2008 Woodie Awards
For the Student Body: Nurtrition 101
Andrea Kozak
Issue date: 2/4/05 Section: Commentary
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Exercise is only one of the ways in which you can become a healthier person. For instance, let's say you take a gym class, walk everywhere and even buy some weights to keep in your room...you're definitely on the right track. Now, picture yourself going to Frank and eating a buffalo chicken patty sandwich with extra blue cheese dressing, a grilled cheese, cream of potato soup, three glasses (or...plastic cups) of soda and...to top it all off, a nice, big piece of white on white Frank birthday cake. Mmmmm!
You may say to yourself, "I deserve it, I worked out." However, what you are really doing is reversing all of the beneficial effects of exercising. Equally worse, though, would be to not eat at all. You may think that a combination of not eating and going to the gym will definitely get you in better shape, however, this is quite untrue. Not eating, or eating significantly less than you normally would, tells your body that you are starving and instructs your body to hold on to fat cells. In turn, your metabolism will slow down, causing all of your hard work at the gym to go to waste.
If you continue to eat very little, your body will eventually let go of the fat cells, causing you to rapidly lose weight. However, you will also lose essential nutrients that your body needs and is not getting. This rapid weight loss by starving is called Anorexia Nervosa and is proven to be extremely detrimental to the body, and mind.
Don't get discouraged: there is a happy medium between eating crappy foods nonstop and not eating anything at all. Knowing what you are putting in your mouth each day will help you to balance your exercise and nutrition and to gain the maximum benefits of your new, healthy lifestyle.
It is important to eat foods from all of the essential food groups in order to maintain a balanced diet. Combining the right amount of food types from each group will help your body use energy in the most efficient way, without depriving itself of essential vitamins and minerals.
The following is a crash course in the food pyramid, and why experts believe each food group is important:
Carbohydrates: these include bread, cereals, rice, and pasta. According to most food guide pyramids, humans should eat 6-11 servings of these per day. However, recent studies (and Dr. Atkins) show that some carbohydrates will be turned into fat, which will contribute to increasing cholesterol levels (bad) and a slow metabolism (remember that fat burns calories more slowly than muscle). However, there are many carbohydrates that can actually be very beneficial to your diet.