The Nutritionist: Food, Nutrition, and Optimal Health

by Wildman; Robert E.C.

• ISBN13: 9780789014788
• ISBN10: 0789014785
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-07-17
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Use this valuable book to make better food/diet/nutrition supplement choices for your clients (and yourself)! The Nutritionist provides an overview of the basic concepts involved in nourishing the human body in an organized and progressive first-person question-and-answer format. Its eminently readable style and easy-to-understand graphics will enhance your comprehension of applied nutrition topics such as energy nutrients, vitamins, and minerals as well as energy metabolism and body composition, exercise, heart disease, and cancers. Healthcare professionals, personal trainers, nutritionists, and lay readers will all find valuable, easily understood information in The Nutritionist. The book lays the foundation with a review of the basic concepts of body composition and related scientific concepts, which are invaluable in understanding the nutrition information that follows. It examines molecules, chemical reactions, energy, acids and bases (pH), free radicals and oxidation, and water solubility. With this foundation, concepts such as lipoproteins (LDL, HDL, blood cholesterol), antioxidants, energy, metabolism, body composition, exercise, heart disease, and cancer are easily understandable. This unique book "s first-person, question-and-answer style brings you quick access to current information about nutrition and: energy metabolism energy nutrients weight control body composition exercise vitamins and minerals nutrition supplements osteoporosis diabetes mellitus heart disease cancer and more! The Nutritionist provides straightforward answers to basic questions about the body and how to nourish it. Use it to make better choices for your clients and to help them reach the performance and health goals they set.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
The Very Basics of Humans and the World We Inhabit	1	(20)
Our Most Basic Objectives	1	(1)
Atoms and Molecules Make the Human, Not Clothes	2	(8)
Energy Is Everything	10	(3)
Water Solubility Determines How Chemicals Are Treated in Our Body	13	(3)
Acids and Bases Contribute to the Chemistry Lab of Our Body	16	(1)
Free Radicals Are Biological Bullies; Antioxidants Are Cellular Superheroes	17	(4)
How Our Body Works	21	(36)
Cells Are Life	21	(10)
We Hang Our Body on the Bony Skeleton	31	(3)
Nervous Tissue Is Electrical and Excitable	34	(5)
Skeletal Muscle Allows Us to Move	39	(4)
The Heart and Circulation Are a Fantastic Delivery System	43	(6)
Our Kidneys Are Filtering Systems	49	(1)
Digestion Makes Nutrients Available to Our Body	50	(4)
Hormones Are Messengers Traveling in Our Blood	54	(3)
The Nature of Food	57	(20)
Nutrients Nourish Our Body	57	(11)
Nutrition Supplements Are a Multibillion-Dollar Industry	68	(9)
Carbohydrates Are Our Most Basic Fuel Source	77	(24)
Carbohydrates Power Our Body	77	(3)
Carbohydrates Are Absorbed As Monosaccharides	80	(8)
The Level of Circulating Blood Glucose Is Tightly Regulated	88	(9)
Fiber Is an Important Nutraceutical Family	97	(4)
Fats and Cholesterol Are Not All Bad	101	(28)
The Basics of Fats and Cholesterol	101	(8)
Fatty Acids Can Vary in Length, Degree, and Type of Saturation	109	(8)
Fat Is Our Most Significant Means of Storing Energy	117	(6)
Fat and Cholesterol Need Special Help to Get Around in Our Body	123	(6)
Proteins Are Our Structural and Functional Basis	129	(18)
Proteins Are Combinations of Amino Acids	129	(4)
Protein Is Found in All Natural Foods and Enters Our Body As Amino Acids	133	(4)
Some Amino Acids Are Essential Components of Our Diet	137	(3)
Body Protein Is a Fuel Reserve Similar to Glycogen and Fat, but Not Exactly	140	(4)
Interest in Specific Amino Acids Is Growing	144	(3)
We Are All Wet	147	(10)
Water Is the Basis of Our Body	147	(2)
Our Body Loses Water	149	(4)
Water Is an Essential Nutrient	153	(4)
Energy Metabolism and Body Composition	157	(42)
Human Composition	157	(2)
Supply and Demand Economics of Body Weight	159	(7)
Metabolism Equals Energy Expenditure	166	(9)
Obesity Has Become a Modern-Day Nutrition Epidemic in Some Countries	175	(8)
Pinching, Dunking, and Electricity Are All Used to Assess Body Fat	183	(2)
Food and Activity Are the Sculptors of Our Body Composition	185	(7)
Smart Weight Loss Employs Smart Planning and Execution	192	(7)
We Need Vitamins for Vitality	199	(42)
Vitamins Are Vital Molecules in Our Food	199	(2)
Water-Soluble Vitamins Are Vitamin C and the B-Complex Vitamins	201	(24)
Vitamins A, D, E, and K Are Vital Lipids	225	(16)
The Minerals of Our Body	241	(44)
The Major Minerals Include Calcium, Phosphorus, and Electrolytes	241	(20)
Minor Minerals Function As Components of Proteins and Other Molecules	261	(24)
Exercise and Sports Nutrition	285	(38)
The Intensity and Duration of Exercise Determines the Adaptation	285	(2)
Muscle Is Fueled by Carbohydrates, Fatty Acids, and a Small Amount of Protein	287	(2)
Muscle Cells Are Not All the Same	289	(6)
Resistance Training Is Hard Work but Well Worth the Effort	295	(5)
Nutrition Supplements Marketed to Enhance Muscle Mass Abound	300	(7)
Aerobic or Cardiovascular Training Is Good for Your Heart and Metabolism	307	(7)
Sport Drinks Are Liquid Performance	314	(2)
Many Programs and Products Are Touted to Improve Endurance Performance	316	(7)
Nutrition Throughout Life	323	(26)
Making a Baby Is Complicated	323	(5)
Babies Work Their Way Up to People Food	328	(6)
Kids Grow Fast	334	(4)
Adults Are Faced with a New Set of Nutrition Concerns	338	(3)
Osteoporosis Is Bones with Holes	341	(8)
Nutrition and the Major Killers of Humans	349	(36)
Heart Disease Is a Matter of Bad Plumbing	350	(21)
Hypertension Hurts the Heart and Blood Vessels	371	(4)
Cancer Is When Good Cells Go Bad	375	(10)
Appendix A: Periodic Table of Elements	385	(4)
Appendix B: CDC Growth Charts, United States	389	(12)
Suggested Readings	401	(2)
Index	403