When you’re on a diet, there are many important things to keep track of. It doesn’t matter the reason you’re on one, be it to lose weight or to maintain health. These factors are important to any diet, keeping track of it or not. Not all things are massively important, but they have relevance. Regardless of how much you may use them in your dieting plan, they are something to carefully consider. If not, you may end up paying for it in the end. These elements are always a part of your diet regardless of you giving them attention or not. I’m going to list the top 10 most important factors in a diet.
The Top 10 Most Important Parts of a Diet
1. Calories
A calorie is a unit of energy. Historically, scientists have defined “calorie” to mean a unit of energy or heat that could come from a variety of sources, such as coal or gas. In a nutritional sense, all types of food — whether they are fats, proteins, carbohydrates or sugars — are important sources of calories, which people need to live and function. Calories are absorbed through three forms of energy: carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
If you want to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume. You need a caloric deficit to lose weight. You have something called “maintenance calories,” the amount of calories your body naturally burns off in a day. The more you weigh, the more calories you can eat to maintain your weight. You need a caloric deficit to lose weight, thus a diet can help with this. Exercise can help with this, causing you to burn more calories. Being overweight can have a negative outcome on almost all measures of health.
If you want to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you gain throughout a day. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats supply 90% of the dry weight of the diet and 100% of its energy. All three provide energy (measured in calories), but the amount of energy in 1 gram (1/28 ounce) differs: 4 calories in a gram of carbohydrate or protein and 9 calories in a gram of fat. It’s important to keep track of this, but labels on food will typically tell you. They’re not always honest, but as long as you know the calories, the rest is barely important.
2. Carbs/Sugars
Carbohydrates are the sugars, starches and fibers found in fruits, grains, vegetables and milk products. Though often maligned in trendy diets, carbohydrates — one of the basic food groups — are important to a healthy diet. Carbs — more so than proteins and fats — cause a spike in insulin, causing an increase in hunger. This is often the main reason why diets like strict keto will see carbs as a problem. Carbs are more likely than other macronutriets to contribute to cancer because of their conversation to sugars in the body. The carbohydrate has many useful functions, but they’re best consumed in moderation.
Carbohydrates are sugars that come in 2 main forms – simple and complex. This is also referred to as simple sugars (candy and soda) and starches (pasta and bread). The difference between a simple and complex carb is in how quickly it is digested and absorbed – as well as it’s chemical structure.
When people eat a food containing carbohydrates, the digestive system breaks down the digestible ones into sugar, which enters the blood. As blood sugar levels rise, the pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that prompts cells to absorb blood sugar for energy or storage. Carbs are important in keeping backup energy, but they will also cause a person to want to take a nap, especially when mixed with protein (more so than other forms of energy). This is because of the amount of energy they take to store and break down and an increase in blood sugars, causing a crash. The energy they can provide is a reason why many bodybuilders and athletes eat foods high in carbs before a workout. They, along with simply eating too much, are the reason for obesity.
3. Fats (The Top 10 Most Important Parts of a Diet)
Fats in food come in several forms, including saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Too much fat or too much of the wrong type of fat can be unhealthy. Some examples of foods that contain fats are butter, oil, nuts, meat, fish, and some dairy products. There are healthy and unhealthy fats, saturated fat being healthy in moderation. If you want to be full for a long period of time with little cravings, especially mixed with fiber, fat is the way to go. Fats are important, and they should not be deemed unhealthy or stigmatized.
The foods we eat contain nutrients that provide energy and other substances the body needs. Most of the nutrients in food fall into three major groups: proteins, fats, and carbohydrates.
The body uses fat as a fuel source, and fat is the major storage form of energy in the body. Fat also has many other important functions in the body, and a moderate amount is needed in the diet for good health. Fats in food come in several forms, including saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Too much fat or too much of the wrong type of fat can be unhealthy. Some examples of foods that contain fats are butter, oil, nuts, meat, fish, and some dairy products.
4. Proteins
Protein is a macronutrient that is essential to building muscle mass. It is commonly found in animal products, though is also present in other sources, such as nuts and legumes. When protein is broken down in the body it helps to fuel muscle mass, which helps metabolism. It also helps the immune system stay strong. It helps you stay full. A lot of research has shown that protein has satiety effects. You should always consume at least a certain amount of protein each day, especially if you workout and want to gain muscle. It’s not to say that you should micromanage, but at least 1 gram of protein per 2 pounds of body weight is satisfactory.
Chemically, protein is composed of amino acids, which are organic compounds made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, and proteins are the building blocks of muscle mass.
Protein is the basic component of living cells and is made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and one or more chains of amino acids. The three types of proteins are fibrous, globular, and membrane. These are large, complex molecules that play many critical roles in the body. Proteins are made up of hundreds or thousands of smaller units called amino acids, which are attached to one another in long chains. There are 20 different types of amino acids that can be combined to make a protein.
The Top 10 Most Important Parts of a Diet
5. Frequency and Fullness
Your frequency of eating is something often cited in many diets, especially if you combine it with intermittent fasting. Something like fasting can be of great benefit when considering a diet. How many meals you eat a day can be a very important factor, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish. If you being fat adapted, you will have very little in the way of hunger cravings. The more frequently you eat, the more the hunger hormone ghrelin entices you to eat, especially if you eat carbs.
