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Whether you are at your ideal weight or striving to reach your weight goal is it simply a matter of burning more calories than you take in? The answer, I suggest, is no! Overall body health improvement as well as weight gain or loss must be factored in to the equation or you could be heading for problems. Correct nutrition can help to reduce the risk of a miriad of health-related problems, the most frightening of which are surely heart disease and cancer. Proper nutrition, however, entails eating many different foods, monitoring your consumption of some food and beverage items, and counting calories. Good diets offer balanced nutrition that reduces cholesterol, blood pressure, and helps with weight control.

To function properly, your body must have the correct combination of nutrients:

Carbohydrates. They are the primary source of ammunition in your diet. The body uses carbohydrates to build glucose which can be used immediately or stored in your body for later. Too much glucose, however, is stored as fat. There are two types of carbohydrates – simple and complex. Sugars are simple carbohydrates. Starches and fibers are complex carbohydrates.

Proteins. Proteins help your body build and maintain muscles and other tissues. They also function in the creation of hormones. Like carbohydrates, excess protein is stored as fat.
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Vitamins are essential for good health and well being. They are defined as any group of substances required in small quantities for healthy growth and development. They cannot be manufactured in the body so they are therefore vital constituents of the diet.

There are two types of vitamins according to whether they are soluble in water or fat. Vitamin A (Retinol) is a fat soluble vitamin and this is not excreted from the body in the urine so excessive intake can have a negative effect on health. Vitamin A is present in animal origin foods eg. liver, milk and egg yolk. It is formed in the body from the pigment Beta-carotene which is present in certain vegetables eg. carrots, cabbage and lettuce.

Vitamin A has a number of roles in the body. It is necessary for normal cell division and growth. It is important for maintenance of mucous membranes of the repiratory, digestive and urinary tracts. Retinol is a pale yellow solid which dissolves easily in oil and fat and it is essential for good eye sight, particularly vision in dim light as well as having an important role in normal development of the embryo. It can be produced synthetically and therefore used to enrich margarines.

The best source of retinal is liver and a small amount 3g meets the body’s daily requirements. 700mcg per day is a sufficient amount per adult which can also be derived from the beta carotene foods eg. 2oz raw carrots.
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