Knowledge of Nutrients in Food
Necessary for Optimal Health

Thorough knowledge and understanding of the nutrients in food is essential to achieve optimal health and permanent weight control. Food nutrients go beyond, waaay beyond, the six essential nutrients most of us know. The first step in making healthy food choices is learning to choose nutrient-rich foods.

1. What is a nutrient?

Nutrients in food are chemical substances metabolized by our bodies to:

• give us energy
• build our body
• repair our body
• build our immune system
• carry out and maintain our life functions

The human body needs a wide range of nutrients to stay healthy and perform all these functions. Since we can get every nutrient we need through the diet we eat, our diet must be well balanced to provide all the nutrients for the body in proper proportions.

2. Nutrient charts

But values for nutrients in food can vary widely, depending on such things as: the growing environment, the particular variety or breed, the method of processing, the storage temperature and time, etc.

Values will also vary depending on the source of the information. For example, Some charts say that skim milk contains 8 grams of protein, some charts say skim milk contains 13 grams of protein.

One reliable source listing the values of nutrients in food freely available is the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Nutrient Database. This site is frequently accessed by nutrition researchers and developers of nutrient analysis programs. The National Nutrient Database site is user friendly enough that people will be able to do a food search during their first visit to the site.

3. Nutrient Facts

Unfortunately, the narrow focus on a few types of nutrients does nothing to promote nutritional excellence.

4. Types of nutrients

The USDA (the United States Department of Agriculture) developed the first food composition tables and established dietary standards in 1894.

The USDA published the first daily food guides in 1916 consisting of 5 food groups.

The five food groups grew to 12 in 1933 when weekly family food plans were published specifying 12 major food groups to be eaten each week.

The “Basic Seven” food guide was released by the USDA in 1942.

The USDA condensed the “Basic Seven” to the “Basic 4” in 1956 in the USDA publication Essentials of an Adequate Diet. This guide recommended the minimum number of servings for 4 basic food groups- the minimum number to stay healthy.

So, Americans, with armed with this knowledge and the mindset that "if a little is good for me, a lot must be better", began to eat more than the minimum! Unfortunately, the 4 basic food groups are the nutrient types that give us energy- in the form of calories!

Obesity rates began to climb!

In 1979, the USDA added a fifth food group to the “Basic Four,” to include fats, sweets, and alcohol, and recommended moderation in their use.

The 4 basic nutrients, considered the ‘building blocks’, are protein, carbohydrates, fat and water. We get our energy, in the form of calories, from protein, carbohydrates, and fat.

Water has no calories so it doesn’t give us energy but it is an essential nutrient needed for all functions of the body.

These 4 basic nutrients are called macronutrients because they are needed in the greatest quantity.

Taking these 4 basic nutrients (the macronutrients), and adding the categories of vitamins and minerals gives us the 6 essential nutrients. Vitamins and minerals are considered micronutrients because they are needed in relatively smaller quantities.

But there are at least 13 known vitamins and 14 trace minerals. So, perhaps, for accuracy’s sake, we should refer to the 4 basic categories of nutrients!

Categorizing nutrients in food into seven groups is more recent and the 7 nutrient groups listed vary, depending on what you read. Basically, the 7 groups are the 6 essential nutrients and then either fiber or phytonutrients, again, depending on what source you read.

However, thanks to science, we now know that food contains hundreds of beneficial, naturally occurring substances, all fitting within the definition of nutrients but not yet classified or categorized, and some not even identified!

The new and increasing knowledge of vast number nutrients in our food and the importance nutritional excellence in the fight against acute and chronic diseases led to the concept of nutrient-density.

5. Nutrient Density

With this concept of nutrient-dense foods, Dr. Fuhrman goes beyond the nationally endorsed standards and dietary guidelines.

Those who follow Dr. Fuhrman’s nutrient-dense diet achieve breakthrough results in their battle against obesity and chronic disease.

“The key to this extraordinary diet is a simple formula: H = N/C.

Health = Nutrients/Calories

Your health is predicted by your nutrient intake divided by your intake of calories.” Excerpt from Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

We can calculate nutrient density of every food using this formula. Consuming large quantities of high-nutrient foods is the secret to optimum health, abundant energy, lifelong weight control and longevity!

6. Nutrient-Density and the Hallelujah Diet

There are literally thousands of testimonies of improved health and healing while consuming the high-nutrient foods and juices recommended by the Hallelujah diet.

Nutrients in food go beyond 4, 5, 6, 7 or even 12 nutrients. There is almost daily news of ongoing discoveries of the miraculous complexities of the food God created for us to eat. Every one of these studies simply reinforces the health-promoting benefits of the food God gave us in Genesis 1:29.