Nutrition For Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Nutrition 101: The Basic Facts about Nutrition
Chapter 1 Nutrition Equals Life: Knowing What to Eat to Get What You Need
Discovering the First Principles of Nutrition
Breaking nutrients into two groups
Looking at essential nutrients
Protecting the Nutrients in Your Food
Knowing Your Nutritional Status
Fitting Food into the Medicine Chest
Finding Nutrition Facts
Nutrition people
Questions to ask about any study
Chapter 2 Digestion: The 24/7 Food Factory
Introducing the Digestive System
Digestion: One Step at a Time
Your brain, eyes, and nose
Your mouth
Your stomach
Your small intestine
Your large intestine
Chapter 3 How Much Nutrition Do You Need?
RDAs: Guidelines for Good Nutrition
Proteins, vitamins, and minerals: The essentials
Recommendations for carbohydrates, fats, dietary fiber, and alcohol
Different people, different needs
AIs: The Nutritional Numbers Formerly Known as ESADDIs
DRI: The Totally Complete Nutrition Guide
Chapter 4 Bigger But Not Better
The Obesity Epidemic
Observing the Obesity Map
Determining How Much You Should Weigh
Weight charts and tables
The BMI: Another way to rate your weight
Understanding What the Numbers Really Mean
Increasing the odds of accuracy
Seeing red flags on weight and health
Facing the Numbers When They Don’t Fit Your Body
Chapter 5 Calories: Powering Up the Body
Counting the Calories in Food
Empty calories
Every calorie counts
Determining How Many Calories You Need
Resting energy expenditure (REE)
Sex, glands, and chocolate cake
Energy for work
Calculating Your Daily Calorie Needs
Part 2 The Good Stuff in Your Food
Chapter 6 Protein Power
Understanding How Your Body Uses Proteins
Moving Proteins from Your Dinner Plate to Your Cells
Differentiating Dietary Proteins
Essential and nonessential proteins
Evaluating proteins
Figuring Out How Much Protein You Need
Calculating the correct amount
Dodging protein deficiency
Boosting your protein intake: Special considerations
Avoiding protein overload
Chapter 7 Facing Facts on Fat and Cholesterol
Discovering How Your Body Uses Fats
Understanding what fats do for you
Pulling energy from fat
Defining Fatty Acids and Their Relationship to Dietary Fat
Focusing on the Fats in Food
Looking at the fatty acids in food
Identifying the foods with fats
Getting the right amount of fat
Considering Cholesterol and You
Cholesterol and heart disease
Lipoproteins
Diet and cholesterol
Chapter 8 Carbohydrates: A Complex Story
Checking Out Carbohydrates
Simple carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates
Dietary fiber
Carbohydrates and Energy: A Biochemical Love Story
How glucose becomes energy
How pasta ends up on your hips when too many carbs pass your lips
Other ways your body uses carbohydrates
Finding the Carbohydrates You Need
Some people have problems with carbohydrates
Some people need extra carbohydrates
Dietary Fiber: The Non-Nutrient in Carbohydrate Foods
Defining the two kinds of dietary fiber
Getting dietary fiber from food
Determining how much fiber you need
Chapter 9 Alcohol: Another Form of Grape and Grain
Creating Alcohol Beverages
Fermented alcohol products
Distilled alcohol products
The foods used to make beverage alcohol
Checking How Much Alcohol Is in That Bottle
Following Alcohol through Your Body
Understanding How Alcohol Affects Your Health
The physical effects of excessive drinking
Alcoholism: An addiction disease
Who shouldn’t drink
Alcohol and age
Advice from the Sages: Moderation
Chapter 10 Validating Vitamins
Understanding What Vitamins Your Body Needs
Fat-soluble vitamins
Water-soluble vitamins
Discovering Where to Get Your Vitamins
Too Much or Too Little: Avoiding Two Ways to Go Wrong with Vitamins
Vitamin deficiencies
Vitamin megadoses
Acceptable Exceptions: Taking Extra Vitamins as Needed
I’m taking medication
I’m a smoker
I never eat animals
I’m pregnant
I’m breast-feeding
I’m approaching menopause
I have very light skin or very dark skin
Chapter 11 Making Mineral Magic
Getting the Minerals You Need
