Basic Knowledge About The Food We Eat Everyday
A healthy lifestyle including sound nutrition, sound exercises, adequate rest and mental peace and happiness is the foundation of holistic or comprehensive health. You need to know the scientific basics of sound nutrition to be able to eat healthily and get and stay slim for a lifetime.
Our food is composed of the following nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and water.
Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates are made up sugar molecules.
Carbohydrates are of two types, viz. simple and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are made up of one or two sugar molecules while complex carbohydrates are made up of long chains of glucose molecules.
Sugar, jaggery, honey, arrowroot, sago, rava, maida, refined corn flour are simple carbohydrates. Starch and fibre are the two main types of complex carbohydrates and cereals and pulses are the main sources of complex carbohydrates. Starches are the main source of energy in our food.
Fibre includes all the parts of plant foods that we cannot digest or absorb. It is of two types, soluble and insoluble. All complex carbohydrates foods have both kind of fibre in different proportions. Soluble fibre forms a gel like substance in the gut and it absorbs some of the cholesterol and sugars in the food and clears it out of the bowel, thus helping lower both blood cholesterol and blood sugar. Insoluble fibre obviously does not dissolve in water. It absorbs water, adds bulk, softens stools and speeds up its transit through the bowels and relieves constipation. It regulates bowel movement, promotes growth of useful bacteria in the bowels, regulates the pH in the bowels, helps eliminate toxins from the bowels and helps prevent colitis, haemorrhoids and colon cancer.
Since fibre is not digested or absorbed in our body, it does not add calories to our food.
Simple carbohydrates are digested quickly and cause sharp spikes in blood sugar and lead to hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, weight gain and can also lead to diabetes.
In contrast, the starches in complex carbohydrates are digested slowly and provide steady supply of glucose and hence energy to the body, preventing spikes in blood insulin levels, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, weight gain and diabetes. The sugars in fruits are simple carbohydrates, but due to the ample fibre and water in them, these simple sugars are absorbed slowly in the body and do not cause sudden spike in blood sugar. Thus fruits behave more like complex carbohydrates than simple carbohydrates.
Stay away from simple carbohydrates to keep your diet healthy.
Wheat, rice, jowar, bajra, nachani (ragi), corn and oats are cereals. Green gram, red gram, bengal gram, lentils and all kinds of beans including ‘rajma’ and ‘chole’ are pulses and legumes. Cereals and pulses together form the major bulk of our Indian food. Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy in our diet. They also have a ‘protein sparing’ function. Unless we eat enough carbohydrates to get adequate fuel energy, the proteins in our diet will not be ‘spared’ to carry out their primary functions and they will be used up by the body as an energy fuel. Because of this, all low carbohydrate, low calorie diets also inflict protein deficiency upon you irrespective of how much protein you consume through food or expensive protein supplements.
When consumed in excess of body requirements, carbohydrates are converted into fats and stored in the body, causing weight gain. In a healthy diet, carbohydrates must contribute fifty to sixty per cent of the energy required by our body.
Proteins:
Proteins are among the most important nutrients required by the human body. They form the structural and functional foundation of all tissues of the body.
Proteins are made up of smaller units called amino acids, which the body uses to build muscles, organs, skin and blood, and to produce enzymes, hormones and substances involved in immunity and defence.
Of these, the body can synthesise some amino acids while it cannot synthesise some amino acids. While we need all amino acids, the ones that the body cannot synthesise are called essential amino acids and we essentially need to get them from food.
The major sources of proteins in our diet are milk, curds, buttermilk, cheese and paneer, eggs, meat and fish, pulses and cereals.
Of these, milk, curds, buttermilk, cheese and paneer, eggs, meat and fish, all individually have all the essentials amino acids. So individually too they are complete proteins.
On the other hand, cereals and pulses do not individually have all the essential amino acids. Pulses are particularly rich in lysine but are relatively low in sulphur-containing amino acids such as methionine and cysteine, and in some cases may also be modest in tryptophan.