It appears eating at least three times per day can keep you full and reduce hunger. This is good for weight loss. Eating fewer than three times a day puts you at risk for overeating and choosing less healthy foods. Also, the quality of food can help with hunger management and weight loss. However, it’s been proven that the less you eat, especially if you learn to fast, the less you’re hungry. You’ll lose more weight in the process, and you’ll also produce more growth hormone to prevent muscle wasting and atrophy.
Are you full after you eat? If you’re not full, that can be a problem. Now, you don’t want to eat until you break the seams in your pants, but being satisfied with a calorie dense meal is important. If you’re not satisfied, it’s because you didn’t eat enough nutrient dense food. Being sure to eat healthy foods at a low frequency is always productive, leading to my next point.
The Top 10 Most Important Parts of a Diet
6. Vitamins and Minerals
There are 13 essential vitamins — vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, B6, B12, and folate). Vitamins have different jobs to help keep the body working properly.
Whereas vitamins are organic substances (made by plants or animals), minerals are inorganic elements that come from the soil and water and are absorbed by plants or eaten by animals. Your body needs larger amounts of some minerals, such as calcium, to grow and stay healthy.
Examples of necessary minerals include calcium, chromium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, and zinc. Minerals and trace elements are mainly found in meat, cereals, fish, milk and dairy foods, vegetables, dried fruit, and nuts.
The Top 10 Most Important Parts of a Diet
7. Quality of Food and Taste
Food quality or Meal quality is the quality characteristics of food that is acceptable to consumers. This includes external factors as appearance (size, shape, color, gloss, and consistency), texture, and flavor; factors such as federal grade standards (e.g. of eggs) and internal (chemical, physical, microbial). You’ll more than want something that’s organic, grass-fed and non-GMO, too. These are significant qualifiers for quality food, GMO being a more subjective taste. You always want food not sprayed with pesticides!
Quality characteristics of menu items are based on our senses: appearance, aroma, temperature, texture, and taste. Think of it as 2A’s + 3T’s! Appearance is important because we eat with our eyes first, so presentation does matter.
Taste is probably the most important factor here because of the enjoyment of a diet. If you don’t enjoy your diet, you’re not going to maintain it. We naturally gravitate towards foods we like if we have the choice. This is obviously more relevant when you’re on a diet plan, but we’re always on a diet plan. If you want to lose weight and do it for long term, you have to enjoy the foods you’re eating.
The Top 10 Most Important Parts of a Diet
8. Hormone Affection
Food can affect the production and secretion of hormones by direct actions on the gut, by nervous reflexes, through changes in the concentration of various metabolites in the blood, or secondary to changes in circulating gut hormone levels. Foods that contain soy products are more than likely going to increase your estrogen. Dairy products, especially ones laden with growth hormones can cause an increase or imbalance in certain hormones, especially testosterone and estrogen. Typically, if the food is organic, there is no need to worry about hormone interference.
Cruciferous vegetables: While cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower can be used to maintain the estrogen levels in the body, a very high intake of such food can also lead to the hormonal imbalance in the body.
Certain foods in your diet can restore or throw off the balance of your hormones. Eating a well-balanced diet is essential, especially if you’re experiencing menopause. During this transitional period of a woman’s life, hormonal imbalances can cause uncomfortable symptoms. Both men and women can experience extreme ups and downs when it comes to their hormones, especially with age.
9. Size of Meal (The Top 10 Most Important Parts of a Diet)
The size of your meal is crucial. It’s not just because you have to eat enough to be satisfied. This is already somewhat addressed earlier on. It’s also about the proper balance of food amount and nutrients. You want a large enough meal to be satisfied, especially if you’re only eating once a day. It’s a simple practice of portioning your meals with the right amount of nutrients and calories specific to your goals. If you don’t have any goals, they’re still a consideration.
If you’re only eating once a day, be sure to balance the meal properly so you can go a full 24 hours to your next meal.
As mentioned before, the more you eat, the more you stimulate hunger. If you want to stop yourself from eating so much, you have to eat nutrient dense foods with few calories, i.e., a salad. Leptin, the satiating hormone, sends signals to the brain that the body is full. This is why something like fasting is very important to implement on a diet, especially if you’re trying to lose fat. The more you fast, you become more adapted to fat, thus creating a positive cycle of fewer cravings.
10. Order of Food (The Top 10 Most Important Parts of a Diet)
The order of food you eat can be important in numerous ways. If you want to eat less food, it’s best to eat something like a salad. You want to eat something rich in nutrients, satiating, and low in calories before you move onto any more food. Being sure to eat at a moderate pace is also key, so as to avoid overeating. Consuming a lot of water is also a good way to stretch your stomach out in this window. After you’re done eating your appetizer, you can give it a few minutes to see if you’re still hungry for more.
Shopping for the right foods when you’re not hungry is the best way to not overindulge in overeating. Being sure to not to shop for more than a few days of food is also important. This keeps you away from binge-eating food without having to leave the house first. Make it a habit!
This is particularly important after a fast longer than 48 hours. You want your body to warm up, so you would want to avoid an overload to your digestive system. You can end up feeling sick if you don’t adapt your body back to typical nutrients. Starting off with bone broth and water before moving to a salad is a good example of this. This way, you can feel better and not overindulge in food you weren’t ready for anyway.
