IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MOST MERCIFUL, MOST COMPASSIONATE.

Out of the three main groups of foods we consume, fats has taken a battering from all corners. Whenever food bullies want to pick on a food group, fats, particularly saturated fats, are always the number one target.  If you want to lose weight you are told to cut out fats.  To prevent heart disease, they tell you to cut out fats to stop your arteries from getting clogged up.  It sometimes comes across as if the ideal is not to eat any fats at all.  However this has been very misleading  advice because fats are absolutely essential for our health and well being, as indeed are all the food groups.

Dr Mary Enig and Sally Fallon explain in their book "Eat Fat, Lose Fat" that;

'Research published during the last 20 years in respected scientific and medical journals, like The Journal of Lipid Research, Reviews in Pure and Applied Pharmacological Science, and The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, .. shows that your body needs not only fats, but saturated fats to nourish your brain, heart, nerves, hormones and every single cell.'

What jumps out at me from this, is that fats are an integral component for every single cell of our bodies!  Our brain cells need fats to function properly and deficiencies are associated with memory and learning problems, as well as a greater risk of depression and age-related diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Fats are also needed to transport fat soluble vitamins  (A,D,E and K) and to support proper healing.  The bottom line is that we cannot afford to cut fats out of our diet, as doing so would seriously compromise our health. 

May Allah (swt) grant you all the best of health.

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MOST MERCIFUL, MOST COMPASSIONATE.

When we think of protein we often think about animal based proteins such as meat and fish however protein is also found in plant based foods. Protein is found in all cells of the human body and is needed for growth and maintenance. Therefore protein is an essential nutrient because it is the primary building block of the human body.

Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. There are simple and complex forms of amino acids. Plant based proteins come in simple forms  of amino acids and are digested more quickly whereas animal based proteins which come in complex forms of amino acids take longer to digest.

Protein is also a source of fuel for the cells of the human body however carbohydrates and fats are the cells preferred source of fuel.

May Allah (swt) grant you all the best of health.

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MOST MERCIFUL, MOST COMPASSIONATE.

Carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for our cells. Carbohydrates is the name given to sugars, starches and dietary fibres found in all plant based foods. The notable exception is the sugar from lactose found in dairy.

Sugars are known as simple carbohydrates or simple sugars. Examples are glucose (dextrose), fructose (fruit sugar) and galactose (milk sugar). Sucrose, the sugar that we are most familiar with and which comes from sugar cane or sugar beet is made up of two sugars: glucose and fructose.

Starches on the other hand are known as complex carbohydrates ( consisting of a large number of simple carbohydrates).

There are two types of Dietary Fibre: Soluble fibres tend to slow the movement of food through the digestive system; Insoluble fibres accelerate the movement of food through our system and affect our defecation abilities. In short dietary fibres work on our digestion and affect how nutrients are absorbed

Groups of Carbohydrates

1.    Fruits and Vegetables
2.    Grains and Legumes
3.    Dairy
4.    Nuts and Seeds
5.    Sweets, Chocolate, Cakes, Pastries and            Biscuits

We get our carbohydrates in our diet from the above groups of foods. The first four groups (as long as they are of the highest quality) provides us with vitamins and minerals and other important nutrients. The fifth group is nutrient poor. While they do provide an energy fix in the short term they will ultimately cause us problems in the long term.

May Allah (swt) grant you all the best of health.

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MOST MERCIFUL, MOST COMPASSIONATE.

As you embark on your journey to better health you will need some tools and skills for the job. Can you imagine building a house without the necessary tools and skills?

Nowadays food manufacturers and the big supermarket chains, big players in the food industry, and big pharmaceutical companies are more interested in making huge financial gains at the expense of our health and they use various tricks and clever marketing techniques to get us to spend our money on foods that have little nutritional value.

This is why it is imperative to develop skills and tools that you can use to counteract this onslaught on your health and well-being.

May Allah (swt) grant you all the best of health.

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MOST MERCIFUL, MOST COMPASSIONATE.

Building your health is like building a house.  To build a house you will need materials such as wood, bricks and mortar.  Similarly to build your health you also need materials.  These materials come in the form of food. There are three main classes of foods; carbohydrates, proteins and fats.  These foods are termed 'Macronutrients'.   There are two sources for these macronutrients; plant based and animal based.   With the exception of dairy, all carbohydrates come from plants.  Protein on the other hand derives from plants and animals.  Fats are also obtained from plants and animals.  

Protein is the main ingredient for the structure of cells and for the enzymes that keep them functioning.  Carbohydrate is the primary source of energy for the cells and an ingredient for cell walls and membranes, while fats are also needed to build cell membranes and are used for insulation and energy storage.  

What this all means is that these three materials are all fundamental for building a healthy body.  When we build a house we need to source good quality materials if the building is going to stand the test of time, likewise as we seek to build our health it is imperative that we obtain our protein, fats and carbohydrates from the best sources we can find.

May Allah (swt) grant you all the best of health.

These stressors typically show themselves as symptoms which are a warning to us that things are not right. When they are left unchecked and are allowed to  continue, over a period of time they will lead to bigger problems such as cancer, diabetes, heart diseases and other degenerative diseases. Using the principles of building health will Insha Allah (God willing) help us to recover from these symptoms enabling us to stay healthy and free of these diseases.   As many of the teachings of the Prophet (saw) indicate;  prevention is better than cure.

May Allah (swt) grant you all the best of health.

There are various lifestyle factors that result in this poor recovery.  The main one is usually inadequate nutrition.  Failure to address their nutrition/diet  (and other lifestyle factors) properly while continuing with their sporting activities over a period of time will lead to further  poor recovery which ultimately will lead to poor results (see figure 2).

You may be thinking;  'this is all very interesting but how does it relate to me as I am not a sports person?'  This is a very good question which will be addressed in Part 2.

May Allah (swt) grant you all the best of health.