Importance of Eating Healthy

 

Here are some interesting facts to grab your attention: did you know that half the worlds population live on a staple diet of rice? Our lives consist of school, sports, social activities, and eating. Every single person who is looking at this blog have at one point in their lives done any combination of these things. Eating healthy is very important. It gives us the energy we need to do these things, along with other rudimentary tasks we have to perform through out our day. Having a balanced, healthy diet will not only help you get through these tasks quicker and less painfully, but you will feel better doing it as well.

Having energy throughout your day is important for you to do well in the present time, but it's also helpful for your future. Combine this with an active schedule and you can do wonders in keeping your body healthy through out your life. Eating healthy and having good eating habits now can determine eating habits when you get older, help prevent you from getting horrible health conditions (high blood pressure, diabetes) and keep your body weight under control.

            Did you know the average human consumes 35 tons of food in a lifetime, and then about 1500 pounds of food a year? There's some more interesting fact to keep your attention. The reason we did this blog (besides it being mandatory) was to hopefully teach some of you good health tips and some things that you wouldn’t have known about if you hadn’t read our blog. So, hope you enjoy reading it!

Daily Caloric Requirement for Teens

            The daily caloric requirement for teens changes and varies due to many different variables. How active are you? What's your weight, your gender? Even your height can affect your individual caloric intake. There are, however, basic guidelines you can follow.

 

TEENAGERS	Boys: 11-14yrs Girls: 11-14yrs	2,220 1,845
TEENAGERS	Boys: 15-18yrs Girls: 15-18yrs	2,755 2,110

 

This graph was taken from this website: http://www.vitalhealthzone.com/nutrition/diets/recommended_calorie_intake.php#1 check it out for more information on Nutrition. Also, if you wanted to calculate your own individual daily caloric intake, you can visit this website http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/calories-burned .

Importance of Carbohydrates, Proteins, and Fats

Carbohydrates, proteins, and even fats are all very important to help the body function. These three macronutrients are what are needed and should make up the average teenager's diet. Carbohydrates as well as proteins and fats are found in most if not all food sources, but it is important to know how much one needs, what makes up these important nutrients, the role they play in our bodies, and which foods are the healthiest choices.

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates or carbs for short is composed of carbon, hydrogen, and water. Carbs play an important role in keeping our body functioning its internal organs, nervous system, and muscles. Carbs are what makes up more than half of a healthy diet because out of the three macronutrients it is the most important and one used most by the body. In fact http://www.healthychildren.org says that, "Most nutritionists recommend that complex carbohydrates make up 50 to 60 percent of a teenager’s caloric intake." There are two types of carbohydrates, complex and simple. The ones the body needs are the complex ones such as beans, whole grain starches, and even in fruits. Visit http://www.betterhealthusa.com
/public/268.cfm for more information.

Protein: Protein is comprised up of amino acids, which our body needs and uses as energy. There are two types of amino acids. One type of amino acid is essential amino acids, which are amino acids that cannot be synthesized or combined together inside a human or animal. The other amino acid is non-essential amino acids, which are acids that can be synthesized and combined by a human or animal. Protein is needed by our bodies to grow; hair; skin; finger and toe nails; the proper function of internal organs, the most important being the brain and heart; and healthy blood cells. In a healthy teen diet 14%-18% of calories should be from protein. For more information on how much protein should be in your diet visit http://www.adoptionarticlesdirectory.com/Article/Teen-Diets-and-Protein-Requirements/90264. A few healthy food choices for protein are eggs; cheese; fish; beans; and soy products. To find out more please visit http://www.betterhealthusa.com
/public/268.cfm.

Fat: This three-letter word is made up of two things glycerol and fatty acids. Glycerol is a colorless and odorless liquid in fat. The fatty acids are acids with tails attached to them that are either saturated or unsaturated. To find more out on what makes up fat go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat.
Fats just like carbohydrates have different kinds bad, and good. The bad fats are saturated and trans fat. Saturated fat is fat that can solidify in room temperature. This fat can be found in animal products such as meat. Trans fat also known as "partially hydrogenated oils" lower HDL cholesterol, which is the good kind and raise LDL, which is the bad cholesterol. Having too much trans fats in your diet can also lead to heart disease and cancer. To learn more about both fats visit http://www.smartbalance.com /?gclid=CMPXnr7tw6ECFR9aiAod1CdZ-Q and http://www.betterhealthusa.com/ public/268.cfm.
The healthy and good fat for your body are Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Not enough Omega-3 in your diet is linked to learning disabilities like ADHD and more. Good sources of Omega-3 are cold-water fish like salmon and fresh tuna, flaxseed and oil, and pumpkin seeds. Avocados and olive oil are also good sources of other healthy fats.
Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats all play very important roles in having a healthy diet. Without enough of these macronutrients your can become overweight and have many health complications. Macronutrients help keep your body running and healthy. There are a lot of different types of foods, but knowing what is in them and what kinds are healthy for you will ultimately lead to a healthier diet.

