Right now, at the start of winter, everyone suddenly has a cold again. We hear our fellow human beings coughing everywhere, see them blowing their noses or complaining about colds. And almost as often as we hear people around us coughing, we also hear tips such as „you need to eat some lemons“ or „watch your vitamins“. I felt the same way again last week when I was ill myself. And I asked myself: how many people actually know why people say these things and what exactly is behind them? Why does it help us to eat more foods with a high vitamin D content in winter, or even to supplement it in the form of tablets? What exactly are vitamins? Does it have anything to do with nutrients? And how are trace elements involved?
„Nährstoffe“ – das ist zunächst einmal der Überbegriff für all diese verschiedenen Kategorien. Nährstoffe sind die Bausteine, die unseren Körper antreiben, erhalten und reparieren. Sie spielen eine zentrale Rolle in unserem Körper. Im folgenden Blogbeitrag erfährst du, für welche Funktionen unseres Körpers Nährstoffe unter anderem verantwortlich sind.
- Energieversorgung
- Energieregulation
- Wachstum und Entwicklung
- Immunfunktion
- Gesunde Haut, Haare und Nägel
- Funktion des Nervensystems
- Erhaltung von Muskelfunktionen
- Prävention von Krankheiten
Zusammenfassend sind Nährstoffe das Fundament eines gesunden Lebens, weshalb es elementar ist, auf eine ausgewogene Ernährung zu achten, die alle notwendigen Nährstoffe in angemessenen Mengen enthält. Dabei ist es wichtig, zu erwähnen, dass eine ausgewogene Ernährung nicht unbedingt das ist, was einige Menschen, Websites, Bücher, … als „gesund“ bezeichnen. Nicht selten finden sich, insbesondere im Internet, Mythen über Ernährung, die im kleinen Rahmen sicherlich „gesund“ sind. Werden diese „gesunden“ Ernährungsweisen jedoch zum Alltag und es wird beispielsweise nur noch ein Gemüse gegessen, da dieses als besonders „gesund“ empfunden wird, entwickelt sich der Ernährungsalltag zu einem sehr einseitigen, was auf Dauer zu Mangelerscheinungen nach sich ziehen wird. Um den Körper kontinuierlich mit den verschiedenen Nährstoffen ausreichend zu versorgen, stellt die DGE, die deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung, zehn Regeln auf, die als Anhaltspunkt gesehen werden können, um eine gesunde und ausgewogene Ernährung zu gewährleisten. Denn eine ausgewogene Ernährung ist entscheidend, um die Funktionen des Körpers zu unterstützen und am Laufen zu halten, um so langfristig eine optimale Gesundheit zu gewährleisten.
The German Nutrition Society (DGE) and its 10 rules for a healthy diet
- Enjoy a variety of foods
- Vegetables and fruit – eat „5 a day“
- Choose whole grains
- Supplement your selection with animal-based foods
- Use healthy fats
- Cut down on sugar and salt
- Preferably drink water
- Prepare gently
- Eat and enjoy mindfully
- Watch your weight and keep moving
To summarize, it is important to eat as many different foods as possible to achieve a balanced diet. „The more variety you eat, the lower the risk of an unbalanced diet,“ says the DGE. Care should also be taken to avoid sugar and salt as much as possible and instead drink plenty of water and eat a variety of vegetables. According to the DGE, the consumption of animal products also provides important nutrients and should therefore take place on a daily basis, for example through the consumption of dairy products. This is because „with a purely plant-based diet, an adequate supply of some nutrients is not possible or only possible with difficulty“. The supply of vitamin B-12, which is mainly contained in meat, is probably particularly critical, which is why the DGE still recommends vegans to take additional vitamin B-12 supplements despite the updated information in 2020.
The DGE itself shows how a balanced and healthy diet according to the 10 rules of the DGE works using the example of its nutritional circle, which some may still know as the „food pyramid“, but which is outdated according to current knowledge, as it had too strong a focus on the „lower“ third, the carbohydrates. Although these still make up a large part of the wheel and therefore form the basis of a healthy diet, their proportion has become smaller and is therefore adapted to the latest scientific findings and social developments.
In order to achieve a balanced diet with the help of the nutritional circle, it is best to have each of the seven categories on your menu every day – and in roughly the proportions shown. In addition, care should always be taken to ensure that the variety of different foods within the groups is fully utilized, so that the same products are not eaten every day, but that there is always variety.
If we stick to these simple basic rules, our food is not only balanced and colorful, but also promotes performance and well-being according to the DGE. Not only do we cover all our nutrients, we also have a certain amount of leeway for alternative diets. For example, according to the DGE, meat can be compensated for with a higher amount of dairy products and eggs. Sweets and sugary and/or alcoholic drinks can also be consumed from time to time, as long as you eat a balanced diet.