Healthy Is Happy (Part 2)

Hi bloggers!

It's me, agent O,wants to continue the article on how to keep your body and mind fit while dealing with piles of work.

It's already my 6th week as an MMT Batch 2 GroupM, and I started to feel kinda hectic, and cannot focusing on my health anymore. I used to have proper schedule which consists of aerobic in the morning, oatmeal+boiled eggs+milk+orange for breakfast, high protein and carbs for lunch, and lots of veggie and fruits on dinner. Plus some light snacks in between. But I have not done those for quite some time, except for weekend.

MMT Batch 2 GroupM

And I presume that you guys maybe have the same problem? I won't be surprised to hear about working overtime, had no enough time to sleep, nausea, and eventually some serious illness from you, workers. Especially for you the new jobbers! So it's very important to keep the healthy life, because eventually, we protect ourself from getting serious problems.

Agent M has share some tips on how to keep a healthy life by doing workout. Not only it could helps to maintain your immune system, but also keep your body shape.

But for some of you who might not really enjoy doing workout, you still can do a small thing that could give a big impact on your health: by keeping a healthy diet. This might sounds a bit too cliché. We all know what to eat and how well we eat. Moms has taught us these things since we could remember.

We eat carbs from rice, bread, and noodle. Proteins from meat, eggs, and milk. Fat from meat. Plus vitamin and minerals from vegetables and fruit. Carbs, proteins, and fat are the basic nutrients you most likely to consume in your daily diet. But are you sure that you have consumed enough vitamins and minerals? Do you really aware of how these micro nutrients could affect to your health?

I originally graduate from Food Science and Technology major. And I would like to share some useful information about the important of vitamins and minerals, and where to find it.

Let's start with vitamins!

Well basically, there are two types of vitamins, which are:

- fat soluble (vit. A, D, E, and K)

- water soluble (vit. B complex, and C)

These classification helps us to determine in which medium can these vitamins works well. For fat soluble vitamins, we could use fat-basis medium such as salad dressings, so that the vitamins will be extracted out of the veggie and easily absorbed in our body. And as for B and C, you might consider not to boiled the veggie with much water to avoid the loss of the vitamins itself.

So let's discuss it one by one!

Fat Soluble Vitamins:

Vitamin A

This vitamin is basically stable towards heat, acid, and alkali. But unfortunately, this vitamin could be easily oxidized by air and light. The precursor of vitamin A's are alpha-, beta-, and gamma-carotene. Which means, these precursor which naturally presence in veggies, will be conducted to form vitamin A in our body.

MMT Batch 2 GroupM

Most of carotene comes from green veggies. The greener the color, the more carotene it contains. But only 50% of total carotenes in a veggie which absorbed by our body. And only half of absorbed carotenes which will be converted into vitamin A, based on FAO-WHO calculations. So it's only 1/6 of total carotenes in vegetables which will later on be converted into vitamin A in our body.

Because vitamin A is a fat-soluble, so it could be stored in our liver and adipose. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin A is 1.0 mg/day for the adult man and 0.8 mg/day for the adult woman (source:http://www.medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com). People who suffer vitamin A deficiency will suffer from xerosis and eventually cause blindness. Vitamin A is found in dark green and yellow vegetables and yellow fruits, such as broccoli spinach, turnip greens, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, cantaloupe, and apricots, and in animal sources such as liver, milk, butter, cheese, and whole eggs (source: http://www.nutristrategy.com).

Vitamin D

MMT Batch 2 GroupM

There are certain types of vitamin D. The most important one for our body is  D₂ and D₃ . Vitamin D can be self-synthesized in our skin, depend on the exposure of sunlight and the concentration of pigments in our skin. This vitamin then transported to many part of our body, to our muscles and tissues. That is why the consumption of vitamin D is  not necessary because of its availability in our body.

Vitamin D is very important for the metabolism of calcium and phosphor. Vitamin D which we consumed from food is brought together with fat then absorbed in the intestine. The lack of vitamin D will caused disorders in the absorbency of calcium and phosphor, and mineralization of bone and teeth structure. Groups of age which highly sensitives of vitamin D deficiency would be infant and older people. The recommendation of vitamin D consumption is about 400 IU (10 mg) per day for infants. Vitamin D is found in milk (fortified), cheese, whole eggs, liver, salmon, and fortified margarine (source: http://www.nutristrategy.com).