Foods to Avoid

Foods to Avoid:

An average teenager in America exposed to many different foods, healthy and unhealthy. Living in Hawaii, we are introduced to cuisines from around the world. Yet as high school students, we have a tendency to choose the most damaging foods. The media poisons our minds with pictures of kings, white castles, and golden arches serving fast food to happy, young adults living picture perfect lives. Yet this serene life is far from the truth. Many of the meals that we enjoy the most can be leading us to a premature death.

Many of the worst foods are the ones we like the best. Generally, it is best to avoid foods high in saturated fat, sugar, sodium, nasty additives, or full of empty calories (foods that contain high calories but minimal nutritional value). Here is a list of some common foods to cut out from your diet or at least eat in moderation to lead a healthier life:

French Fries: Yes they taste good but they are soaked in oil and some have preservatives like here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-ljW5YEdao

Potato Chips: The same reasons as French fries.

Sodas: Soda is bad for you on many levels. It usually offers tons of sugar and caffeine, not to mention it isn’t so great on your teeth. Even "diet" sodas are bad with many of them using artificial sweeteners that are known to have unpleasant, long term side effects including being linked to certain types of cancers.

Processed Meats: This includes spam, hotdogs, and many other breakfast meats that come from a factory. They contain highly processed meat “byproducts", and preservatives to help them last longer. Generally it is bad to eat anything that has mystery ingredients.

Instant Ramen Noodles: An essential food for college these packets of goodness are empty calories and filled with sodium.

White Starches: Breads and pasta that are white all contain white processed flour that contributes only empty calories and carbohydrates. White rice is also processed and has a healthier alternative of brown rice.

Energy Drinks: Monster, Amp, and Red Bull all have crazy amounts of carbohydrates, sugar, and caffeine. Red Bull has even been linked to some deaths around the world and France even banned the drink.

3-Day Meal Plan

Three-Day Meal Plan:

Although cutting unhealthy foods from your diet is helpful, you must do more to become healthier. To life a healthy lifestyle, you have to fuel your body with wholesome and nutritious sustenance. Here is an example of what you can eat to accomplish a healthy lifestyle:

Day 1:

Breakfast:

Bowl of Oatmeal

Boiled Eggs

Organic Papaya

Orange Juice

Lunch:

Turkey and Provolone Sandwich on Whole Wheat

Apple

Bottle of Water

Dinner:

Brown Rice

Salad

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken

Lightly Fried Tofu

Strawberries with Low fat Yogurt

Day 2:

Breakfast:

Kashi Cereal

Bananas possibly on cereal

Low fat/Skim Milk

Lunch:

Chinese Chicken Salad

Orange

Baked Bun

Iced Tea

Dinner:

Lasagna

Caesar Salad

French Bread

Milk

Day 3:

Breakfast:

Lowfat Yogurt with fresh blueberries

Granola bars/bits

Orange Juice

Lunch:

Salmon (Grilled) on a bed of lettuce

Brown Rice

Grapes

Dinner:

Grilled Chicken (seasoned to taste)

Baked Asparagus with cheese

Pasta seasoned with Pesto Sauce

Water

Conclusion

In this short report on healthy dieting for the average teenager we hope that you have learned a lot about how small changes in a teenage diet can mean so much to your body. We also hope that from this blog you understand the importance of having a healthy and balanced diet, which include the three macronutrients. The three important points that we want you to take from this blog is one: the knowledge of how much calories a teenager needs and the importance of the three macronutrients, two: what foods are healthy and good for the body, and what foods you should stay away form, and finally three: hat quick, basic, and tasty foods you can eat and still be healthy. Now when you're about to reach for that bag of potato chips you will think twice and reach for the apple instead.