Important materials in your food

Foods contain different materials that help your body stay strong and healthy. One of the most important of these is proteins. They are absolutely necessary if the body is to grow, or if it is to repair any injuries or damage to itself. Some of the principal sources of protein are lean meats, fish, and dairy products like milk and cheese.

The sugar and starches, known as carbohydrates, are substances that everyone needs. They supply energy for the body. Potatoes, seed vegetables such as corn or lima beans, and grain products like rice, spaghetti, bread, cake, and cookies are some of the foods that are sources of carbohydrates.

Your body also needs other materials, called vitamins and minerals. These two important substances help the body to make good use of the foods you eat by making sure the proteins and carbohydrates do their jobs. They also help the body to make body tissues such as bones, teeth, muscles, nerves, and blood. By eating animal products like meat, eggs, and milk, and using plenty of fresh vegetables and fresh fruits daily you can be sure of providing your body with the vitamins and the minerals it needs.

William K. DURR

From Workbook for Images

c Look up the words ‘proteins’ and ‘carbohydrates’ in a

dictionary for correct pronunciation and meaning.

d Name the four beneficial functions of proteins, carbohydrates,

minerals and vitamins.

e Make up a list of foods which supply our body with all the

necessary materials.

8 The important problem of healthy food is the right balance of all

necessary materials in our diet.

a Discuss with your partner the value of a balanced diet. Agree

or disagree with the following statements. Skim the text below

which will help you with the arguments.

1) If we eat food with more calories than we need, we get fat.

2) It is better to eat regular meals than to wait for one big feast at

the end of the day.

3) We should try to reduce the amount of bread and potatoes we eat.

4) Fibre is an important part of a good diet.

5) If other members of our family get fat quite easily, we probably

will too.

6) If we like eating sweet things, it’s probably a habit we learnt

from our parents.

7) Men are just as likely to get fatter as they grow older as women

are.

8) It’s useless for most people to take vitamin pills.

9) People differ in the food they enjoy and also in the way food

affects them.

10) A bad diet can damage our health.

1

The average person swallows about half-a-ton of food a year – not counting drink – and though the body is remarkably efficient at extracting just what it needs from this huge mixture, it can only cope up to a point.

If you go on eating too much of some things and not enough of others, you’ll eventually get out of condition and your health will suffer.

So think before you start eating. It may look good. It may taste good. Fine! But how much good is it really doing you?

2

What you eat and the way it affects your body depend very much on the kind of person you are. For one thing, the genes you inherit from your parents can determine how your body-chemistry (metabolism) copes with particular foods. The tendency to put on weight rather easily, for example, often runs in families – which means that they have to take particular care.

And your parents may shape your future in another way. Your upbringing shapes some basic attitudes to food – like whether you have a sweet tooth, nibble between meals, take big mouthfuls or eat chips with everything.

Eating habits, good or bad, tend to get passed on.

And then there’s your lifestyle. How much you spend on food (time as well as money), how much exercise you get - these can alter the balance between food and fitness.

And finally, both your age and your sex may affect this balance. For example, you’re more likely to put on weight as you get older, especially if you’re a woman.

So, everybody’s different and the important thing is to know yourself. Read on and see if you think you are striking the right balance.

3

Your food should balance your body’s need for –

NUTRIENTS (proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water) – the raw materials needed to build and repair the body-machine. ENERGY (calories) – to power the body-machine, all the thousands of different mechanisms that keep you alive and active.

DIETARY FIBRE (a complex mixture of natural plant substances) – the value of which we are just beginning to understand.

4

If you’re eating a fairly varied diet, it is just about impossible to go short of proteins, vitamins or minerals. It is likely, too, that you have more than enough fats and carbohydrates.

Take proteins for instance. On average, we eat about twice as much protein as we need.

Vitamin pills aren’t likely to help either. A varied diet with plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and cereals along with some fish, eggs, meat and dairy products will contain more than enough vitamins. Unless you have some special medical reason, it is a waste of time and money to take vitamin pills.

As for minerals, there is no shortage in the average diet and it is useless to have more than you need.

5

Just about everything you eat contains energy – measured as calories; the higher the number of calories, the more energy. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that eating extra energy-rich foods will make you more energetic. The amount of energy in your daily diet should exactly balance the energy your body-machine burns up. If you eat more than you use, the extra energy is stored as body fat. And this is the big problem.

6

Over hundreds of thousands of years, man’s food came mainly from plants.

He ate cereals (like wheat), pulses (like beans and peas), vegetables, fruit and nuts. So our ancestors were used to eating the sort of food that contains a lot of fibre.

In comparison with our ancestors, the sort of food we eat today contains very little fibre. Our main foods are meat, eggs and dairy products, which contain no fibre at all.

Lack of fibre seems to be connected with various disorders of the digestive system. Some experts also believe that lack of fibre may even lead to heart disease.

If you’re worried about your weight, eating more fibre may actually help you to slim! Food with plenty of fibre like potatoes or bread can be satisfying without giving you too many calories.

From The Health Education Council

b Comment on the following phrases:

1) … it can only cope up to a point … ; 2) … you’ll eventually get out of condition … ; 3) … the tendency <…> often runs in families … ; 4) … have a sweet tooth … ; 5) … nibble between meals … ; 6) . these can alter the balance … ; 7) … you are striking the right balance … ; 8) … a fairly varied diet … ; 9) … go short of proteins … ; 10) … extra energy is stored as body fat … ; 11) … the digestive system … .

c Write down an outline of the article.

d Give a brief resume the article.

9 A great many people nowadays have become the advocates of a

vegetarian diet.

a Discuss with your partners the following:

1) Can you explain the meaning of the word ‘vegetarian’? 2) Do you guess how old the practice of vegetarianism is? 3) Do you know any famous people who refused to eat flesh food? 4) What is your attitude to this sort of diet? 5) Can you speak on the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of plant food?

b Look through the text below and say if …

• there are any facts that support your ideas about vegetarians.

• there is new information for you (if yes, which?).

• all the arguments in favour of vegetarianism seem convincing to you.