When you practice good eating habits, you set yourself up for success. By eating whole foods that contain what your body needs to function and grow, you will have energy to burn while exercising or at play. You will also be able to pay better attention in school and keep your body weight under control.

In this lesson, you will meet several young people who are thinking about nutrition and the kinds of foods they choose to eat. Two of these people have a disease called diabetes (die-uh-BEE-teez). Their bodies cannot change the sugar in their blood into the energy that cells need. You will see that the foods they choose to include in their diets make sense for anyone who wants to be healthy. You will also consider how the choices you make can determine how healthy you will be.

List three foods that you think are healthy for your body and three foods that aren't as good for you.

Goals
Here are the big ideas you will learn about in this lesson:

• Food provides the energy and nutrients our bodies need to function.
• Certain foods are a better source of energy and nutrients than others.
• Eating poorly can result in harmful health effects, including disease.

Strategies
You will be using many reading and writing strategies to complete this lesson. The key strategies that you will focus on are:

• Making connections
• Determining important information
• Categorizing basic facts and ideas
• Constructing summaries

• nutrients
• nutrition
• processed

Your body depends on a wide range of nutrients—the substances contained in foods that the body uses to grow and be healthy. These include vitamins, minerals, fiber, and three sources of energy: carbohydrates (“carbs”), proteins, and “good” fats. A well-balanced diet, which includes the right types and amounts of food and drinks, gives your body the nutrition and energy it needs.

In this video, meet Misty. She has diabetes. Eating the wrong kinds of food does not cause diabetes (although it can add to the risk of developing the disease). People with diabetes do have to be careful about the food choices they make to help control the condition. Watch the video to see how Misty plans her diet now that she is in college. Everyone can learn from listening to her talk about what goes into her diet—and what stays out. Click "View" on the left to watch the video.

List three things that Misty does to eat a well-balanced diet in college.

Let's look more closely at the nutrients that your body needs from food:

• Carbohydrates: These provide the body with most of the energy it needs. Eating whole-grain breads and cereals is a good way to make sure your body gets enough carbohydrates.
• Proteins: These are used for the growth and repair of cells, tissue (including muscles), and organs. Our bones and teeth also need protein, which is found in meats, fish, eggs, beans, and nuts.
• Fats: “Good” fats store energy for emergency use and can improve heart health. Sources include avocado, olive oil, nuts, and seeds.
• Fiber: This is the part of food that your body does not break down in digestion. Among other things, it lowers the risk of certain diseases. It is found in plant foods like cereals, breads, fruits, and vegetables.

List five or more foods that you ate yesterday and write down if they contain carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and/or fiber.

When you eat, the food is not yet in a form that the body can use for energy and to build and maintain cells. Breads, meats, and vegetables must be changed into smaller bits of nutrients before they can be absorbed, or taken up, by the blood and carried throughout the body. This action is called digestion.

There are ways you can help digestion. First, eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Whole-grain foods contain entire grain seeds from grasses, like wheat. The fiber in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains improves digestion. Second, eat smaller meals, more often. Eating large meals increases the stress you put on your digestive system.

Not all foods are good for you. Most “fast foods” and the packaged foods you find in “convenience” stores have been processed, or changed from their natural state, by the companies that make them.

Many processed foods are lower in nutritional value than whole foods. Nutrients such as fiber and “good” fats often have been replaced by more sugar, salt, and unhealthy types of fat than your body can absorb. Processed foods also often contain added substances, called additives (ADD-ih-tivs), that our bodies don’t need. These include preservatives (preh-ZER-vah-tivs)—chemicals that help foods last longer before going bad. Sugary breakfast cereals, packaged cookies, and frozen dinners are examples of processed foods. Watch this video to learn how healthy foods help your body and processed foods can harm it. Click "View" on the left to watch the video.

Write two ways that healthy foods help your body. Then write two ways that processed foods can harm it.

In this lesson, you’ve learned that whole foods and processed foods contain different levels of nutrients. Now you will read about how our bodies digest foods, including what can happen if your body is unable to take what it needs from foods.

Click "View" on the left to begin the reading.

After you have finished, list two or three reasons why processed foods are not as healthy for your body as whole foods. Then list at least two ways to improve your digestion and health.

In this video, meet Tim. Like Misty, Tim has diabetes. To help manage his condition, he needs to watch what he eats, especially sugar and carbohydrates, which are converted, or changed, into sugar when they are absorbed by the body.

There is really no such thing as a diabetes diet. Instead, Tim and other diabetics (people who have diabetes) follow a healthy eating plan that is rich in nutrients. Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are in, while most processed foods are out. Watch this video to learn what other tips Tim offers that everyone can use.

Click "View" on the left to watch the video.

Write down at least two of Tim's shopping tips that you can use.

You have seen and read about how certain foods are good for the body and others are harmful. Now, show what you have learned so far about nutrition by answering these three questions. Be sure to save all your answers before you go to the next screen.

You will now check your understanding of the vocabulary words for this lesson by placing them in sentences. Click "View" on the left to begin the activity.

Before moving to the next screen, choose two words from the vocabulary list and write a new sentence for each word.

Vocabulary words: absorbed, diabetes, diet, digestion, nutrients, nutrition, processed

As the videos and reading passage explained, what you eat has a direct effect on your body’s health. In some cases, you may feel the effect right away. In other cases, it develops over time.

In this activity, you will sort information that relates to food choices. Each text card describes either a health benefit of eating whole foods and fresh foods, or a risk of eating fast food and other processed foods.

Click "View" on the left to begin the activity. Your teacher will review the answers with you.

Then, before moving on to the final assignment, you may want to watch this lesson's videos again or reread the passage.

Misty—On Eating Smart

Video: 2m 05s

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Food for Thought

Video: 2m 07s

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Tim—Shopping Like a Pro

Video: 2m 42s

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Food and Digestion

Document

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In this lesson, you have learned that your body responds to the foods you eat in different ways. Certain foods contain what it needs to function, while others can cause problems for it. You will now write an essay that shares what you have learned and what you think about it.

Begin by reviewing your notes. Click "review my work" above and view or print out the screen that pops up.

Final Assignment Instructions

• Click Nutrition: What Your Body Needs—Final Assignment (PDF).
• Choose one of the topics in the PDF and write an essay.
• Organize your response so that it includes at least three supporting details that you have learned from the reading passage, videos, and other materials in this lesson.
• Use at least three vocabulary words (or a form of the words) as part of your supporting details. For example, for the word jump, you could use jumps, jumped, or jumping.