Essential amino acids

Amino acids are formed of an amino group, a carboxyl group, and a side chain. Human body is unable to synthesize 9 essential amino acids. These essential amino acids must be obtained from food. The essential amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. Such amino acids as arginine, cysteine, and tyrosine may be required in particular situations for premature babies and in people suffering from liver disease. Meat, fish, eggs, and dairy products are important sources of high quality proteins. Essential amino acids in these products can satisfy human requirements. The food proteins such as egg albumin, milk casein, and wheat gluten are digested into their constituent amino acids and then absorbed from intestine. Amino acids in the body are connected by peptide chemical bonds forming proteins such as enzymes, hormones as well as structural, transport, and contractile constituents of the body. Plant foods taken separately are less suitable protein sources. However, balanced vegetarian diets can also satisfy human protein needs if they harmonize each other with essential amino acids.

Essential fatty acids

People have particular nutritional demands for certain organic substances. Among them are essential fatty acids. The case is that human body is unable to synthesize 2 essential fatty acids called linoleate and linolenate. Therefore, these essential fatty acids must be obtained from dietary plant sources. Human body may store assimilated fatty acids or oxidize them to get energy. These essential fatty acids are important precursors of eicosanoids needed for numerous significant metabolic processes. Essential fatty acids take part in the production of phospholipids that are important constituents of cell membranes and nerve fibers. Production of some hormones also requires participation of essential fatty acids. From all these standpoints, essential fatty acids are valuable dietary substances. Vegetable oils are precious sources of linoleic and linolenic essential fatty acids. Deficiencies of these essential fatty acids may develop in patients with disordered intestinal absorption, babies fed with low-in-fat formulas, and small children consuming nonfat milk or meals low in fat.

Moderate thinness

Moderate thinness and limits of moderation

Everything in life has its limits and even "moderate" doesn’t always mean "good". For example, moderate thinness may be unhealthful. Why? How to find it out? If your BMI is low, you may be moderately thin. To detect moderate thinness you must know your normal weight range determined with BMI calculator. Suspect moderate thinness if your weight is 10% below the ideal one. Inadequate nutrition and excessive physical activity may cause this unpleasant condition. If you are in stress, overwork, sleep bad, skip meals, fast, have dyspepsia, diarrhea, constipation, hepatic dysfunction, and sexual problems your way to moderate thinness is paved. Low energy levels make people with moderate thinness indifferent, easily tired, and susceptible to infections due to weak immunity. If you want to forget about this condition, keep to diets containing more calories than are spent.

Vegetable oil

The notion vegetable oil includes important substances such as olive, peanut, coconut, cottonseed, sunflower seed, soybean, safflower, rape, sesame, mustard, red palm, and corn oils. Vegetable oil contains unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and is liquid at room temperature. Valuable essential linoleic acid may be found in corn, sunflower, cottonseed, and safflower oils. Any vegetable oil produces more calories than other foods. Practically any natural vegetable oil contains carotene and vitamin E, which is valuable antioxidant important also for healthy sexual activity. Oils are consumed in the form of various foods. Industrially, vegetable oil is produced from seeds and fruit by means of pressure extraction. Then, oils undergo processing to get neutral or yellow color and to remove odor. Oils are used in breads, rolls, and other baked foods. Unsaturated oils may be hydrogenated and used for shortening and cooking.

What are fats?

Fats are natural organic triglycerides composed of three molecules of fatty acids and one molecule of glycerol. Triglycerides are the main food lipids. Fats are stored in the body as adipose tissue. Fats are lighter than water and are water insoluble. However, fats are soluble in organic solvents. In the pure state, fats do not possess any taste, color, or odor. Examples of pure fats are palmitin, stearin, and olein. Fats in adipose tissue are mixtures of several pure fats and free fatty acids in different proportions, which determine their properties. Fats may be saturated or unsaturated. Saturated fats are usually more stable and are solid at room temperature. People consume fats getting them from food. Some natural fats, such as butter and lard, may be used in food almost without preparation. Fats are extracted from animal tissue by boiling in water with subsequent cooling and skimming.

What are carbohydrates?

People, wanting to know what are carbohydrates, must bear in mind that carbohydrates are the main source of energy. Carbohydrates are represented by starches found in grains, legumes, and tubers as well as by sugars in plants and fruits. The living cells use carbohydrates in the form of glucose. After absorption from the intestine, glucose gets into the liver and is stored there as glycogen. Another portion of glucose passes into the bloodstream and is carried to the muscles and organs. Carbohydrates are burned during metabolic processes producing energy, carbon dioxide and water. Foods with high carbohydrate content are often the cheapest and richest in energy.

