If you want to live a healthier lifestyle and benefit from a more nutritious intake, you can prioritize nutritious foods over those that are merely empty calories. But what exactly makes a food nutritious, and how are you supposed to compare different types of foods?
The Value of Nutritious Food
Eating more nutritious foods can help you be healthier, feel more energized, and potentially even live a longer life. If you’re focused on the nutritional content of the food you’re eating, you’ll probably be able to maintain a healthier weight, enjoy more energy throughout the day, and stave off many different types of health complications. At the same time, you’ll likely avoid problematic foods that can expose you to health risks and make you feel bad (both physically and mentally).
Most people understand this, but they don’t understand how to delineate nutritious and non-nutritious foods. Working with a nutrition and weight loss clinic can help you figure out these distinctions and come up with an eating plan for yourself, but anyone can learn to master the fundamentals.
Why Nutrition Is Complicated
Unfortunately, nutrition isn’t a simple topic. There are many factors to consider when evaluating the nutrition of a given food, and they aren’t easily reducible. On top of that, scientists and researchers still don’t fully understand all the nuances of nutrition, and different foods can affect people in slightly different ways.
With that in mind, we can offer a primer on the basics of nutrition and help you determine which foods are nutritious and which ones aren’t.
What Makes a Food “Nutritious?”
A food is generally nutritious if it has a proper balance of nutrients. But what exactly does that mean?
We can start by breaking nutrition into a couple of different categories. First, we can think about macro nutrients. Macronutrients are nutrients that our bodies require in large volumes, such as:
- Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are typically found in breads, starchy foods, and a multitude of different fruits and vegetables. There are simple carbohydrates, like sugars, which the body can break down easily, and there are complex carbohydrates, like fibers, which the body cannot break down easily. Carbohydrates are a source of energy in the body, and there’s definitely such a thing as too much energy in the body. Accordingly, it’s usually best to eat carbohydrates in moderation, focusing on complex carbohydrates that offer slower energy release, greater satiation, and a host of other benefits. A food is generally not nutritious if it’s full of simple sugars.
- Fats. Many people are tempted to believe that foods high in fat content are bad for you, but this isn’t necessarily the case. There are many different types of fats, and our body needs fats in order to function properly. Some types of fats, including unsaturated fats, are better than others (like saturated fats). In pursuit of better nutrition, it’s a good idea to eat fats in moderation and focus primarily on unsaturated fats.
- Proteins. Proteins function like building blocks in the body, and they can be used in a variety of different processes. They’re typically found in meats, legumes, and nuts. Protein has few downsides, and it’s difficult to eat in excessively high quantities, so foods high in protein are often very nutritious.
In contrast, micronutrients are much smaller, and we need them in smaller quantities in our bodies. These are things like vitamins and minerals, of which there are dozens of essential components.
When determining whether a food is nutritious, we typically look at:
- Calories. The calories in a given food are essentially a measure of how much energy it’s going to provide us. We call some types of foods “empty calories” because they provide significant calories without much nutritional value. Typically, we want as much nutritional value as possible, especially when compared to caloric content. If a food is high in calories, it should offer substantial nutritional value.
- Macronutrient balance. Nutritious meals generally have a healthy balance of fats, proteins, and complex carbohydrates, with minimal simple carbohydrates. There are different recommendations for macronutrient balance depending on your body type, goals, and other needs.
- Micronutrient balance. Nutritious foods also have many micronutrients to offer. Foods like fruits and vegetables are typically full of vitamins and minerals that our bodies need, but no matter what, you’ll need to maintain a diverse, balanced diet.
- Other ingredients. When evaluating nutrition, you may also consider other impactful ingredients. For example, certain types of preservatives offer little to no nutritional value, and may be detrimental in some circumstances.
There is a degree of subjectivity associated with determining whether foods are nutritious or not. However, if you understand some of the fundamentals of nutrition, you’ll have a much easier time identifying which foods are healthy for you.