Me, a Molecule

Time for a little science talk. Don't worry, this is actually pretty exciting stuff.

Yo, that title would be a great song title, too. I'm feeling inspired like no other this morning! 

Proving that I am indeed a normal person who happens upon ideas is normal person ways (I'm really not all that enlightened), I was in the shower today when my thoughts went on one of those wild rabbit trails that ends up with me being like, “oh wow I should write that down”! But then I never do.

Until today.

Basically, I was thinking about how in yoga class, the instructors say to breathe in “positive energy” and breathe out the positive and negatives. Me with my science brain took it to extremes in terms of thinking of it literally. Imagine me standing in the shower (actually, don't. That's weird.), and I’m talking to myself in my head like, “yeah! Breathe in those positive ions - come on in hydrogen! Chloride? Get outta here!” my O chem lab instructors would be horrified to hear this, but I'm pretty sure I was a major disappointment to them anyways.

I took a lot of chemistry classes to get my degree, and I disliked none of them quite the way I disliked organic chemistry, but apparently cool ideas like this can come from even the most unlikeable things. All that thought about ions and positive and negative charges got me from thinking about inhaling potentially hazardous gases to what those charges mean scientifically  for the molecules, but how it was also a killer metaphor for the ups and downs we experience in life.

Molecules are made of atoms. Atoms have things called electrons. Having certain amounts of electrons make a molecule negative or positively charged. Sometimes, losing an electron makes a molecule positively charged, which means it can go bond with other molecules that are negatively charged, create a new compound, and do something cool like become liquid water instead of a couple gas molecules floating around in the air.

Gaining an electron has the same effect.

Sometimes, it takes loss in life to be set in the direction you're supposed to be going. And there are a lot of directions to be going in. Your loss could lead you to new opportunities, new people, and beautiful experiences you wouldn't have had without it. I think about my past and how none of the awesome things that have happened to me lately most likely wouldn't have happened if I hadn't had those awful experiences.

Studying science, for me, reinforced my belief in God. Seeing the patterns and tiny details against a bigger picture and physical results of things constantly happening in nature, in our bodies, in space, in everything is pretty amazing. I know many people would disagree, but that is what I've come to see, and I certainly believe it points to something much larger than humans.

I can't explain or justify the whole “everything happens for a reason” because I really don't like that phrase, but I believe that how we react to what happens to us is more important than understanding why it happened anyways. Molecules don't think about that lost electron - they literally change into something new and continue on. 

Droppin' Mics (Micronutrients - Part I)

Simply Real: Dropping the Mic(ronutrients) Part 1

Something I’ve always thought was funny about so-called “health food” is that there has always been a huge focus on what isn’t in the product: “fat-free”, “low-carb”, “sugar-free”, are all those lovely buzzwords that seem to mean a lot but really mean nothing. I look at food and focus on what is in it. The more good stuff it has, the better! In general, when something is removed from a food something just as bad (sometimes worse) has probably been added to it. Think preservatives, salt, added sugars, and artificial flavors, colors, and sweeteners.

However, a lot of processed foods have vitamins and minerals added to them. What’s really funny about this is that typically, the ingredients in that processed food used to have those vitamins and minerals but – big surprise – they were removed or lost during processing. Just because nutrients are present in food doesn’t mean that the food itself is healthy. Remember our definition of health food!

Also, fun fact: your body actually absorbs and uses natural, food-based vitamins and minerals better than those found in supplements or made synthetically (what’s added to processed foods).

Remember that last week, I discussed macronutrients – the big energy-givers and body-builders. Today, I’m going to discuss the little guys: micronutrients. Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals, which can get really, really not simple. The truth is that the functions of many micronutrients in the body are advanced chemical reactions that take a lot of studying to fully understand (think 3 years of school and 6 chemistry classes…).

Some terms to know that will help you understand what vitamins and minerals do include:

Catabolism: breaking something down into smaller parts

Anabolism: building something bigger out of smaller parts

Metabolism: how the body uses catabolism and anabolism to break down macronutrients and use them to do things in the body.

