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They say you are what you eat. What you consume is more than something that just appeals to your palate and other senses. It provides your body with complex molecules and minerals that your body breaks down to extract energy and nutrients. Likewise, your consumption can also provide your body with excessive energy, but little to no nutrients. Through this simple criterion, you can separate healthy food from an unhealthy one.
What Real and Healthy Food Should Have
The food that you eat must contain two groups: micronutrients and macronutrients. Macronutrients consist of carbohydrates (or carbs), proteins, and fats.
Macronutrients: Carbohydrates
Carbs can be digestible or indigestible. Digestible carbs are the starches and sugars. Your body can easily break down these digestible carbs to glucose, which is the body’s primary energy source. Subsequently, glucose provides the body ready and accessible energy for long-duration activities, like a hike, or short bursts in Olympic weightlifting, etc. A gram of carbohydrates provides 4 calories. The second subgroup is the indigestible carbs. These are the carbs that your body cannot break down. However, these indigestible carbs offer a feast for your gut bacteria, which release beneficial chemicals like short-chain fatty acid. Your body can store extra carbohydrates as glycogen in your muscles and liver.
Macronutrients: Proteins
Proteins also provide the body 4 calories per gram. However, protein also serves other vital functions like tissue development for muscles and bones, enzyme function, hormone balance, and more. Unlike carbs and fats, the body doesn’t store excess protein for later use. Moreover, amino acids, which are the basic components of proteins, are either non-essential or essential.
Macronutrients: Fats
Many people are afraid of fats because they think that will make them overweight. However, your body still needs fats, albeit in smaller amounts than carbohydrates and proteins, especially since a gram of fat has 9 calories. Fat in the everyday diet helps your body absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K. Your body also uses fats to create hormones, such as sex hormones. Thus, fats are also part of healthy food.
Also Read: Fad or Fact: Who Needs Health Supplements?
Fats can be unsaturated, saturated, or trans-fats. Unsaturated fats are healthy fats, and Omega-3 fatty acids are probably the most famous kind. Omega-3 fatty acids can improve blood lipids, inflammation, and even mood. Saturated fats are the ones with which you need to be careful because they can increase your risk for cardiovascular diseases. You can have some, only to a point. Trans-fats, on the other hand, are just a big no-no. You should ideally get 0 trans-fats.
Micronutrients
Micronutrients are the smaller good stuff healthy food has like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It helps with other biological processes like immune function, hormone balance, bone growth, etc.
Eating Healthy Today
As the world is fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, now, more than ever, eating healthy food becomes crucial. It will help strengthen your body and make you less vulnerable to disease. Unfortunately, going out to buy healthy food is more challenging now. However, there are providers to bring you healthy food. Those providers have dietitians and chefs still diligently working together to provide nutritious food to those stuck at home. They fine-tune your meal plans to accommodate your goal, whether it is weight loss or just convenience. Once you tell them the nutrition or meal plan you want, they freshly prepare it and have their fellow frontline couriers deliver it to your home.
During this pandemic, staying healthy is imperative. When stuck at home, instead of ordering a pizza or a burger, opt to snack on healthy food.
