What Is Nutrition: We Tell In Simple Terms

The word "nutrition" came to us from the Greek language and is translated as "the science of nutrition." In simple words, nutrition is a science that studies issues such as food intake, food composition, their compatibility and effects on the human body.

Even ancient people showed interest in how food affects a person. In each culture, certain eating habits gradually developed, which corresponded to the habitat and social structure of a particular society.

However, traditional food systems are completely unsuitable for modern humanity, which lives in an era of large-scale industrial production and urbanization. The cult of food on the go is flourishing, and genetically modified and generously flavored with chemicals food has long become the norm for any of us. And, of course, these factors seriously impair human health.

What is the difference between dietetics and nutrition?

A nutritionist is a specialist in nutrition and lifestyle.⠀

Both a nutritionist and a nutritionist deal with nutrition, but are fundamentally different from each other in the following ways:

A nutritionist deals with people with diseases, prescribes medicines, treatment tables and diets.

A nutritionist helps to increase the health of a conditionally healthy person with the help of an individual approach to a specific organism, taking into account the lifestyle of the ward.

He knows everything about the composition of products (even the most obscure facts), their interaction with the body, beneficial and harmful effects on health.

He studies the biochemical composition of food and its effect on the human body in order to prevent diseases and improve well-being and health.

With the help of questionnaires and tests, he helps to understand the state of the body and, if necessary, will refer you to a doctor for a diagnosis.

He will select the necessary supplements to replenish vitamins and other vital substances, the deficiency of which can lead to serious health consequences.

It helps to correctly adjust the lifestyle and nutrition individually for a particular person, depending on his request: lose weight, gain muscle mass, improve well-being and health, increase energy levels, and also to prevent many diseases, and all this without the use of medicines.

The nutritionist takes into account a lot of factors - from the patient's genetic predisposition to the current state of health and psychological factors.

What does nutrition study

What nutritional issues does this science study? First of all, it explores the properties of a particular food.

• Maintaining acid-base balance

Now people have problems with low acidity, and it is difficult for them to give unheated fiber.

• Mandatory elements

Essential elements (proteins, carbohydrates, fats, macro and microelements) are an essential component of the foods we eat. The human body does not produce these substances, so they must be ingested in a certain amount with food. With a shortage of such elements, human health deteriorates.

• Cellular Nutrition

This topic has become very popular in recent years. Today, a person lives in conditions of constant stress, experiences enormous physical and psychological stress. He is forced to deal with the consequences of bad ecology. To adapt to adverse environmental factors, he spends a large amount of his own resources. As a result, free radicals are formed in the body, due to which the cells receive less nutrition and can be destroyed.

From a nutritional point of view, human health can be improved through “proper nutrition”. This is due to the fact that we get elements from food, which are the building material of cells. So our cells are what we eat.

When you make a nutrition program for yourself, consider the ratio and amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates. Minerals and vitamins. In particular, if there is not enough protein in the diet, swelling appears, wounds heal slowly, hair and nails break, muscles become decrepit, hormone production deteriorates, cells of the immune system suffer and the enzymatic ability of the gastrointestinal tract decreases.

Nata Gonchar is the founder of MII, president of the Association of Nutritionists and Health Coaches.

The most accurate system for selecting an individual diet is the integrative nutrition model. What do we need to know about the person who is preparing an individual diet? Here are the data:

• Gender, age, current body composition.

  The nutrition system should be based on whether we are a man or a woman, and also take into account the age of the person and his physical activity.

• Health status for today (functional and laboratory studies for state markers). For example, one of the key markers directly for a nutritionist is working with macronutrient deficiencies (vitamin D, iron, iodine, selenium, magnesium, B12, B9).

• type of metabolism.

• Genetics of vitamin absorption, detoxification, carbohydrate and fat metabolism. For example, depending on a person's receptors, vitamin D will be absorbed better in some people, and worse in others.

• Place of residence and time of year outside the window. For example, there is an adaptation of enzyme systems to "native" products, or more frequent cases of diarrhea during the holidays (our gastrointestinal tract cannot digest exotic products).

• Stress level and mental type.

• Individual characteristics, taste and organoleptic preferences.

That is, the selection of the optimal diet is an individual, painstaking work, regular checking and changing directions.

Everyone understands that a lack or excess of vitamins in the body is dangerous. The body has a reserve of 81 chemical elements, 12 of which are critical for life. If even one of the trace elements is missing, the body faces devastating consequences. For example, iron deficiency affects the decrease in the functioning of the thyroid gland and hypothyroidism is formed, since an important co-factor for the production of the T4 hormone is missing.

