What are nutrients?

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Nutrients refers to all the things that make up how healthy food is, like vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, and more! Nutrients are important because making sure to get your fill of the right ones helps you to grow and be healthy!!
 
The important thing with nutrients is that you can’t have just some of them – you need balanced amounts of all the different types out there! To do that, make sure to eat the right number of daily servings from each food group such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and proteins.

Certain foods pack more nutrients per bite than others. (They’re “nutritionally rich”!) Rather than eating things like fried foods and sugary drinks, which have lots of calories but very few nutrients, it’s usually considered a better idea to chow down on nutrient-filled foods that offer good things like minerals, vitamins, and fiber without also being really high in calories. Some good examples are fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, beans, and low-fat dairy. Yum!

Remember that it’s often best to get a nutrient from the food in which it is naturally found, instead of in a supplement or a fortified food into which it has been put. For example, many people agree that it’s better to get Vitamin C by eating fruits and vegetables that are naturally high in this nutrient (such as peppers and oranges) than from something like a cereal or a supplement where Vitamin C has been added. Lots of new research suggests that our bodies process these nutrients better when we eat them from whole foods instead of manufactured ones. Of course, many scientists, doctors, nutritionists, and food experts have different opinions about these ideas. – It’s usually a good idea to listen to the guidance of your parents and your doctors, and to listen to your body and do things that make you feel healthy!

Nifty Nutrients!