Good nutrition is the foundation for a healthy lifestyle. It is essential to maintaining optimal physical and mental performance, to defending against infectious and chronic diseases, and to living a long and healthy life. It can help protect against chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. It can also reduce the risk of… Read more
Articles on Food & Nutrition
Core Nutrition Articles
The following articles clearly explain how to optimize nutrition by providing detailed information about each macronutrient (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats). Each macronutrient serves an essential role within the body. Thus, a well-balanced must include all three macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fats). Also check out EMG’s Healthiest Foods List. Carbohydrates Simple Carbohydrates Complex Carbohydrates Sugar Fiber… Read more
What Is Protein?
Protein is one of the three primary macronutrients needed by the body (fats and carbohydrates being the other two). They are peptides made up of small building blocks called amino acids. During digestion, protein breaks down into its amino acid components. Then, these amino acids are absorbed by the intestines and used by the body… Read more
High Protein Foods List
Proteins are made up of amino acids and are used by the body to maintain, repair, and build tissues, including muscles and other organ systems. Stressing a muscle through daily activity, aerobic exercise, or resistance training breaks down its muscle fibers. These muscle fibers must then be repaired. In order for repair to take place,… Read more
Simple Carbohydrates & Complex Carbohydrates
Over the past decade or two, carbohydrates have been demonized for their presumed role in the growing waistlines of Americans. Consequently, “low-carb” diets, such as the Atkins Diet, emerged to combat the intake of carbs. The problem with this line of reasoning is that, although consuming excessive amounts of simple carbohydrates can cause weight gain,… Read more
Sugars: Stay Away From Refined Sugars
As humans, we instinctually prefer sweet foods. Unfortunately, consuming simple sugars, especially in excess, can have detrimental effects on overall health. Additionally, simple sugars rapidly increase blood glucose levels, which then decrease just as rapidly. These acute shifts in blood glucose contribute to overconsumption and weight gain. Initially, sugars rapidly raise blood glucose levels. As… Read more
Fiber: The Importance of Fiber
A diet high in fiber is important for overall health. Why? Foods containing fiber slow carbohydrate digestion, minimizing surges in blood glucose. As discussed in the CARBOHYDRATES article, simple carbohydrates are digested quickly by the body and cause blood sugar levels to rapidly rise and then rapidly fall, progressively harming the body over time. Excessive… Read more
Fats: Saturated Fat vs. Unsaturated Fat
Fats are the most energy dense of the three macronutrients. They provide about 9 calories per gram, while carbohydrates and proteins provide about 4 calories per gram. As a result, we have become a highly “fat-phobic” society seeking out many non- and low-fat food alternatives. Although excessive fat intake is certainly not a healthy lifestyle… Read more
Polyunsaturated Fat
Polyunsaturated fat is a type of unsaturated fat. In general, this class of fats has a beneficial effect on your heart when eaten in moderation and when used to replace saturated fat and trans fat in your diet. From a chemical standpoint, polyunsaturated fat is simply a fat molecule that has more than one unsaturated… Read more
Trans Fat: What Is Trans Fat?
Trans fat is man-made fat formed by artificially “transforming” polyunsaturated liquid fats (corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, and cottonseed oils) to solid fats. Trans fats are entirely man-made (e.g. they do not exist anywhere in nature) and are the worst possible type of fat one can consume. While trans fat is technically still a type of… Read more