About the need for knowledge of nutrition in simple terms

What we eat determines our health, well-being and longevity. Food can give you a lot of vitality, or it can make you sick.

The cells of the human body are constantly in the process of renewal. Every minute something wears out and is replaced by other components. Every five years, our body is 95% renewed. What kind of body it will be depends on what you build it from.

The way you look and feel now is the result of what you have been eating lately. Thus, the less nutritious your food is (poor in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants), the more problems you will face.

Nata Gonchar is the founder of MII, president of the Association of Nutritionists and Health Coaches.

What do people want today?

1. Be the master of your health and wellness.

2. Be confident in the competence of a specialist.

3. There is a readiness for preventive measures.

4. They ate fast food, they want to be in trend.

5. Understand the root causes of problems, especially in children.

6. To be easy, tasty, beautiful.

7. Individual approach.

8. Ancient system as a fundamental principle.

9. See the relationship between mind and health.

The same is happening with us. Depletion of vital resources and disruption of the functioning of body systems leads to diseases. If you do not want this, then you should approach nutrition wisely.

Medicine most often does not take this into account. We tend to think that our body is made up of individual organs. And if, for example, the heart hurts, then we go to the cardiologist, if the throat, then to the ENT, and if the stomach, then to the gastroenterologist. But most often a person has several ailments at once, just at the moment something worries him a little more.

Each doctor is only interested in the symptoms in a particular organ and ends up prescribing a remedy, ignoring the whole picture. Almost any drug relieves only the manifestations of the disease and also gives side effects on the liver, stomach and blood, for example, the same OMEZ for high acidity, which is prescribed for everyone. We must not forget that pills, especially expensive ones, are often faked. As a result, we heal one and destroy the other.

There is another vision of the situation, when the human body is perceived as a single mechanism, amenable to self-regulation. Then, for example, with a calcium deficiency, the consequences are seen by an ophthalmologist, a dentist, a rheumatologist, and other highly specialized doctors. In this case, nutritionists will say that you should abandon the "junk" that you eat and enrich your diet with calcium. So you will treat your rheumatism, and at the same time improve your immunity and make your teeth strong.

Nutritionology convinces us that a balanced diet in every sense gives energy, supports the optimal functioning of all body systems, protects the functioning of organs, maintains optimal metabolism, strengthens the body, slows down aging and is a reliable prevention of diseases.

From the point of view of specialists, there are about 15 vitamins and 20 minerals that provide a person with normal life. Eating them with food every day, you will always be healthy and can easily cope with viruses, stress and high loads.

Don't forget that everything is in your own hands. You will definitely need knowledge of basic nutrition and not only. Lead an active lifestyle and think positively.

Integrative Nutrition as an Improved Direction

Integrative Nutrition (Integrative Nutrition) is a new direction in the science of nutrition. From the point of view of IN, a person is not just a system of organs, it is a single mechanism that consists of a body, psyche and thinking. IN recommends a person to maintain good health, based on their characteristics and needs. In addition, you should focus on health, not illness.

Factors on which integrative nutrition is based:

1. Classical nutrition. It studies useful substances and their regular intake into the human body in order to avoid a deficiency of important micro and macro elements.

2. A nutritionist determines what type of metabolism a patient has in terms of Ayurveda. It is very important to correctly determine the constitution of the human body. If the specialist does not take this point into account, his recommendations may be erroneous.

3. An important aspect is the psychology of nutrition. A nutritionist must understand what kind of person is in front of him. Everyone is different, and treatment approaches should also be different. What works for one may not work for another. There are, for example, processors for whom food is one of the greatest pleasures, and there are achievers who cannot live without quick results. Some do not have eating disorders at all, while others suffer from eating disorders for a long time. Everyone needs their own approach.

4. Naturopathy. She sees food as medicine, and nutrition has adopted this approach. For example, herbs that we eat or brew as tea have medicinal properties. This also includes the so-called superfoods, spices and food combinations that reinforce each other.

5. In terms of genetics, different people should take a different approach to nutrition. For example, some people have a single gene polymorphism in their genetics, so if they eat saturated fats (even without carbohydrates), there is a risk of developing a pre-diabetic condition. There are also certain types of polymorphism, according to which a person can abuse saturated fats and carbohydrates, but he will never have insulin resistance, since his genetics are different. And there are many such examples.

Where knowledge of nutrition is applied

The basics of nutrition can be mastered without having any basic knowledge. Where can this profession come in handy?

