Good Nutrition and Nutritional Science
Good nutrition means having a basic understanding of how carbohydrates, vitamins, fats, minerals, etc, all interact with your cells. When we talk about good nutrition we must also have an understanding of the way our body works at the cellular level, and to have an understanding of cell structure and function as it relates to nutrition. To have good nutrition you should have a basic understanding of how carbohydrates, vitamins, fats, minerals, etc., all interact with your cells. How this interaction at the cellular level turns into energy for physical work repairing of the body and general maintenance of the body. To be able to have and understand good nutrition, you should also want to understand how your body balances out the foods that you eat with the work that is output. To have good nutrition habits you should also know how the exercises and stresses that you place on your body impacts your nutritional needs. Read along and learn about the nutritional science of your body starting at the cellular level and expanding to the organism ie., YOU!
Human Cells
Good nutrition start out at the basic structure of our body, the cell. At the simplest level, body’s cells are designed to extract nutrients from the foods that we ate and use these nutrients to provide the fuel need to keep alive. Now you can start to appreciate why good nutrition needs to start at the cellular level, it is at this level that good nutrition keeps us alive.
Our body’s function is dependent on how each cell in our body functions. In an average 150 pound male there are about 100 trillion cells. An to be able to maintain life, each of these cells must interact together in multiple ways. Some of the major things that take place within our bodies that depend on our cells working together are: tissue growth, waste extraction, circulation, reproduction, nutrition absorption, and the list goes on. To be able to perform at our best, our cells must function properly. How do you insure that your cells are functioning at their best? It all starts with good nutrition. Without good nutrition, our body can go into nutritional deficits that can throw off the balance of the cellular functions which can lead to a decrease in health and human performance.
I’m sure that you have heard that “cells are the building blocks of life”. Cells are the simplest organisms that can have a life of their own. For good nutrition it is important to also know about the structure of the cell since at this sub-cellular level there are chemicals that are responsible for our physiological functions and metabolism. And we all talk about our metabolism, but how many of us truly know what takes place at the sub-cellular level? You should know that every single cell within our body contributes to human metabolism. Therefore, good nutrition is important for proper metabolism.
The Organism
What do I mean by “The Organism”? Well, take a look in the mirror; it is you! The human organism is built of various tissues structures and various chemicals to withstand the many different environments that it can be exposed to. These conditions range from, hot, cold, humidity, food scarcity, etc. Other amazing aspects about the human body is that it can reproduce, fix itself, replace/regrow pieces that have been removed, all with the main purpose of staying alive. This striving to stay alive is also known as homeostasis. Homeostasis is our body’s striving and ability to maintain a stable/constant internal condition.
The Organ Systems
Us humans, “The Organism” are made up a series of different structures starting at the very basic level of atoms to form molecules, which form organelles, to form cells, that form tissue, and these tissues make up our organs. The organs make-up all of the organ systems, which in turn make the Organism “Us”.
To learn in detail about these systems see:
The Human Body is Organized at 6 Different Levels
Levels I and II – Atoms Molecules and Cells
Level IV, V, and VI – Body Systems
Organization of the Human Body
What Does Knowing About the Organ Systems have to do with Good Nutrition?
As you can see, the human body is a very complex organism that is designed to live in various environments. The ability to be able to live in these environments has a direct correlation and reliance on the function of our cells. Most importantly is the ability of specific organelles to be able to send and receive messages and most importantly, for them to create proteins. Think about it this way, nearly every function that takes place in our bodies is dependent on the production of proteins. Not only that, our bodies are dependent on the function that these proteins perform. At every level of the human body, we are dependent on the cells and the proteins that make up those cells.
Nutrition at the Cellular Level
Now that we have discussed an overview of how we as an organism are organized, lets take a closer look at how good nutrition works at the cellular level. There are three general categories of nutrients and they are macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, and fats), micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and the lesser known phytochemicals (these are chemical compounds occurring naturally in plants such as Beta-Carotene). All three of these categories of nutrients are broken down from the foods that we eat into even smaller subsets such as amino acids, glucose, glycogen, etc., through the process of digestion. The digestive process is where the absorption of the foodstuff that we eat enters our bloodstream and interacts with the cells in our body.
Nutrients Enter Into Our Cells
Good nutrition starts with thinking about the food that you eat because they will be digested and play many different life-giving roles. Once taken into the cell some nutrients are stored for later use as potential energy. This is the energy that is released when the chemical bonds of the macronutrients are broken down. These nutrients are also used as raw material that can be incorporated into our body structure as such things as tissue and organs.
And as mentioned earlier, all of the chemical reactions that take place in our body are dependent on proteins; and one of these specific proteins are called enzymes. Enzymes are the life center of all cells within our body because all our cells require enzymes to survive and function. Enzymes are the catalyst that make chemical reactions happen faster. Enzymes are critical to the body for breathing, swallowing, drinking, eating, and the digestion of our food. Good nutrition is important because enzymes often use the foods that we eat to gather the nutrients they need to function properly.
The last major way that nutrients interact at the cellular level is by the releasing of hormones. Hormones are released in response to the specific foods that we eat. Again, another reason to understand good nutrition. Hormones are our body’s chemical messengers which direct our overall body function. Good Nutrition = Good Overall Body Function.
Good nutrition is important on many levels. Good nutrition influences out physiological functions and overall well being/health. Good nutrition influences our body structure/makeup, and influences our overall performance. Good nutrition starts at the cellular level and that is why good nutrition and the food choices that you make play such a critical and important aspect of living a fitness lifestyle.