Women and Weight

Facts about BMI calculator for women

Nobody can deny that women are better or may be the best half of humanity. Unfortunately, some of them may experience significant problems with their weight and health. How to correct this sad state of the art? Science! Researchers developed unique bmi calculator for women based on the 1985 NIH recommendations. BMI calculator for women is a reliable indicator of weight condition and shows the shortest way to reach the ideal weight. Knowing normal weight range any woman can easily determine required weight loss or needed weight gain. Women are curious and desire to know their future. BMI calculator for women predicts health risks associated with various weight problems and shows how to avoid them.

What are lipids?

For some people the word "lipids" may seem strange and difficult-to-understand. However, all consume them every day and so bear these substances inside their bodies. Animal fats, vegetable oils, and well-known cholesterol are lipids. Fats do not always mean obesity and cholesterol should not necessary be linked to atherosclerosis. Lipids perform many useful roles in the body. For example, they realize the transport of fat-soluble vitamins and take part in their absorption from gastrointestinal tract. Lipids make food more attractive, improve food taste, and fill the eater with the senses of satisfaction after meals. Fatty tissue concentrates energy for future needs, protects the body from cold, remaining at the same time effective shock absorber for the body. Cholesterol is good for cell membranes and takes part in their building. Cholesterol is also needed for the production of sex and adrenal hormones.

Normal Weight

To know normal weight it is important to determine body mass index.
If weight does not fall under the category of normal weight, the risk for hypertension, heart problems, stroke, arthritis, and diabetes is increased. The best approach to achieving normal weight is active application of BMI calculator.


BMI and normal weight
BMI allows detecting the normal weight range for the given height. BMI calculator links a determined number with the weight showing individual BMI. For adults BMI is analyzed by means of approved weight categories. For Asians the normal weight range is lower. Athletes may have an increased body mass index remaining fatless. Among children and teenagers BMI is interpreted taking into account age and gender particularities.

BMI less than 18.5 points to underweight category. In this case it is good to talk to doctor and determine potential correlation between the weight and some possible medical problem.

BMI between 19 and 25 reflects normal weight.

BMI from 25 to 29.9 shows overweight category.

BMI equal to 30 or higher is characteristic for obesity. In this case it is necessary to lose weight changing eating habits and activity levels.

BMI particularities
There is direct connection between BMI and body fat. However, this connection depends on sex, race, and age. Women usually accumulate more fat in comparison with men. Older people have more fat than younger ones. Professional athletes have higher BMI due to increased muscular mass. It is also good to bear in mind that BMI is not the only indicator of the risk for disease.

How to achieve normal weight
It is important to know that BMI determined with BMI calculator is a trustworthy indicator of weight categories including normal weight. A person who is a little overweight may, however, remain healthy keeping to healthy diets and practicing regular exercise. Thin people may be not healthy because good eating and sufficient activity are important for health and normal weight. For some under- or over-weight people it may become necessary to change their attitude to eating and activity. Maintaining normal weight is significant for defense against obesity and associated diseases. If the weight exceeds the normal weight, losing weight is favorable for health.

What I must know about food energy

Nutrition is a biological process when food constituents are turned into body tissues and energy for various kinds of activity is provided.








How food energy is supplied

The body gets energy from digested foods. This energy is used for muscular work and metabolic activity to keep the body construction and functions in order. These processes are inseparable from heat production. Heat exchange is controlled by particular mechanisms to maintain body temperature within normal range. The organism is constantly destroying and manufacturing its own constituents. Foods provide nutritive substances required for building new materials and covering energetic needed for chemical reactions.

Units of energy

Carbohydrate, fat, and protein serve as sources of satisfying energetic necessities. Food energy is measured in Calories. Another unit of energy measure is the joule. The joule measures the energy from the standpoint of mechanical activity. 1 Calorie is equal to 4.184 kilojoules.

How the energy is measured

Food energy can be detected by means of measuring heat produced by burning various foods. Energy values for 1 gram are: carbohydrate-4 Calories (17 kilojoules); protein - 4 Calories (17 kilojoules); and fat - 9 Calories (38 kilojoules). Vitamins, minerals, and water do not produce energy. However, they may take part in energy releasing. Food energy can be calculated knowing the amounts of nutritional constituents. Foods are usually mixed sources of energy. However, sugar and vegetable oil are pure carbohydrate and fat sources.

