McDonald's

Calories

What are calories?

Calories (kcal) are the basic units used to measure the energy values of foods. We get calories from carbohydrates, fat and protein. Eating too many calories too often can be unhealthy because when you cannot use all the energy stored in the food you eat, it is eventually stored as fat in your body. However, eating fewer calories than your body needs to function effectively can also be harmful to health.

Where does energy come from?

Energy comes from the sun and is called solar energy. Living plants are able to convert solar energy to chemical energy by a process called photosynthesis. The chemical energy is used to make other substances such as carbohydrate, fat and protein. Humans (and animals) cannot use solar energy directly but can use energy contained in food (either plants or other animals). Our bodies use the carbohydrate, protein and fat to produce energy, carbon dioxide and water.

Why do we need calories?

Our bodies need calories to function properly - i.e. to stay alive, grow, keep warm and be active. Children also need calories from a variety of foods to grow and develop.

Do calories make us fat?

Calories will only make you fat if you eat more than your body needs. Leftover calories that the body does not require will convert to fat unless they are burnt off through activity. Women need approximately 2000kcal a day and men need approximately 2500kcal. If you consistently take in more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. Whilst if you consistently take in fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight.

How to burn calories

Some calories are burnt just by being alive - such as when we sleep, during general movement, and by eating, digesting, and absorbing food. Calories are also burnt through exercise such as walking or swimming.

You can speed up the rate of burning calories through high intensity exercise - this can help you burn more calories at the time and for several hours afterwards. You can also work to increase the amount of muscle in your body - muscle burns more calories than other body tissues, even when you are not moving.

Protein

What is protein?

Protein comes from food and drink that we consume. When we eat foods that contain protein, the protein is broken down into basic units, called amino acids. These amino acids are then reused to make the protein your body needs to maintain muscles, bones, blood and body organs. There are 22 amino acids that are very important to human health. Our bodies can make 13 of them, but the remaining 9 must come from the foods we eat - these are called essential amino acids.

Why do we need protein?

Protein is needed for growth and repair of the body. It builds up, maintains, and replaces the tissues in your body. Muscles, organs and immune systems are made up mostly of protein. Protein can also provide energy.

What foods provide protein?

Dietary sources of protein include meats, eggs, nuts, grain, legumes and dairy products such as milk and cheese. Protein from animal sources, such as meat and milk is called complete, because it contains all nine of the essential amino acids. Most vegetable protein is considered incomplete because it lacks one or more of the essential amino acids. You don't have to eat all the essential amino acids in every meal though - as long as you have a variety of protein sources throughout the day, your body will use what is needs from each meal.

What happens if I have too much protein?

Excess protein is broken down in the body and converted into sugars or fatty acids. The liver removes nitrogen from the amino acids, so that they can be burned as fuel (energy), and the nitrogen is incorporated into urea, the substance that is excreted by the kidneys.

Carbohydrates

What are carbohydrates?

Carbohydrates come in two forms: Simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates.
1. Simple carbohydrates are also known as simple sugars. They are found in refined sugars, such as honey, fruit juices, confectionery, table sugar, and milk.
2. Complex carbohydrates are also known as starches. Starches include grain products such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, and wholegrain cereals. Both types of carbohydrate can be part of a healthy diet.

Carbohydrate as a nutrient

Carbohydrates are efficiently converted to glucose, making them the most common source of energy found in food. They provide energy for daily activities as well as fuel for sport and exercise. Your brain, nervous system and heart need a constant supply of carbohydrate in order to function properly. If the diet is low in carbohydrate, a greater percentage of dietary protein is used to provide glucose, which means less is available for the growth and repair of body tissues. At least half the energy in our diets should come from carbohydrate, mostly from complex carbohydrates.

How the body uses carbohydrates

When you eat carbohydrates, the body breaks them down into simple sugars. These sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream. As the sugar rises in your body, the pancreas releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin is needed to move sugar from the blood into the cells, where the sugar can be used as a source of energy.

What foods contain carbohydrate?

Foods high in carbohydrates include breads, pastas, beans, potatoes, bran, rice and cereals.

Fat

What is fat?

Fat is an essential nutrient and the three most important types are:
1) Saturated fat
2) Polyunsaturated fat
3) Monounsaturated fat.

What's the difference between saturated and unsaturated fat?

The difference is down to their chemical composition. Fats are classified by their "saturation" - i.e. the amount of hydrogen atoms attached to the molecules of fat. Saturated fats are completely "saturated", i.e. each fat molecule is covered in hydrogen atoms. This type of fat is typically found in meat, meat products, dairy products, and coconut oil. A completely saturated fat would be very solid and have the consistency of hard wax.

Why do we need fat?

Fat has many important functions. It is a concentrated source of energy - 1g provides 9 calories, more than double that provided by either carbohydrate or protein. It acts as a carrier for fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, and plays a vital role in maintaining healthy skin and hair, maintaining body temperature, and promoting healthy cell function. Fats are also sources of essential fatty acids, such as Omega 3, which is an important dietary requirement.

Unsaturated fats

Both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are classified as unsaturated fats. Polyunsaturated fats, such as fish oils, are beneficial to health by lowering blood cholesterol levels, thus preventing the risk of heart disease. They also provide the body with linoleic acid, a fatty acid that helps us absorb fat-soluble vitamins and minerals. Some nutritional experts believe that monounsaturated fat, such as olive oil, have health benefits.

How much fat should we eat?

Approximately 30% of your daily calories should come from fat. Of course few foods contain exactly 30% fat. Instead you can eat a mix of foods - some with higher percentages of fat and some with lower percentages - so that you still meet the goal of 30% of calories from fat. Saturated fat should account for no more than 10% of total calories.

