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stored in the body. Your body needs only small (about 40-60 grams per day) amounts of carbohydrates to function normally.
Fats - These are foods primarily used to efficiently store energy. They also store vitamins in the body and make foods you eat taste better. Reducing the amount of fats in the diet is part of any weight loss regimen. For example, if you eat 100 calories of excess carbohydrates, the body can only store 77 calories as fat. 23 of the food calories are "burned up" just changing carbohydrate into storage fat. On the other hand, 100 excess calories of dietary fat is stored as 97 calories of body fat - the body only uses up 3 calories storing them. That is why fat restriction is important for weight loss - it is so easy for the body to convert it to body fat!
Minerals - These are chemical elements used by the body for normal metabolism. An example would be iron which is used to make new red blood cells and calcium, which is used for bones and teeth.
Metabolism - A complex chemical equation which is defined as the rate at which a person utilizes (or, simply, burns) calories. The "metabolic rate" can be slowed down by certain medical conditions (such as low thyroid function), crash-diet programs (the body thinks it is starving), and age. Metabolism can be increased and made more efficient by increasing muscle mass or certain medications (such as anorectics). Even eating causes metabolism to go up for 60-90 minutes after the meal. Exercise, itself, increases your metabolism for hours after you finish exercising.
- These are the third type of food or macronutrient (along with carbohydrates and fats) and the most important to the body. All living cells require protein for normal function and intake of adequate protein in the diet is necessary for rebuilding damaged or aging cells and growth. Proteins are built from individual building block called amino acids. The best source of high quality proteins comes from meats, fish, poultry, and certain vegetables.
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