The Building Blocks of Your Diet
Certain nutrients are essential to your healthy lifestyle.
Obviously we eat foods every day that aren’t so good for
us – but it’s important to focus on the really important
nutrients, especially if you want to see some gains in the
weight room!
Complex Carbohydrates
Complex carbs are chains of three or more sugar molecules linked
together. This forms something that we refer to as a “starch,”
which has very high energy density. Translation: Complex carbs
fuel your body. Complex carbs also form glycogen in your
muscles, which gives you long term endurance.
Where can you get complex carbs?
Bread
Pasta
Cereal
Potatoes
Corn
Fibre
Dietary fibre is the term for any part of plants that your body can’t
digest. Fibre is handy because it keeps everything moving
through your digestive system; absorbing water and making your
whole digestive process run smoothly. Fibre has the added
benefit that it makes you feel full, which helps you control how
much you eat. It also lowers the cholesterol level in your
bloodstream.
Where can you get fibre?
Whole grains (brown rice, barley, oats)
Vegetables
Fruit
Legumes
Protein
Protein contains various types of amino acids, which your body
uses to create its own proteins, to repair your tissue. Protein is
the most fundamental nutrient – you literally cannot survive
without protein in your diet. There are many different sources of
dietary protein, and by all accounts, vegetable protein is just as
good for your body as animal protein, and in a lot of cases,
vegetable protein sources are better for you.
Where can you get protein?
Meat
Fish
Soy beans
Milk
Cheese
Yogurt
Eggs
Tofu
Peanuts
Iron
Your body uses iron to form hemoglobin, which is a component of
red blood cells. Hemoglobin spreads oxygen through your
bloodstream to your cells, which is essential to their function.
Without enough iron in your blood stream, you’ll start to suffer
from a condition known as iron deficiency, and eventually,
anaemia, which means that your body will lack the energy to
accomplish basic tasks. It’s important to ensure you’re getting an
appropriate intake of iron to avoid this from happening.
Where can you get iron?
Meat
Eggs
Spinach
Tofu
Cooked Beans
The Four Food Groups
Yes we’ve all heard about the food pyramid by now. But
here is a look at the big 4 and how they fit into your
healthy diet.
Fruits and Vegetables:
Females need 7-8 servings of fruits and veggies, and males need
8-10. These foods are rich in vitamins and will also help fight the
risk of cancer and heart disease. There are all sorts of different
foods in this group, and you can eat them any time of the day. Try
citrus fruits or bananas in the morning, apples or carrot slices as a
snack, and don’t forget about good old fashioned salads.
Grain Products:
Grains are a great source of dietary fibre and complex
carbohydrates. Females need 6 to 7 servings a day, and males
need 8. It’s helpful to choose grains that are lower in fat, and to
choose whole grains instead of refined grains (yes, I know, you
think white bread tastes better, but trust me on the multi-grain.)
Try a bagel or some toast with breakfast, or a nice bowl of Vector
– and throughout the rest of the day, keep up with pasta, bread,
and oats.
Milk and Alternatives:
Milk and alternatives contain calcium, which helps strengthen
your bones. They also contain Vitamin D. If you’re lactose
intolerant, make sure you’re still getting a milk substitute so that
you’ll get enough vitamin D. The best source is from a nice glass
of milk, but cheese and yogourt are options too. Whether you’re
male or female, you need 2 servings a day from this category.
Meat and Alternatives:
Males need 3 servings a day, and females need 2 from this
category. Even if meat doesn’t form a part of your diet plan, this
is still an important category as this is where you get protein, fat,
iron, zinc, and a number of important vitamins. Try to avoid
choosing meats that are too fatty, and instead focus on fish and
white meat – or on tofu, beans, and lentils.
What about Sweets?
Yes, there are delicious things in all of our diets that don’t
necessarily fit into the Canada Food Guide. Here’s a look
at a few of the products that college students enjoy on a
regular basis.
Alcohol
Strictly speaking, alcohol isn’t terrible for your body – you tend to
metabolize it and clear it out of your bloodstream relatively
quickly. In limited quantities, like a glass of wine with dinner,
alcohol isn’t going to hurt you. However, think about the choices
you’re making when you drink. Beer is loaded with simple
carbohydrates, and people tend to get a lot more simple carbs by
drinking beer than they’d realise – your average can of beer has
12 grams of carbohydrates, which is the same amount of carbs as
one sugar cookie. So if you drink a six-pack of beer, aside from
the alcohol issue, you’re basically eating six sugar cookies worth
of carbs. Gross. Aside from that, we tend to mix hard liquor with
soft drinks, which aren’t good for you at all, and once drunk we do
tend to eat an awful lot more junk food.
Fast Food
Speaking of fast food that we associate with alcohol, how about
that ritual late night trip to McDonald’s? Or that slurred phone
call to Domino’s? Fast food meals are full of empty calories – the
average meal at McDonald’s (your cheeseburger, fries, and a
pop,) will run you close to 1000 calories, which is almost half of
your day’s intake at a single sitting. This is also 1000 calories full
of sugar, saturated fats, and grease. It’s enough to make you
wonder if maybe a late-night trip to Pita Pit would make a little bit
more sense.
Candy
Speaking of empty calories, the term was pretty much invented
for candy. If you ate a 500g bag of your favourite candy (think
gummy bears, fuzzy peaches, etc,) you’re essentially eating a big
bag of sugar. While candy certainly is delicious, there is
absolutely nothing good for you in it, and you’re better off just
viewing it as a treat.
Energy Drinks
Yes, Red Bull and Rockstar are helpful at the end of a hard day,
but they’re surprisingly loaded with calories due to sugar.
Rockstar, in that handy tall boy can, has over 200 calories and a
whopping 50 grams of sugar. Yes, it has more caffeine than a cup
of coffee, and it’s fairly tasty, but these are not something that
you want to form a habit with. On top of the sugar and the
calories, energy drinks also tend to contain a lot of mystery
ingredients, which can cause potential health risks.