The Essentials of Nutrition
disclaimer: this post presents information about nutrition for healthy human beings, with no cardiovascular or specific health conditions. I am not a certified nutrition specialist, and my role here is to present information, reliable sources, and key mental models to understand the world around us more in depth. In other words, this article is for informational purposes only and acts as a hub for curious people who intend to form less blurred mental models about nutrition and food. This article merely scratches the surface, but I am confident it can provide you with some valuable awareness of essential concepts about nutrition.
"We are what we eat", as German philosopher Feuerbach once affirmed. Nutrition is what we ingest, the food we eat, the way we pick the food we eat. There is also a psychological aspect to nutrition. The psychological aspect of nutrition can be witnessed today probably more than ever. The fitness industry is booming, and so are fat loss diets, and the relevance we place on physical appearance. Nutrition is the art and science of eating what is best for us, at any given moment. So, nutrition has a practical aspect of survival to it, as well as a social component of conviviality. In the sports science and fitness world, nutrition is one of the functional tools needed in our arsenal to maximize performance, or fat loss, or muscle building. This is what this article focuses on nutrition in the domain of fitness, with particular reference to the resistance training world. Resistance training corresponds to training with weights or bodyweight exercises, against gravity. Combining resistance training and a proper nutrition regimen based on our objectives and well-being is key to maximize aesthetic and performance results. Nutrition plays a very relevant role in fitness and sport in general. It is only with a mindful eating regimen that athletes can maximize their results. Training alone will not unleash the best within ourselves.
Understanding essential mental models about nutrition may make a difference in the way we live, feel, think, behave. Truly understanding the 20% of knowledge about nutrition that yields 80% of the results can be a game-changer. And when it comes to eating, we may benefit from having an infinite mindset, where we do not merely maximize our short-term pleasure, but think long term, and how every choice we make in the present will have ripple effects on our future self. The psychological aspect of nutrition is one of the pillars to reflect on. Mastering our psychological mechanisms can empower us with a higher degree of self-awareness and metacognition. Understanding the essentials of nutrition may help us decide what to eat, in what quantity, and toward what objective. Attempting to increase muscle mass requires a specific type of eating regimen, which is not comparable to trying to lose weight. Understanding essential nutrition concepts can provide us with the power of intentional decision, decreasing our exposure to the lack of free will. Understanding nutrition can be life-enhancing, or even life-changing sometimes.
The first point of departure in the journey toward understanding the essential concepts of nutrition is psychology. We are incredibly biased animals. While we may believe we are mostly rational, this is, in fact, not the case in many instances of life. The way we tend to eat is one of those irrational behaviors we display. There tends to be the generic tendency to classify food dichotomously as good or bad. Nutrition and healthy eating are very nuanced and complex topics, which we tend to rationalize by putting things into pre-defined conceptions. Food, and the calories within it, fuels our body and provides us with the necessary energy to go through our daily activities. Understanding our emotional reactions and cognitive biases is just as relevant as having solid mental models around nutrition. This is because very often it is our psychological blind spots that hinder our adherence to a well-balanced nutrition regimen. Learning to deal with our distorted thoughts through cognitive behavioral therapy can be life-enhancing, although this is merely one of the tools at our disposal.
A Heuristic for Portion Distribution
Using heuristics for figuring out what to eat (and in what quantity) can be a first step toward intentionally taking ownership of our nutrition. The picture above shows a good division of the plate in major meals (lunch, dinner) for athletes and trainees. You can find an example list of foods for each macronutrient at this link. The plate division heuristic can help us figure out what to include in our main meals (considering a regular, Mediterranean-like eating regimen): a portion of starchy carbohydrates, one for protein, and another chunk for fibrous carbohydrates, with fats often used as condiments (e.g. olive oil). This is a valuable mental model for athletes and active people. Carbohydrates are divided between starchy (e.g. whole wheat pasta, rice, potatoes) and fibrous (e.g. any type of vegetable such as broccoli, spinach, salad), with a wider portion of the plate dedicated to fiber. Protein-rich food (e.g. meat, fish, legumes) occupies the biggest portion of the plate, as this tends to be filling and a key nutrient to include in our diet in order to elicit muscle development (when paired with resistance training). Sources of fat (e.g. extra virgin olive oil, nuts) are oftentimes used as condiments (particularly when it comes to oil). Before getting into macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats), however, let's kick off from the bigger picture in the domain of nutrition: calories.