The major minerals
The trace elements
Knowing What’s Too Much and What’s Too Little
Avoiding mineral deficiency
Understanding the risks of overdoses
Figuring Out When You May Need More than the RDA
You’re a strict vegetarian
You live inland, away from the ocean
You’re a man
You’re a woman
You’re pregnant or nursing
Chapter 12 The Wonder of Water
Investigating the Many Ways Your Body Uses Water
Maintaining the Right Amount of Water in Your Body
The electrolytes’ primary job
Other tasks electrolytes perform
Getting the Water You Need
Evaluating Electrolytes
Sodium
Potassium and chloride
When you need more
Dehydration: When the Body Doesn’t Get Enough Water
First signs
Worsening problems
Really bad trouble
The crash
Chapter 13 Added Attractions: Supplements
Introducing Dietary Supplements
Examining Two Reasons to Use Dietary Supplements
When food isn’t enough
Using supplements as insurance
Exploring Supplement Safety: An Iffy Proposition
Choosing the Most Effective Supplements
Getting Nutrients from Food Rather Than Supplements
Part 3 Hunger, Health, and Habits
Chapter 14 Why You Eat When You Eat
Underlining the Difference between Hunger and Appetite
Refueling: The Cycle of Hunger and Satiety
Recognizing hunger
Identifying the hormones that say, “I’m hungry” and “I’m full”
Beating the four-hour hungries
The better way: Five or six small meals
Maintaining a healthy appetite
Responding to Your Environment on a Gut Level
Baby, it’s cold outside
Exercising more than your mouth
Taking medicine that changes your appetite
Revealing Unhealthy Relationships with Food
Obesity
Anorexia nervosa
Bulimia nervosa
Binge eating disorder
Chapter 15 Why You Like the Foods You Like
Tackling Taste: How Your Brain and Tongue Work Together
The five basic flavors
Your health and your taste buds
Tricking your taste buds
Determining Deliciousness
Listening to your body
Loving the food you’re with: Geography and taste
Taking offense to food and flavors
Changing the Menu: Adapting to Exotic Foods
Learning to like unusual foods
Stirring the stew: The culinary benefits of immigration
Chapter 16 Building Your New and Improved Healthful Diet
Discovering the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Finding What’s New in the 2020–2025 Edition
Factor in the fats
Subtract the added sugar
Get adequate essential nutrients
Go fish for good food
Bring on the veggies
Get up and go
Do the Guidelines Work?
Chapter 17 Choosing Wisely with Pyramids, Plates, and Patterns
Checking Out Basic Diet Pictures
The original USDA Food Guide Pyramid
From pyramid to plate: The evolution of the Food Guide
An assortment of pyramids and plates
Tracking Food Patterns
Understanding the Nutrition Facts Label
Getting the facts
Relying on labels: Health claims
Navigating the highs and lows
Listing other stuff
Using Pyramids, Plates, Patterns, and Labels to Choose Healthful Foods
Chapter 18 Eating Smart When Eating Out
Reading a Restaurant Menu
Apportion the portions
Ask for proof
Editing Your Menu Choices
Start simple
Elevate appetizers to entrees
Skip the fat on the bread
Undress the veggies
Minimize the main dish
Sideline sauces
Satisfy your sweet tooth
Writing Rules for Chain Restaurants
Exploring the Healthful Side of Fast Food
Choosing wisely at the drive-through
Finding a guilt-free, 300-calorie snack solution
Managing the Mechanical Menu
Part 4 Food Processing
Chapter 19 Praising Food Processing
Preserving Food: Five Methods of Processing
Temperature control
Removing the water
Controlling the air flow
Chemical warfare
Irradiation
Improving Food’s Appeal and Nutritional Value
Intensifying flavor and aroma
Adding nutrients
Combining benefits
Faking It: Food Substitutes
Alternative foods No. 1: Fat replacers
Alternative foods No. 2: Substitute sweeteners
A Last Word: Follow That Bird
Chapter 20 Healthful and Delicious Heat
Exploring Different Methods of Cooking
Cooking with fire
Cooking with electromagnetic waves
Understanding How Cooking Alters Food
Changing food’s texture
Enhancing flavor and aroma
Shading the color palette
Picking the Right Cooking Materials
