Why is nutrition so important when it comes to general health?
You surely heard before that “you are what you eat” which is essentially true, every cell’s composition in your body is regulated depending on what you consume.
Many can fight off disease with nutrition alone. If you provide your body an abundance of resources such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, the immune response is significantly improved.
A diverse diet is the key to longevity
The internet is filled with diets that supposedly improve certain aspects of life, especially athletic performance but the issue with these diets often times is the lack of variety and micronutrients that sustain hormone production, metabolism and overall well-being.
What should my diet contain?
Out of the 3 categories of nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins and fats only proteins and fats are essential for your body’s function. The main role of carbohydrates is quick energy production by conversion to glucose.
Fats are a crucial element for hormone production and regulation. For example: cortisol is the precursor to testosterone that further partially converts to estrogen which has protective neuro and cardiovascular effects.
Proteins are broken down into amino acids to build new chains which are present in every single cell of your body and play a key role in a strong immunity and development.
Due to the complexity of our bodies and its functions it is recommended to meet your daily requirements of micronutrients from a variety of foods and calorie intake to maintain an active and healthy metabolism.
Most common deficiencies and how supplements can help
The most commonly met deficiencies are that of:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin D
- Magnesium
- Zinc
- Fatty Acids
In these situations supplementation is an easy solution to fix deficiencies. Not only these nutrients require you to eat more food, they are also found in less foods.
Diagnosing nutritional imbalances and making diet adjustments accordingly will prevent a multitude of diseases and improve life quality.