Fibre

What is fibre?

Fibre is a type of carbohydrate found only in plants. There are no calories, vitamins or minerals in fibre and it is not digested when we eat it, but is really important to keep the digestive system healthy.

Should I eat more fibre or less fibre?

More! In the UK most people do not eat enough fibre with the average intake being 12g per day). This is below the recommended intake for adults which is currently 18g per day. A low fibre intake is associated with constipation and some gut diseases such as diverticulitis and bowel cancer.

Benefits of eating more fibre

A diet rich in fibre has many health benefits. It helps to lower blood cholesterol levels and glucose levels, and reduces the risk of a number of bowel problems.

Sources of fibre

Fibre is only found in the cell walls of plants. Foods such as meat, fish and dairy products contain hardly any fibre at all. Good sources of fibre include fruit, vegetables, oats, wholegrain rice and pasta, many breakfast cereals, nuts and seeds.

Salt

What is salt?

Salt is a mineral which is made up of sodium and chloride. In food it helps to enhance flavour and acts as a preservative. In our bodies it helps to regulate and control normal body functions.

Where does salt come from?

Salt occurs naturally in sea-water. A deposit is left when an area of sea-water becomes enclosed, and the sun causes the water to evaporate. Over many millions of years, other sediments have been deposited above the salt, leaving the beds of rock salt, or halite below the surface.

Salt in the body

We have salt in every cell of our bodies. It plays a crucial role in keeping our bodies functioning properly, especially by maintaining the balance of our fluids, which carry oxygen and nutrients around our bodies. The two elements of salt - sodium and chloride - each play a variety of crucial roles in our bodies. A healthy body processes just the amount of salt it needs and the kidneys dispose of any excess.

How much salt should I consume?

A small amount of salt is crucial for controlling the balance of water in the body and keeping our muscles and nerves working properly, however it is important to not consume too much. Too much salt can raise your blood pressure, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Government guidelines state that we should consume a maximum of 5g per day.

Sugar

What is sugar?

Sugar is a type of carbohydrate made by plants. Plants contain varying amounts of different sugars e.g. glucose, fructose, and sucrose. Sugar is found naturally in fresh and dried fruit, vegetables, fruit juice, milk and honey. Sugars are also added to many processed foods, to make food taste sweet, or to act as a natural preservative. We should aim to eat no more than 90g (women) or 120g (men) of total sugars daily.

Where does sugar come from?

Half of the sugar used in the UK comes from sugar beet that is mostly grown in the Eastern counties of England and the West Midlands. The other half comes from sugar cane grown in countries such as Jamaica, Barbados, Mauritius and Fiji.

Sugar and health

People all around the world eat sugar as part of a healthy, nutritious and balanced diet. Sugary foods and drinks can increase the risk of tooth decay, particularly if you have them between meals, but regular tooth brushing/good oral hygiene will minimise this risk. The sugars found naturally in whole fruit are less likely to cause tooth decay because the sugars are contained within the structure of the fruit. Some foods which contain lots of added sugars contain calories, but often have few other nutrients, so we should try to eat these types of foods only occasionally.

Water

Why is it important to drink lots of water?

Our bodies need water (and other fluids) to work properly. Water makes up about two-thirds of our body weight - it's important this is maintained because most of the chemical reactions that happen in our cells need water. We also need water for our blood to be able to carry nutrients around the body. Although water is not a nutrient in the classical sense, human beings would be unable to survive without it.

Losing water

We lose water through evaporation when we breathe and sweat. As the temperature rises and as we do more activity, this increases the amount of water the body loses. To stay healthy, we need to replace the fluids that are lost. The body also gets rid of waste products from the body through the kidneys in urine, and urine is mainly made up of water.

How much water do we need?

The amount of water (and other fluids) that we need to drink each day varies from person to person, depending on age, time of year, climatic conditions, diet and the amount of physical activity we do. For instance, we need more water in hot climates and following exercise. We can obtain our fluid requirements from a number of sources other than water, as well as from the food we eat. In climates such as the UK, we should drink approximately 1.2 litres (6 to 8 glasses) of fluid every day to avoid dehydration.

Fruit & Veg

How much fruit and veg should I be eating?

Most people know that we should be eating more fruit and veg, but most of us aren't eating enough. We should all be eating at least five portions of fruit and veg every day. Fruit and veg should make up about a third of the food you eat each day. And it's also important to eat a variety. 'Five-a-day' is a good, achievable target.

What counts as a portion?

One portion = 80g which is approximately 1 apple, banana, pear, orange or other similar sized fruit; 2 plums or similar sized fruit; 1/2 a grapefruit or avocado, 3 heaped tablespoons of vegetables; 1 handful of grapes, cherries or berries; 1 slice of large fruit such as melon or pineapple; a glass (150ml) of fruit juice (however much you drink, fruit juice counts as a maximum of one portion a day).

Getting your five portions a day

If you eat one or two portions with every meal and have the occasional fruit snack you might be surprised at how easy it is to eat five-a-day. At breakfast you could add a handful of dried fruit to your cereal or drink a glass of fruit juice; at lunch you could eat a bowl of salad; at your evening meal you could add vegetables to a stir fry. And when you fancy a snack, reach for an apple or some dried fruit.

Why is it important to eat five a day?

Fruit and veg are good sources of many vitamins and minerals, yet most of us don't eat enough of them. There is mounting evidence that people who eat lots of fruit and veg are less likely to develop chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease and some cancers. And don't forget, fruit and veg are also very low in fat.