Electrons: particles which are moved around in the body to use energy

Antioxidant: we need oxygen, but sometimes, extra oxygen floating around can cause reactions called oxidation that produce harmful chemicals. Antioxidants pick up these oxygens and prevent/reduce this from happening.

Free Radicals: the harmful chemicals made when oxidation happens

Some other keys that will be helpful:

Plant-Based foods containing each nutrient are written in GREEN! Because PLANTS.

Key-words that are defined in this post and past posts are bolded.

Otherwise important information is written in RED because it really is important for some people to read these things, and red is eye-catching.

Additional comments that are more or less relevant to the information being discussed is shrunken down so that you can see how unimportant it is – but read them anyways because I think I’m funny.

Vitamin Name	Role in the Body	Why is that important?	Where to find it in food!
B1 (Thiamin)	·         Breaks down macronutrients. ·         Helps with moving electrons to send messages through the nervous system.	·         Allows food to be used for energy ·         Keeps nerves healthy ·         Healthy, working muscles	·         Pork, probably other meats as well, but my textbook didn’t include them because who really needs meat besides tigers and sharks? ·         Sunflower seeds, peanuts, peas, lentils.
B2 (Riboflavin)	·         Breaks down macronutrients	·         Allows food to be used for energy!	·         Beef, dairy milk ·         mushrooms, spinach, almonds
B3 (Niacin)	·         Breaks down macronutrients ·         Builds fatty acids and cholesterol	·         Allows food to be used for energy! ·         Fatty acids are used to build the walls of body cells and keep nerves healthy. They are also how our bodies store fat. ·         Cholesterol helps absorb fat from food. Our bodies also use it to make Vitamin D!	·         Beef, chicken, tuna, all other meats ·         mushrooms, peanuts, broccoli, coffee
B6 (Pyridoxine)	·         Helps make hormones serotonin, norepinephrine, and melatonin	·         These hormones carry messages between nerves. ·         “Mood” and “sleep” hormones. ·         Keeps body’s clock working correctly	·         Beef, salmon ·         Bananas, whole grains, navy beans
B12 (Cobalamin)	·         Metabolism ·         Brain + nervous system health ·         Helps make red blood cells	·         Makes energy from food. ·         Keeps the wrapping around nerves healthy so they can send messages. ·         Blood cells carry oxygen so we can live!	·         Meat, fish, shellfish, dairy ·         IMPORTANT! Vitamin B12 is made by bacteria, and is only naturally present in animal products (fun fact: many of these animals get it from eating their poop, because that’s where the bacteria are making it). ·         Thus, there are no reliable, naturally-occurring sources of B12. So if you are a vegan, be sure to supplement your diet by popping a pill or by choosing an alt-milk that has B12 added to it. *I personally believe in and practice getting all of my nutrients directly from natural food sources (or as little fortification as possible), which is why I’m not 100% vegan J
Vitamin C	·         Antioxidant ·         Helps build collagen proteins ·         Helps make serotonin and norepinephrine	·         Prevents cell damage caused by oxidation ·         Collagen is what keeps skin soft and stretchy – healthy skin, less wrinkles! ·         The mood/sleep hormones again! Keep us healthy and happy!	·         Liver and organ meats ·         Oranges, bananas, strawberries, kiwis, peppers, cantaloupe.
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)	·         Metabolism	·         Provides energy from food ·         Important for skin and nerve health	·         Liver, beef, chicken, fish, egg yolks ·         Beans, peas, peanuts, avocados
Biotin	·         Metabolism ·         Builds fatty acids ·         Build amino acids	·         Provides energy from food ·         Fatty acids are stored or used for cell health. ·         Amino acids are used to keep hair and fingernails healthy.	·         Made by bacteria and used by the body, but we still need some from food! ·         Egg yolk, liver ·         Soy beans, peanuts, beans, lentils, nuts

