Improve Your English Vocabulary: Diet, Health, and Nutrition

Hi.

Welcome to www.engvid.com.

I'm Adam.

In today's video, we're going to talk about: nutrition.

So, we're going to get a little introduction into how to maintain a proper diet, what you're eating,

what you should eat, what you shouldn't eat, how much you should eat, etc.

And we're going to especially look at the different types of nutrients that you should

put into your body if you want to grow, if you want to maintain, if you want to lose

weight, etc.

So, we're going to start with the basic process.

Okay?

Eating, drinking, all these things.

We're going to look at these two verbs: "ingest" and "digest".

Okay?

So, when we're talking about nutrition, we're talking about what you're taking into your body.

So, when you ingest something, when you ingest nutrients, you are swallowing them or absorbing them.

So, "swallow" basically means chew and swallow.

Right?

So, "chew" is break down the food in your mouth, and then you swallow it; you take it in

and push it down into your stomach.

You can also absorb nutrients.

For example, we absorb vitamin D from the sun through our skin.

Okay?

So, you can absorb or swallow - means you're ingesting your nutrients.

In your stomach, your stomach produces juices—they're mostly acids—that break down the food and

separate it into its different components that can then be absorbed in the intestines.

So, the intestines are the long tubes that go back and forth from your stomach until

the waste comes out, and inside all the good nutrients get absorbed into the blood, and

pushed around to all the parts of the body that need them.

So, let's look specifically at the nutrients that you're going to need.

Now, first thing you need to know about nutrients are...

Is that they are not synthesized naturally by the body.

So, the body produces a lot of the things it needs, but some things it just can't synthesize;

it can't put together to create a new nutrient.

So, these nutrients need to be ingested; they need to be put into your body, basically.

Right?

And we have: Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals.

And these are considered essential.

You can live without carbohydrates, but you can't live without these nutrients.

Okay?

So, what are these?

So, "carbohydrates"-we call them "carbs" for short-these are the nutrients that provide

your body energy, especially for your brain.

Okay?

They come from fruits and vegetables, grains...

So, for example, bread, which comes from wheat or whatever other kind of grain, has a lot

of carbohydrates.

Comes from sugars, and starches, like rice, etc.

So, all of these give your body a lot of energy.

Now, you also get energy from the other minerals...

From the other nutrients as well, but carbohydrates are a very good source.

The problem is they can also lead to weight gain, if you don't control the intake.

Okay?

We can also say: "intake of nutrients".

Basically means take in; intake.

Okay?

So, carbohydrates.

Then we have proteins.

"Proteins" are the nutrients that help create and build tissues and muscles in your body.

So, when a child is growing and getting bigger, it's the proteins that help create that growth.

It's good for bones, and muscles, and tissues, etc.

Proteins are made of amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, and there

are many different types of amino acids.

And these days you can take pills specifically with the amino acids that you want for specific things.

So, nowadays, you see a lot of guys or girls - big, big muscles, and you think: "Oh, steroids."

Right?

Not necessarily; they could just be taking a lot of amino acids, and exercising a lot,

and growing their muscles and looking much bigger.

So, proteins are basically the building blocks.

"Fats" are the nutrients that store energy.

So, if you eat too many carbohydrates, the fats will store that energy as sugar, and

that's why you get fat.

That's why it's called...

When a person is a little bit heavy, we sometimes say: "Fat".

It's a bit of a misleading word, but that's what happens - you're storing too much energy.

Right?

And you have different types of fatty acids.

Now, fats, as we said, they're essential; they're necessary nutrients, which means fat

is not bad.

You should eat fatty foods, but there are different types of fats and some of them you

should absolutely avoid.

So, when we're talking about fats, we're talking about mono-unsaturated fats or poly-unsaturated

fats.

These are the healthy fats.

Okay?

They're in meat, they're in fish, they're in fruits and vegetables - you need these.

Okay?

But, again, you don't want to overdo anything.

