Is healthy eating easy going or is it a challenge?

Humans need nutrients to live. They give us energy, keep our organs functioning, build muscles, hair and nails, and enable us to think.

For a person to be healthy and feel good, the right combination of nutrients is required. The rule here is: the dose makes the poison.

The nutrients only have a positive effect on people in certain quantities. If you take too much or too little, sooner or later you will experience symptoms and illnesses.

In order to put together the right diet plan, you first have to understand how to calculate the right amounts of each nutrient.

We differentiate between macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. The value of macronutrients is measured in their energy value (kcal) per gram. Now it's about determining how much of each macronutrient we should consume daily.

These values are recommended by the DGE:

20-30% fat 9 Kcal / 1gr 50-60% carbohydrate 4 Kcal / 1gr 15-25% protein 4 Kcal / 1gr

For the sake of simplicity, I would stick with the 50-20-30 distribution.

But what do these percentages mean? The percentage defines the proportion of calories that you should use from your total energy requirement for this nutrient. But how do you calculate a person's energy requirement? I'll explain that to you.

Every person has a basal metabolic rate , which is the amount of energy you need for the functioning of all your organs without any effort.

This is calculated by calculating 1Kcal per kilo of body weight per hour.

The energy expenditure is made up of the basal metabolic rate and the work you do during the day, such as walking, working, vacuuming, cooking, exercising, etc. To calculate it, you take your basal metabolic rate and multiply it by the PAL factor, which divides your daily activity into different performance levels.

To illustrate this better, I will use myself as a role model

I weigh 53 kilos and am 56 years old.

My basal metabolic rate is 1,272 kcal per day (1 kcal x 53 kg x 24 hours). I would describe my activity level as average, so I multiply my basal metabolic rate by a factor of 1.6. My performance metabolic rate is therefore 2,035 kcal per day. Since people's energy requirements decrease after the age of 50, people of that age should consume around 20% fewer calories. This means that my daily energy requirement is around 1,700 kcal.

The challenge now is to manage the amount of calories available to me in such a way that I consume all the nutrients in the amounts recommended by the DNE.

If I go by my example, I would have the following calorie amounts per macronutrient available to me:

Total energy requirement 1,700 Kcal = 100%

Carbohydrates 850 Kcal = 50% Protein 340 Kcal = 20%

Fat 510 Kcal = 30%

Using these quantities, I will now create dishes that are within the calorie limits and at the same time contain all the micronutrients that I need per day. This is not an easy task, especially because they also have to taste good. I will discuss the procedure with you in part 2. Until then, each of you can try to calculate your personal energy requirements.

Have fun calculating and don’t forget to subscribe and like the blog if you like it!