Fat Soluble Vitamins ·         Absorbed with fat! ·         Stored in the body, so they can be toxic. ·         Just get them from food. Don’t mega-dose yourself.	Role in the Body	Why is that Important?	Where to find it in food!
Vitamin A (Retinol)	·         Makes pigments and light receptors in eyes. ·         Getting a little complicated here: interacts with DNA to change cells. ·         Builds bones ·         Immune health	·         Light receptors are what allow us to see! Healthy receptors = healthy eyes ·         So in all honesty, really not super-important to know, but I was proud of the analogy here, and it’s pretty interesting. Think of it like a guidance counselor for cells: it helps little high school skin cells go to college to become epidermis cells (your “skin”), rather than the slimy under-ground-dwelling mucus-making cells. And vice-versa. ·         Works with bone cells (no one really knows how it works, actually)	·         Liver, dairy ·         Carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pretty much all of my favorite vegetables ever, greens, broccoli, yup.
Vitamin D	·         Bone metabolism ·         Maintains healthy levels of calcium in the blood ·         Cellular health	·         Super simple here: helps build bones and keeps them healthy by working with calcium – which we’ll learn more about next week cause this is turning out to be quite the info dump J ·         Works much like Vitamin A on cells, but in the intestines and some blood cells.	·         Our bodies make it – and can make plenty of it with just 15-30 minutes of sunshine every day! ·         Dairy (usually fortified), salmon, egg yolks ·         Alt-milks (usually fortified), mushrooms but really, how great are mushrooms? Bet you didn’t know they were so great, huh?
Vitamin E	·         Antioxidant	·         Helps prevent free radicals, those nasty little things that can cause damage to cells. ·	·         Salmon, egg yolks, codfish ·         Olive oil, other vegetable oils, nuts and seeds
Vitamin K	·         Blood clotting ·         Needed for proteins involved with bone health	·         Activates proteins which bind to calcium and other things floating around in the blood to help it clot if you happen to cut the tip of your finger off while making salsa (this has happened to me more than once). ·         Again, vitamin K activates proteins which help rebuild bone.	·         Vitamin K is produced in plentiful amounts in our guts! Thanks, bacteria! ·         But you can also get it from foods… Anything green and leafy (kale, spinach, lettuce, cilantro, parsley, beet greens, collard greens, etc.), broccoli, cauliflower. ·         IMPORTANT!!! People who are taking blood thinners need to watch their vitamin K intake. Your doctor should have told you this, and you should be going to regular blood draws and checkups to monitor this J

Well, this turned out to be quite a lot more information than I intended! As I stated before, micronutrients are complex – there’s a lot that goes into understanding exactly what they do, and I’ve tried my best to simplify things and tell you what’s really important to know. Though it may not be super important, I like to include why these things are “good for your eyes”, or “help build strong bones” so that you’re informed. Anyone can tell you anything (usually to sell your something) – like the people who say B Vitamins energize you. But as you learned today, that ain’t true! It’s the calories from the food (macronutrients) we eat that provide us with energy, the B vitamins simply help our bodies use the energy that’s already there.

 There’s a lot more that goes into it than what I’ve described, and if you’re up to it, I totally encourage you to investigate and learn more about how vitamins work in our bodies! It’s truly amazing to literally see how we were created with such tiny, tiny details that work together so perfectly. In the next post, get excited for minerals, the other micronutrients!

I promise, we’re almost through with the science-y stuff (hah, never!) and on to what you all really want to know… how to cook healthy food! 

Simply Real: The Big Three

Over the past few weeks, I’ve discussed health and what makes food healthy in general terms. Remember, in trying to keep things simple, we’re going to define “healthy food” as the least processed and closest to natural food you can find, with the best natural nutritional value (the most vitamins and minerals!). It’s nothing fancy or super-special, and it’s not (at least it shouldn’t be) exclusive. Today, we’ll take it a step farther and look at the three “parts” of food we need to keep us going – and yes, we do need all three of them, despite whatever the fad diet of the moment says.

