Monday, December 6, 2010

The Importance of An Average Teens’ Healthy Diet

The following blog contains information on nutrition focusing on an average teenager. For a growing teenager nutrition is a very essential part of maintaining a healthy life.

One of the ways nutrition affects teenagers is that teens need the right types and amount of nutrients to support their growing bodies. The teen years are when the most growth occurs throughout a humans' entire life. It is important to take food choice and amount into consideration in order to get the correct nutrients, because without them teenagers' may not have the appropriate building materials to develop and grow their bodies. If teens' were to miss out on growth and development during their "prime" years then they may never be able to make up for that missed growth. An example of the point above is the vitamin calcium; bones develop quickly during teen years (nearly half of your bones are formed during these years,) and calcium is what is needed to make bones. Eating calcium during teen years will also help to prevent from bone fractures later in your life because calcium makes bones strong and healthy and your body cannot take in as much calcium after your teenage years. Another example is protein, without eating enough protein during teen years (the prime time for growing muscles) you won’t be able to repair and grow your muscles during the present and it is harder to make up for this missed opportunity as you get older.

A Picture of Rickets 
Another reason why nutrition is important for teenagers is the food choices they make now will affect their eating habits as well as their health status later on in life. Adults often pick up on nutrition habits that they acquire during their teenage years, whether the habits are good or bad. Also nutrition affects peoples' health in later years because if you do not eat a certain amount of a nutrient you may acquire a deficiency or an excessive amount of that nutrient which can affect your development, your health now and your health in the future. An example of this is vitamin D. With out enough Vitamin D an adolescents body cannot take in calcium and can develop a condition called rickets which will cause the softening of bones in later years. A more common example of this would be something like acquiring too much fat and then suffering from heart diseases later in life.

Finally a third reason why nutrition is essential for a teenager is like that of any other human; to provide the right amount of calories to meet energy needs. Humans get their energy from the calories in the foods that they ingest. If too many calories are consumed then a person may become overweight, or obese. When a person suffers from becoming overweight then it strengthens their chances of heart disease and stroke. On the other hand if a person were to eat too little calories the consequences could be severe as well. It is possible that the person would not be able to carry on their daily activities and be a victim of constant fainting. If you eat near the right amount of calories for you then the benefits are vast, you can think clearly, move around, perform your daily activities and much more!
Too Little Calories

Just Right Amount of Calories
Too Many Calories




http://helpguide.org/life/healthy_eating_children_teens.htm
http://www.medpages.ie/health-centers/healthy-eating/vitamin-d/

Daily Caloric Intake

A person should have a good amount of calories every day. There are many factors that limit the amount of calories you should eat, these including sex, age, and energy use. There may be other factors but these are the main factors that affect your every day diet. The first factor, sex, is important as males and females grow in different ways each day. The amount of calories a teen should eat is defined by their gender, an average teenage girl should eat 1600 to 1800 calories a day to maintain her weight, while an average teenage boy should be eating 2200 to 2400 calories to maintain his weight. The second factor, age, for an average teenager you should eat the recommended [(girl) 1600 to 1800, (boy) 2200-2400] amount of calories, but as you get older, the amount of calories you eat should decrease. Lastly, your energy usage determines the amount of calories you should eat, you can be less active, averagely active, active, or very active. Each individual based on their level of activity should be eating different amounts of calories.

http://www.helium.com/items/1045497-how-many-calories-a-day-do-teens-need

Macronutrients

This post is about three major macronutrients. There are carbohydrates, proteins, and fat.

First of all, carbohydrates are used for energy, for instant use or for later use and each gram of carbohydrates gives you four calories. When there is a lack of carbohydrates taken in, your body uses proteins for energy and may even use muscle tissues. This is why it is important to always have a good supply of carbohydrates in you; about 55-60% of your diet should be made up of carbs. Your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose; it can be immediately used or stored as glycogen. The muscles are used to store the glycogen. The bloodstream is also used to store broken down carbohydrates called glucose. If both are filled, then the excess carbohydrates are turned to fats, where they’re stored for future usage. There are four types of carbohydrates, these including, mono-saccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides, and fibers. First, mono-saccharides are simple sugars like glucose, fructose. They are the basic building block of carbohydrates and are the smallest forms of carbohydrates. The next type of carbohydrates, disaccharides are made of two mono-saccharides like sucrose, which is made up of glucose and fructose. The last carbohydrate is polysaccharides are made up of many mono-saccharides, healthy examples of these include starches (bread, grains, rice etc.). Another form of carbohydrates are fibers, around 20 grams of dietary fiber is necessary in our diet and you can get fiber from eating whole grain items like some cereal. Fibers are used to many things in your body from excrement elimination or for the absorption of cholesterol in the bloodstream. You may think carbohydrates are bad and make you gain weight, but they’re really important in an everyday diet.