Calories
The first on the list of the most relevant concepts behind nutrition is calories. Calories are the bedrock of every food. They are the objective indicator of the energy a certain comestible provides our body with. Calories are the real catalyst of weight maintenance, weight gain, and weight loss. This is because the more calories we ingest above our TDEE, the more weight will be gained rapidly. TDEE stands for total daily energy expenditure, and it is the measure of how many calories we need to maintain our current weight. One of the most accurate measures of TDEE seems to be the Mifflin-St Jeor equation, although mostly considered just a solid starting point, to be paired with old-fashioned trial and error, crucial in allowing us to gauge more precisely our TDEE. So, the TDEE is what determines the amount of calories we need to eat in order to lose weight (calories in < TDEE), maintain weight (calories in = TDEE), or gain weight (calories in > TDEE — a low-body-fat individual may want to gain weight to build muscle mass).
Macronutrients
In the nutrition hierarchy, macronutrients occupy the second place of importance. These are protein, carbohydrates, and fats (which can be broken down into subcategories — e.g. fats are divided into saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, trans fats). While calories are the very foundation from where to begin the exploration of the nutrition world, a balanced macronutrient partitioning plays a key role, particularly for our body composition. The second step which characterizes the process of following a balanced, healthy eating regimen is to figure out how to split the calorie goal set in the TDEE calculation phase into protein, fats, carbohydrates. Although there are various approaches to macronutrient partitioning (i.e. the distribution of macronutrients —e.g. the ketogenic diet emphasizes fats over carbs), a healthy nutritional intake seems to be characterized by a balanced distribution of macronutrients, as the term healthy embodies balance and long-term consistency. When choosing your macronutrients intakes, therefore, you start from setting the quantity of protein you are going to eat daily (generally speaking in the range of 1.2 to 2 grams per kg of body weight), then fats (at least 1 gram per kg of bodyweight — fats provide 9kcal/gram), and you lastly allocate the remaining amount of calories to be consumed (based on your TDEE and goal) on carbohydrates. Protein and carbohydrates provide 4 kcals per gram (i.e. 1g of protein/carbohydrates = 4 kcal).
Micronutrients
According to the CDC, "Micronutrients, often referred to as vitamins and minerals, are vital to healthy development, disease prevention, and wellbeing. Except for vitamin D, micronutrients are not produced in the body and must be derived from the diet." Micronutrients include vitamins and minerals. Eating a balanced diet where vegetables and fruits are consumed in generous amounts is key to get the necessary amount of micronutrients. Here are some great resources to learn more about the topic:
Micronutrient Facts | CDC
Vitamin D | National Institutes of Health
The Larger Role of Micronutrients | Harvard Medical School
Shenkin A. (2006). Micronutrients in health and disease. Postgraduate medical journal, 82(971), 559–567. https://doi.org/10.1136/pgmj.2006.047670
Micronutrient Deficiency | Our World in Data
RESOURCES
Calories and Macros for Muscle Gain | Renaissance Periodization
The Smartest Way To Get Lean In 2021 | Jeff Nippard
How to Lose Stubborn Body Fat | Athlean X
Nutrition Myths | Renaissance Periodization
Healthy Eating Made Simple | Renaissance Periodization
Skerrett, P., & Willett, W. (2010). Essentials of Healthy Eating: A Guide. Journal Of Midwifery & Women's Health, 55(6), 492-501. doi: 10.1016/j.jmwh.2010.06.019 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3471136/)
Dichotomous Thinking Toward Food as a Mediator Between Eating Behavior and BMI by Sohee Lee
de Ridder, D. T., Lensvelt-Mulders, G., Finkenauer, C., Stok, F. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (2012). Taking stock of self-control: a meta-analysis of how trait self-control relates to a wide range of behaviors. Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc, 16(1), 76–99. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868311418749
Cizza, G., & Rother, K. I. (2011). Was Feuerbach right: are we what we eat?. The Journal of clinical investigation, 121(8), 2969–2971. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI58595
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