Cereals such as rice, wheat, jowar, and bajra show almost the opposite pattern. They are low in lysine but provide methionine and cysteine in useful amounts and also contribute adequate tryptophan.
When pulses and cereals are eaten together, their amino acid gaps neatly fill each other, resulting in a protein of much higher biological value, comparable in quality to animal protein. This mutually beneficial interaction is known as ‘protein complementation’.
Traditional Indian meals such as rice and dal, chapati and dal, rice and dal khichdi, idli–sambar and dosa–sambar naturally incorporate this principle. So if cereals and pulses are eaten together or even within the same day, the body can assemble high quality proteins from their amino acids.
Adequate milk and cereals and pulses (eaten together) meet your protein requirements handsomely. Thus you need not worry about being a lacto-vegan. In fact, it is the best nutrition.
Another excellent addition to these three would be sea fish, which is not only an excellent source of proteins, but is a rich source of the sea source omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) which actively protect your heart from the coronary heart disease.
Proteins are the most important constituents of all the tissues of the body. They are essential for the growth, development and repair of the daily wear and tear of the body. They are responsible for the immunity and the defence mechanism of the body. They are also essential for the formation of various enzymes and hormones in our body.
Proteins provide 4 calories per gram.
Proteins are not meant to be consumed as a source of energy under normal circumstances. But in case of people on very low carbohydrate – low calorie diets, the proteins in their food are used up as a source of energy and such people suffer from protein deficiency even if there is sufficient protein in their food. When consumed in excess of body needs, proteins are converted into fats and stored in the body, causing weight gain.
Proteins are not meant to be consumed as a source of energy under normal circumstances. But in case of people on very low carbohydrate – low calorie diets, the proteins in their food are used up as a source of energy and such people suffer from protein deficiency even if there is sufficient protein in their food. When consumed in excess of body needs, proteins are converted into fats and stored in the body, causing weight gain.
The body cannot handle excess proteins too well. Excess proteins increase the acid load in the body. This puts greater work load on the kidney, the bones and the liver. Calcium is drawn out of the bones. This weakens them and may cause fractures. It can also lead to formation kidney stones and kidney damage.
High protein diets are also high in saturated fats, cholesterol and calories. This can also lead to heart disease and certain cancers.
In a healthy diet, proteins should contribute ten to fifteen per cent of the energy required by our body.
Fats:
Fats are one of the three macronutrients of our nutrition and are as essential to our health as are the other two, carbohydrates and proteins.
The major sources of fats are vegetable oils, ghee, hydrogenated oils or ‘vanaspati’ ghee (all are 100 % fats), cream, butter, ghee, margarine, cheese, cottage cheese (paneer), coconut, ground nuts, sesame, almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts and pistachio. Meats, some fish and egg yolk are also fat rich.
Fats are the second source of energy of the body after the carbohydrates. They also serve as reserve store of energy. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are the fat soluble vitamins.
Body also requires essential fatty acids which are contributed by fats. They are a constituent of many types of cells of the body. They perform many other functions and are an essential component of our nutrition.
Thus a diet excluding fats cannot be healthy. You must have at least a moderate amount of vegetable oil in your diet. Some fatty sea fish are an excellent source of the good omega 3 fatty acids, which are cardio protective.
Fats are composed of fatty acids. Fatty acids are of four types, namely saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and trans fatty acids.
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids:
Monounsaturated fatty acids are labelled as healthy fats. They may lower your total and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels but maintain your high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level.
They may also help improve the function of your blood vessels and may also benefit insulin levels and blood sugar control, which can be especially helpful if you have type 2 diabetes.
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids:
These fatty acids are also called the essential fatty acids as they cannot be synthesised in our body. These are, therefore, needed to be consumed in moderate amounts in a healthy diet.
Polyunsaturated fats help improve your cholesterol, insulin and blood sugar levels, helping you get more heart healthy.