Aluminum
Copper
Ceramics
Enamelware
Glass
Iron
Nonstick
Stainless steel
Plastic and paper
Protecting the Nutrients in Cooked Foods
Maintaining minerals
Keeping those volatile vitamins
Keeping Food Safe by Cooking
Naming the bad guys
Heating to the appropriate temperature
Chapter 21 How Freezing, Canning, Drying, and Zapping Protect Your Food
Cold Comfort: Chilling and Freezing
How freezing affects the texture of food
Thawing frozen food
Refreezing frozen food
Canned Food: Keeping Out Contaminants
Dried Food: No Life without Water
How drying affects food’s nutritional value
When dried fruit may be hazardous to your health
Irradiation: A Hot Topic
Chapter 22 Better Eating through Chemistry
Nature’s Beneficial Chemistry
Antioxidants
Hormonelike compounds
Sulfur compounds
Exploring the Natural and Synthetic Nature of Food Additives
Nutrient additives
Color additives
Flavor additives
Preservatives
Other additives in food
Determining the Safety of Food Additives
Defining toxins
Explaining carcinogens
Listing allergens
Beyond Additives: Foods Nature Never Made
Part 5 Food and Medicine
Chapter 23 When Food Fights Back
Diagnosing Food Allergies
Understanding how an allergic reaction occurs
Investigating two kinds of allergic reactions
Identifying food allergies
Coping with Food Allergies
Reading the food ingredient label
Avoiding unusual interactions
Practicing pragmatic protection
Recognizing Other Body Reactions to Food
Chapter 24 Brain Food
Nourishing the Developing Brain
Fats and the fetal brain
Fish and the teenage brain
Determining how much DHA a body needs
Avoiding malicious mercury
Protecting the Adult Brain
Introducing the natural enemies of thought and memory
Dieting to keep your brain in shape
Choosing foods that boost the brain
Minding your mind diet
Altering the Emotional Brain
Recognizing mood malfunctions
Seeing how food can affect your mood
Using food to manage mood
Healing the Injured Brain
The 5, 7, 2, 4, 100, 200 solution
Protein possibilities
The (eventual) official word
Eating to Benefit Your Brain and Your Body
Chapter 25 Food and Drug Interactions
Following Food and Drug Interactions
Listing the Reactions of Drugs and Certain Foods
Discovering Drug Interactions with Nutrients
Using Food to Improve a Drug’s Performance
Chapter 26 Using Food as Medicine
Defining Food as Medicine
Naming Diets with Absolutely, Positively Beneficial Medical Effects
Using Food to Prevent Disease
Battling deficiency diseases
Reviewing the evidence on anticancer diets
DASHing to healthy blood pressure
Conquering the common cold
Eating for a Better Body (And Brain)
The Last Word on Food versus Medicine
Part 6 The Part of Tens
Chapter 27 Ten Reliable Food and Nutrition Websites
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Composition Website
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND)
The American Heart Association (AHA)
American Cancer Society (ACS)
Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE)
Mayo Clinic
Science Daily
WebMD
Food Safety News
Chapter 28 Ten Northern Nutrition Rules
Be Mindful of Your Eating Habits
Cook More Often
Enjoy Your Food
Eat Meals with Others
Eat Plenty of Vegetables and Fruits, Whole Grain Foods, and Protein Foods
Limit Highly Processed Foods
Make Water Your Drink of Choice
Use Food Labels
Be Aware That Food Marketing Can Influence Your Choices
Check the Guidelines for Updates
Chapter 29 Ten Superstar Foods
Avocado
Bananas
Beans
Celery
Cheese
Chocolate
Nuts
Sardines
White Tea
Whole Grains
Chapter 30 Ten Ways Coffee (and Tea) Make Life Better
Coffee Lights Up Your Brain
Coffee Chases the Blues
Coffee Powers Endurance Exercise
Coffee Is Cholesterol-Safe
Coffee Lowers Your Risk of Stroke
Coffee Lowers Your Risk of Some Cancers
Coffee May Ward Off Type 2 Diabetes
Coffee Doesn’t Keep Everyone Awake
Coffee Lowers a Man’s Risk of ED
Coffee Drinkers Live Longer
Chapter 31 Ten Terrific Foods Starting with the Letter P
Papaya
Pear
Peas
Pineapple
Plantain
Pork
Potato
Prawns
Prune
Pumpkin
Appendix Glossary of Nutrition Terms
Index
EULA