Nutrition – The Basics

An Introduction To The Nutrients

The nutrients are quite simply substances that provide nourishment for your body.  They can be classified into three main categories:

1) The Macronutrients:- These are the three main nutrients your body needs to survive and the ones that you are probably most familiar with.  They are the main source of calories in our diets and you need these in relatively large amounts.

2) The Micronutrients:- These are the other nutrients that your body needs to survive.  They contain no calories and are required in much smaller amounts.

3) The Phytonutrients:- These are nutrients that your body can survive without but have a number of health boosting properties.  They contain no calories and if you choose to take them they are required in much smaller amounts.

An Introduction To The Macronutrients

The macronutrients include carbohydrates, dietary fats and protein:

1) Carbohydrates:- Carbohydrates are your body’s preferred source of energy as they are the easiest for your body to use.  Although your body can technically survive without carbohydrates (which is part of the reason for the popularity of low carb and no carb diets) you should not completely cut them out of your diet because they are often an excellent source of dietary fibre (a type of indigestible carbohydrate that promotes healthy digestion), micronutrients and phytonutrients.

2) Dietary Fats:-

There are four main types of dietary fat (monounsaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats, saturated fats and trans fats).  Dietary fats are often vilified (which is part of the reason for the popularity of low fat diets) and seen as something to avoid.  Saturated fat in particular gets a really bad rap and is often blamed for causing heart disease.  However, the truth is that you need monounsaturated fat, polyunsaturated fat and saturated fat to survive.  All three of these fats fight disease, protect your vital organs, support essential processes in your body and much more.  The only fats you should avoid are trans fats (an unnatural, man made fat which is damaging to your health). Luckily the public is gaining awareness about this and food manufacturers are cutting this out of their production as a result.

3) Protein:- Protein is your body’s building block.  It builds, maintains and repairs all your body’s cells and also regulates certain processes within the human body. Getting sufficient amounts of protein is important for anyone trying to lose weight and build muscle.

An Introduction To The Micronutrients

The micronutrients include vitamins and minerals:

1) Vitamins:- Vitamins are organic compounds (compounds that come from plants and animals) that boost your vital organs, keep you safe from disease and much more.

2) Minerals:- Minerals are inorganic compounds (compounds that come from the soil and water) that fight disease, support essential functions within your body and much more.

An Introduction To The Phytonutrients

 

There are hundreds of different phytonutrients.  They are not classed as essential nutrients because humans can technically survive without them.  However, they boost your health in multiple ways and it is highly recommended that you make them part of your diet.

How Much Of Each Nutrient Do You Need?

There is a lot of debate around what percentage of your calories should come from carbohydrates, dietary fats and proteins.  My preference when trying to lose weight is to get most of my energy from protein. On an extreme fat loss regime I try to get as much as 50% of my calories from protein calories. When I am on a more relaxed fat loss regime I try to get about equal amounts of calories (33.3%) from each of the 3 macronutrients.  But you need to keep in mind that the fats should be healthy fats and will support and protect your body internally and the protein will give you the fuel you need to build, maintain and repair your cells.
The carbs should not be simple carbs so try to avoid any white carbs (sugar, wheat, white rice etc). The carbohydrates will give you energy plus a healthy dose of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients,

One important thing to remember is that equal amounts of calories do not translate into equal amounts of food.  Carbohydrates and proteins contain 4 calories per gram whilst dietary fats contain 9 calories per gram.  So if you were eating 1,500 calories per day on a 33.3% split that would break down as:

-       125g of carbohydrates.
-       55.5g of dietary fats.
-       125g of protein.