Speak about sports nutrition PART 1
Food composition:
It is important to distinguish between food and nutrition. Food is called the act of providing the body with food and ingestion. It is a conscious and voluntary process, and therefore it is in our hands to modify it.
Nutrition is understood as the set of physiological processes by which the body receives, transforms and uses the chemicals contained in food. It is an involuntary and unconscious process that depends on bodily processes such as digestion, absorption and transport of nutrients from food to tissue.
To carry out all the processes that allow us to be alive, the human organism needs a continuous supply of materials that we must ingest: the nutrients.
A first distinction can be made between the components of any food based on the quantities in which they are present: macronutrients (macro = large), which occupy the highest proportion of food, and micronutrients (micro = small) Which are only present in very small proportions.
Macronutrients are the famous proteins, carbohydrates (carbohydrates) and lipids (fats). It could also include fiber and water, which are present in considerable amounts in most foods.
Among the micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. They are essential for the maintenance of life, even though the quantities we need are measured in thousandths.
This compound consists of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. These last two elements are found in carbohydrates in the same proportion as in water, hence its classic name for carbohydrates, although its composition and properties do not correspond at all with this definition.
The main function of carbohydrates is to provide energy to the body. Of all the nutrients that can be used to obtain energy, carbohydrates are the ones that produce cleaner combustion in our cells and leave less waste in the body. In fact, the brain and nervous system only use glucose for energy. This avoids the presence of toxic residues (such as ammonia) in contact with delicate nerve tissue cells.
• Classification of carbohydrates (HC):
- Starches:
They are the fundamental components of man's diet. They are present in cereals, vegetables, potatoes, etc. They are the energy reserve materials of plants, which are stored in their tissues or seeds in order to have energy at critical times.
Chemically they belong to the group of polysaccharides, which are molecules formed by linear or branched chains of other smaller molecules and sometimes reach a large size.
- Sugars:
They are characterized by their sweet taste. In this classification, there are different types of HC:
• Simple sugars or monosaccharides: glucose, fructose and galactose are absorbed in the intestine without prior digestion, so they are a very fast source of energy.
• Complex sugars or disaccharides, sucrose (sugar cane, among others) that consists of a molecule of glucose and fructose.
- Fiber:
It is present in vegetables, fruits, nuts ... These molecules are so complex and resistant that we are not able to digest them and reach the large intestine without assimilation.
• Reserves of carbohydrates: glycogen
Glycogen is stored in the muscles, but this reserve of energy is only used to produce energy in the muscle itself in situations that require rapid and intense muscular activity. If this limit is reached, excess blood glucose is converted to fat and accumulates in adipose tissue as a long-term energy reserve (the so-called michelines).
It is important to distinguish between food and nutrition. Food is called the act of providing the body with food and ingestion. It is a conscious and voluntary process, and therefore it is in our hands to modify it.
Nutrition is understood as the set of physiological processes by which the body receives, transforms and uses the chemicals contained in food. It is an involuntary and unconscious process that depends on bodily processes such as digestion, absorption and transport of nutrients from food to tissue.
To carry out all the processes that allow us to be alive, the human organism needs a continuous supply of materials that we must ingest: the nutrients.
A first distinction can be made between the components of any food based on the quantities in which they are present: macronutrients (macro = large), which occupy the highest proportion of food, and micronutrients (micro = small) Which are only present in very small proportions.
Among the micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. They are essential for the maintenance of life, even though the quantities we need are measured in thousandths.
1. Carbohydrates or carbohydrates:
The main function of carbohydrates is to provide energy to the body. Of all the nutrients that can be used to obtain energy, carbohydrates are the ones that produce cleaner combustion in our cells and leave less waste in the body. In fact, the brain and nervous system only use glucose for energy. This avoids the presence of toxic residues (such as ammonia) in contact with delicate nerve tissue cells.
• Classification of carbohydrates (HC):
- Starches:
They are the fundamental components of man's diet. They are present in cereals, vegetables, potatoes, etc. They are the energy reserve materials of plants, which are stored in their tissues or seeds in order to have energy at critical times.
Chemically they belong to the group of polysaccharides, which are molecules formed by linear or branched chains of other smaller molecules and sometimes reach a large size.
- Sugars:
They are characterized by their sweet taste. In this classification, there are different types of HC:
• Simple sugars or monosaccharides: glucose, fructose and galactose are absorbed in the intestine without prior digestion, so they are a very fast source of energy.
• Complex sugars or disaccharides, sucrose (sugar cane, among others) that consists of a molecule of glucose and fructose.
- Fiber:
It is present in vegetables, fruits, nuts ... These molecules are so complex and resistant that we are not able to digest them and reach the large intestine without assimilation.
• Reserves of carbohydrates: glycogen
Glycogen is stored in the muscles, but this reserve of energy is only used to produce energy in the muscle itself in situations that require rapid and intense muscular activity. If this limit is reached, excess blood glucose is converted to fat and accumulates in adipose tissue as a long-term energy reserve (the so-called michelines).
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