What is the Importance of Carbohydrates, Proteins, and Fats For an Active Teen?

Carbohydrates

The importance of carbohydrates "carbs" is its role in our daily meal, which is to provide you with energy. Carbohydrates are broken up into 2 main categories, the "simple carbohydrate" and the "complex carbohydrate" or in other words "sugars" and "starches". Both of these carbohydrates can function in two ways, immediate meaning energy is used right away, and stored meaning that the carbohydrate intake is to great therefore its converted mainly into "fat". To make it easier to tell the difference between a "simple carbohydrate" food and a "complex carbohydrate" food, take the products fruits and whole grains. Fruits are a "simple carbohydrate" because they contain fructose (single sugar molecule), and whole grains are "complex carbohydrates" because they contain numerous molecules.

Calories Per Gram = 4

Proteins

Proteins are highly important for your body, its what your body uses to rebuild things like muscles and other tissues. It is also used to help regulate other bodily processes like your water balance, your water balance is the amount of water that is kept or taken away from your blood system. Proteins aren't all the same, there are many different types that contain different amino acids to help your body. The BEST protein for your body is one that contains all eight escential amino acids, which are tryptophan, lysine, methionine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, threonine and phenylalanine. The foods you can eat to gain the BEST protein are products like beef, chicken, fish, eggs, and milk. But what if I'm a vegetarian? well, there are alternate foods to gain the BEST protein in the combination of vegetables, fruit, grain, nuts, and seeds for vegetarians.

Calories Per Gram = 4



Fats

Although everyone says that fat is not a good thing to have, they are right and wrong. Fat, if you have to much it can be a very dangerous factor in the well being of your body, on the inside and out, however you do need some fat. A little bit of fat is important in keeping your body normal, its what sucks in all the fat-soluble vitamins like the vitamins A, D, K, and E. Those vitamins are the supporting factors of normal development and growth. Fat is also very important in being healthy because it acts as a "cushion" for all your major organs while creating insulation to regulate body temperature.
Fats are stored energy, if that stored energy is not used then it will continue to build and eventually you will suffer from obesity. This is called an "energy imbalance" meaning that the amount of energy being taken in is greater than the amount of energy that is being taken out. If you do suffer from obesity then exercise and a healthy diet of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats will help you. Just take the saying "what goes up, must come down" into your fat consumption, meaning when you take in fat "goes up" then you must get active to burn it off "goes down".

Calories Per Gram = 9

 http://www.livestrong.com/article/403973-what-are-the-functions-of-simple-carbohydrates/ 

 http://www.livestrong.com/article/366969-importance-of-protein-in-food/