Why is it important for active teens to eat healthy?

The life of your average teenager is hectic enough as it is. Not only does a teenager have to worry about school and balancing his or her social life, but also worry about the physical changes that their body is going through. Issues like these can be especially important for active teens, as the physical side of their lives are much more important than the normal teenager.

The way an active teen eats can determine how their body responds to the copious amount of physical activity they will be partaking in. Our bodies rely on food for energy, and as building blocks to grow mostly. Both are extremely important for the active teen.

An active teen will need a lot of energy to get through their daily life, more so than the normal teen. If one were to not eat enough of the right foods or too much of the wrong foods, he or she would probably not perform as well as the could. If a teen were to not eat enough, they would feel tired all the time and not have enough energy to make it through a sports practice or some kind of workout. Conversely, too much of the wrong foods (and occasionally the 'right' foods), will lead to build-ups of fat and in some cases, less energy.

How Do You Determine Your Caloric Intake?

If your trying to determine how many calories you should eat a day there are many factors that you need to take account for. Not everyone has the same caloric intake as other people. Yours might be very high or low depending on your age, weight, activity level and also your gender.

1.Age

Age is a factor since the older you get the less calories you can eat while instead when you are a active teen you probably have a higher caloric intake. When you get older your metabolism tends to slow down so you dont burn as much calories as fast.

2.Weight/Body Size

For weight, the heavier you are you have a higher caloric intake since it requires more energy to move since you will have a bigger body. While if you are skinnier you tend to have a smaller body so your caloric intake is probably not as high.

3. Activity Level

Since athletes have high activity levels then of course they can eat more calories since they burn off alot of calories while they are working out or playing sports. The more activity and sports you play then the more calories you burn off then your calorie intake will get higher.

4. Gender

Also it is known that males have a higher caloric intake then girls. They tend to burn calories off faster and they have less body fat and more muscle plus a bigger body. Girls only need 2/3 of the calories that men need. Girls should have a caloric intake of around 2200 calories and for a boy 2,500-2,800

http://www.livestrong.com/article/314823-what-factors-determine-the-number-of-calories-you-need-to-consume-each-day/

What is the importance of carbohydrates, proteins and fats for an active growing teenager?

Every teen needs to be having the right amount of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. If not enough or too much is eaten there may be unhealthy side effects to this teen's lifestyle especially for a active teenager.

In a active teen's diet carbohydrates are especially important. Carbohydrates is our bodies main source of energy. It's the thing we use most to keep our bodies functioning. That's why your told to eat carbohydrates before a big game since it will provide you with enough energy so that you wont get as tired as fast. Carbohydrates are easily absorbed into your body. You can get your carbs from eating noodles, bread and other starches but you need to make sure you eat around 300 grams but thats an approximation.

Proteins are used to rebuild your bodies muscles and heal injuries. If you dont have enough protein in your diet. A healthy active teen should eat around 50 grams of protein a day. Protein is found in alot of the foods we eat like fish, meat and milk. But make sure you dont eat too much or you have a high risk of getting diabetes, heart disease etc.

Your always told to not eat too much fats and its true but your body needs fats. If you dont eat enough fats athletes are at a high risk of injury but eating too much causes diabetes, obesity and heart disease.You can get your fats from eating certain kinds of oils, nuts, fish. But when choosing food make sure to check on what kind of fats you are eating. When eating foods like ice cream, butter, fried foods your eating saturated and trans fats which are bad for your body You should only eat around 65-80 grams of fat per day.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/247343-what-are-the-functions-of-carbohydrates-in-a-diet/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/38701-importance-protein-diet/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/413149-the-importance-of-fats-carbohydrates-and-protein/

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