How Nutrition Plays a Role in Your Health

What you eat has a profound impact on every aspect of your physical and emotional health. You may not realize the wide range of effects nutrition can have on your body in every way. Healthy nutrition is an essential component of naturopathic medicine.

It’s easier to notice if your health isn’t great, but you may not notice the effects your nutrition is having on your well-being. You could be experiencing the negative effects of poor nutrition, but you can be unaware of them. You may be feeling unwell overall, but could be unaware that the root cause is in your nutrition. 

Here, the providers at Nutura Clinic in Portland, Oregon, explain more about the effects of nutrition on your health.

The role of nutrition on your physical health

Your physical health is highly dependent on what you eat. Your body is designed to get nutrients from a wide variety of foods. You need a balance of not only major food groups like carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, but micronutrients as well.

Getting a wide variety of fruits and vegetables of all different colors is one way to ensure that you get the micronutrients you need. Brightly colored fruits and vegetables contain substances like beta carotenes, anthocyanidins, polyphenols, and flavonoids, all of which can help fight off viruses and disease.

Vitamins also have a major role in your health. Vitamin C helps your body fight off viruses more effectively. The B vitamins, found in whole grains in particular, help you to have more energy. Even omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish, can help with your mood as well as help fight inflammation.

What happens if you don’t have healthy nutrition

If your nutrition is subpar, you may notice that your health begins to suffer, especially over time. Some of the possible effects of not having healthy nutrition can include:

• Lack of energy
• Memory or concentration problems
• Hypertension
• Increased risk of stroke or heart attack
• Obesity-related health problems
• Increased risk of diabetes
• Gout
• Increased risk of cancer

In addition, poor nutrition can worsen unrelated health problems, like fibromyalgia, autoimmune diseases, and chronic pain. If you’re dealing with any regular, chronic conditions, evaluating your diet will help.

What a healthy diet looks like

A lot of people think their diet is pretty healthy, but studies show they’re wrong. A recent study by the Gillings School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that 46 percent of adults and 56 percent of children have nutrient-poor diets.

The standard American diet is notoriously nutrient-poor, with too much reliance on prepared and processed foods. In addition, the standard American diet is also way too high in sugar, which can increase your risk of developing diabetes and make it harder to fight viruses.

Eating a poor-quality diet also greatly increases your risk of being overweight or obese. Oddly enough, it may not be a matter of how many calories; it may be a matter of not getting the calories from the right sources.

This issue is often political and socioeconomic, as some people live in areas called food deserts, where it can be harder to access healthy food. However, for many people, it’s not an issue of access to healthy food. Often, people just don’t know what they should be eating instead. 

If you know that your diet is less than it could be, make an appointment for a consultation. Our providers can help you put together a healthy diet plan you can stick with. Call our office or request an appointment online today.