We eat food as we need the nutrients and energy it gives us. Without food, we would be unable to survive more then a few weeks.

WHAT DOES A WELL BALANCED DIET DO?

A well balanced diet is essential as it supplies our bodies with different nutrients that are necessary for bone growth, energy, and immune system function as well as prevention or reduced risk for diseases. Other benefits includes mood lifting, energy boosting, having a healthy body weight and muscle strengthening.

WHAT WOULD A IN-BALENCED DIET DO?

An in-balenced diet would create problems with immune system function, create higher risk with diseases such as type 2 diebetes, cancer, obesity and heart disease. It also would impact memory, mental health and energy levels.

The five food groups are

• GRAIN FOODS (ex: pasta, cereal, brown rice)

grain foods contains complex carbohydrates and supplies your body with energy, and essential nutrients such as iron and vitamin B

• VEGETABLES & LEGUMES/BEANS (ex: brocoli, chickpea, corn)

vegetables and legumes supplies your body with fiber, vitamins, minerals and protein

• FRUIT (ex: tomato, banana, strawberries)

fruit supplies your body with the minerals, fiber and vitamins and helps your digestion system and boost immunity

• DAIRY (ex: milk, butter, yogurt)

dairy supplies your body with calcium, protein and vitamin D & B

• POULTRY, FISH ,EGGS, NUTS & SEEDS (ex: salted peanuts, eggs, chicken)

  poultry, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds supplies your body with protein and iron.

  
  

You need to balance the three macronutrients to perform at netball. These are:

• CARBOHYDRATES

  Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for your muscles. It is important to make sure you eat carbohydrates before high-intensity sport like netball to fill your energy reserve. For example, you could eat fruits or a piece of toast to boost your energy.

• PROTEIN

  Protein helps repair muscle and is essential for muscle growth. It is also your back up store of energy, after all the carbohydrates and fats have been used. It is useful to help your muscles recover after a game of netball. To make sure you get enough protein, you could eat a form of cooked eggs, any form of dairy or lean meats.

• FATS

  Fats help fuel your body after carbohydrates have run out, and is essential in absorbing vitamins, which help you have healthy skin, good eyesight and strong bones.

  Peanut butter and avocados are good sources of healthy fats.

Ingredients

• rolled oats

• almond milk

• chia seeds

• peanut butter

• protein powder

• greek yogurt

• grated apple

Overnight oats is the perfect breakfast meal that I eat that contains all three macronutrients. The main ingredient, oats contains complex carbohydrates that gives a source energy, as well as the apple. The protein is given by the protiein powder, and the healthy fats by the peanut butter.

• VITAMINS

Vitamins are an organic compound that our bodies use to help with the immune system, red cell growth and organ function. It helps the metablolic process, which is the process where food is converted into energy through nutrients. Some examples of vitamins are vitamin C and vitamin D, which helps your immunity system and bone health. Vitamins are found in a variety of food, including fruit and vegetables, fish and nuts, and dairy.

• MINERALS

Minerals are another organic compound that our bodies use to regulate fluid, help with the metabolic process, help with nerve and muscle function, and bone and teeth formation. There are two types of minerals, macrominerals, minerals needed in bigger quantities and trace elements, minerals needed in much smaller quantities. Some examples of macrominerals are calcium, sodium and potassium. Trace elements are minerals such as iron, zinc and copper. You can find minerals in a large amout of food, which includes nut, seeds, fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat.

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN WITHOUT MICRONUTRIENTS?

Without micronutrients, the body is not able to function properly, and it could result in amenia, which causes fatigue and weakness, blindness, poor growth, a weak immune system and slow healing for injuries.

• helping with fluid regulation, which is maintaining the correct volume of fluid in organs and blood

• helping with nerve and muscle function, which is helping the nerves send signals to the brain and helps muscles to contract and relax properly

• helping with absorption of nutrients, which is a process where nutrients are changed from food to nutrients to being absorbed by the body

• helps with electrolyte balance

• helps the creation of gastric acid, which helps with digestion.

  However, too much salt can cause problems such as high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes. Avoiding big amouts highly salted foods like processed meat (ham, salami, bacon), cheese, and bread will help regulate your intake of sodium.

The health star rating system was designed to be a quick and easy way to compare foods on levels of nutrition. It ranges from 1 and a half to 5 stars, unhealthy to most healthy

HOW IS THE INFORMATION MODELED?

The health star rating system is modeled with a graphic of five stars coloured or not coloured, which depends on the healthiness of the food. The number of stars is also shown by a number. An example is shown on the picture above.

HOW ARE THE FOODS RATED?

The foods are rated over different factors:

• the energy amount (in kJ)

• the amout of saturated fat

• the amount of sugar

• the amount of sodium

• and the amount of nutrients

These are compared with similar foods and worked out which is the healthiest in that catagory of foods.

One of the pros of the health star rating system is that it is very easy to understand. However, it only mesures nutrition from comparing similar types of food which could be misleading.