• In sports and fitness

Nutritionists make nutrition plans for athletes and people who play sports as amateurs. They are approached with certain requests, for example, to increase or lose weight, gain muscle mass, dry out. Each problem needs its own strategy.

A specialist in the field of sports nutrition analyzes how a person eats, determines the pros and cons of his diet, and identifies possible nutrition-related health problems. Taking into account the client's energy costs, the nutritionist calculates the optimal calorie content, draws up a nutrition journal, and decides whether to take dietary supplements. In general, its task is to help a person form a healthy eating behavior and achieve his fitness goal.

• In dietetics

Dietetics and nutrition are closely related. A nutritionist can also be a dietitian and help clients form healthy eating habits, formulate a diet for them that improves metabolism and provides the body with all the vital substances.

• In medicine

Also, a nutritionist with the functions of a nutritionist helps the patient to build a diet plan for specific diseases, taking into account the causes and consequences. So, for example, with problems with the stomach, heart, kidneys, skin, joints, a person needs a diet. The goal in this case is not weight loss, but the treatment of a certain disease.

Nata Gonchar is the founder of MII, president of the Association of Nutritionists and Health Coaches.

1. Active nutritionists.

2. Fitness trainer.

3. Moms on maternity leave.

4. Cosmetologists.

5. Psychologists.

6. Doctors.

Everyone who responds to work with food as medicine!

How to become a nutritionist

Those wishing to get an education in the field of nutrition can be trained in special courses. Next, you need to improve your skills, devote a lot of time to self-education, observe the work of specialists in this field, keep abreast of the latest scientific research, put into practice the knowledge gained, gaining your own experience.

What knowledge will you gain in distance learning nutrition courses?

• Understand how our body functions at the cellular level.

• Learn how the body stores energy and burns fat.

• Get acquainted with the structure of the gastrointestinal tract, adrenal glands, thyroid gland, pancreas in the context of insulin production.

• Master the classification of foods in terms of fat, protein and carbohydrate content, as well as vitamins and minerals.

• Learn how to determine how many calories a person needs depending on his lifestyle, health, age.

• Learn to analyze, adjust and create an individual nutrition plan.

• You will learn what dietary supplements are, what are their features, and also get acquainted with the field of medical over-the-counter drugs.

• Gain skills in working with people, learn to identify a person's problem and lead him to a result.

• You will learn about the correction of basic deficiencies (iron, magnesium, omega, etc.), the normalization of the metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in humans.

Who can benefit from a dietetics and nutrition course?

• Medical workers who already have secondary and higher education and want to gain additional knowledge in the field of nutrition in order to use it in their work.

• Coaches, sports doctors, fitness instructors, athletes, medical rehabilitation specialists.

• Anyone who wants to do paid nutritional counseling.

• Those who are interested in health and nutrition, want to put their diet and the diet of their family in order.

• Overweight people who want to say goodbye to hated kilograms forever.

13 Nutrition Competencies You'll Have

1. To tell the client about the rules for the formation of a healthy diet, to help him form this diet, to advise. Communicate the health risks associated with unhealthy eating without making threats like, “If you don’t start eating right, you will be obese in a year.”

2. To acquaint the client with the rules of the functioning of our body in terms of nutrition, fitness, weight loss, maintaining body weight, gaining muscle mass.

3. To give the client an understanding of what products and in what quantity he needs to form a healthy food basket with the current health status.

4. Make a diet based on the client’s favorite foods, focusing on them, and not on your taste preferences.

5. To convey to the client that both the nutrition plan and the consultation with a nutritionist are not a medical appointment with a doctor. The nutrition plan is an example that the client himself can adjust, taking into account the knowledge that the nutritionist gives him. The consultation itself and all advice are advisory in nature.

6. Take into account the recommendations of the attending physician (for example, in case of allergies, intolerances) when compiling nutrition. But do not treat yourself;

7. To bring the client to the result, accompanying and giving recommendations on the way to the goal and making this path comfortable in terms of nutrition.

8. Help the client choose sports nutrition and dietary supplements (in cases where it is really necessary). At the same time, explain which supplements really work and which don’t, the rules for taking supplements, and how to take supplements into account in the diet.

9. Give the client an understanding of what to do when the collaboration with the nutritionist ends. How to further build your nutrition.

10. Give an understanding of what to look for on the product label, how to understand the composition of products.

11. Help with keeping a food diary in writing or in an application.

12. Answer customer questions related to building a diet according to his lifestyle.

13. Act within the framework of international nutritional recommendations.