The document outlines the 7 essential components of a healthy diet: carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, water, and fiber. It describes the functions of each component and why they are important to a balanced diet. Maintaining proper nutrition is key for health, fitness, and athletic performance.

1. THE 7 ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF A HEALTHY DIET
Making Informed choices about
active, healthy lifestyles

2. Learning Objectives
Identify the components of a healthy diet and their functions
Describe the components of a healthy diet
Explain the importance of each type of component

3. Balanced, healthy diet
What is it?
Having a HEALTHY and BALANCED diet... So eating the right
foods and eating the right amounts of these foods
The following are the main nutrients or essential components the
body needs:
Carbohydrates
Fats
Protein
Vitamins
Minerals
Water
Fibre
You need to know that getting the 1) right amount of these
nutrients 2) being hydrated 3) having a positive energy
balance, will mean you have a balanced, healthy diet

4. Carbohydrates
These are made up of the chemical elements carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen.
Their main job - Make energy
There are two types:
1. Simple sugars: provide quick energy, e.g. (Glucose or fructose)
2. Complex starches: these have many sugar units, and will release
energy slower e.g. (Potatoes or pasta)
Carbohydrates are vital for athletes – 1. especially intense exercise
(for energy), 2. also they help the nervous system work and also 3.
help to metabolise fat (use fat for energy)

5. Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are stored in the muscles and liver
Stored as GLYCOGEN, but only in limited amounts, so will
need to be replenished
During exercise:
Glycogen (in muscles and liver) are broken down to glucose,
this is then used to produce energy to exercise
When glycogen stores are depleted, there is less energy
available and you become fatigued

6. Carbohydrates
Men should be eating roughly 2,500 calories a day, women
should be eating 2,000 calories a day.
This means 313grams of carbohydrates a day for a man and
250grams per day for a woman
The recommendation is that 60% of your diet is carbohydrates
Michael Phelps, the Olympic gold medallist at Beijing 2008,
reportedly ate 12,000 calories during the events

7. Carbohydrates (Pg 86)
Name 5 sources of simple and complex carbohydrates:
Simple:
1
2
3
4
5
Complex
1
2
3
4
5

8. Fats
These are also very important to a healthy diet, and a major
source of energy, especially low intensity endurance exercise
Fats or Lipids are made up of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, but
in different proportions to Carbo’s
Two types:
Triglycerides – stored as body fat
Fatty acids – used to produce energy, either saturated or
unsaturated

9. Fats
How do you work out your BMI? (Pg 87)
What is being obese?
What is being overweight?
What can being obese cause?

10. Saturated and Unsaturated Fats
Saturated
Unsaturated

11. Fats
When muscles have a ready supply of oxygen, fat is used for
energy ahead of carbo’s.
It does this to save the GLYCOGEN (Carbo’s) for intense work
However your body cannot solely use Fat as a energy source, so
it uses a combination fo FAT and GLYCOGEN
Fat intake must be monitored and can cause obesity.
1. It is also important for protecting vital organs
2. It is crucial for cell production
3. Control of heat loss
3% of your diet should be fatty foods

12. Protein
Protein is composed of hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen and
some have minerals.
Proteins are the ‘building blocks’ of our body and essential for
repairing our body
They are necessary for the production of:
 Enzymes
 Haemoglobin
 Hormones
They can be used for energy, but only if there is no energy or
carbo’s present.

13. Proteins (Pg 87)
Examples of proteins:

14. Micronutrients
There are a number of micronutrients the body needs:
Vitamins
Minerals
Vitamins
Needed in small quantities
Very important as they;
 Help us get energy
 Functioning of our metabolism
 Prevent disease
Our body cannot, naturally produce vitamins except for Vit D
The main source of vitamins are fresh fruit and vegetables

15. Micronutrients
Minerals
Two types:
 Macro-minerals (needed in large amounts) – Calcium, Potassium and Sodium
 Trace elements (needed in small amounts) – Iron, Zinc and Magnesium
You will loose some minerals through sweating, so if you do lots
of exercise, you should replace these minerals
You need to know more detail about
 Iron and Calcium
Iron – Essential component for haemoglobin (oxygen delivery).
So an iron deficiency will be detrimental for an endurance
athlete. Main source – Red meat
Calcium – Essential for bones and teeth. So a calcium
deficiency may lead to osteoporosis and bone fractures. Main
source – Dairy products and Nuts

