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Carbohydrates 101

Carbohydrates 101 By Alex Glover Carbohydrates, love them or hate them they have been a topic of controversy in the last few years as the media and public health look to find another nutrition bad guy. The 80s advocated low fat diets,  and now carbs are public enemy number one.  Carbohydrates are separated into 3 different types: monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides.  Mono- saccharides: Glucose, fructose, galactose Disaccharides- sucrose,maltose Polysaccharides- starch, glycogen, cellulose Glucose is the main fuel source for the brain and the body, and even during periods of fasting or carbohydrate restriction, the body can synthesise glucose from certain amino acids, glycerol and lactate. So even though glucose is an essential fuel source, dietary carbohydrates are not necessarily essential to consume. Fructose is commonly known as fruit sugar and like glucose is a monosaccharide, the only difference is the arrangement of the molecules as both gluco
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Protein 101

Protein 101 By Alex Glover Protein is not just for fitness enthusiasts looking to build muscle or recover from exercise. Protein has so many other functions in the body, such as transporting red blood cells through the protein haemoglobin, enzyme production (all enzymes are proteins), hormone production and immunity. Most of us should be eating more protein than the NHS guidelines recommend, especially those looking to build muscle or lose body fat. Dietary protein is essential to make regulatory T-cells in the body, which act as a patrol guard in the body looking for potential pathogens, particularly the amino acid arginine which can enhance a number of cellular immune mechanisms. Immunoglobulins are the main antibody used to engulf pathogens, these are also made from glycoproteins.  Muscle gain Perhaps protein’s most well-known function is the growth and repair of cells within the body. Protein initiates muscle protein synthesis (MPS) by stimulating the mTOR pathway,

Cholesterol 101

When people think of cholesterol the two most common things you will hear is HDL being your “good cholesterol” and LDL being your bad “cholesterol”. These are not actually your cholesterol, these are lipoproteins, which are protein and fat, and their job is to package cholesterol into these transporters and send them where they need to go. While high LDL is a major risk factor for heart disease, looking at HDL and LDL as good and bad can be a little hasty and miss other markers of risk for cardiovascular disease. Cholesterol is a major constituent of all our cell membranes, it is needed for steroid hormone synthesis like testosterone and oestrogen and aids in the synthesis of vitamin D and bile. The need for dietary cholesterol is actually zero, as cholesterol synthesis happens in the liver, and the liver can endogenously produce all of the cholesterol it needs. This begs the question, is dietary cholesterol even needed? There are many different types of cholesterol, but w