Relationships between energy sources in diets

Usually about 12 - 15 % of energy is taken from protein, 30 - 40 % from fat, and 50 - 60 % from carbohydrate. The body can adapt to different diets and nutrient combinations. However, different dietary approaches may be associated with various health consequences.

Health consequences of wrong nutrition

Nutritional diseases may develop from under- or over-nutrition.

Obesity results from excessive caloric consumption. Obesity may lead to serious medical conditions such as chronic oxygen deficiency, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and vascular degeneration. Excessive consumption of fat soluble vitamins can end in their amassing to toxic levels in cells and tissues.

Protein and caloric malnutrition develop if the quantity and quality of food are insufficient. Protein malnutrition results in significant weight loss leading to infections with gastrointestinal bacteria and parasites.

Vitamin deficiencies develop against the background of inadequate diets. Vitamin deficiencies also arise as a result of disturbed vitamin absorption or increased vitamin loss. Vitamin deficiencies are possible during rapid growth of children, teenagers and in pregnancy when the requirements in nutrients are increased.

Calories per Pound of Fat

Why do people ask questions about calories per pound of fat?

Calories per pound of fat attract attention of people who think about weight loss because this notion is useful for planning dietary measures and performing necessary calculations. As a matter of fact, the main idea is to get rid of the excessive fat by means of burning it and producing necessary amount of fat calories. This explains the fact that people try to find relationship between fat and calories per pound of fat. Obese people are interested how they may burn calories per pound of fat in the most effective manner. Those who add exercise to their weight loss program want to know exactly how many calories per pound of fat they must burn during exercise to reach the goal. These are reasons of asking questions about calories per pound of fat.

The understanding of calories per pound of fat

It is very good to know that a pound of fat corresponds to 3500 calories.
What are fat calories? People must know that burning 1 gram of fat produces 9 calories. At the same time 1 gram of carbohydrates or 1 gram of protein may give in each case 4 calories. Scientists remind us that heat produced during metabolic activity is measured in calories. Therefore, in order to burn fat and produce heat and calories overweight people must increase the metabolic activity. Taking this into account, obese people must do their best to take reduce the daily food consumption by 500 calories. A week of this caloric abstention means that it is possible to subtract 3500 calories from weekly food intake, which to some extent equals to 1 pound of fat. In other words 3500 calories per pound of fat signify that one pound of fat disappears from adipose tissue. However, nutritionists warn that the daily reduction exceeding 500 calories may even provoke the organism to fat accumulation as a compensatory reaction to undernourishment. On the other hand, excessive additional consumption of 500 calories daily results in additional 3500 calories per pound of fat weekly and gaining a pound of fat. It means that those who dream of losing excessive weight must create a deficit of calories. As a matter of fact, such people simply must burn more calories and fat than they consume with food. The amount of this created deficit influences upon the velocity of weight loss.

How to lose calories per pound of fat efficiently

People that keep to usual diet without exercise need 2 000 calories a day. Those who consume more than 2 000 food calories a day in this case are inclined to fat accumulation because excessive calories produce weight gain. Nutritionists affirm that to burn calories per pound of fat efficiently the healthy diet must be combined with sufficient physical efforts. The lack of exercise against the background of consuming more than 2,000 calories a day with food leads to weight gain. Some people with high metabolic activity do not experience much trouble in burning excessive calories. However, people with slow metabolism burn calories slower. The right diet does not always help and people with reduced metabolic activity accumulate excessive weight rather quickly. The attempts to reduce radically the food consumption may become counter-productive and worsen the health condition. This is why nutritionists do not recommend concentrating only on fat calories per pound of fat. The calories must be calculated with awareness, considering keeping to a balanced diet and practicing regular exercise. The calories per pound of fat are only one of the numerous factors determining the effective weight loss. Sometimes, overestimation of calories per pound of fat may mask the entire image of the situation. The right approach is to control calories

Successful approaches to burn calories per pound of fat

People, who understand better calories per pound of fat together with some other useful approaches to burn fat, will succeed quicker in their attempts to lose excessive weight efficiently. Specialists do not recommend consuming large amounts of carbohydrates particularly in the second part of the day. Preferable carbohydrates must possess low glycemic index. It is good to divide meals into small parts during the day and eat the largest part in the morning. Water in sufficient amounts plays an important part in this project.
Exercise is the key factor in losing weight because muscle stimulation helps burn fat most effectively.