So first of all: what are nutrients?

Well, to sum it up, nutrients are components in foods that are essential to our health. They do this by:

– Providing us with energy

– Acting as building blocks for growth and repair 

– Regulating important chemical processes in our bodies

There are 6 essential nutrients that the human body needs to work correctly.

These are Fats, Proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water.

And these can then be divided into two groups, based on how much of them we need: Macronutrients, and micronutrients.

Macronutrients are nutrients of which we need relatively large amounts (often measured in grams or ounces). These include the fats, proteins, carbohydrates and water.

Micronutrients are needed in smaller amounts (we often measure them in miligrams or micrograms). They are our vitamins and minerals.

There are some basic principles which apply to most nutrients:

First of all, we cannot make general guidelines on the exact amount of each nutrient that you should eat. In general, how much of each of the nutrients we need can vary greatly from one person to another. For example, children need different amounts to adults.  Active people may need different amounts to less active people. And for example, a woman who is pregnant needs different amounts again to a woman who is not pregnant.

Next: We tend to give a “recommended” amount of each nutrient to eat, and try to give this information based on age, gender and activity level. This recommended amount is based on the amount of that nutrient that is considered safe, and will help you to stay healthy. Sometimes we give reference intakes with upper and lower limits. This shows the highest intake deemed safe, and the lowest intake that will likely not lead to deficiency.

We generally need a balance of all nutrients to keep us healthy. Eating too much or too little of one can be harmful.

Interestingly, not all nutrients give us calories!

Only the macronutrients, except water, give us energy, or calories. And the amount of calories that fat, protein and carbohydrates contain is different.

Here is one of those first “aha” moments I explore with my clients. Many believe that “carbs” are the most “fattening” of all the macronutrients. But actually, while carbohydrates and proteins both provide us 4 calories per gram, fat actually contains 9 calories per gram! Yes, our bodies respond differently to each of these macronutrients. Yet the basic science shows us that Carbs contain less than half the calories per gram than fat does!

So lets take a brief look at all the key nutrient groups, and explore where we can get them in our diet. I will delve a little further into each nutrient in upcoming posts over the next few weeks. By doing this, I hope to help us to understand each nutrient and their role in our bodies in even more depth!

Fat

Fats are needed by our bodies for energy, to provide essential fatty acids and to carry fat soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E and K. We often divide fats into two types: Saturated fats and unsaturated fats.

Usually, we recommend to limit the amount of saturated fats we eat, and to use mainly unsaturated fats to improve our health. Saturated fats are often found in meat, meat products, eggs and dairy foods. We find unsaturated fats mostly in our vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and fish. Fats should usually make up 30% of all our energy that we eat in the day.

Protein

The main role of protein in our bodies is for growth and repair. We can also use protein for energy if our diets are low in carbohydrate. 

Protein provides us with amino acids which we need to stay healthy. Animal foods such as meat, poultry, dairy, fish and eggs contain the full range of amino acids needed for health. Yet you can also get the full range of amino acids from plant-based foods alone. You can do this by including a good variety of nuts, pulses (such as peas, beans and lentils) and grains. We recommend that you get about 0.75g of protein per kg of your body weight. However, this amount may need to vary depending on your age, activity levels and health.

Carbohydrates

Next, carbohydrate gets a lot of bad press. However, it is an important source of energy for our body. You can broadly divide carbohydrates into sugars, starches and fibre. 

We find sugars in our fruits and vegetables, as well as in your typical “treat” foods such as sweets and fizzy drinks. Starches are mostly found in potatoes, rice, pasta and bread. And fibre often comes from our fruits, vegetables, pulses and wholegrains. 

While we mainly use our sugars and starches for energy, fibre plays an important role in our gut health. It does so by helping to keep our bowels healthy and helping us to feel fuller for longer. Approximately half of our energy should come from carbohydrates, with most of this being from starchy carbs.

Vitamins

Vitamins are the name for a large variety of nutrients that are needed in chemical reactions in our bodies. Different foods contain different vitamins. So vitamin A, D, E and K are mostly found in foods containing fats and then Vitamin B and C are mostly found in foods that contain water. The amounts that we need of each vitamin is small, but varies a lot as the body changes and ages.

Minerals

Minerals then are nutrients which our bodies need for a variety of roles such as formation of our bones, our nerve function and to make enzymes. Some of the minerals that our bodies need include, iron, zinc, calcium, copper, iodine, selenium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, fluoride, manganese and chromium. Again, different foods give us different minerals. And be aware that the amount that we need of each of them varies on the mineral itself and our body’s age and stage of life.

Water

And finally, humans need water, a nutrient that makes up over half of our bodies. It plays an important role in transporting nutrients around our body, lubricating our joints, eliminating waste and regulating our body temperature. We mostly get our water by drinking actual – water – and other drinks. Yet we also get small amounts of water from the foods that we eat.

It may sound complicated to squeeze all these nutrients into a single day. However, most healthy eating guidelines are made to help us eat a diet that will include all the nutrients we need! A healthy, balanced diet should contain plenty of fruits and vegetables, some wholegrain carbohydrates, small amounts of meat and dairy (or their alternatives) and plenty of fluids. If you eat in a similar way to this, then the majority of people are likely to get their right balance of each of the fats, proteins, carbs, vitamins, minerals and water.

There is far more science behind each of the nutrients I described in this video, and I will be covering these in some of my upcoming posts.

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