Contents:
- Medical Video: Nutrition and Weight Loss with Amy Lee MD | UCLA Center for Human Nutrition
- Carbohydrate
- Protein
- Iron
- Calcium
- Folic acid
Medical Video: Nutrition and Weight Loss with Amy Lee MD | UCLA Center for Human Nutrition
When you feel overweight or not satisfied with your body shape now, what you are sure to do, especially women, is a weight-loss diet. However, do not carelessly go on a diet to lose weight. Diet does not mean you have to cut a lot of calories and greatly limit your food intake. You must still meet important nutritional needs while on a diet. The following are some important nutrients that you must fulfill, even if you are on a diet.
Carbohydrate
Many people think that carbohydrate intake must be trimmed during the diet. However, in fact your body really needs carbohydrates even though it's on a diet. Carbohydrates are the main energy source for your body. If there are no carbohydrates in your body, the body will take energy from fat and protein reserves. This can adversely affect your health.
What you really have to do is avoid carbohydrate intake sourced from sugar or foods and drinks that contain sugar. And, take sources of carbohydrates from vegetables, fruits, fibrous foods, and nuts. Sources of carbohydrates from these foods can help you meet your nutritional and fiber needs, and prevent you from health problems.
Protein
Protein is also one of the nutrients that you must fulfill when on a diet. In fact, protein can actually help you lose weight. Food sources of protein, such as lean meat, chicken, fish, milk, eggs, and nuts, can make you feel full and more satisfied after eating. This makes you more able to control your appetite, reducing your desire to eat a lot in the next meal. The body also needs more energy when digesting protein, so you lose weight more easily.
Iron
Nutrition is important when the next diet you have to fulfill is iron. Iron is an important nutrient for women. This iron helps red blood cells carry oxygen to all cells throughout the body. Without enough oxygen in the body, you can feel tired and weak. Makes you lazy to do various activities, such as sports, so that this actually increases your weight.
Iron deficiency can also cause serious health problems, namely iron deficiency anemia. You can get an iron source from consuming red meat, chicken, fish, green vegetables, and nuts.
Calcium
Calcium is an important mineral for the growth of bones and teeth. This is one of the important nutrients on a diet that you must fulfill. Meeting calcium needs can help maintain heart health, help regulate blood pressure, strengthen muscles, and prevent you from osteoporosis. So, it is important for you to meet calcium needs, which is around 1000 mg per day.
You can meet this need by consuming calcium-based foods, such as milk, cheese, yogurt, green vegetables (such as spinach, kale, and broccoli), beans, and much more.
Folic acid
Folic acid is a very important nutrient for women, especially women of childbearing age or women who have started planning a pregnancy. Folic acid can reduce your risk of having a birth defect (such as cleft lip or cleft palate).
In addition, folic acid can also help boost your immune system by being involved in the production of white blood cells in fighting disease. Also, it can protect you from certain types of anemia. You can get folic acid from green vegetables, oranges, berries, and nuts.
