FATS

FATS

•      Provides twice the energy of carbohydrates (1 gm provides 37 kJ or 9 kcal of energy) (i.e. 2.25 times more energy than carbohydrates).

•      Acts as the reserve food material because excess fat is stored in the liver and as adipose tissue. As the fats produce more energy on oxidation than glycogen, they are more suitable as stored food. Stored fat is used as fuel when glucose is not available.

•      An enzyme called Lipase digests fats. It breaks down into fatty acids and glycerol.

•      There are 2 types of fatty acids : Saturated and Unsaturated.

□    Saturated fatty acids : Solids at room temperature.

□    Unsaturated fatty acids : Liquids at room temperature.

•      Our diet should contain less saturated fats, such as butter, ghee and hydrogenated vegetable oils, than unsaturated fats, such as simple vegetable oils. Excess of saturated fats increases the blood-cholesterol level and may cause arteriosclerosis (hardening of arteries). This may lead to heart attack.

•      Man can synthesize most of the fatty acids his body needs from the fatty acids present in the food taken. A few fatty acids are not synthesized, and must be present in the diet. They are called essential fatty acids. They include linoleic, linolenic and arachidonic acids. They are present in unsaturated fatty oils such as groundnut oil, sunflower oil, etc.

•      Hydrogenation : Process by which unsaturated fatty acids are converted into saturated fatty acids by the addition of hydrogen.

•      Requirement : 50 gms daily.

•      A person should draw 10-15% of total calorie requirements from fats.

CARBOHYDRATES

CARBOHYDRATES

Constitutes 3 elements : Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen.

1 gm gives 17 kJ of energy (or 4.1 kcal of energy).

Carbohydrates form a better fuel than proteins and fats because their molecules have relatively more oxygen and therefore need less molecular oxygen for oxidation than those of proteins and fats.

Main source of energy providers.

The carbohydrates of the food eaten, after being processed in the alimentary canal and liver, are supplied to the tissues mainly as glucose, often called blood sugar.

An adult man of average weight and doing moderate work needs about 500 gms. of carbohydrates daily. Growing child, nursing mother and sports-persons need more carbohydrates.

Is of 3 types : Cellulose, Sugar and Starch.

Cellulose is present in the cell-wall of plants. It cannot be digested and simply acts as roughage.

D-fructose is the sweetest of sugars. It is found in fruit juices, honey, etc.

Excess sugar is stored as glycogen in liver (by a process called glycogenesis). The sugar which is still left is converted into fat and stored in various parts of the body as adipose tissue (by a process called lipogenesis). In case the food provides inadequate glucose,

reserve glycogen is converted into glucose for use in energy production. This

conversion is known as Glycogenolysis.

•   Sources of Carbohydrates are : 3 main cereals (wheat, rice and maize), sugarcane, milk (contains lactose-a  type of sugar), fruits, honey, beet, etc. ¹   Structurally speaking, carbohydrates are of 3 types :

•      Monosaccharides : They are the simplest carbohydrates and are made up of on*, unit only (eg : glucose, fructose, galactose). These have six carbon atoms.

•      Disaccharides : Consist of 2 units of monosaccharides (eg : sucrose, lactose and maltose)

•      Polysaccharides : Those carbohydrates which contain a no. of monosaccharide units (eg : starch in plants and glycogen in animals).

•      During the process of digestion, all carbohydrates are broken down to monosaccharides.

BALANCED DIET

BALANCED DIET

The components of food are : Carbohydrates, Fats, Proteins, Minerals, Vitamins, Water and Roughage.

If all the components are present in optimum proportions and quantity for maintaining the body in perfect state of health, activity and development then the food is called balanced diet.

16th and 17th Centuries - Rise of Scientific Thought

16th and 17th Centuries - Rise of Scientific Thought

Rationalism versus Skepticism

The thought of Michel de Montaigne, the 16th-century French skeptical author of the Essais (1580-95; Essays), represented one of the first attempts at anthropological reflection (i.e., reflection centred on man, which explores his different aspects in a spirit of empirical investigation that is freed from all ties to dogma). Skepticism, the adoption of an empirical approach, and liberation from dogmatic authority are linked themes stemming from the more pessimistic views of man's capacity for knowledge.

The emphasis on man's humanity--on the limited nature of his capacities--leads to a denial that he can, even by the use of reason, transcend the realm of appearances; the only form of knowledge available to him is experimental knowledge, gained in the first instance by the use of the senses. The effect of this skeptical move was twofold.

The first effect was a liberation from the dogmatic authority of claims to knowledge of a reality behind appearances and of moral codes based on them; skeptical arguments were to the effect that human beings are so constituted that such knowledge must always be unavailable to them.

The second effect was a renewal of attention to and interest in the everyday world of appearances, which now becomes the only possible object of human knowledge and concern. The project of seeking knowledge of a reality behind appearances must be abandoned because it is beyond the scope of human understanding. And this applies as much to man himself as to the rest of the natural world; he can be known only experientially, as he appears to himself.

The anthropology of Montaigne began with a turning in upon himself; it gave priority to that reality which was within. Montaigne, however, was also witness to a renewal of knowledge brought about by numerous discoveries that made the horizons of the traditional universe expand greatly. For him, self-awareness already reflected an awareness of the surrounding world; it wondered about the "savages" of America and about the cannibals that were so different from him and yet so near; it compared the intelligence of man with that of beasts and accepted the idea of a relationship between animal existence and human existence. The idea that moral codes are the work of man, rather than reflective of an objective order, opened up the possibility of recognizing the legitimate existence of a plurality of codes and thus of the empirical study--rather than an immediate condemnation and rejection--of the customs of others.