They include the two omega fatty acids, viz. omega 3 and omega 6.
Omega 6 is abundantly available in safflower, sunflower seed and soya oils and many other oils and foods. While omega 6 also helps lower cholesterol, it is less valuable than omega 3 in protecting you from heart disease and strokes and other inflammatory diseases.
The principal sources of the omega 3 fats are walnuts, flaxseed, fatty fish (ravas, mackerel or bangda, surmai, pomfret, cold water salmon, tuna, trout, sardines and herring) and algae.
Of these, walnuts and flaxseeds provide us with plant source omega 3 (ALA), and the fish and algae provide us with the more effective sea source omega 3 (EPA and DHA).
The plant source omega 3 or ALA is less potent cardiac protector than the sea source omega 3 viz. DHA and EPA. Some of the ALA in our food gets converted to DHA and EPA, but at a slow speed.
The omega 3 fatty acids prevent the inflammatory process in the arteries that leads to atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and strokes and some cancers, memory loss, depression and fatigue, reduce arthritis and joint pain and inflammatory skin diseases.
Babies need sea source omega 3 for the proper development of their brains and the retina, especially the DHA. This DHA they get from the fats in their mothers’ milk.
A good balance in the proportion of the two omega fatty acids is essential for preventing coronary heart disease, while a bad balance may lead to coronary heart disease.
Researchers place this ratio as between 1:1 to 1:4, omega 3: omega 6.
But getting this balance right is difficult in people who are not fish eaters.
Saturated Fatty Acids:
Saturated fats in our food are actually more responsible for raised levels of cholesterol in our body than dietary cholesterol.
Animal products including whole milk, eggs and flesh and vegetable fats which are solid at room temperature (e.g. palm oil, coconut oil) and processed and frozen animal foods, like sausages, nuggets, ham, salami and also bakery products are examples of saturated fats.
Saturated fats for decades were considered the bad fats. They were thought to raise cholesterol in our body and cause heart disease and strokes. Researchers advised us to shun these fats.
But the thinking is changing now. The jury is divided on these fats.
While the American Heart Association and the American Diabetic Association still strongly recommend against the use of saturated fats, many researchers don’t rate them as bad fats any more.
Many studies have found no direct relationship of saturated fats with increased risk of heart disease.
Many studies have also found that people eating whole fat dairy products are leaner and have lower levels of body fats. This is probably due to the better satiety conferred by whole fat dairy products, preventing people from overeating.
But if you run the risk of catching heart disease, it would be prudent to keep their consumption low, at least till more conclusive research tells us otherwise.
And not all saturated fats are identical.
The saturated fatty acids found in dairy differ in composition from those found in many meats.
Milk fat contains a higher proportion of short and medium-chain fatty acids, as well as stearic acid, which has a relatively neutral effect on LDL cholesterol.
In contrast, red and processed meats tend to be richer in long-chain saturated fats like palmitic acid, which has a stronger LDL-raising effect.
This difference in fatty acid profile may partly explain why dairy fats often appear more neutral in population studies than meat-based saturated fats.
These fats tend to raise LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol, while also raising HDL (‘good’) cholesterol to a smaller degree. Because LDL often rises more, high intake of saturated fats can increase heart-disease risk in some people.
However, this risk depends strongly on overall diet and lifestyle.
Saturated fats eaten as part of whole foods, such as dairy, appear to be less harmful than those in ultra-processed foods like bakery items, fried snacks, and processed meats. Portion size also matters, since many saturated-fat-rich foods are energy-dense.
The WHO recommendations aim for saturated fats to be no more than about 10% of your total daily calories, with lower targets of 6%, are recommended by some heart-focused groups for higher-risk individuals.
The American Heart Association (AHA) too suggests aiming for around 6% of calories from saturated fat for heart health, which is more restrictive than the 10% guideline used in general nutrition advice.
