When talking about diet, we’re discussing a very narrow path of balance. It is very easy to go beyond the healthy range in both directions — too much or too less food. If we want to understand food, we need to know what it’s made of. We eat because our body depends on different types of molecules, the ones we always refer to as nutrients, to work properly. These necessary nutrients are the macronutrients carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, as well as the micronutrients vitamins, and minerals. There are two important things to know when discussing them: one, we need all of them — I repeat, all of them. And two, not all carbohydrates are the same, not all fats are the same, not all proteins are the same, more isn’t always more, and less isn’t always less. Food is one of the most sensitive and complicated, as well as personal, balanced systems!
As it is an extremely complex theme, you can’t include everything regarding food in one post. But, we want to give you a brief overview of the importance of balance in every nutrient group. This way, you can always remember why it’s crucial to pay attention to your food.
1. Carbonhydrates
Starting with carbohydrates, one of the most feared groups. Many of us are probably aware of the tons of no-carb, low-carb diets out there, promising to be good and healthy. Well, there are tons of different types of carbs. Overall, carbohydrates are sugars, which can appear as so-called simple sugars or complex sugars. Complex sugars are made of multiple simple sugars.
While we all know that consuming an excessive amount of carbs will lead to weight gain, headaches, and bloating, they’re also our main energy provider and storage system. Different carbs function in different ways in our body. Let me give you some examples:
The carbohydrate we use mostly to store energy is glycogen. It’s a derivative of glucose, a carb we’ve probably all heard of. Glycogen is stored mostly in our liver and muscles. Another carb, found a lot in fruits besides fructose, is cellulose. This is a carbohydrate we cannot digest. Only a few animals, like cows, can process cellulose. Another carb most people know is lactose, a carb which many people cannot digest either. What I’m trying to make clear here again is that carbohydrate does not equal carbohydrate, and lactose shows that the ways nutrients interact with our body can vary from person to person.
Just because something contains carbohydrates, it’s not necessarily bad. It depends on the ones it contains. It’s important to find the foods that don’t spike blood sugar and are made of carbs we can digest for energy. An example of such a food is brown rice. It contains one of the highest digestible amounts of sugars per 100g for humans. I am sure, if you truly look into it, you will find many foods you love and thought were unhealthy that actually contain good carbohydrates.
Here are some examples of good carb-containing foods besides rice: Oats, quinoa, barley, lentils, sweet potatoes, various beans and lentils, beets, and non-starchy vegetables.
2. Fats
Fats are seen as very bad and unhealthy. I myself used to eat fat-free because I thought that way. That’s wrong. Fats are the second most important energy provider besides carbohydrates, fats are the main part of our cell borders, fats are necessary for digestion and binding of various fat-soluble vitamins, fats are crucial to the hormone and immune systems, fats function as a heat-insulation system, helping to regulate body temperature and fats protect our organs. As you can see, they take over a number of important tasks in our body.
Nonetheless, they’re hated due to the word “fat” being negatively connoted through its colloquial use. Even if unconscious, we all hear something horrible when the word “fat” comes up. Try to fight that and don’t be scared of fats as they are an essential part of your body’s functionality.
There are, of course, some fats that are unhealthy. Aim for so-called unsaturated fats. These are fatty acids that include double bonds and can therefore continue to react in your body. They are the primary fat source in most plants. In contrast to them are saturated fats. These are often considered unhealthy and can cause many health problems if overly consumed. They’re found in most animal products.
Even though the health impact of saturated fats is controversial, and they should be consumed less than unsaturated fats, they are a good source of energy and should still be incorporated. A ratio of at max 10% saturated to 20% unsaturated fats as part of your overall calorie intake is most often recommended. Still, the exact ratio might depend on your body. The only clear thing is that there should be more unsaturated than saturated fats.
Another group called trans fats is related to many high-risk health issues such as type 2 diabetes and increased risk of heart attacks. They are part of most of our sweets and snacks and should be consumed minimally. You see, just as with carbs, fats do not equal fats. Here are examples of foods for each group of fats, for you to incorporate or avoid:
Consume these foods high in saturated fat sparingly: beef, lamb, pork, poultry (especially with skin), beef fat (tallow), lard, cream, butter, and cheese.
Incorporate these foods high in unsaturated fats: avocados and avocado oil, olives and olive oil, other vegetable oils such as sunflower, corn, or canola, nuts and seeds such as almonds, cashews, sesame seeds, and peanuts (try to find one that’s made from 100% peanuts) or peanut oil.