17. Water
This is also essential especially people who do sport
It carries nutrients around the body
Removes waste products
Regulates body temperature
Water is lost through sweat and urine. Obviously the activity
intensity and duration affect how much
Daily consumption should be 2 litres approx
When exercising, more should be drunk to keep hydrated

18. Not enough water
When you don’t get enough water;
Your body won’t be able to exercise
The CV system will become inefficient with no water
An inadequate blood supply to muscles and skin – which will
lead to heat exhaustion
You must drink water during exercise to minimise dehydration
and slow the rise in temperature

19. Not enough water
When you don’t get enough water;
Your body won’t be able to exercise
The CV system will become inefficient with no water
An inadequate blood supply to muscles and skin – which will
lead to heat exhaustion
You must drink water during exercise to minimise dehydration
and slow the rise in temperature

20. Practical Implications
Make notes on the Practical Implications on Pg 89

21. Fibre
Two types of fibre:
 Soluble
 Insoluble
It is not digested when we eat it, so has no calorie benefit.
It is only found in the cell walls of plants. So meat, fish and
dairy have none
Essential for healthy bowel function – Fibre absorbs water as it
passes through the intestines, making waste products softer
and moves through the system easier
It reduces many bowel problems:
Constipation
Haemorrhoids (Piles)
Cancer (in the colon (small intestine) and large intestine)
We should be eating 18g of fibre a day, most only eat 12g a day

22. Having a healthy diet
We should be eating the following proportions:
50% Carbohydrates
30-35% Fat
15-20% Protein

23. Consider the following when planning your diet
Pg 90

24. Nutrition Pyramid

25. Having a healthy diet
Having the right balance in your diet is the most important
aspect for health and fitness
So it doesn't mean eating food that doesn't taste nice, but
having the right balance of all foods
What night affect what you eat? (Pg 91)
1
2
3
4
5

26. Having a healthy diet
Eating enough fruit and veg is vital
How many per day?
5 portions (a rough guide) (Pg 91 – what is a portion?)
Don't eat to much salt – Why?
It can cause high blood pressure

27. Guidelines on having a healthy diet + lifestyle
Use Pg 91/92

28. Eating enough or too much?
You need to balance what you take in and what you use, (what
you eat and what you use as energy)
This is sometimes called the body’s METABOLISM.
The BASAL METABOLIC RATE is the amount of energy the
body uses at rest (keep our heart, lungs etc... working)
So working out how much we need, we need to add our Basal
Metabolic Rate to any other energy we use to do sport and do
our daily living.
Energy is used in kilocalories and kilojoules (1KCal = 4.2KJ)
Men can consume 2,800-3,000KCal a day and women 2,000 –
2,200KCal, without putting on weight.
HOWEVER...
Metabolic rates differ and it gets slower as you get older.

29. Factors affecting Energy Expenditure
Frequency of exercise
Intensity of exercise
Type of exercise and the duration
Age, gender and body composition of the individual
Fuels available (food available)
When you exercise the energy used needs to be replaced, so
some strategies to use if you regularly do exercise:

30. Glycogen Stores
Ensure the body has enough Glycogen.
So some athletes Glycogen load or (Carbo-Loading)
For three days they will only eat protein and fat with light training,
so depleting the stores in the body.
Three days before the competition, they will only eat
Carbohydrates e.g.
Pasta, bread, rice and fruit
This will fill the stores up to the maximum and allow the person to
have a high store of glycogen for the competition

31. Glycogen Stores
Other strategies to do with your Glycogen store are: (Pg92)

32. Fluids
You can loose up to 1litre of water in 1 hour of
endurance exercise.
So rehydration is essential, even if you don’t feel
thirsty
See Practical Applications Pg 93

33. Vitamins and Minerals Supplements
More exercise means your body needs more vitamins
and minerals
If you eat more, to keep your energy levels up, then
you will automatically be getting more of these, but it
may be beneficial to take some supplements

34. Sports Performers and Nutrition
What factors should a performer take into account
when planning their nutritional intake? (Pg 93)

35. Planning your Diet
When planning your diet for the future you should
consider: (Pg 94)

36. FLASHCARDS
A revision tool