Nutritional Information on Food For Day to Day Life

If you are planning to lose weight or even put on weight – that is, if you are trying to build muscle – it is very important for you to have proper nutritional information. Without such information, you will probably end up doing the wrong things, and as a result all your efforts will either be fruitless or, worse still, will backfire. Before you embark on any diet plan, you should therefore get your nutrition facts straight. Decide what you are trying to achieve, and find out how exactly you can achieve it. Understand how food affects your body, how much of the various nutrients your body needs, and how it processes these nutrients.

Types of Foods and Nutrition

Basically, there are seven different types of nutrients – proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, minerals, vitamins, and water. Your body requires a certain proportion of each of these nutrients, and if you do not get enough, or if you get too much, then your health will suffer. If you are trying to modify your body – lose fat or build muscle – then these proportions might differ, but you still need to be aware of your minimum and maximum requirements, so as to avoid any deficiency or excess.

In general, you require large quantities of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, and water, which are known as “macronutrients”. Vitamins and minerals are known as micronutrients, and you need only small amounts of these nutrients. Another distinction between the various nutrients is that only proteins, fats, and carbohydrates provide energy. This however does not mean that fiber, water, minerals, and vitamins are not important – they have equally important functions other than providing energy.

In general, most authorities recommend that your calorie intake should be 40 per cent protein, 40 per cent carbohydrates, and 20 per cent fat. As mentioned earlier, these proportions will vary depending upon what you are aiming at, and also on your lifestyle. You need to work out what kind of a diet you need, and if necessary, consult a dietician. If for some reason, you are unable to get enough of a particular nutrient from your diet, you can take nutritional supplements, but the best source of nutrition is your food itself.

For many people, a rough idea of the nutritional content of food is enough, but some people want more detailed and accurate nutritional information. There are many Web sites that provide such specific information, right down to specific foods such as a particular type of butter, and even specific brands such as Taco Bell items.