Proteins are primarily the basic structure of living cells. They are used to make hormones, plasma, enzymes, and in some case (in the lack of carbohydrates) they are used to provide energy (four calories per gram.) Proteins are made up of amino acids strung together. There are 20 amino acids, 9 are considered essential amino acids, because your body cannot make them. A person should consume these 9 amino acids from other foods in their diet. Amino acids are critical parts of assisting the function of the Central Nervous System (CNS). Protein is broken down into all the tissues in our bodies, but the liver and muscles use most of these. Proteins that contain the 9 essential amino acids are called complete proteins, while ones that don’t are called incomplete proteins. Meats, milk, cheese fish and eggs are all complete proteins. Examples of incomplete proteins are vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds. Although you can eat different types of incomplete proteins to gain all nine of the essential amino acids, hence eating one incomplete protein for breakfast and one for lunch is comprised of a completed protein. Proteins are used to build tissues and/or as energy storage. When a person fasts, the body can break down the tissues, muscles and even organs as an energy source. Protein intake is determined by the individual and daily activities you perform. Tissue growth is determined to injury, weight training, or pregnancy. If you don’t eat enough proteins, your body can go through hair loss and/or brittle and discolored fingernails. The muscles in your body will start to weaken and decrease in size and your body won’t be as strong. Your diet should consist of roughly 15-20% proteins.

The last macronutrient is fat, fats are required to produce cell membranes, body fats, bile, steroids and vitamin D. Fats are made of glycerol and fatty acids. Body fat is important for the body temperature regulation (insulation). Fats also are used to transport and absorb vitamins, to supply energy (9 calories per gram) when there is a shortage of carbs, and to aid in skin growth and conservation.  Fat molecules are made up of a glycerol backbone and several fatty acid chains. About 25-30% of you diet should be made up of them. Fats are digested in the small intestines, they then are transported through the blood and stored as glycerol and other fatty acids in fat cells. When they are needed, they are released into the bloodstream as fatty acids for energy. You may think that fats, essentially make you fat. But fats are actually essential to survive. If you eat no fats, this leads to severe internal as well as external problems. Fats control chemicals that manage blood pressure, contractions (child birth), blood clots, gut motion and your immune system. These chemicals are only manufactured as needed. Cholesterol is closely related to fats, it is important for producing cell membranes, sex hormones, bile and vitamin D. Although cholesterol is good for the maintaining of the body, too much cholesterol can be very hazardous to you. You should maintain the amount of fats you eat as too much can result in your arterial walls being clogged. HDL is the good cholesterol, it transports cholesterol to the liver, while LDL is caused by large intake of saturated fats and puts you at risk of heart disease. Unsaturated fats consists of two groups, monounsaturated fats, and polyunsaturated. The monounsaturated fats have been shown to actually lower the chance of heart disease. Arteriosclerosis is when your arteries are clogged, this can lead to a decrease of blood flow and can cause blood clots. If your arteries become too clogged, the blood stops flowing to your heart and you can die of a heart attack. Cardiovascular health is good and proper diet helps protect from this. Some of the healthiest foods that you can find fat in are dairy products like milk and some cheese. Fat can be found in many other healthy foods also though but in much smaller amounts.

Overall, a good intake of each macronutrient is good for your body. The body needs all the macronutrients to retain good health. This is because carbohydrates, proteins and fats all contain different types of nutrients your body needs to survive.

http://www.shapefit.com/macronutrients.html
http://www.dietitian.com/fatlower.html

Foods That Should Be Avoided or Limited

Although a balanced diet is key in maintaining a healthy diet there are some foods that should be limited or completely avoided. The list as follows is a list of foods that should be avoided or limited and although they are very tempting to teenagers, teens should try to avoid them as much as possible, or limit their intake on them. These foods include soft drinks, fast foods, salt, foods' that are high in saturated or trans fat, simple sugars, and highly processed foods.

Nutrition Box of a Big Mac
Soft drinks should be completely avoided. The reason why is that they contain many calories while they contain either very little nutrients (in terms of daily values) or none. So when you drink them your filling up on the daily amount of calories you need but your not getting any of the other nutrients you need to get from your food. Fast foods should also be avoided; the reason why is that they contain many calories, nutrients that you can get from other much healthier foods and they contain tons of trans fats, saturated fats, and oils. Take for example a McDonald's hamburger.


