I'm thinking about starting a diet and I want to do some research to find out what will probably work best for me. But what I really want to know is, what's in my food? As in, which food has the most what in it? Is there a website or a list somewhere of which foods have the most carbs, the most protein, the most sodium, the most saturated fat, that kind of thing? So that, if I wanted to go on a low-sodium diet for example, I would cut out the things that have the most sodium... I know a lot of it is common sense but I was wondering if anyone knew of an all-in-one sort of easy-reference list..?
Posts: 4654 | Location: Rochester, NY, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
I just found the best web site for you! It's the USDA nutrient database for anything you need to look up! The main website is: USDA and within that site you can pull various reports. Click on "USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 14" to find what you are looking for. This link database should be the one most interesting to you. You will need Adobe to open the document.
Happy Dieting!
Posts: 9192 | Location: Atlanta, GA, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Which ones are the bad ones, the saturated fats, right? And hey, what is the difference between monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids? ...so confused...
Posts: 4654 | Location: Rochester, NY, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Hope you know your Chemistry! Ok, here goes... Fats can be classed as either saturated, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. This depends on the type of chemical bonds present in the fatty acid. If a fatty acid has all the hydrogen atoms it can hold it is termed saturated. However, if some of the hydrogen atoms are absent and the usual single bond between carbon atoms has been replaced by a double bond, then it is unsaturated. If there is just one double bond then it is monounsaturated. If there is more than one then it is polyunsaturated. Most fats contain a proportion of each of these three basic types of fatty acid but are generally described according to which type predominates.
Confused yet? Basically, Saturated fats (the bad fats) tend to be animal fats and are solid at room temperature. Butter, lard, suet and meat fat are saturated fats. Unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. They are usually of plant origin, though fish oils may also be high in polyunsaturated fatty acids. Plant oils may be hardened by the addition of hydrogen atoms, converting double bonds to single bonds. This process is known as hydrogenation. Hydrogenated vegetable oils are often present in margarine and other processed foods.
Good fats are the NATURALLY-occurring, traditional fats that haven't been damaged by high heat, refining, processing or other man-made tampering such as 'partial hydrogenation'. The best of these kinds of fats are found in fish, nuts, avocados, seeds and, believe it or not, fresh creamery butter.
Hope I haven't confused you too much! I didn't even mention Essential Fatty Acids (Omega-3). I'll save that for another time! LOL
Posts: 9192 | Location: Atlanta, GA, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
