Have you ever wondered how much food you actually need or what your body really requires? Do you want to understand the different diets and create your own right meal plan?
And what is the best diet ever to lose your extra weight, fix being too thin, and reach your ideal weight?
All these questions that cross your mind and more find answers only here in the Fitness Garage guide to sound nutrition principles. So let us show you more about the right answers to all your nutrition science questions.
First: what is food?
This question might make you feel mocked or strange, or maybe you think it's just a dumb question. Food is definitely everything we eat and drink, and what gets digested inside our digestive system. It's also our only source of energy, acting like fuel that enables our bodies to carry out all their vital functions.
But this is only partly true. You can't just think of food as fuel, like our bodies are just machines needing constant fuel. Food is more than fuel, and our bodies are so complex it's hard to imagine. So we need food not only to charge our energy daily but also because it gives us many nutrients that play vital roles inside us. These nutrients generally fall into several types based on the sources we get them from:
Micronutrients:
These are nutrients like minerals and vitamins. Each has its own vital function inside the body. For example:
- Minerals: These are inorganic, natural chemical substances found in different foods. Examples are calcium, magnesium, manganese, and zinc. These minerals each have a specific role in the body. For example, calcium makes bones strong and protects them from becoming fragile.
- Vitamins: They are organic compounds the body needs in small daily amounts but are effective. Lack of them causes several body problems like vitamin C (also called ascorbic acid), known as a strong antioxidant that controls inflammation and cell damage.
Plant nutrients:
These are nutrients we get from plant sources, but some plant foods lack certain nutrients. That makes vegans need supplements to get them. You can read more about supplements here, and these plant nutrients include phytoestrogens, carotenoids, and flavonoids.
Animal nutrients:
These are nutrients we get from animal sources like carnitine, lactoferrin, and hemoglobin.
Organic nutrients:
These are nutrients we get from living things like proteins, carbs, and fats.
Fibers:
They are a type of carbohydrate that is not digested by the body and are found in various foods like fruits and vegetables to help with bowel movements.
Water:
It makes up about two-thirds of the body. so drinking it as a liquid or eating foods that contain it is essential to replace lost water.
Each of these nutrients has a vital role in the body beyond just stopping hunger and giving energy, for example:
Vitamins and minerals: If the body lacks either of them, it suffers from tiredness, fatigue, and many diseases no matter how much food the body eats.
Plant nutrients:
- They protect DNA from free radicals and shield the body from genetic mutations.
- They also protect the body from the risk of cancer.
- And reduce the risk of heart diseases.
- And they increase life expectancy.
Animal nutrients:
- These nutrients help reduce inflammation and blood clots
- and protect the body from heart attacks and heart diseases in general.
- They also slow down the growth and development of cancer cells.
- They also suppress diabetes complications and generally protect against its risk.
All these benefits and more show us that food is more than just fuel for the engine, and the body is more complex and smart than just a machine. Eating isn’t only about feeling full for a long time and giving your body energy. It also has many healthy nutrients that meet your body's other needs as we mentioned before. This means you should focus on the quality of food, not the quantity. You might eat a lot but still be skinny, or eat less daily but gain weight. So just focus on food quality, count calories, know what nutrients it has, and understand your body and its needs to reach your goal and get your ideal body.
Second: How much does your food really reflect you?
Maybe your view now has changed a lot about what food is and the nutrients and many health benefits it holds for your body. But have you ever asked yourself how food expresses who you are?!
You might be surprised by this question but you can't avoid answering it. Some people describe their relationship with food as healthy, others are proud of their country's famous dishes, and some just love food without caring about how much they eat. Then there's the person who eats whatever they want but in controlled amounts. Our story with food is different for each of us. Our relationship with what we eat shows our health, tastes, nutrition knowledge, and culture.
So if you think your relationship with food is just a chemical and biological thing that ends after your daily meals, you need to rethink that. You should build a healthy relationship with food that reflects on your body's health, energy, protection from diseases, your weight, muscle mass, and fat ratio. Make sure the food you eat says more about you than you imagine and reveals many secrets about your diet.
Third: What are the principles of proper nutrition?
To make a healthy plan for your diet, you need to know more about the basics of proper nutrition, which are:
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Proper nutrition controls your energy balance:
Even though food is more than just fuel, the energy it gives your body is key to your ability to move, do vital body functions, and handle physical activities. Without this energy, you couldn't even get out of bed in the morning to start your day.
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Proper nutrition supplies the body with nutrients:
Like we said before, good nutrition isn’t just about giving your body energy. It also has other key roles. It keeps you healthy, your body fit, and extends your life. So always pick the best food your body needs, not just what you like to eat. Try to swap your recipes for healthier and tastier options when you can.
Regarding this principle, there are two main types of food:
Food with high nutrient density: This type is healthy and includes things like colorful vegetables, colorful fruits, legumes, meats, eggs, whole grains, and more.
Food with low nutrient density: This kind is unhealthy, like crispy potato chips, canned fruit juices, energy drinks, fast-prep meats, refined grains, flour, sweets, and others.
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Good nutrition helps with slimness and fitness:
If you dream of looking slim and attractive, enjoying an ideal weight, and being able to perform various sports exercises with high fitness for longer periods, you need to focus on your diet. Turn it into a healthy system by getting your body's needs for different nutrients and beneficial healthy elements but with measured food amounts.
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Proper nutrition depends on results:
This means your body's need for healthy nutrition depends on three main points:
- Physical performance
- Health
- Body composition
So before you choose the right healthy system for you, you should define your physical performance level for exercises and daily activities, know your health condition, check if you have any physical problems or chronic diseases, and finally check your body composition. Find out the nutrient ratios inside your body. After knowing your status based on these three points, you can choose the best healthy system for you.
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Proper nutrition frees the body from preventing factors:
These preventing factors mean the things and reasons stopping you from reaching your goal and getting the body shape you're aiming for and working hard on. This involves changing some bad habits you might not even notice and replacing them with healthy ones that help you reach your ideal weight.
Fourth: What is the best healthy diet ever?
Because our genes, environment, amount and nutrients in food, and how our bodies are made up nutritionally all differ between us, it's hard to say there is one best healthy diet for everyone.
Since we're all different and don't share these factors, it's normal to have a unique eating plan based just on what our bodies need daily in nutrients. So you should get help fromnutrition specialists to find the diet type that fits you best, learn how to follow it, and later create your own meal plans without needing anyone's help. This is what we offer at Fitness Garage.
