You meet up with an Old Friend, and she looks terrible. Her skin is sallow, her eyes are bloodshot and a bit yellow, and her hair seems to be falling out. She seems frail, thin and fragile. Her movements are shaky. She tells you she is tired all the time, and she has stopped having normal menses. She is confused because about a year ago she changed her habits and adopted a "super healthy" lifestyle based on celebrity diets and websites she found online. She explains that she is now vegan and only eats foods that are organic and raw. She even drinks "raw" water. She consumes no meat or animal products including milk,eggs, or dairy. She eats no gluten,processed foods, or cooked foods. She avoids GMOs, though she is not sure what that means. The worse her health has gotten, the more potentially unhealthy items she has excluded from her diet. She tells you she daily takes a high dose multivitamin, so she is sure she is getting what she needs. What is your advice for her?
Celebrity diet trends, can be very harmful and not useful; due to the lack of necessary nutrients and eating raw foods can be good to an extent; the raw food could be contaminated and could cause health issues.
Macromolecules:
Carbohydrates
The purpose of Carbohydrates is to provide the body with energy while the body needs it. Also, simple carbs are used in quick energy since they can be digested easily.
Carbohydrates are made of Monosaccharides, Disaccharides, and Polysaccharides. These are the monomers and polymers of carbohydrates, each more complex than the last.
Carbohydrates can be found in many forms, like sugar and starch, but can also be found in a large array of foods. Like grain, rice, candy, vegetables, fruits, almost all plant life that can be ingested by humans.
Glycogen storage in liver and muscle, Energy production, Anabolic reaction (ADP------>ATP)
Lipids
The purpose of lipids is to store energy for long periods of time, and provide heat and protection from the elements and other variables in the environment
Lipids are made up of monoglyceride and triglycerides. Also lipids make up phospholipids, which are lipids with a phosphorous head and the head is hydrophobic and the fatty acid tails are hydrophobic. Some other types of lipids are Saturated and Unsaturated fats. Saturated fats have two more hydrogens than unsaturated fats, making all of the tails straight. Unsaturated fats have one kinked tail, and can move more freely.
LDL: transports/stores cholesterol within the bloodstream , HDL: regulates LDL storages and promotes excretion
Proteins
Proteins are used for structure, transport and the regulation of the bodies tissues and organs. That is why it is so important to ingest protein.
Proteins are made up of amino acids. Amino Acids have R groups they can combine together to make even more types of Amino Acids.
Vitamins and Minerals
VITAMINS (organic compounds, vital to life, only needed in minute amounts , noncaloric essential nutrients)
Types of Vitamins: Vitamin A, Bs, C, D, E, K, Biotin, etc
MINERALS: naturally occurring, inorganic, homogeneous substances, chemical elements
Types of Minerals: Potassium, Calcium, Sodium, Magnesium, Zinc, etc
Major constituents of structures such as teeth and bones (e.g. Ca, P, Mg)
Cofactors for specific enzymes or components of proteins and hormones (e.g. Fe, P, I)
Important components of body fluids (e.g. Na, K, Cl)
Water
Solvent: dissolves amino acids, minerals, nutrients, and other substances needed by the cells
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My advice to my friend would be, first seek a doctor help to see what is truly going on with her body, she could have many deficiencies due to this crazy extreme diet.All this harm can cause her to have severe health issues; organs stop working, loss of hair and teeth, bones becoming more fragile; etc. She should consultant with a doctor or nutritionist about what she should eat and take to help keep a healthy maintainable diet. She can be healthy with a vegan lifestyle diet but she needs to be educated on what she do to stay healthy (not harming herself).