Calories are important when it comes to constructing your diet, but their significance lies in serving more as a marker, or measurement, so that you understand how much food you should be eating total.
Eating in excess, or over your recommended calories, can lead to many common diseases, but not consuming the right amount of nutrients (that make up those calories) can also lead to many health problems as well.
Nutrients are the building blocks that make up food and your body. Some of these include macronutrients such as fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and fiber and micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and flavonoids.
All of these nutrients serve many functions in our body. For example, in addition to providing us with energy, fats provide the structure and insulation for our cells, protect our organs, make up our DNA, and much more.
Vitamin A, a micronutrient, serves to improve our vision, immune function, and has other roles as well.
In fact, there are many common nutrient deficiencies that lead to poor health problems such as Iron deficiency, Vitamin D deficiency, Vitamin B12 deficiency, etc. A lack of macronutrients in the diet, like fiber, can also lead to specific health problems, too.
Overall, calories are a great way to measure how much food you should be consuming, but what makes up those calories in the form of nutrients is vital to your overall bodily function and health!
Here's a Tip!
A great tool to help you measure and track your calories and nutrients is with the Lose It! app. You can easily log your daily food intake and the app will extract all the nutrition data automatically so that you know you’re eating what your body needs!
And because changing your diet is mostly psychological, partnering with a Nutrition Coach can help keep you accountable, educated, and on-track so that you can make real changes that last a lifetime! (No more ups and downs!)