Fig. 10. Composition of food

The overall composition of the body is about 59 per cent water, 18 per cent protein, 18 per cent fat and 4,3 per cent minerals. At any time there is less than 1 per cent carbohydrate in the make-up of the body.

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These substances which make up the body are not distributed equally in ill organs. For example, the percentage of water varies from 90—92 per cent in blood plasma to 72-78 per cent in muscles, 45 per cent in bone, and only 5 per cent in tooth enamel. Proteins are found most abundant­ly in muscles. Fat is concentrated in the adipose (fat) cells under the skin and around the intestines. Carbohydrates are found mainly in the liver, muscles and blood. Carbohydrates are known as the chief source of ener­gy. The absence of carbohydrates upsets the fat and protein metabolism. As for the minerals, high levels of calcium and phosphorus form part of the bones and teeth, sodium and chloride are found mainly in the body lluids (blood plasma and lymph), potassium is the main mineral in mus­cles, iron is essential to red blood cells, and magnesium is found through­out the body. These are the main minerals to be supplied to the body as food but many other minerals are essential to the human body in propor­tionally smaller amounts. They too must be ingested with our food| Other types of food (vitamins) needed in very small amounts for various func­tions of the body are essential.

You determine how you will feel throughout each day by the type of breakfast you eat. Your breakfast establishes how readily your body can pro­duce energy that day or, more specifically, the amount of sugar in your blood. Your energy production, which corresponds to the quantity of sugar available, determines how you think, act and feel. Energy is produced in your body when sugar alone or sugar and fat together are burned (oxidized).

It should be noted, sixty more nutrients are needed to build health. For example, cheese is an excellent source of protein but is largely lacking in carbohydrate. Black currants provide a rich source of ascorbic acid though they make little contribution to the calorie intake of the body. Milk we usually use is regarded as the most excellent food, for it contains much protein but little sugar.

Therefore, it is neccessary to select a well balanced diet containing all the essential nutritional substances to maintain health and to prevent illness.

Notes

1. deficiency diseases авитаминоз

Упражнение 6. 1) Прочтите и переведите текст А. Абзац 3 переведите письменно. 2) Найдите в тексте А ответы на следующие вопросы и зачитайте их.

1. Does the oxidation of foods produce heat or energy? 2. How is the food burnt up? 3. What substance is the most abundant one in the body?

130 ♦ Learning to Understand a Medical Text

4. What substances are present in the body? 5. What is the percentage of
different substances in different organs?

3) Найдите в каждом абзаце предложение, выражающее основную мысль абзаца.

Упражнение 7. Найдите в каждом раду слово, синонимичное по значению первому слову ряда.

1. to supply - to give, to furnish, to support, to provide; 2. to upset -to set up, to disturb, to improve, to distress; 3. food — nourishment, foodstuff, provision; 4. deficiency - need, luck, shortage, imperfection;

5. to yield - to send, to give, to submit, to produce

Упражнение 8. Найдите в каждом ряду слово, противоположное по значению первому слову ряда.

1. the former - the last, the latest, the latter; 2. general - particular, local, definite, in detail; 3. deficiency - efficacy, efficiency, efficient, effectiveness; 4. essential - unimportant, unnecessary, vital, dispensable

Упражнение 9. Переведите на русский язык следующие предложения, определите функции инфинитива.

1. The most convenient approach to understand metabolism is to ex­amine the properties of different sorts of foods. 2. It is interesting to see the apparatus used to determine the caloric value of different foodstuffs. 3. From the intestines glucose is absorbed and carried to the liver to be converted into a form of carbohydrate, glycogen or animal starch. 4. To reduce weight in an obese patient is an important problem. 5. Fat yields 9 calories of heat per gram instead of the 4 calories to be yielded by sugar.

6. Muscle fibres have the power to store glycogen.

Упражнение 10. Переведите предложения с бессоюзными придаточными.

1. Many substances the organism absorbs may be harmful, and many harmless substances may be difficult for the organism to handle. 2. We know proteins are absolutely essential to the proper nourishment of the human body. 3. There is some evidence vitamin A plays a part to protect the body against rickets. 4. It is known vitamin С occurs abun­dantly in the juices of the citrus fruits, tomatoes, germinated seeds, cabbages, carrots, beans, apples, turnips, rutabagas, raspberries, liver. 5. The carbohydrates animals most commonly ingest consist of a vari­ety of sugars.

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