Importance of Good Nutrition: The Basics of Building your Nutritional Profile
- Nourish Health
- Jun 6, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 1
According to the WHO (World Health Organization), a healthy diet is essential for good health and nutrition. It protects against many chronic noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
Our eating habits are often hard-wired reflex mechanisms that stem from many different origins including, personal and religious beliefs, food preferences, lifestyle, socioeconomic status and genetic factors. General nutritional principles are important, but it's not the end-all to finding the right diet for your individual body.
I have spoken about personalized diets in the past, but for now, let's explore some general principles of nutrition and how incorporating a nutrients dense approach can support your nutritional profile.
Macro vs Micro-Nutrients
Generally speaking most diets are composed of three dietary components that provide calories known as macronutrients.
Macronutrients are broken down into carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
Carbohydrates: Provides energy, supports digestive health & immune function. Fiber is considered a carb.
Sources: fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, grains, honey, and dairy products (e.g., milk, yogurt), and foods containing added sugar.
Fats: Gives the body energy, protects organs, supports cell growth, keeps cholesterol and blood pressure under control, and helps the body absorb vital nutrients
Sources: meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, oils, nuts, seeds, and avocados.
Protein: Are made up of amino acids and considered the building block of the body.
Sources: found in animal-based foods, including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products, as well as many plant-based foods, such as beans, legumes, soy products (e.g., tofu, tempeh), nuts, and seeds.
Micronutrients, include vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients.
Theses essential vitamins and minerals work together with macronutrients to perform hundreds of roles in your body that are necessary to sustain life.
Vitamins: There are 13 essential vitamins. They are broken down into water soluble and fat soluble.
Water Soluble vitamins: Not stored in the body. The nine water-soluble vitamins are vitamin C and all the B vitamins. For the most part any excess amounts of these leave the body through the urine. They have to be consumed on a regular basis to prevent shortages or deficiencies in the body. The exception to this is vitamin B12, which can be stored in the liver for many years.
Fat Soluble Vitamins: Stored in the body's liver, fatty tissue, and muscles. There are four (A, D, E, and K). These vitamins are absorbed more easily by the body in the presence of dietary fat. Can accumulate in the body, so caution of dosage is advised.
Minerals: Minerals are inorganic micronutrients - there are 15. Minerals can be classified as macrominerals or microminerals
Macrominerals: Required in amounts greater than 100 mg per day and include calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and chloride. Sodium, potassium, and chloride are also electrolytes.
Microminerals: Nutrients required in amounts less than 100 mg per day and include iron, copper, zinc, selenium, and iodine.
Phytonutrients: Natural compounds found in plants. Contain antioxidants that help protect the body from free radicals. Each vibrant plant color is related to a range of benefits. Think eat the rainbow.
I know from working with clients that it's easy to get lost in the terminology related to nutrition and a healthy diet. The key is recognizing we need a variety of foods in order to achieve the vital nutrients our body needs to thrive. Most modern diets are typically calorie-dense, but lack adequate micronutrients.
Nutrient Density
One way I support my clients overall food intake is teaching them about nutrient density. Nutrient density is the amount of micronutrients relative to calories in a food or specific diet.
A healthy suggestion is to replace "empty calories" from highly processed foods with nutrient-rich whole foods. Whole foods are essential parts of nutritious diets and consist of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, and lean proteins. This approach will cover most all your nutritional needs (outside of specific genetic variations that may require more of one substrate than another.)
Digestion & Assimilation
When considering how to build our nutritional profile, it's important to remember the body's ability to absorb nutrients from the foods we eat. This depends on digestive capacity, which involves several factors. Foods need to be thoroughly chewed, sufficient stomach acid and bile are required to break down food into "usable" fragments, and the small intestines must effectively absorb these nutrients into the bloodstream. Running a comprehensive stool analysis can bring great insight into this area, which when implementing suggestion from your report can greatly enhance your nutrient profile.
Therapeutic Diets
I would be doing this topic an injustice if I did not circle back to personalized therapeutic diets. These are often temporary diet approaches in which the main goal is to support the body during transitional healing.
They can be extremely beneficial, but these diets often leave out portions of major food groups and should be structured along side a healthcare practitioner who is helping guide the process. Some common examples are the AIP Diet (autoimmune protocol) Keto, Gluten Free, Feingold Diet and many more.
Nutrients Assessment
I'm often asked about the best way to evaluate one's body for nutrients. Honestly, there are many options available, and I've probably tried most of them. However, my preferred method involves conducting an HTMA (hair, tissue, mineral analysis) along with a comprehensive stool analysis. This combination provides insights into not only your body's capacity to digest and absorb the foods you consume but also key macrominerals. Additionally, it helps determine your metabolic type, indicating whether you should consume more carbohydrates compared to fats and proteins, or more proteins and fats with fewer carbohydrates.
Reboot: Gut & Minerals
We have put together an easy at-home functional testing package that can help support you in building your nutrient profile. Not only will you gain key information on your nutritional status, you will also be supporting all biological processes by honing in on nutritional optimization. One thing I find many do not really understand is every single biological process in our body requires nutrients to perform it job. We encourage you to learn more here.
Resources:
Our Approach
I am a clinically trained psychotherapist, who learned along with education and practicum hours that one's health challenges can be at the root of their psychological obstacles. I view the body and mind from a holistic perspective and dive deep with my clients to root out the core imbalances that keep them from progressing in the healing of their body and mind.
Have a Nourishing Day!