Nutrients

Donuts. Come to Leon. Leon Hungry! Yes, no wonder Leon is hungry now... But, donuts?

Donuts... always good! But doesn't this look tasty? Or this... ? Leon - hungry!

Or this... ! Why go for this food from these plates? Let's back up a little. When you are exercising or moving around your body feels great. The heart is strengthened, the lungs can breathe better and the muscles get stronger.

But in order to exercise and for the body to work, you must drink and eat. Your body consists of water and the same kind of nutrients that you get from the food you eat. Like this: Water, Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fat, Minerals and vitamins. In fact, more than half of the body is water! When you have exercised and been sweating, you get thirsty.

But you also lose water when you go to the toilet, and even when you breathe. Without water, we could only survive a few days. We can however endure several weeks without food. Get out of here - I can never survive several weeks. GIVE.

ME. FOOD. NOW! The body needs energy; and most of that energy it gets from carbohydrates. Most of those carbohydrates are broken down into a sugar called glucose.

Glucose gives energy to your cells, but the glucose that can't be used immediately is kept in reserve in the liver and muscles. And if you get too big a surplus it will be stored as fat. Different kinds of carbohydrates are broken down at different rates. White bread, pasta and rice for example, quickly become glucose and provide energy right away. "Fast carbohydrates," we say! Fastest of them all is pure sugar, as in ice cream, soda and candy.

These carbohydrates will provide energy fast... but it will only last for a short while before you need a refill. In this wholegrain bread the carbohydrates are ‘slow'. This is because the glucose is bound in long molecules -- starch molecules -- that take longer for the body to break down. So energy is distributed over a longer period of time, and you are able to stay active longer.

So although the racing car is faster, which might look tempting, the slow carbohydrates will get you a longer distance. Protein is found in legumes, soy-products, eggs, meat, and dairy products. It's the body's building material. It builds your muscles, and even your skin and hair. But that doesn't mean you need to eat that much protein.

Many of the proteins your body needs it builds itself, with the carbohydrates you've eaten. Fat is the nutrient that contains the most energy. More than twice the energy than the same amount of carbohydrates. Fat also insulates against cold and cushions your organs from impact. But, if you don't use all of the energy the fats provide it will be stored as surplus fat; and too much of that is not healthy.

Fats in food make it tastier and contain several important vitamins. And speaking of vitamins... Your body needs many different kinds of vitamins. Vitamins help us to keep fit and well. We also need minerals.

For example Iron - so that your blood is able to carry oxygen around your body, and calcium and phosphorous to build your skeleton and teeth. You will find lots of vitamins and minerals in fruit and vegetables for instance. Now you know about nutrients, let's look at the plates again. These plates are examples of how you can combine your nutrients to be healthy. - As you see... - Stop prattling on, let me eat! Ok.

But I'm curious, which plate do you fancy most? "Eat me" "No me!" "No me!" Donuuuuuuts!!!