us from the cold
they can give us up to twice the energy
that carbs or proteins do
and since lipids stay in the stomach
longer than carbs or proteins they make
us feel satiated
so although too much fat causes obesity
having some fat can actually prevent you
from overeating the two common
categories of fats are saturated fats
and unsaturated fats saturated fats get
their name because their carbon chains
are saturated with as many hydrogen
atoms as possible while unsaturated fats
have carbon chains that are not fully
saturated with hydrogen atoms how can
you tell which fats are saturated and
which are unsaturated since saturated
fats have a straight chain structure
they can pack together into solids and
can be found in butter ice cream and
cake saturated fats can clog up blood
vessels and cause heart disease on the
other hand unsaturated fats have a vent
carbon chain so they cannot pack as
closely together making them liquids at
room temperature or oils naturally
occurring unsaturated fats such as those
found in nuts fish and vegetable oil are
good for you however if they're
constantly reused such as the oil and
french fry machines the double bonds in
the carbon chain flipped from sis to
trans the result is trans fat a type of
fat that causes cancer and can be found
in margarine among others trans fat is
also called partially hydrogenated
vegetable oil so if you see this in the
ingredients
it contains trans fat
cholesterol is another kind of lipid
that makes up our cell membranes and
performs other important functions
however if you have risk factors for
heart disease you should try to eat
foods low in cholesterol most people eat
too much fat causing problems like
obesity and heart disease so it's a good
idea to avoid eating bad fats like
saturated and trans fat and choose
natural unsaturated fats like those
found in fish nuts and olive oil
got it let's move on to the third major
nutrient protein you may have heard that
proteins are the building blocks of life
they make up your muscles and bones
allow red blood cells to transport
oxygen throughout your body help digest
food fight off diseases and perform all
sorts of important functions proteins
are made up of amino acids these amino
acids combine in different ways to make
many different proteins there are nine
amino acids which the body can only get
from food these are called the essential
amino acids chicken fish beef milk
cheese eggs beans tofu and nuts are all
protein rich foods vegetables may be
missing one or more essential amino
acids so if you're a vegetarian make
sure you eat a wide variety of protein
rich veggies animal meat and dairy
products are good sources of protein
because they contain all nine essential
amino acids Americans eat more protein
than they need and many protein rich
meat and dairy products are often rich
in fat as well and as we've learned too
much fat can cause health problems this
is why fish is one of the best sources
of protein it is low in fat and contains
good fat to cut down the fat and protein
rich foods choose leaner cuts of meat
shrim away the skin and fat replace your
hamburger with a black bean burger or
your meat taco with a bean taco and buy
low-fat or fat-free milk yogurt and
cheese
so far we've learned that our bodies can
only get energy measured in calories
from the three basic food nutrients
carbohydrates lipids and proteins we've
learned about complex and simple carbs
constructed from monosaccharides and
disaccharides
we've learned that unsaturated fat is a
healthier choice in saturated or trans
fat we've learned about proteins
constructed from amino acids and that
low-fat protein sources are the
healthiest choice in the next video
you'll learn about the other nutrients
your body needs like water vitamins
minerals and fiber these nutrients do
not supply the body energy but give us
other essential items stay tuned and
you'll be well on your way to great
nutrition