What Nutrients Build And Repair Body Tissue

All food groups — carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals — work together to give your trunk free energy and nutrients.

Image Credit: Claudia Totir/Moment/GettyImages

Sometimes, in the day-to-day bike of consume, sleep, repeat, you tin can lose track of why you're doing it all in the first place. Eating food isn't only something you practise when you lot get hungry; it's something you do to provide your body with energy and nutrients used to build and repair cells.

Tip

All food groups — carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals — work together to give your body energy and nutrients. They help build and maintain body cells and tissues.

How Body Cell Repair Works

Your body is made up of approximately a hundred billion cells that are and so tiny that they can merely be seen nether a microscope. These cells are like edifice blocks because they group to make tissues, tissues group together to make organs, organs grouping together to make systems and systems group together to make y'all, an organism.

The cells in your torso are not even so. There are more than 200 dissimilar types of cells in your organisation. Your bones are fabricated of os cells, for example, and those cells are not the same equally the cells in your lungs. When your cells dice or get damaged in any mode, your torso generates new cells to supersede them.

This happens through a process called cell sectionalisation, where 1 cell splits into two identical cells, those ii dissever into four, and then on. Some cells mature and don't reproduce very often, just others, like peel cells or claret cells, for example, are constantly dividing.

The body's ability to repair itself is astounding. The U.Due south. National Library of Medicine notes that even if half your liver is damaged, your body tin repair the damage or grow new liver cells to maintain about of your liver chapters.

So, where does nutrient come in? The food you eat provides energy besides equally the nutrients that the cells in your body use for growth, repair and regulation of bodily functions. There are over 50 known nutrients that help build and maintain the torso's cells and tissues.

Carbohydrates Supply Energy

According to the National Institutes of Wellness (NIH), carbohydrates are your body's primary source of energy. The European Food Data Council (EUFIC) explains that when you eat carbohydrates, your trunk breaks them into glucose, which is released into the bloodstream for energy. Glucose is also converted into glycogen and stored in your liver and your muscles every bit a ready source of fuel to power your activity.

Each gram of carbohydrates supplies iv calories of energy. One gram of fiber, which is likewise a type of saccharide, supplies ii calories. The NIH notes that fruits, vegetables, dairy products and grains all contain carbs in some form. These carbohydrates are preferable to those in sugar, syrups, sweets and sugary drinks considering they as well offer nutrients, like vitamins and minerals, in improver to energy.

According to the EUFIC, carbohydrates as well play a disquisitional role in the structure and function of your cells, tissues and organs.

Proteins Build and Repair Tissues

According to the NIH, proteins are often referred to as the building blocks of your body because they are disquisitional to the growth and repair of your cells. In fact, poly peptide is a major part of each of your hair, skin, nail, muscle, os and organ cells, and it's besides found in virtually of your actual fluids.

Your body can too utilize proteins as an energy source. Like carbohydrates, each gram of protein supplies 4 calories. Proteins consist of amino acids. There are 20 different types of amino acids, of which nine are considered essential because your trunk cannot make them on its own and needs to obtain them from food.

The NIH lists lean meat, eggs, poultry, seafood, beans, peas, soy products, dairy products, nuts and seeds as some of the sources of protein. Animal proteins are considered to exist complete proteins as they incorporate all nine essential amino acids.

With a few exceptions, plant proteins are incomplete proteins because they don't contain all the essential amino acids. Withal the NIH notes that they are still extremely healthy as they don't have whatsoever cholesterol, are lower in saturated fatty and provide fiber and other nutrients that help build and maintain cells and tissues.

Fats Build Cells and Membranes

Co-ordinate to the Academy of Diet and Dietetics, fats help provide structure to your cells and also absorber your cell membranes to help prevent them from getting damaged. Fats are also a concentrated source of energy.

Each gram of fat supplies your body with 9 calories. That'due south more than than twice the free energy y'all'd get from carbs or protein. Your body also needs fats to absorb fatty-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, East and Chiliad.

The NIH notes that fats occur naturally in many foods, including meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, nuts, seeds, dairy products, avocados and coconuts. Oils are too a source of fat.

There are different types of fats. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are the healthiest, saturated fats are not every bit healthy and trans fats are the worst.

Saturated fats are found in college-fat meats, butter, palm oil, cakes, cookies, pizzas, burgers, tacos and casseroles. Trans fats are found in processed foods, and although manufacturers are phasing them out, they're still found in some foods like microwave popcorn, dessert, frozen pizza and margarine. The NIH recommends replacing saturated fats and trans fats in your nutrition with unsaturated fats.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vitamins and minerals are micronutrients that play an important role in cell metabolism and back up overall health. Your body needs vitamins to heal wounds, form basic, maintain your amnesty, go on your eyes and skin healthy and produce energy. Minerals are of import for cardiovascular part and provide structure to your skeleton.

These nutrients are used to build and repair cells. Calcium, for example, is the building block for bone cells. Iron is the building block for your claret. The University of Nutrition and Dietetics notes that your blood cells only last for a few months, so your body constantly requires iron and protein to make new blood.

Vitamins also have antioxidant backdrop and protect the cells in your body from impairment. Vitamins A, C and E all serve equally antioxidants and fight harmful substances known as free radicals. Costless radicals tin can weaken salubrious cells and make them more prone to cancer and cardiovascular problems.

Eating a healthy, counterbalanced diet rich in whole fruits, a variety of vegetables, dairy products, loftier-protein foods and whole grains can brand it easier to encounter your vitamin and mineral requirements.