Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 3 Part 1: Nutrition 101: The Basic Facts about Nutrition 5 Chapter 1: Nutrition Equals Life: Knowing What to Eat to Get What You Need 7 Discovering the First Principles of Nutrition 8 Breaking nutrients into two groups 9 Looking at essential nutrients 10 Protecting the Nutrients in Your Food 12 Knowing Your Nutritional Status 13 Fitting Food into the Medicine Chest 14 Finding Nutrition Facts 14 Nutrition people 14 Questions to ask about any study 15 Chapter 2: Digestion: The 24/7 Food Factory 21 Introducing the Digestive System 21 Digestion: One Step at a Time 23 Your brain, eyes, and nose 23 Your mouth 24 Your stomach 25 Your small intestine 25 Your large intestine 27 Chapter 3: How Much Nutrition Do You Need? 31 RDAs: Guidelines for Good Nutrition 31 Proteins, vitamins, and minerals: The essentials 32 Recommendations for carbohydrates, fats, dietary fiber, and alcohol 32 Different people, different needs 33 AIs: The Nutritional Numbers Formerly Known as ESADDIs 34 DRI: The Totally Complete Nutrition Guide 35 Chapter 4: Bigger But Not Better 41 The Obesity Epidemic 42 Observing the Obesity Map 42 Determining How Much You Should Weigh 44 Weight charts and tables 44 The BMI: Another way to rate your weight 46 Understanding What the Numbers Really Mean 48 Increasing the odds of accuracy 49 Seeing red flags on weight and health 49 Facing the Numbers When They Don''t Fit Your Body 50 Chapter 5: Calories: Powering Up the Body 53 Counting the Calories in Food 54 Empty calories 55 Every calorie counts 56 Determining How Many Calories You Need 57 Resting energy expenditure (REE) 57 Sex, glands, and chocolate cake 58 Energy for work 60 Calculating Your Daily Calorie Needs 61 Part 2: The Good Stuff in Your Food 63 Chapter 6: Protein Power 65 Understanding How Your Body Uses Proteins 65 Moving Proteins from Your Dinner Plate to Your Cells 67 Differentiating Dietary Proteins 68 Essential and nonessential proteins 68 Evaluating proteins 69 Figuring Out How Much Protein You Need 73 Calculating the correct amount 73 Dodging protein deficiency 74 Boosting your protein intake: Special considerations 74 Avoiding protein overload 75 Chapter 7: Facing Facts on Fat and Cholesterol 77 Discovering How Your Body Uses Fats 77 Understanding what fats do for you 78 Pulling energy from fat 78 Defining Fatty Acids and Their Relationship to Dietary Fat 80 Focusing on the Fats in Food 82 Looking at the fatty acids in food 82 Identifying the foods with fats 84 Getting the right amount of fat 84 Considering Cholesterol and You 87 Cholesterol and heart disease 87 Lipoproteins 88 Diet and cholesterol 90 Chapter 8: Carbohydrates: A Complex Story 93 Checking Out Carbohydrates 93 Simple carbohydrates 94 Complex carbohydrates 94 Dietary fiber 94 Carbohydrates and Energy: A Biochemical Love Story 95 How glucose becomes energy 96 How pasta ends up on your hips when too many carbs pass your lips 97 Other ways your body uses carbohydrates 97 Finding the Carbohydrates You Need 98 Some people have problems with carbohydrates 98 Some people need extra carbohydrates 99 Dietary Fiber: The Non-Nutrient in Carbohydrate Foods 101 Defining the two kinds of dietary fiber 101 Getting dietary fiber from food 102 Determining how much fiber you need 102 Chapter 9: Alcohol: Another Form of Grape and Grain 109 Creating Alcohol Beverages 110 Fermented alcohol products 110 Distilled alcohol products 110 The foods used to make beverage alcohol 111 Checking How Much Alcohol Is in That Bottle 112 Following Alcohol through Your Body 112 Understanding How Alcohol Affects Your Health 114 The physical effects of excessive drinking 115 Alcoholism: An addiction disease 116 Who shouldn''t drink 117 Alcohol and age 118 Advice from the Sages: Moderation 119 Chapter 10: Validating Vitamins 121 Understanding What Vitamins Your Body Needs 121 Fat-soluble vitamins 123 Water-soluble vitamins 126 Discovering Where to Get Your Vitamins 131 Too Much or Too Little: Avoiding Two Ways to Go Wrong