How The Nutrients Work When Your Engine Is Running #2

As you move and your muscles begin to use energy, you begin to produce heat as a result of that energy. We all know that if we are doing something physical we begin to get warmer. Your body needs to dissipate the heat produced by the muscles in order to keep your internal temperature stable.

As you warm up, the blood vessels become closer to the skin surface. The vessels dilate and there is increased blood flow to the surface. This releases heat through the skin and the internal temperature is maintained.

How the Nutrients Work When Your Engine is Running #1

Normally the nutrients that I mentioned over the past week circulate in the blood stream and go where they are needed. One of the things that we require to do anything is power or energy. When your muscles start to work, they require energy. Energy can be supplied by glucose which is either stored in your muscles as glycogen or it can be brought to the muscle via the blood.

In order for your body to convert the glucose into energy, the body must also supply oxygen, which comes via the blood stream.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #7

The last of the 7 essential nutrients for your body to run smoothly is water. We don't always think of water as a nutrient, but it is vital to the human body. It doesn't have any caloric value and is not a source of energy.

What water does do is transport nutrients and waste in and out of cells. Water is a necessary part of all digestive, circulatory, and excretory functions of the body. In addition, water helps maintain the body temperature.

If you have every been really dehydrated, none of your body functions works properly including your brain. I once got very dehydrated while doing a lot of physical activity on a very hot day. At one point I could not speak except for a word here and there. As they got me cooled down and I started drinking water, after about 15 minutes they asked me to recite the alphabet. I could not do it. It astounded me that I was totally unable to recite the alphabet, but then I knew just hoe dehydrated I had gotten.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #6

The next nutrient which is essential to the functioning of the body is fiber. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body can't digest. Let me clarify something, many foods have carbohydrate content that is digestible and some that is not. Vegetable and fruits are prime examples. They contain carbohydrates that your body can absorb and utilize in the cells to make energy. They also contain fiber that is not digestible and that fiber helps push food through the intestinal tract, helping to prevent constipation.

So the fiber that is not digestible is what helps your body eliminate waste products. I'll talk more about this in a few days.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #5

You'll like this next essential nutrient. It's fat. Yes we all need some fat in our diet. Interestingly, women require more than men. Here's just one reason for having some fat in your diet. Vitamins which I mention yesterday are either water or fat soluable. If you're not eating some fat when you take your vitamins, you won't be able to absorb the fat soluble ones.

Fats are also a concentrated form of energy. Some of the things that fats do in your body are to form an insulating layer to prevent heat loss in the body. Unfortunately even though we are sometimes called a "fat head", we don't have a layer of fat between the skull and the skin. It is muscle and that is why we lose so much heat from our heads. Those without hair lose even more heat because the hair acts as an insulator.

Another thing that fat does is act as a shock absorber to help protect organs. Now that being said, it doesn't mean that the fatter you are the more protected you are. Because remember that the more fat we have in our bodies the more that is placed on all of the organs to keep things functioning.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #4

I mentioned yesterday that minerals are necessary for vitamins to do their job. So you might guess that the next essential nutrients are vitamins. Vitamins are organic substances that are only found in living things. Vitamins help activate chemical processes that release energy within the cells.

The most important function of vitamins is their reaction with oxygen which makes them able to neutralize free radicals which cause damage to the DNA structure. The vitamins are essential to your having a strong immune system. In and of themselves, vitamins do not contain energy, but what they will do is help your body convert fat and carbs into energy.

Best sources are fresh organic fruits and vegetables. If you are not eating organic, be sure that you are on a reputable brand of vitamins. Remember you get what you pay for - if they are very inexpensive, they may not have quality control and your batch may be lacking some of the ingredients.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #3

One of the most critical nutrient necessary for our bodies is minerals. We used to absorb alot of minerals through our skin when we went barefoot. Now we rarely go barefoot and the next best source of minerals for us comes from soil and water and are absorbed by plants or eaten by animals. But unless plants are organically grown, the soil and water may be robbed of most of the mineral content. Animals that are grown in feedlots or are never let out of the nest, also don't get the opportunity to eat natural vegetation and many minerals are lost and not available to us when we eat the animals.

Minerals are essential for vitamins to do their work in making the immune system stronger. We need minerals for growth and maintenance of body structures. Minerals are what helps our body maintain fluids in and around cells. Minerals also help us to build tissues such as bone and regulate the metabolic activities.