I strongly believe that we, as a society, would have less health problems and higher quality longevity if we focused on our micro-nutrient intake rather than our macro-nutrient and calorie intake. This isn’t to say that calories don’t matter, clearly over consumption of calories will lead to unwanted weight gain and associated health repercussions. But, a diet focused on consuming the recommended amounts of vitamins and minerals in minimally processed foods, naturally leads to a well balanced diet of proteins, carbohydrates and fats without over consuming calories.
Everything we ask our bodies and brains to do requires micro-nutrients; avoid illness, recover after being exposed to illness, recover after an injury, exercise, recover after exercise, sustain energy for daily tasks, pay attention at school or at work, focus on tasks, and just get up every day and face the expected and unexpected tasks that present themselves. When we severely cut calories or follow restrictive diets, we automatically create a situation where nutrient consumption is limited which can lead to injury and fatigue, both of which then require higher nutrient intakes than in a healthy individual. The cycle is hard to break because when we are injured or tired, we are less likely to feed ourselves nutrient dense foods.
We often hear about a specific nutrient in regards to a current situation and then sales of those supplements and products that advertise high amounts of those vitamins and minerals go up. Zinc and Vitamin D for COVID-19, Omega fatty acids for brain health, Vitamin C for immune function. The truth is that many of these vitamins and minerals are not able to be absorbed or converted to usable forms, unless you have sufficient amounts of other synergistic micro-nutrients. And to make matters more complicated, some nutrients act as an antagonist to other nutrients. In general, nature does a good job of combining the nutrients we should consume together which is why it’s best to eat things as close to their natural state as possible. Below I have linked a printable cheat sheet of simple ways to increase nutrient density. If people are interested in these topics, I will write some blog posts that do some deeper dives into individual micro-nutrients and food synergy.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10TfHe5TAdUhdgJPy4bq739BurbmVNjOh/view?usp=sharing