The sensible approach is strict moderation. Saturated fat in dairy is not a ‘free fat’, meaning you can’t eat it without limit, but it does not need to be eliminated. Using small amounts of butter or ghee, while relying mainly on unsaturated fats and eating plenty of plant foods, and regular physical activity, fits well into a healthy diet.
Delving deeper into the issue: Dairy saturated fat tends to raise large, buoyant LDL particles that are less likely to penetrate arterial walls and less prone to oxidation, which is less likely to directly lead to heart disease and strokes whereas refined carbohydrates, sugars, and ultra-processed foods increase small, dense LDL particles that are far more atherogenic, and thus much more likely to lead to heart disease, a difference that observational studies capture through real-world cardiovascular outcomes rather than isolated cholesterol changes, especially LDL cholesterol.
Trans fatty acids:
Trans Fatty Acids: A Significant Cardiovascular Risk
Trans fatty acids (trans fats) are unsaturated fats formed when vegetable oils undergo hydrogenation, a process that converts liquid oils into semi-solid fats. This modification improves texture and prolongs shelf life, which is why hydrogenated oils have traditionally been used in bakery products, packaged snacks, margarine, vanaspati, and other processed foods.
Trans fats are also generated when cooking oils are exposed to high temperatures for prolonged periods or reused for multiple rounds of frying. Repeated heating alters the chemical structure of oils, leading to the formation of trans fats and other harmful oxidation products. Commercial deep-frying practices commonly contribute to this exposure.
The metabolic effects of trans fats are particularly adverse. They increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, reduce high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, promote systemic inflammation, and accelerate atherosclerotic plaque formation. Collectively, these effects substantially increase the risk of coronary artery disease and stroke. Evidence suggests that trans fats pose a greater cardiovascular risk than dietary cholesterol.
Although many individuals avoid hydrogenated fats in home cooking, trans fats are often consumed inadvertently through commercially prepared baked goods, packaged snacks, fast foods, and deep-fried items. Products containing “partially hydrogenated oils” remain an important source.
There is no established safe threshold for trans fat intake. Minimising consumption by avoiding partially hydrogenated oils, limiting commercially fried and processed foods, and refraining from reusing cooking oil for repeated frying are prudent dietary measures to protect cardiovascular health.
Vitamins:
Vitamins are group of substances those are essential for growth, development and repair of tissues, normal, healthy functioning of all cells and tissues, bones, conversion of food into energy, healthy maintenance of all senses, including vision, immunity and hundreds of other functions. They are also vital for the health of organs including the heart.
The B Complex vitamins Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2), Niacin (B3), Pantothenic Acid (B5), Biotin (B7), Pyridoxine (B6), Cyanocobalamin (B12), Folate (B9) and Vitamin C are the water soluble vitamins.
Vitamins A, D, E and K are the fat soluble vitamins.
Our body manufactures Vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight.
Minerals:
Like vitamins, our body needs a wide variety of minerals in very small amounts, for growth, development and healthy functioning of our body, they are essential components of all tissues including bones and blood. They are essential for the functioning of the heart and the nerves and also for maintenance of water balance.
In short, life isn’t possible without trace amounts of various minerals.
Some of the important minerals are iron, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, magnesium, manganese, copper, iodine, selenium, molybdenum, chromium and fluoride.
We need to get the vitamins and minerals from our food.
Calorie Count: While one gram of carbohydrates as well as proteins provides four Calories, fats supply nine Calories per gram.
Cholesterol:
Cholesterol is a waxy, sticky, fat like substance produced in the liver and it is also present in our food.
Most people only know that it causes heart disease, few know that it is an essential constituent of our body and has a vital role to play in our health.
Cholesterol provides structural support to every cell of our body as it is an essential constituent of the cell membrane and plays a significant role in deciding what goes in or out of the cell membrane. It also helps form the protective myelin sheath of our nerve cells. It is essential for the synthesis of steroid and sex hormones and for the formation of Vitamin D under the skin when exposed to sunlight. It is also essential for the formation of bile which is, in turn, essential for digestion of fats. HDL cholesterol helps remove the dangerous LDL and VLDL cholesterol from the blood stream and transports them to the liver where they are removed from the blood thus protecting the heart from coronary artery disease.
