Nutrition Guide

What is Nutrition ? back to top

From the moment we are born we need food our mothers milk is probably the most nutritious food we will ever have, for most people it is down hill from there but it doesn't have to be. If you were to live longer feel better and look healthier by eating well would you clean up your diet ?

Nutrition is a vast subject we will attempt to cover some of the basic principals and we will be adding to them  over time. We are all told over and over about the important of good nutrition, we are not going to go into diet plans here or fat loss what we aim to do is give you the information to understand what you are eating.   

Food is any solid or liquid which when swallowed can supply any of the following: 

• Material from which the body can produce movement, heat or other forms of energy.

• Material for growth, repair or reproduction.

• Substances necessary to regulate the production of energy or the processes of growth and repair

The components of foods which have these functions are called nutrients, a good diet will provide adequate amounts of all the nutrients required without harmful excesses, from a wide range of foods.

What are Daily Requirements back to top

The bodies has certain daily requirements to provide us with our nutritional needs. Our bodies are like finely tuned engines. It is a delicate balance if the daily requirement for nutriments is short, we may not notice anything straight away but if you regularly miss out on our daily requirements we will begin to develop physical or mental health ailments. The more understand your daily requirements, the more likely we are to get them.

The daily requirements can be catagorized into two basic groups.

2.Vitamins and minerals, these create the chemical reactions in our bodys to make the systems run.

How Many Calories a Day ? back to top

The more muscle you have, the more you burn, even when you are still because muscle tissue needs more calories, this is why bodybuilders eat so much and still look lean.

Activity level back to top
The total amount of energy required by individuals depends on their level of activity and on their body weight. In particular, the more active they are, the more energy they can consume without gaining weight. Below are examples of the energy a person weighing 60 kg would expend doing the following activities for 30 minutes:

• Ironing – 69 kcal
• Cleaning and dusting or walking (strolling) – 75 kcal
• Walking – 99 kcal
• Hoovering – 105 kcal
• Golf – 129 kcal
• Tennis (doubles) - 150 kcal
• Walking (briskly) - 150 kcal
• Mowing lawn (using power-mower) - 165 kcal
• Cycling – 180 kcal
• Aerobics – 195 kcal
• Swimming (slow crawl) – 195 kcal
• Tennis (singles) – 240 kcal
• Running (10 minutes/mile) – 300 kcal
• Running (8.5 minutes/mile) – 345 kcal
• Running (7.5 minutes/mile) – 405 kcal

RDA Vitamins and minerals back to top
UK Recommended Daily Allowances

Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble. This means that a certain amount of fat is needed in the diet to help the body absorb these vitamins. Unused supplies can be stored in the body.
The B group vitamins and vitamin C are water soluble. They cannot be stored in the body so we need a daily supply of them from the diet.

Vitamins back to top