with Vitamins 131 Vitamin deficiencies 132 Vitamin megadoses 133 Acceptable Exceptions: Taking Extra Vitamins as Needed 135 I''m taking medication 135 I''m a smoker 135 I never eat animals 135 I''m pregnant 135 I''m breast-feeding 136 I''m approaching menopause 137 I have very light skin or very dark skin 137 Chapter 11: Making Mineral Magic 139 Getting the Minerals You Need 140 The major minerals 141 The trace elements 144 Knowing What''s Too Much and What''s Too Little 148 Avoiding mineral deficiency 148 Understanding the risks of overdoses 149 Figuring Out When You May Need More than the RDA 151 You''re a strict vegetarian 151 You live inland, away from the ocean 152 You''re a man 152 You''re a woman 152 You''re pregnant or nursing 152 Chapter 12: The Wonder of Water 155 Investigating the Many Ways Your Body Uses Water 156 Maintaining the Right Amount of Water in Your Body 156 The electrolytes'' primary job 158 Other tasks electrolytes perform 159 Getting the Water You Need 159 Evaluating Electrolytes 161 Sodium 162 Potassium and chloride 162 When you need more 162 Dehydration: When the Body Doesn''t Get Enough Water 164 First signs 165 Worsening problems 165 Really bad trouble 165 The crash 165 Chapter 13: Added Attractions: Supplements 167 Introducing Dietary Supplements 167 Examining Two Reasons to Use Dietary Supplements 169 When food isn''t enough 169 Using supplements as insurance 170 Exploring Supplement Safety: An Iffy Proposition 172 Choosing the Most Effective Supplements 174 Getting Nutrients from Food Rather Than Supplements 178 Part 3: Hunger, Health, and Habits 179 Chapter 14: Why You Eat When You Eat 181 Underlining the Difference between Hunger and Appetite 181 Refueling: The Cycle of Hunger and Satiety 183 Recognizing hunger 183 Identifying the hormones that say, "I''m hungry" and "I''m full" 183 Beating the four-hour hungries 185 The better way: Five or six small meals 185 Maintaining a healthy appetite 186 Responding to Your Environment on a Gut Level .187 Baby, it''s cold outside 187 Exercising more than your mouth 188 Taking medicine that changes your appetite 188 Revealing Unhealthy Relationships with Food 189 Obesity 189 Anorexia nervosa 190 Bulimia nervosa 190 Binge eating disorder 191 Chapter 15: Why You Like the Foods You Like 193 Tackling Taste: How Your Brain and Tongue Work Together 193 The five basic flavors 194 Your health and your taste buds 195 Tricking your taste buds 197 Determining Deliciousness 197 Listening to your body 197 Loving the food you''re with: Geography and taste 198 Taking offense to food and flavors 200 Changing the Menu: Adapting to Exotic Foods 201 Learning to like unusual foods 202 Stirring the stew: The culinary benefits of immigration 202 Chapter 16: Building Your New and Improved Healthful Diet 207 Discovering the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 207 Finding What''s New in the 2020-2025 Edition 209 Factor in the fats 212 Subtract the added sugar 213 Get adequate essential nutrients 214 Go fish for good food 214 Bring on the veggies 214 Get up and go 215 Do the Guidelines Work? 218 Chapter 17: Choosing Wisely with Pyramids, Plates, and Patterns 221 Checking Out Basic Diet Pictures 221 The original USDA Food Guide Pyramid 222 From pyramid to plate: The evolution of the Food Guide 222 An assortment of pyramids and plates 224 Tracking Food Patterns 226 Understanding the Nutrition Facts Label 227 Getting the facts 228 Relying on labels: Health claims 230 Navigating the highs and lows 232 Listing other stuff 235 Using Pyramids, Plates, Patterns, and Labels to Choose Healthful Foods 235 Chapter 18: Eating Smart When Eating Out 237 Reading a Restaurant Menu 237 Apportion the portions 238 Ask for proof .239 Editing Your Menu Choices 239 Start simple 239 Elevate appetizers to entrees 240 Skip the fat on the bread 240 Undress the veggies 240 Minimize the main dish 241 Sideline sauces 242 Satisfy your sweet tooth 242 Writing Rules for Chain Restaurants 243 Exploring the Healthful Side of Fast Food 245 Cho.