Foods with high amounts of trans fats that should be consumed responsibly: cakes, cookies, margarine, fries and fried foods, most ready meals, and hydrogenated vegetable oils.
3. Protein
The last big group is proteins. They’re a group where opinions diverge. If you’d ask me personally, I think the average person, not bodybuilding or excessively muscle building, does not need the amount of protein that is suggested by many people. I personally think excessive protein intake is being promoted. You should adjust your protein intake based on your goal. If you’re not trying to become extremely muscular or train heavily, you don’t need to make sure protein is the biggest part of every meal.
Important to know is that proteins are made of so-called amino acids. These build the foundation of every protein. There are 20 different amino acids, of which 9 (sometimes 8, depending on the source) are essential amino acids. These are not essential because they’re more important, but because we cannot produce them on our own and therefore need to take them in through food. When just excessively eating something because it contains a lot of protein, it could be that you’re missing exactly these essential amino acids. And that’s again why protein does not equal protein.
So, don’t just binge eat everything because it has “protein” printed on it in all caps, but because it contains protein or rather amino acids that your body actually needs. I’m not trying to tell you that every product that’s high in protein is bad or unnecessary; you can obviously continue to eat protein products. What I want to explain to you is not to obsess over it and blindly eat everything labeled “high-protein” because it’s healthy — it isn’t always. What’s healthy is balance. Nonetheless, this is probably a rather hard theme to get into on your own. But that’s what we are here for, to help you out!
Here are some examples of foods that contain many essential amino acids: kidney beans, corn, chickpeas, soy, tofu, seitan or tempeh, quinoa and oats, almonds and peanuts, rice, eggs, dairy, poultry, and fish.
4. Micronutrients
Lastly, the same applies to vitamins and minerals, the essential micronutrients. I didn’t mention them until now because there’s no difference in, for example, vitamin B2 from one food versus vitamin B2 from another. Vitamin B2 is vitamin B2, vitamin B12 is vitamin B12, vitamin C is vitamin C, and so on. The same goes for minerals. Minerals are ions, and these are always the same. They are charged atoms or molecules.
Both are essential for your body to function properly. Lack of minerals and vitamins can result in various muscular, neurological, blood formation, or skin health problems. Vitamin or mineral deficiencies can also be the cause of mood swings, lack of concentration, nausea, and more. That’s why you should always keep an eye on getting all of your micronutrients. Especially look out for vitamin B12, D3, and iron. These are some that many people aren’t getting enough of.
Besides that, I’ve never heard you can actually overdose on vitamins or minerals. But please don’t take that as a challenge! Behave responsibly with everything you fuel your body with. To optimize your vitamin and mineral intake, here are some food examples:
Foods high in a variety of vitamins: milk, eggs, tomatoes, soybeans, citrus fruits, carrots, peanuts, almonds, and potatoes.
Food high in minerals: avocados, milk, almonds, peanuts, various beans and lentils, eggs, chicken, tofu, brown rice, and whole grain bread.
And the ones I mentioned as frequently lacking in many people’s diets are part of the following:
For vitamin B12 and/or D3: liver, various fish, sardines, heart, ground beef, chicken, turkey, low-fat milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, Swiss cheese, and some mushrooms. If you’re following a vegan diet, you should consider vitamin B12 and/or D3 supplements.
Great sources of iron are: beans, like kidney, soy, or mung beans, chickpeas, lentils, liver, ground beef, eggs, potatoes with skin, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, some dried fruits (apricots, figs, raisins, and sultanas), dark or baking chocolate, and tofu.
As you might have noticed, some foods fall into multiple categories. This means you can effectively balance your diet by incorporating foods that provide balance in multiple categories.
Now, think again about your consumption of these different nutrients, then think again about more does not equal more and less does not equal less. Does this make sense now? It’s not just the quantity that provides health, it’s the quality! Fuel your body with the necessary amounts of all the different kinds of foods. I once heard that the more colorful your meal, the more nutrients it probably provides. Who wouldn’t want to eat a very colorful and joyful-looking meal? Go get yourself one!
As I’ve mentioned, your body’s digestive system is a very sensitive system, as it’s directly connected to your physical as well as mental well-being. Its impact on your functionality, efficiency, and mood is fundamental. This also means that learning to listen to your body and mind will help you to find balance. It’s time to put away the baby food and start eating solid meals.