Salt should be limited because it's already found in many of our foods and it is very easy to consume too much of it. Studies show that if you eat a lot of salt on your foods when you are young then when you are older you will eat your foods with much more salt then it is good for you and that you will have a increased chance of stroke and obesity. Like all people teens should limit the trans fat and saturated fat they consume. Most teens are lead to believe that all fats are bad but this is not true it is mainly the trans fat and saturated fat that is unhealthy. In America teens tend to eat 50% more the
recommended serving of trans and saturated fats, which is a major health risk. According to the American Hear Association a serving of some foods high in saturated/trans fats contain enough for the whole day! Due to this foods that are high in these types of fats should be limited, otherwise it would be impossible to avoid consuming to much of this saturated/trans fat. Simple sugars should also be limited; they have a bad effect on the blood sugar levels of teens but some is still needed. Some examples of foods you might find simple sugars in are packaged cookies and candy. Highly processed foods are another food that should be limited. Various types of processed foods are injected with hormones, additives, preservatives, unnatural material, chemical, irregular enzymes, and fatty acids. Some processed foods are much more unhealthy then others (for example bacon and chips compared to airborne) so try do to research on the processed foods that you eat to see how healthy they are for you. There are also several other foods that should be limited by teenagers that we did not mention in this post (due to not trying to make this article so long) so try to find out what those other foods are.

http://ezinearticles.com/?A-List-Of-High-Fat-Foods-That-Are-Bad-For-You&id=740783
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0846/is_12_22/ai_104943689/pg_2/?tag=content;col1
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fast-foods-generic/8053/2
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A 3 Day Meal Plan To Help Get You Started Eating Healthier

Here is a example of an 3 day meal plan for a average teenager. Some of the following foods will be hyper linked in order to show you the recipe for making them.

Day 1:
Breakfast -
1 piece of toast w/ light butter.
1 Granny Smith Apple.
Two Hard Boiled Eggs.
2 Cups of 1% milk.
1 Link Sausage.

Snack- Kellogg's Cereal bar

Lunch -
A scoop of brown rice
Stir Fry (a little chicken of beef can be added to the recipe)
1 Glass of Water

Snack- Several whole grain crackers (can be eaten with thin strips of cheese)

Dinner -
1 Cup of Cesar salad w/ ¼ cup of halved pecans
A palm sized cut of Planked Salmon (marinated in Soy sauce)
1 ½ scoops of brown rice
A bowl of various fruits (with very little whipped cream on top)
2 cups of 1% milk


Day 2:
Breakfast -
½ cup of bran flakes cereal
1 6 oz. low fat yogurt
1 ½ glass of orange juice
Several strawberries or other fruits (3-6)

Snack- 1 Cut spiced walnuts

Lunch -
2 ounces of Sesame Seared Tuna w/ Ginger-Carrot Sauce on 1 cup of spinach
1/2 cup of pasta 
1 cup of assorted fruits (Grapes, cut bananas, cut apples)
1 glass of water

Snack- Kellogg's cereal bar

Dinner -
3 ounces of preferably organic chicken (a little salt may be used or a light layer of barbecue sauce)
1 scoop of mashed potatoes
1 ½ cups of broccoli, carrots or green beans, or a mix
2 cups of 1% milk
1-2 homemade organic chocolate chip cookies


Day 3:
Breakfast -
½ of  this omlet
1 ½ cups of tossed fruit (strawberries, oranges, grapes)
1 piece of toast
2 cups of 1% milk

Snack - 2 ounces of baby carrots


Lunch -
1 Turkey Sandwich with Tomato and Lettuce, Low-Fat Mayonnaise
1 Apple banana
2 Cups of pure apple juice
1 Cup of White Grapes


Snack- 1 granola bar

Dinner -
2 ounces of Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Shrimp on 1/2 cup of tossed salad
½ cup of cut carrots in the salad
1 ½ cups of 1% milk
1 Blackberry Crepe w/ buttermilk cheese





http://mypyrimad.gov/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/82920-creating-eating-meal-plan/

Go Out and Apply What You Have Learned!

Now that you have learned a little something about nutrition importance, what kinds of foods to eat, and macromolecules hopefully you will apply it to your lifestyle. If you are an average teen, as you can see what you consume is very important for the present and for the upcoming years. This blog cannot give teenagers all the facts about nutrition so why not go do a little more research on it. Remember that not only does food affects your well being but exercise as well. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and we hope that the information you have learned from us will help you!


Image Bibliography:
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http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/lemon-rosemary-grilled-shrimp
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http://www.aurorahealthcare.org/yourhealth/healthgate/getcontent.asp?URLhealthgate=%2211590.html%22
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