Nutrition

When we hear this term Nutrition , the first thing that pops up in our minds are all greens and coloured veggies and fruits , nuts n seeds and everything that is supposed to be good for our  body. Am I right? This is exactly what I always thought about nutrition ( which is not all wrong ) till I myself began digging more deeper into this subject since one year and I am really happy to announce that I am now  a certified ISSA Nutritionist FINALLY. Yeh!!

Awesome! Another feather to my hat 😉

Anyways the thing was that, I never knew that this was such a huge and comprehensive field I mean a science in its own right. I had to learn about the anatomy, genetics and epigenetics, Sports nutrition, how body balances energy, metabolism, how cells work how nutrition affects us on the molecular level. Also about the different body types and the effect of diet on each of them.

The importance of water and how much one should take.. All about the macro nutrients and micro nutrients.. Even came to know some amazing facts such as how each of us have an individual gut flora “microbiome” like a fingerprint.

Also how each person has a unique genetic code that influence how we respond to ingested food.

I also learnt that there is no one size fits for all case in the real world. There is nothing called the best diet.

Our bodies are diverse , each with an unique ability for ingesting, digesting , assimilating and excreting abilities, each of us have different body type, composition ,fitness level , dietary preferences and budget.

We come from different families, cultures, traditions, and socio-economic standards .

With so many underlying differences how does one diet fit ALL?

Fact: THE HEALTHIEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD DON’T HAVE A SINGLE NUTRITION PHILOSOPHY.

Physiologically the human body can do well under all kinds of different nutritional conditions.

We can see this clearly if we look at the traditional diets of indigenous groups and ethnic groups throughout the world.

For example, the Artic Inuit and African Masai eat traditional diets that are high in fat and animal products with few vegetables.

Conversely Kitavans in the south Pacific, the Hadza of eat Africa and many groups in the Amazon basin eat traditional diets that are low in fat but high in vegetables and starchy carbohydrates.

The Ikung of Africa eat traditional diets that are made up of mostly nuts and seeds.

This is also true if we look at the world’s blue zones, areas where people live exceptionally long and healthy lives.

We can see that people eating these ancestral or traditional diets have much fewer of the chronic diseases of affluence such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity etc. considered normal in industrialized areas.

I ALSO LEARNT THAT; THE HUMAN BODY ADAPTS AMAZINGLY WELL TO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS OF EATING

You can be healthy and fit whether you eat mostly meat or mostly veggies, mostly fat or mostly carbohydrates, many times a day or just a few times and so on.

Which means that there is nothing such as specific nutrition palates or diets or camps.

Everything and anything under the roof.

Let me give you a small synopsis on Nutrition:

What Good Nutrition Does?

Good Nutrition makes you care about your food and eating.

Research shows that your actual choices are probably less important than simply paying better attention to what you eat. When you really care about what you eat, and make mindful, deliberate choices, you almost inevitably eat better.

Good nutrition focuses on food quality

There is almost no decent diet plan that asks you to eat more processed, nutrient depleted food.

Instead pretty much all of them advocate eating whole, minimally processed nutrient rich foods.

Regardless of the macronutrient breakdowns or specific choices, just eating better quality food will improve most people’s health significantly.

Good nutrition helps eliminate nutrient deficiencies

When we care about what we eat, choose foods mindfully, and try to get the best quality foods we can afford, we usually get lots of valuable nutrients along with it.

Often, when people start a certain diet program, they just start eating better overall. They get more nutrients. They may get more variety or fresher foods or less processed foods. Or foods they choose mindfully.

Because of these factors, they feel better. And that’s one reason they start making wild claims about the rejuvenating power of their new diet.

Actually they didn’t do anything special, really. They often just started getting what their bodies needed. That’s all!

Good nutrition helps control appetite and food intake.

For most of us it is hard to eat just one of those delicious bombs of processed foods. We often keep eating them on and on and still don’t feel satisfied.

We may also eat them on the go, when we are rushed and busy. So not only we are eating the wrong type of foods but we are also not aware of what we are doing.

Conversely when we are more aware of what we are eating we tend to choose a variety of more satisfying, higher quality foods. We feel more satisfied both physiologically and psychologically. We lose fat, gain muscle and perform better.

Notice that you don’t need calorie counting here. Focusing on food awareness and food quality is usually enough for people to tune into their own hunger and appetite. This means calorie control without the annoying calorie math.

 Good nutrition promotes regular exercise

When people start paying attention to their eating, they usually start thinking about physical activity too. Or vice versa. If you take up an activity you love eventually you start wondering if your nutrition will support that activity better.

Good nutrition fits with regular activity like a key into a lock

And most nutrition programs suggest that people exercise along with eating well.

And those are the programs you must stick to.

 So as you can see that this topic is vast and we have only touched a minute portion of the tip.

Nutrition is a science in itself. And if one needs to succeed in their pursuit of optimal health and well being then one must have some knowledge about the food that he intakes.

 So guys  after learning  the whole story about food and what it does to our body I can say only one thing ; that is  , I respect my body even more and have become more conscious of what I put in it. Food is not just a fuel, this is what I honestly believed when I started my journey in fitness, now I know that it is not JUST that, it is much more than that.

 Hope you have enjoyed knowing a little bit more about food and nutrition. Will bring in more in my following blogs also if you like to know something specific or you are having any trouble with understanding your relationship with food and body , you may write to me at: fitnessbysoma@gmail.com

Will do my best to help out.

 Thanks for reading!

Soma Kalsi

Fitness Consultant & Nutritionist