Saturated fats...

Like, I'm not getting into the medical details of the difference between saturated and unsaturated.

It's something about their bonds and the hydrogen molecules - don't worry about that.

If you want to know, you could do some research.

For now, things like nuts and certain oils, and fish, and avocado, etc. - these are all

good fats that you should take in.

Okay?

What you should absolutely avoid are trans fats.

Now, trans fats are fats that are basically a byproduct of a manufacturing process.

Okay?

So they're a byproduct.

Oops.

So, for example, when a company makes margarine or they make baked goods in mass quantities,

like cookies, or cakes, and things like that, or chips, or cooking oil...

So, if you're eating deep-fried French fries - very, very unhealthy.

These trans fats, they basically are the things that clog your arteries.

So, the veins, the...

Or, sorry.

The arteries - the tubes that come out of your heart with the blood, they get full of

this...

These fats, and then the blood can't flow, and that's why people have a heart attack

or other diseases because the blood is not flowing properly.

So, these are the ones you have to avoid; these are the ones that you want to get inside

of you.

Okay?

And then there are vitamins and minerals.

Basically, these add or aid the functions of the body.

They help control chemicals, they help create enzymes, they help different organs work properly.

Okay?

Vitamins, we usually...

When we're talking about vitamins, we're talking about, like, vitamin A, B, C, B12, D5 - all

different types of letters and numbers.

Minerals are...

Have their own names; iron, zinc, magnesium, calcium.

Okay?

These are all very important.

You can easily take supplements...

Now, if you don't get enough of these vitamins and minerals through your food, you can take

pills or powders and make sure that you get enough of all of these vitamins and minerals

to help your body function properly.

If you're feeling a little tired, you're missing certain vitamins.

If you're feeling a little heavy, you're missing certain minerals.

If your bones are weak, you need different minerals, etc.

So, all very, very important.

Now...

So now we know the basic idea of nutrients.

Let's look at your diet.

Okay?

Okay, so now we know what we're taking into our bodies; what we're ingesting, what we're

digesting, etc.

Now we need to think about the whole process; the whole thing as a big picture thing.

Now, before I get into these words, you have to understand the number one rule of gaining

weight or losing weight is not exercise.

Exercise is very, very important - don't get me wrong, but if you want to lose weight or

gain weight, it's all about the diet.

It's all about what you take into your body.

Right?

If you want to lose weight, you can go to the gym every single day, five hours a day,

and go on that treadmill and walk, walk, walk, jog, jog, jog - but if you're eating McDonald's

right after your workout, you're not going to lose any weight.

Diet is more important than exercise if you want to change the way your body looks.

Okay?

Now, let's talk about diet.

What does "diet" mean?

Unfortunately, these days the word "diet" means to try to lose weight, but that's not

what "diet" actually means.

"Diet" means the things that you eat, basically.

If you want to gain weight, you go on a diet; if you want to lose weight, you go on a diet.

What does it mean: "to go on a diet"?

It means to control the food that's coming into your body.

Now, more specifically, what are you trying to control?

You're trying to control the calories.

Okay?

Everything you eat has a...

Or drink has a number of calories.

Now, an average adult should get about 2,000 calories per day.

Okay?

That's a healthy average calorie count for the day.

If you're getting more than that, you risk gaining weight.

If you're getting less than that, you're going to lose weight.

If you want to lose weight, that's fine; if you want to gain weight, that's fine too.

But "diet" is just basically the system of eating that you have, and you can change that,

depending what you want from your body.

Now, "calories" are basically energy units.

You call...

It's measured in joules, but nobody actually uses the word "joules", so I'm not going to

worry about that now.

Now, you should always watch your calorie count; watch the calories you're taking in.

Basically it means be aware of.

So, some people use a calorie calculator.

Okay?

A "calorie calculator" means every time they eat something, they punch in the number of

calories in that meal, and then at the end of the day they see how many calories they

ate or drank.

