Lesson Plans Nutrition
Pictured here is the US Department of Agriculture Food Guide Pyramid. It's our guide to the foods that go into a healthy diet. It's shaped like a triangle to show how much or how little of each type of food we should eat. We should eat more of the foods at the bottom of the pyramid and less of the foods at the top. At the base of the pyramid is the grain group. On the second level are fruits and vegetables. On the third level are the meat and dairy groups, and at the top is the fats, oils and sweets group. It's important to our health to eat a certain number of servings from each food group every day. This is called eating a balanced diet and it's the best way to be sure of getting all the nutrition needed to stay alert, strong and healthy.
The Meat Group
This high-protein group includes meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts. Doctors and nutrition experts say we should eat 2–3 servings from this group every single day. Each serving should be about 3 ounces in size, or about the size of a deck of cards.The word "protein" comes from a Greek root meaning "of first importance." Why is protein so important? You may already know that our bodies are mostly water. But if you subtracted all the water, 3/4 of what’s left would be protein. When we eat a food containing protein, like meat, chicken, fish, eggs or nuts, our bodies break the protein down into amino acids, which combine with other substances to build our muscles, our organs (heart, lungs, and skin, etc.), our hormones, and the antibodies which help fight disease. Different sources of protein contain different combinations of amino acids and other nutrients. Children, grownups and older people all need to eat protein every day for muscle strength, energy and for fighting disease. One of the healthiest sources of protein comes from fish and seafood. How do we know that? In Greenland, scientists noticed that groups of Eskimos have fewer heart attacks than most people. They looked at the Eskimos’ eating habits and learned that they ate lots of fish, plus they ate whale and seal meat. And what do whales and seals eat? Fish.Then there was a famous study done in Japan. Researchers compared the number of heart attacks among people who lived on the coast and ate fish with people who lived on farms and ate meat. Again, the fish-eaters had less heart disease and lived longer. The same thing happened in many other studies. What is it about fish and seafood that helps prevent disease? What does fish have that’s so special? Three important things:
- Fish and seafood are naturally low in fat, even lower than most meat.
- Fish contain substances called Omega-3 Fatty Acids. These special nutrients are believed to help prevent many different diseases, including heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. Omega-3 fatty acids work by making blood less sticky so it flows better. This helps to prevent dangerous blood clots from forming in narrow arteries. Omega-3s also improve the heart beat, blood flow and help chemical reactions occur properly within the blood vessels. Some species of fish are higher in Omega-3 fatty acids than others, including Rainbow Trout and Salmon.
- Fish and seafood also contain important vitamins that our bodies need every day.