Our liver is capable of providing us all the cholesterol we need. We don’t need to consume it in food.
Only animal sources of foods such as flesh, eggs, shell fish, whole milk, cream, ghee, butter, cheese and margarine have cholesterol. No food of vegetable source has cholesterol.
The safe upper limit for the consumption of cholesterol prescribed by researchers is 300 mg a day and 200 mg a day, if you have added risk of heart disease.
A whole egg provides 210 mg cholesterol, goat meat provides 75 mg per 100 gm, chicken 85 mg, lamb, pork and beef between 85 to 105 mg, sea food provides between 50 to 100 mg cholesterol per 100 gm. Liver of the above animals provides the highest levels, between 350 to 650 mg per 100gm!
Excess cholesterol in the blood is bad for the heart. The HDL cholesterol is the healthy cholesterol, while the LDL and the VLDL cholesterol are bad for the health of the heart. HDL cleanses our arteries by transporting cholesterol from the arteries to liver and cleansing the arteries, thus protecting us from coronary heart disease. The latter two transport cholesterol from liver to the arteries, where it sticks the walls of the arteries, which become hardened and lose their elasticity, causing atherosclerosis and clogging of the arteries leading to coronary heart disease.
Ideal levels of cholesterol and it’s components are:
Cholesterol below 200 mg/dL
HDL cholesterol above 60 mg/dL
LDL Cholesterol below 100mg/dL.
Some physicians want it below 70mg/dL
VLDL Cholesterol below 30 mg/ dL
Triglycerides below 150 mg/dL
Normal range is always provided by every laboratory in its report.
Keeping Your Cholesterol Levels Healthy:
To keep your cholesterol levels healthy, you need to take following steps:
Lead a healthy lifestyle.
Eat healthy, focussing on skimmed milk and dairy products, whole grain cereals and pulses, ample vegetables and fresh fruits on daily basis and have fatty fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids twice a week.
Most Indians have no problems consuming whole grain cereals, pulses and vegetables as that is what our food basically consists of. What we most often may not consume adequately are milk and fruits. Ideally we should have three helpings of both!
Keep consumption of saturated fats to the minimum and trans fats out of your food. Eat only lean meat. Have a whole egg no more than four days week, if your cholesterol is fully normal.
Exercise regularly and be physically active. Even a half hour brisk walk, spread over the whole day, will be invaluable, half an hour twice a day will be wonderful even for losing weight!
Be mentally happy and peaceful.
In short to keep your cholesterol levels healthy, you do exactly what is needed to be done to be slim and heart healthy!
Balanced Nutrition:
You need to eat from four basic food groups for your diet to be balanced.
1. A combination of cereals and pulses.
2. Fresh vegetables and fruits.
3. Skimmed milk, fish and poultry.
4. Vegetable oil.
Eat the above mentioned foods, eat four meals a day and eat a variety of foods and you will automatically get enough of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals on such a diet. Drink plenty of water and your nutrition is complete.
All fast-food, non-vegetarian or vegetarian is rich in saturated fat. So all fast food is bad for health.
Most sweets are also dangerous for health as they are rich in fats, sugar and calories.
Choosing A Healthy Cooking Oil:
Industry manufactured oils like soya oil, rice bran oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower seed oil (kardai), Canola oil, cottonseed oil are considered bad fats by many nutritionists.
The use of heat and chemicals in extracting and refining these oils alters their fatty acid structures and trans fats and other toxic substances are developed in them, turning them unhealthy.
Today many researchers are asking us to shun all industrially produced oils.
For some time now researchers have known that cold pressed oils high in monounsaturated fatty acids and low in saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids are healthy.