Make sure that you pay attention to food labels.

Every time you go to the supermarket, every time you buy a packaged item of food, there's

going to be on the side or somewhere on the package a label that tells you the components;

what...

How much...

How many carbohydrates are you getting, in grams; how many proteins; how many...

Which vitamins, which minerals - all this stuff.

So, make sure you pay attention to the label; it will also tell you how many calories you

have in that food item.

So, make sure you understand that and you can control your calorie intake.

Now, keep in mind some people have faster metabolisms than other people.

The "metabolism" is the rate in which you burn energy.

Okay?

So, if you're taking in all these calories, for some people, they will burn it very fast,

so the calories don't stay in the body; they are not stored in the fat.

Right?

Remember: Fat stores energy.

If you have a high rate of metabolism, you're going to burn that energy fat; there's nothing

to store - you probably need more food.

If you have a slow metabolism, you're going to store more, so you have to control, very

carefully, what you eat.

Don't forget to exercise; it is important, but also diet is very important.

Be careful how much sodium.

Now, on these labels...

On these food labels, you'll see how much sodium is in your food.

"Sodium" is basically salt.

Okay?

They don't like to write "salt", because then people get scared when they see: "Oh my god,

40% of my daily intake is in this one package."

So, on these you'll see "% daily intake", basically: How much should you take in every

day?

And if your package has 40%, don't buy this item.

Don't eat it.

It's very bad for you.

Okay?

Avoid it.

Now, another problem with salt is that retains water.

The more salt you eat, the more water your body holds onto; and then when you get on

a scale, the numbers go up.

So, just eat less salt and your numbers will go back down a little bit.

Make sure you eat a lot of fiber.

Now, fiber, things like celery, or bran, certain grains, what they...

What they...

What the fiber does is it helps the food pass through your body quicker, so you go to the

washroom more regularly; you don't store things inside longer than you need to.

Make sure you drink a lot, a lot, a lot of water.

A large majority of our body is made of water.

Our body always needs water inside; water helps with the digestion, with the metabolism,

with everything.

Make sure you drink a lot of water; otherwise, you might also dehydrate.

If you dehydrate, it means your body doesn't have enough water; sometimes you'll get a

headache, sometimes you'll get dizzy and feel like passing out, you won't have enough energy,

you'll feel sluggish and tired - be careful about that.

And always make sure that you give your body the rest that it needs.

If you go to the gym and you're lifting weights, make sure that you give your body recovery

time.

If you're breaking muscles and tearing tissue because you're lifting weights, let the body

fix the muscles, fix the tissues so you always have enough energy and have enough strength

to continue on.

Now, first of all, before I...

I finish this off, let me just say one thing.

I am not a licensed nutritionist.

Okay?

I am giving you an introduction to nutrition, I'm giving you an introduction to the language,

the English language of nutrition, but if this is very important to you, and it should

be-I want everyone to be healthy, energetic, happy-make sure that you find out about all

these things.

Make sure you know what your body needs, what your body doesn't need.

Maybe make an appointment with a nutritionist, so a person who's studied all of this stuff

and who knows exactly what's going on, and can recommend a set diet for you that you

can follow.

Now, if you want to gain weight, go for it; if you want to lose weight, go for it, too.

If you want to gain weight: Lots of carbs, lots of proteins.

If you want to lose weight: Less carbs, less proteins; although, proteins you should always

have a certain minimum anyway.

So, I hope this is helpful.

Keep up the hard work.

I mean, I go to the gym all the time.

I watch what I eat now.

You know, as you get older, you need to do these things.

It's good for you.

Do it.

You'll be happy you're doing it.

If you have any questions about this, please go to www.engvid.com and ask me in the forum

there.

There's also a quiz; you can check your understanding of the language involved with nutrition.

If you like this video, like it on YouTube and subscribe to my channel, and come back

soon for some more interesting lessons.

See you then.