Discuss How the Components of a Balanced Diet.

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Unit 11 The Impact of diet on health P1 A good diet provides the body with enough energy and nutrients to maintain good health. A balanced diet will contain vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates, water and fibre. The amounts vary for every individual depending on their size, metabolism rates and levels of activity. A bad diet can cause malnutrition. Eating too much of one component can do as much harm as not eating enough of it. A balanced diet will have the right proportions of fat, protein and carbohydrates as they provide energy. They are all essential for the management of bodily functions. Our body cells convert nutrients into other components and are then used for metabolism and other cellular reactions. Starch, a major carbohydrate is converted to glucose and then reconverted into fat storage. Amino are not produced by cells and have to be included in our diets. It is important that our diet contains adequate protein, calcium, iron and Vitamins A and D. We need calcium for strong teeth and Vitamin D for healthy bones Carbohydrates Carbohydrate is an organic compound which contains sugars and starches there are 2 types of carbohydrates, simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates provide our body with energy. They are found in foods like, fruit, butter, cheese, yoghurts, sugar, pasta and bread. Complex carbohydrates are found in vegetables, whole grain breads, pasta and brown rice. The body takes longer to digest these but they give you longer lasting energy. If our body lacks carbohydrates it uses fat as a source of energy. If the diet lacks carbohydrates stores of fat are mobilised and used as an energy source. Fats Fats, also known as lipids are essential in a diet as they are high in energy. We also need essential fatty acids which can be found in vegetable and sunflower oils and soya and maize. Lack of fatty acids can result in hair

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