Nutrition Specialist

What is nutrition?

Nutrition is the study of how the food you eat and its components keep your body functioning normally. Nutrients you need a lot of in your diet are called macronutrients, and they include:

• Protein
• Carbohydrates
• Fat
• Water

You need smaller amounts of nutrients called micronutrients, which include:

• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Antioxidants

Essential Nutrition helps you navigate information about nutrition in an easily understandable way. The team can also help you identify areas where your nutrition is lacking and find ways to get all of the nutrients you need.

What are the effects of poor nutrition?

While we all go through periods of ups and downs with our eating, if your diet consistently falls short on including the macro -and micronutrients our bodies need in sufficient amounts, health can suffer. Inadequate nutrition contributes to a wide range of diseases and conditions that affect your short- and long-term health. Eating poorly can put you at a higher risk of developing:

• Malnutrition
• Chronic disease
• Low energy
• Difficulty focusing and remembering
• Greater difficulty recovering from sports and training activities
• Greater difficulty with wound healing
• Hair loss
• Poor digestion
• Mood swings
• Negative health outcomes in general

Nutrition also plays a large role in your well-being. A poor diet can potentially increase levels of anxiety or depression. Inconsistent meals, eating too much or too little on a regular basis, avoiding entire food groups, or having a restricted diet due to a medical condition or specific food preferences, can all put us at risk for poor nutrition, and therefore, compromised health.

How can I improve my nutrition?

At Essential Nutrition, we take a non-diet approach to nutrition. We don’t follow fads in the industry, and we rely on science and “best practices” when science is scarce. We encourage intuitive eating, a body-centered approach to nutrition, that encourages you to incorporate your body's signals in guiding your food decisions.

Rather than adhering to a strict diet, we help you find a more natural eating pattern that promotes greater health, helps build trust in your body’s signals, and encourages you to make more conscious and mindful food choices that serve you well.

While there are certain recommended amounts of nutrients that our bodies need, the truth is that nutrition isn’t a one-size-fits-all. A plan that works well for one person might not be the best option for someone else. So we work closely with you to develop the approach that’s right for you!
To learn more about nutrition and find ways to improve your diet, contact Essential Nutrition to schedule an appointment.