Nutrients, And Foods They Are Found In.

You don't need to be a scientist to plan well-balanced, nutritious and delicious meals for your family, but it is useful to have some understanding on the nutritional values of foods. The food pyramid makes planning a balanced diet easier, though at times, you may require more detail.

For example, you may want to know which foods can help cure a common ailment. If so, use this information to find out what the individual nutrients do, and which foods are the best sources.


PROTEINS
Found mainly in : meat, fish and eggs, breast milk, and dairy products; peas, beans and nuts.

What they do : Proteins are made up on amino acids, and are the body's building blocks. Children need proteins for growth, and we all need them for good digestion, energy production, and the formation of new cells to replace those that are worn out or damaged.

Protein-containing foods supply a range of amino acids. Meat, fish, breast milk, dairy foods and eggs contain the whole range of essential amino acids but non-animal protein foods, such as beans and peas, don't. However, a mixture of plant proteins will provide all of the essential amino acids. So, provided your family has a variety of protein-containing foods each day, they will get all they need, even if they are vegetarians.


CARBOHYDRATES
There are 3 forms of carbohydrates: sugars, such as fruit sugar (fructose), milk sugar (lactose), and the sort of sugar you add to food (sucrose) starches; and fibre. Starches and fibre are called complex carbohydrates.

SUGARS
Found mainly in : fruits, vegetables, honey, breast milk, dairy foods

What they do : Our body can use sugars as a ready source of energy. The sugar you find in packets or sweetened foods is extracted from sugar cane or sugar beet. Honey and maple syrup are very rich in natural sugar, but do not contain any fibre, so their sugars behave more like added sugar in the body.

Added sugar is also a major cause of tooth decay, while sugars in fruit and vegetables tend to be washed from the teeth by the increased saliva flow as they are chewed.


STARCHES
Found mainly in : grains like wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice, corn, buckwheat, millet, sorghum, beans, peas, and lentils; root vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, potatoes, beetroot, swede, turnips, yams and sweet potatoes; bananas and plantains.

What they do : Starches are broken down into sugars and used for energy.