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Nutrients are essential chemical substances needed for survival by animals, plants and fungi alike. They include macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) as well as micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals and water – essential ones being impossible for our bodies to produce and must instead come through food sources.
Protein
Proteins are essential components of life and when combined with fats and carbohydrates they form the core structure of every cell in your body. In addition, proteins play an essential role in metabolism regulation, energy provision and maintaining immunity systems.
Protein can be found both animal and plant sources. Some proteins are complete, containing all essential amino acids (which make up proteins). Others, particularly from plants, may lack one or more essential amino acids. While our bodies can synthesize some essential amino acids on its own, eating animal and plant protein sources is still necessary in order to get those essential ones from food sources.
Protein is an integral part of a balanced diet and can be found in many forms – nonfat Greek yogurt, tilapia, chicken breasts, peanut butter, black beans and whole wheat bread are just a few sources. As part of its macronutrient profile – alongside fats and carbohydrates – proteins provide your body with essential fuel needed for daily functions.
Fat
Fat is essential to life – our cells need it for energy, it helps protect us against disease and is necessary for normal body functions. There are many kinds of fat, but two that stand out for their importance to health are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats; they’re known as “good” fats because they remain liquid at room temperature while saturated fats remain solid – they can be found in foods like avocados, nuts, seeds, fish and vegetable oils such as canola, olive, peanut and safflower oils among others.
Fat is essential to our bodies, but cannot be synthesized naturally; therefore, they must come from food sources like lean meats, poultry and fish. Too much fat increases your risk for heart disease by raising cholesterol levels, increasing triglycerides levels and decreasing HDL (“good”) cholesterol. Too much can also increase cancer risks; Cohort studies that simulate specific replacement nutrients have demonstrated this; replacing saturated with polyunsaturated fats reduces cardiovascular disease risks significantly whereas replacing with highly processed carbohydrates eliminates them completely.
Minerals
Minerals are naturally-occurring inorganic solid chemical compounds with crystal structures found throughout nature, often found within rock formations in Earth’s crust.
Minerals play many crucial roles in our bodies, from supporting bone health to blood cell formation and energy metabolism to DNA synthesis. Furthermore, minerals support both our innate and adaptive immune systems as well as helping regulate inflammation.
Food is our body’s main source of minerals, such as table salt, dairy foods, eggs, fish, whole grains, dark green vegetables and beans. In particular potassium, sulphur magnesium calcium iron zinc copper and iodine play an integral part.
Minerals work alongside vitamins to perform hundreds of essential functions, from strengthening bones and healing wounds to supporting immunity and turning food into energy. While vitamins may be known by initials alone, minerals have more substantial job titles – so much so that the entire field of mineral science, called mineralogy, has its own encyclopedias and textbooks!
Water
Water is essential for life on our planet and its inhabitants. Representing 60-75% of your bodyweight, water forms the main constituent of blood, tissues and cells in the human body. Its crystalline structure helps maintain cell shapes while simultaneously moving materials within them for metabolic processes or other biological purposes.
Water is also essential in aiding your body’s natural detoxification systems through urination, perspiration and bowel movements. Furthermore, it plays a key role in digesting food properly allowing your digestive system to break it down and absorb vital nutrients from it.
As opposed to other nutrients that have been extensively researched and studied, data for water intake are more limited and thus, traditional approaches like measuring it using milliliters/kcal may not provide an effective means of conveying recommendations to individual groups or individuals.