In nutrition science, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are all clumped together under a group called “macronutrients”, which pretty much means “large nutrients”. These three nutrients are responsible for providing us with calories (energy so we can live and breathe and do other amazing things) and building materials to help us grow, heal, and thrive. 

In the next post, I'll discuss micronutrients - vitamins and minerals, which participate in thousands of processes in our bodies every second of the day. How amazing is that???

Carbohydrates (Carbs)!

Sweet, sweet carbs (literally, they’re chemically made of sugars). My favorite food group of all, and what also seem to be the most evil of the food groups according to many popular diets. Many people believe that carbs are "bad" for you because of the misconception that carbs = potatoes, bread, and pasta. While it's true that those are all carbohydrate-rich foods, carbs as a nutrient group include way more than that! Take a look:

 

The problem with carbs in the American diet is that most of the carbs a lot of people eat are either super- processed, added to processed foods in the form of extra sugar and syrups. We also tend to cook and prepare carbs at home with a lot of extra stuff they don’t really need like oil, fat, and more fat. You’ll notice in the picture that carbs are also in fruits, vegetables, and grains; all foods that you’ve probably been told are healthy. And they are (even potatoes)! These forms of carbs all come with an extra health-kick, fiber. Fiber has all sorts of magical (science-y) benefits, like slowing down the rate your body takes in the sugar from the food you’ve eaten, and making you feel full faster so you don’t over eat.

Carbs also have great benefits of their own – they help proteins repair your muscles after working out, they help your brain function clearly, and they provide fast energy. The types of foods that carbs are in, like fruits and vegetables, also have high naturally occurring vitamin and mineral contents.

Proteins

Protein and I have a weird relationship. I appreciate it, but I’m not the protein super-fan that many Americans are. Don’t get me wrong, protein is extremely important for a healthy body, just like carbs and fats are: you can’t grow and thrive if you’re not getting enough protein regularly. It also has a role in more science-y stuff like building and activating enzymes (for digestion and many, many other things that happen in the body) and hormones. Thankfully, it’s actually quite easy to get enough protein.

 

The amount of protein you need depends on a lot of different things: if you’re growing (like a baby – they need lots of protein!), pregnant, sick, or an athlete, you might need more or less, but that’s a bit more advanced than we’ll go today. Generally, though, most Americans get more than enough protein every day.

Since you don’t actually need to eat an entire chicken to get enough protein every day, this also means that it’s totally realistic and actually very easy to eat enough protein without needing to eat meat. If you’re on a tight budget and can’t afford meat all the time (or if you don't eat meat for any other reasons), this is great news for you, and your family and friends who may question you dietary choices.

Fat

For some reason, protein tends to get all the love as a nutrient while carbs and fats have been turned into some kind of villains. The truth is that, yes, we need fat, too. The way we treat fat in our diets is very similar to how we treat carbs – we think they’re all “bad” because the types of fat we’re exposed to tends to be processed and not very nutritious. Think dairy products, shortening and oils, and fried foods. Fats, like carbs, are a beautifully misunderstood food group that offer many benefits for health: fats help our cells function, insulate the little telephone wires in our brains that help us think and move and feel, and even help us absorb certain vitamins!

There’s a lot of debate on what fats are “good” and what are “bad”. As usual, I personally prefer more plant-based like oils, nuts, seeds, and vegetables since they typically carry more nutritional value than animal-based fats do. I like to get the biggest bang for my buck when it comes to nutrients, so if I can get fat, protein, carbs, and some vitamins and minerals in one ‘lil nut butter, I’m all for it.

 

In each of the pictures, I’ve shown a few examples of different types of foods that I consider to be healthy with these three nutrients. Simply knowing which foods contain which nutrients is a huge help in planning healthy meals. Try creating a meal plan based off of the examples I’ve given, and don’t be afraid to try something new!