What kind of nutrition do our cells need? (Healthy Tips)

Healthy Tips

Variety (Healthy Tips)
Different nutrients assist different processes and development, for instance calcium helps to build bone while protein is needed to build muscles. Generally there are 2 types of nutrients.
- Macronutrients like protein, carbohydrates and fats (essential fatty acids) provide energy and act as building blocks for muscles, nerve cells and enzymes.
- Micronutrients like vitamins, minerals and pigments facilitate chemical reactions and act as catalysts, antioxidants to support cellular repair, strengthen internal defense system, etc.

Proportional intake of nutrients (Healthy Tips)
Excessive nutrient intake especially fat soluble vitamins (Vitamins A, D, E & K) may cause toxicity symptoms like headache and vomiting while inadequate nutrient intake (malnutrition) leads to abnormality of cell functions and cell death. Most of the time, our nutrient intake is imbalanced, le inadequate intake of a particular nutrient(s). This may lead to behavioural and physical changes depending on the nutrient type.

Consumption (Healthy Tips)
Daily replenishment of nutrients is essential as it is often impossible to know which nutrient type(s) is lacking/in excess. Always take more water-soluble nutrients as any excess is not retained in the body but is easily excreted.

Interdependent nutrients (Healthy Tips)
Most nutrients are interdependent whereby insufficient intake of any one nutrient may limit the effectiveness of all other nutrients, thus sufficient intake of all essential nutrients is vital.

Cannot be manufactured (Healthy Tips)
Some nutrients are considered essential as they cannot be manufactured by the body, thus the body solely depends on our daily intake.

Digestibility (Healthy Tips)
The best source of nutrients is natural and organic food as they are easier to digest and absorb as they are often not chemically processed and have no added colouring, preservatives, additives and pesticides.

Nutrient Robbers (Healthy Tips)

As our society progresses, food intake has actually increased, but why is imbalanced or inadequate nutrition still so prevalent? What is ‘robbing’ these nutrients?

Cooking and storage of food (Healthy Tips)
Vitamins, minerals and other nutrients are often lost during the cooking and preparation process due to high heat. Storage and excessive exposure to sunlight or air also deplete nutrients in food.

Processed food (Healthy Tips)
Processed and refined foods are often acidic in nature and have little to no essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants. As a result, they frequently requires more nutrients to aid and support their metabolism.

Imbalanced lifestyle (Healthy Tips)
Stress, smoking and excessive alcohol intake often impair our absorption of nutrients and deplete our nutrient reserves.

Medicine intake (Healthy Tips)
Concumption of medicine, antibiotics and drugs create havoc in our bodies as their use will usually generate oxidative stress and disrupt our normal biochemical and metabolic pathways. This then requires nutrients to compensate and neutralize it, thus depleting our nutrient reserves.

Healthy Tips