When you grab a quick bite from the vending machine, you may not be informed of the nutritional information of what you are eating.

What goes into your body has a big impact on your health. A poor diet can actually cause deficiencies, life threatening conditions like metabolic syndrome, obesity and weight gain, and chronic systemic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The seven major classes of nutrients that are vital for human life are minerals, vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, water and fats. Let’s take a look at the nutritional value of these nutrients.

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Nutritional value is a term used on today’s food labels. It points out the amount of a nutrient that is provided by a single serving of a food item. Daily values are used to establish standards for comparison. Nutritional information is presented in a format regulated by law. It is therefore consistent from product to product and allows you to compare the foods available to you. It gives you a break down of the energy provided by the food and of the nutrients it contains.

Fats

Fats are composed of fatty acids bonded to a glycerol. Fat is classified as either saturated or unsaturated. Generally, saturated fat is solid at room temperature while unsaturated fat is a liquid. Unsaturated fats may be further classified as mono-unsaturated or poly-unsaturated. Trans fats are saturated fats which are typically created from unsaturated fat by adding the extra hydrogen atoms in a process called hydrogenation.

Fiber

Dietary fiber consists mainly of cellulose that is indigestible because we do not have enzymes to digest it. Fruits and vegetables are high in dietary fiber. Dietary fiber is important because it provides bulk to the intestinal contents and stimulates peristalsis - the rhythmic muscular contractions passing along the digestive tract.

Water

About 70% of the non-fat mass of the human body is made of water. Normally, about 20 percent of water intake comes from food, while the rest comes from drinking water and beverages. Water is excreted from the body in many forms; through urine and feces, through sweating, and by exhalation of water vapor in the breath.

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Minerals

Dietary minerals are the chemical elements required by living organisms, and are present in common organic molecules. They include macro-minerals like calcium, magnesium, and sodium, as well as trace minerals such as cobalt, copper, chromium, iodine, iron, manganese, nickel and zinc. Nutritional supplements are available to

Carbohydrates

Complex carbohydrates take longer to metabolize since their sugar units are processed one-by-one off the ends of the chains. Simple carbohydrates are processed quickly and thus raise blood sugar levels more quickly resulting in rapid increases in blood insulin levels compared to complex carbohydrates.

Protein

Protein is composed of amino acids that are our body’s structural materials like muscles, skin and hair. The body requires amino acids to produce new body protein and to replace damaged proteins that are lost in the urine. Amino acid requirements are classified in terms of essential and non-essential amino acids. Consuming a diet that contains adequate amounts of essential amino acids is particularly important for growing animals.

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Vitamins

As of 2005, twelve vitamins and about the same number of minerals are recognized as “essential nutrients”, meaning that they must be consumed and absorbed in nutritional supplement form - or, in the case of vitamin D, alternatively synthesized via UVB radiation - to prevent deficiency symptoms and death.

Standards and recommendations for nutritional information in the US are currently under the supervision of the US Department of Agriculture. Guidelines for exercise and diet from the USDA are presented as the food pyramid, a model that has replaced the concept of the four food groups.

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