Recent studies have shown that cold pressed oils high in monounsaturated fatty acid to polyunsaturated fatty acid ratio help in keeping the lipid profile healthy and are also beneficial in regulating blood sugar levels.
Such oils help keep the HDL cholesterol levels high and LDL cholesterol low. HDL cholesterol cleanses the coronary arteries and prevents coronary artery disease while excess LDL cholesterol causes plaque formation in the coronary arteries and leads to heart disease.
Groundnut and olive oils fit the bill. Both are cold pressed monounsaturated fatty acid dominant oils.
A recent year long study by researchers at The Department Of Biochemistry, Shree Venkateswara College, University Of Delhi, found that both oils had matched each other in maintaining healthy lipid profile, blood glucose, liver function, antioxidant status (as studied by assessing the lipid peroxides and antioxidant enzymes) and inflammatory properties (as studied by assessing the nitric oxide levels) in people consuming the two oils for a full year.
Olive oil has a comparatively lower smoking point than groundnut oil and hence is more suitable as a dressing oil and low temperature cooking oil. It is heart healthy when used as a dressing oil or at best for low temperature cooking.
But it loses its sheen as the heart healthy oil in the high temperature Indian style cooking.
Gomez et. al., 2003 have shown that the phenolic compounds in extra virgin olive oil gets damaged very quickly by heat along with a loss of Vitamin E.
Groundnut oil reportedly has greater oxidative stability and higher smoking point as compared to olive oil and is better suited to Indian style cooking which involves cooking at high temperatures and deep frying.
Studies have also shown that resveratrol, a phenolic antioxidant present in groundnuts reduces the risk of vascular disease caused by angiotensin a hormone that causes the arteries to contract and leads to raised blood pressure which damages the endothelial lining of the arteries leading to heart disease and strokes, amongst damage to other organs. Resveratrol also protects the arteries by increasing the vasodilator hormone, nitric oxide, which also has anti inflammatory properties.
Groundnuts also are high in the powerful antioxidant, Vitamin E, which protects the cells of the mucosa and skin from the damage caused by oxygen free radicals.
In short, groundnut oil appears the more suitable choice as the cooking medium for Indian style cooking and olive oil could be the healthy option for Western style cooking, using it as only a dressing oil or for cooking food at low temperatures.
Eating at least two fish meals a week is excellent for the heart. If you do, you can leave alone walnuts and ‘jawas’. And if you eat sea fish and use monounsaturated fatty acid rich oils like groundnut, sesame or olive oil, you don’t have to worry about the balance of fats in your food, it is already good!
The above plan appears to be suitable for Maharashtrian people.
In a healthy diet, fats should contribute twenty five to thirty per cent of the energy required by our body, of these saturated fats mustn’t contribute more than seven percent.
Note
Also read the articles ‘Dangers Of Unscientific Treatments‘ and the ‘The Good And The Bad Fats‘ on this website. Get in touch with us through the ‘Contact Us‘ page on this website.
FAQs About Construction Material Testing
Why is construction material testing important?
Construction material testing ensures that materials meet required quality standards, helping prevent structural failures, reduce risks, and improve project durability.
What materials can be tested in your laboratory?
We test concrete, soil, aggregates, cement, steel reinforcement bars, bitumen, asphalt, bricks, blocks, and other construction materials.
How long does testing take?
Testing timelines vary depending on the type of material and test requirements. Most standard tests are completed within a few days, while specialized investigations may require additional time.
Do you provide on-site testing services?
Yes. We offer both laboratory and on-site testing services, including field density testing, concrete sampling, NDT inspections, and geotechnical investigations.
Are your test reports accepted for government and infrastructure projects?
Our reports follow recognized industry standards and can be used for quality control, project approvals, compliance requirements, and engineering documentation.
How can I request a material testing service?
Simply contact our team with your project requirements, and we will recommend the appropriate testing procedures and provide a detailed quotation.
