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How To Get The Most Nutrients From Your Food

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If you're a healthy eater or trying to become one, you know the basic step is to incorporate more fresh and whole foods in your daily diet. But did you know that by preparing your meals in a particular way and combining certain foods, you can maximize nutrient absorption from every bite you eat? Well, now you do!

So, are you ready to take your healthy eating game to the next level? Cool, let's roll!

First thing first, what kind of nutrients are needed by your body?

There are two types of nutrients: Macronutrients and Micronutrients. Both of them are essential for the upkeep of your physical and mental health.

Macronutrients are the ones that provide energy or calories. They include:

  • Fat: This nutrient is important for blood clotting, building cells, muscle movement and vitamin and mineral absorption and for hormones. "Including healthy fats, which are the unsaturated ones (omega 3s present in fish and flaxseeds and monounsaturated fats found in foods like olive oil, nuts, seeds, and avocados) can be helpful in fighting arthritis, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease since they fight inflammation. Those and much smaller amounts of unsaturated omega 6 fats (found in corn and other vegetable oils) can be consumed to help balance blood sugar, decrease the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as improve brain health," say Lyssie Lakatos and Tammy Shames, registered dietitian nutritionists, personal trainers and co-founders of The Nutritionist Twins.
  • Protein: Needed for growth, health and body maintenance, protein makes up the building blocks of cells, including bones, muscles and hair. It’s also needed for hormones, antibodies and enzymes.
  • Carbohydrates: They are the source of fuel for your brain, muscle and nervous system. The best carbs to choose are whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables.

Micronutrients, on the other hand, don’t provide calories. Instead, they include vitamins and minerals that are critical for good health but are required in small amounts.

"There are 13 essential vitamins that the body needs to function properly and to stay healthy and fight disease. Each vitamin performs a separate, important role. Getting adequate amounts of vitamins is important to boost the immune system, fight against diseases, including cancer, maintain healthy vision, skin and bones," notes Shames.

Meanwhile, minerals are essential for critical body functions like regulating metabolism, staying hydrated and building strong bones and teeth. "Calcium, for instance, strengthens bones, helps with muscle contraction and relaxation as well as nerve signal transmission. While zinc is important for wound healing and immunity and iron is crucial for creating hormones and making red blood cells," she adds.

Besides these two kinds of nutrients, we have dietary fiber and water. "Fiber refers to nutrients in the diet that are not digested by gastrointestinal enzymes but still have an important role," says Lakatos. Mostly found in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and pulses, fiber has a host of health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Fiber also keeps the entire digestive tract healthy.

Water, on the other hand, is considered an essential nutrient because "it’s required in amounts that exceed the body’s ability to produce it. Every single process in the body relies on water. Without it, we won’t even be able to metabolize food and the nutrients that come with it," she explains.

So, what happens if you don't get enough of these nutrients?

"Your body can’t make nutrients on its own, it must get them from food. So if you don’t get adequate nutrients from food, you’ll develop deficiency syndromes and diseases," says Lakatos.

"Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies. It affects a quarter of the world’s population," she tells. Vitamin D deficiency is also quite common. In fact, three-quarters of U.S teens and adults are deficient in the 'sunshine vitamin'.

"Other vitamin deficiency symptoms include hair loss, brittle hair and nails, bleeding gums, mouth sores and dry skin," adds the nutritionist.

Now that we've established how crucial it is to have a balanced, nutritious meal. Let's focus on how you can get the most nutrients from your food:

"Although eating raw or less processed food is better, surprisingly, its not always the healthiest option. For instance, canned tomato products have four times the cancer-fighting lycopene as fresh ones," Lakatos points out.

Similarly, eating cooked eggs is healthier than eating them raw. This is because it's safer and improves the digestibility of nutrients like protein. Research suggests you can get more than 90% of the protein from cooked eggs, as opposed to 51.3% from raw ones.

If you love mushrooms, science says the best way to eat them is in grilled form. Boiling or frying them could destroy their nutritional value. Meanwhile, a 2007 study highlights that eating microwaved broccoli is better than eating it steamed or boiled for maximum Vitamin C retention. Microwaving is also considered a better method for cooking veggies like artichokes, beans and beets.

Water-soluble vitamins (Vitamins C and B Complex) are susceptible to water and heat. So, for cooking vegetables like asparagus, beans, winter squash and leafy greens, use little water and low heat to prevent loss of nutrients. And make any leftover cooking water into soup, as it contains vitamins leached from the food.

In case of meat, generally, roasting and baking are considered healthier cooking methods as they result in minimal loss of Vitamin C. "However, during long cooking times at high temperatures, up to 40% of B vitamins may be lost in the juices that drip from the meat. Gathering these juices and serving them with the meat can help minimize nutrient loss," notes Franziska Spritzler, nutritionist and author of The Low Carb Dietitian's Guide to Health & Beauty, in an article.

Moreover, follow The Nutritionist Twins' red, green and orange rule to up your nutrients intake. "Focus on including one red, green or orange piece of produce at every meal. Think of adding one of these colors to each of your meals", says Tammy Shames. For example, add spinach, peppers or zucchini in omelets and on top of a pizza, mix berries in cereal, stack sandwiches with lettuce and tomatoes and add broccoli, snow peas and cabbage to stir-fries, suggests the nutritionist.

In addition, pairing certain foods together also facilitates nutrient absorption. Here are a few tips on how to get it right:

  • Eating a Vitamin C-rich food enhances iron absorption of nonheme iron. "Nonheme iron is less readily absorbed by the body and is found in foods such as fortified cereal, rice, black beans, soybeans, eggs, wheat, and spinach compared to heme iron found in meats, poultry and fish," explains Lakatos. So think of squeezing lemon over spinach, or having your black beans in a burrito with Vitamin-C rich salsa or include Vitamin C-packed bell peppers and tomatoes in your iron-rich lentil tacos, she suggests.
  • Pair fatty foods with ones that contain fat-soluble vitamins (Vitamins A, D, E, and K and antioxidants like lycopene). For example, "drizzle your salad with a little olive oil. The fat in the olive oil will assist the absorption of beta-carotene in orange or red peppers," notes Lakatos.
  • Combine foods rich in Vitamin D and calcium as this vitamin helps with calcium absorption. So, have your vitamin-D rich salmon or eggs with a source of calcium, like yogurt or a glass of milk, suggests the wellness expert.

Lastly, note that your lifestyle choices also play an important role, when it comes to nutrients' intake.

Certain habits and lifestyle factors can adversely affect the process of nutrient absorption. Consuming alcohol, for instance, "reduces gastric enzymes. So your food may not be absorbed as well, which is especially the case for regular drinkers," says Shames. Similarly, "tea, although packed with antioxidants and polyphenols, can interfere with vitamin and mineral absorption," she points out.

Following a very low-fat diet, on the other hand, can limit the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.

Medication is yet another factor. "Some medicines reduce absorption of certain vitamins and minerals. For example, acid-blocking medications affect the absorption of Vitamin B12. Low B12 levels can lead to anemia and neurological problems," says Lakatos. "While taking antibiotics can destroy helpful bacteria in your intestines that aid in vitamin and mineral absorption," adds the nutritionist and personal trainer.

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