The nutritionist - food, nutrition, and optimal healt

The Nutritionist

Now in an updated and expanded new edition, The Nutritionist: Food, Nutrition, and Optimal Health, Second Edition, provides readers with vital information about how to simply but radically improve their daily lives with the science of nutrition, balance their diets to achieve more energy, and improve health and longevity. Complete with many informative and easy-to-read tablesand charts, The Nutritionist: Food, Nutrition, and Optimal Health, Second Edition, utilizes the findings of the latest biological and medical studies to give experts and non-experts alike a comprehensive account of the needs of our bodies and the ways that healthy eating can improve performance in day-to-day activities. Author Dr Robert Wildman, renowned nutrition expert, debunks myths aboutcarbohydrates, fat, and cholesterol, elucidates the role of water in nutrition, and clearly explains the facts of human anatomy and physiognomy, the process of digestion, and vitamin supplements. Complete with a practical and comprehensive guide to the nutrition information printed on the packaging of most food items, The Nutritionist: Food, Nutrition, and Optimal Health, Second Edition is a necessaryand extremely useful nutrition resource for anyone interested in the science and practical benefits of good nutrition. Dr Robert E.C. Wildman is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Florida State University, and Ohio State University, and is currently on the faculty at Kansas State University. Dr Wildman is also the author of Sports and Fitness Nutrition (2002) and editor of The Handbook ofNutraceuticals and Functional Foods, Second Edition (Taylor & Francis, 2007).

The Nutritionist
Food, Nutrition, and Optimal Health
Second Edition

Dr Robert E. C. Wildman

First published 2002 by Haworth This edition first published 2009 by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RNRoutledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2002 Haworth © 2009 Taylor & Francis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproducedor utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation withoutintent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Wildman, Robert E. C., 1964– The nutritionist: food, nutrition & optimal health / by Robert E.C. Wildman. p. cm. 1. Nutrition. I. Title QP141.W487 2009 612.3—dc22 2008029707
ISBN 0-203-88700-X Master e-book ISBN

ISBN10: 0–7890–3423–9 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–7890–3424–7 (pbk) ISBN10: 0–203–88700–X (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–7890–3423–6 (hbk)ISBN13: 978–0–7890–3424–3 (pbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–88700–4 (ebk)

For David

Contents

About the Author Preface 1 The Very Basics of Humans and the World We Inhabit 2 How Our Body Works 3 The Nature of Food 4 Carbohydrates Are Our Most Basic Fuel Source 5 Fats and Cholesterol Are Not All Bad 6 Proteins Are the Basis of Our Structure and Function 7 Water is the Basis of Our Body 8 EnergyMetabolism, Body Weight and Composition, and Weight 9 Vitamins Are Vital Molecules in Food 10 The Minerals of Our Body 11 Exercise and Sports Nutrition 12 Nutrition Throughout Life

ix x

1 18 49 66 96

124 145

155 191 233 274 307

viii Contents

13 Nutrition, Heart Disease, and Cancer Appendix A: Periodic Table of Elements Index

334 365 367

About the Author

Dr Robert E.C....