Vitamin E

MMT Batch 2 GroupM

The main function of vitamin E is as an antioxidant in our body. It helps to prevent oxidation caused by fre radicals, so it helps to maintain our cell membrane's damage. It also helps the formation of red blood in bone marrow, and synthesize coenzim-A which important in respiratory system.

So for you who works in Jakarta, and using public transportation, you might consider to consume vitamin E. Because the pollution which generate free radicals could attack you, especially your skin. So vitamin E helps you to maintain a healthy skin. Vitamin E is found in margarine and vegetable oil (soybean, corn, safflower, and cottonseed), wheat germ, green leafy vegetables (source: http://www.nutristrategy.com). The recommended daily allowance for adult is at level 12-21 IU. But due to the cooking process, most of vitamin E in our daily diet were reduced, so that you might consider to consume extra amount in form of supplement.

Vitamin K

MMT Batch 2 GroupM

This vitamin is very important as a blood coagulant. People who suffer from vitamin K deficiency could cause haemorrhage. Vitamin K is found in spinach, lettuce, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, wheat bran, organ meats, cereals, some fruits, meats, dairy products, eggs (source: http://www.nutristrategy.com). The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for vitamin K is 80 mg/day for the adult man, 65 mg/day for the adult woman, and 5 mg/day for the newborn infant (source:http://www.medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com).

Water Soluble Vitamins:

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is naturally synthesized in plants and animals. From all kind of vitamins, vitamin C is the most vulnerable one. Besides of its easiness to solved in water, vitamin C is easily oxidized by heat, alkali, enzymes, and oxidizer. Vitamin C is also quickly absorbed  in blood and transported through all part of our body. Our adrenalines contains vitamin C in an adequate number, so mostly our body retains only a small number of vitamin C and the excessive is thrown through urine and sweat.

MMT Batch 2 GroupM

For a person who consumed mega dose of vitamin C should not be worry, because the remains will be disposed through urines. While person who in a low-state of health will retains larger amount of vitamin C they consumed in their tissues.

Vitamin C is important in the forming of collagen. Collagen is protein substance which mostly helps in the form of our cartilage, dentin, and vascular endothelium. It also works for respiratory and enzymes system, and actively plays an important role in the formation of enzymes. LIPI recommends children and adult to consume at least 20-30 mg of vitamin c per day. Vitamin C deficiency could cause sprue and scurvy, which vary in severity.

Vitamin C can be found especially in fresh fruits such as oranges, berries, pineapples, and guava. It also available in vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, and green chilies. Though vitamin C is the most consumed vitamins in our diet, but due to level of polutions and stress (especially in big city), the oxidations of vitamin c in our body is concerning that it took us extra consumption, one way is through supplement.

Vitamin B

MMT Batch 2 GroupM

Vitamin B is also called vitamin B complex, which consists of tiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niasin (nicotinic acid, niacinamide), piridoksin (vitamin B6), pantothenic acid, biotin, folate, and cyanocobalamine (vitamin B12). Each types has specific functions. But most of these types took an important role in cell metabolism, enhance immune and nervous system, and promote cell growth. They are differentiated based on their chemical composition. Deficiency of these vitamins could cause disruption in metabolic and nervous system.

Vitamin B mostly found in whole unprocessed food. The longer the cook, the greater the loss. Good sources comes from whole grains, potatoes, bananas, lentils, chili peppers, tempeh, beans, and molasses. The recommended daily intakes for vitamin B is widely varied. These vitamin B has a range of recommended allowance between 1 - 20 mg, except for folate and biotin (400 - 30 μg).

So guys, after read this article, will you be wiser on choosing your diet. After all, you are what you eat. And by eating good food in a balance proportion will help you maintain your health, due to you busy day. Just like I do, while taking MMT Batch 2 GroupM class.

Stay fit, stay healthy!

Cheerio

Agent O

MMT Batch 2 GroupM