What makes up your diet?
Nutrition is a big subject and your diet is, of course nutrients, you eat but also where you get those nutrients you eat and how you eat as well.
The nutrients fall into different groups:
- The macronutrients are the energy-giving nutrients: carbohydrates, fats and proteins. These are the nutrients we eat in larger amounts. They are the first thing you think about when worrying about energy intake. Obviously, with higher fueling demands then carbohydrates and fat intakes may need to be looked at. Protein, though containing calories, is also used for tissue repair and growth.
- The second group is the micronutrients: the vitamins and minerals that are important in cellular function. These we eat in much smaller quantities but they are none the less essential for life. The biochemical machinery of the cells demands vitamins and minerals. A useful analogy is a car engine, if carbohydrate is the petrol and fats the oils, the protein makes the engine but all the other parts like spark plugs, timing mechanisms, controls, etc are made partially out of vitamins and minerals.
- Fibres are compounds that are not readily absorbed by the body; they are important for gut health and, as such, to the health of the whole body. The gut is the place where all other foods are absorbed and also where there are a lot of interactions between our body and the environment. Poor gut health can hamper fueling and recovery, but also affect general health.
- Phytochemicals are a very large group of different chemicals produced by plants. In the plant they may be involved in a range of secondary metabolic process, such as defense or pigmentation. Whilst not essential, they do help to boost our health in a variety of ways from being useful as antioxidants, aiding the immune system to affecting gene expression.
Of course, we don't eat chemicals, we eat foods, and it is vital to understand what groups of foods supply which groups of nutrients.
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