#37 What do I mean when I say ‘undernourished’ and ‘over-fueled’ ?

Real talk, the quality of the food we eat has gone down but the quantity of food we are eating has gone up. 

So, today, I’m writing this blog with hopes of raising awareness by educating you how we as humans today can be overruled and ‘undernourished’ and how understanding the difference between these two can impact your perspective on health and your food choices.

A lot of research has proven that the important nutrients in our food has dramatically decreased. More & more people are choosing the less healthy options. Although we are producing more food than ever, the quality has sadly gotten low. Anywhere you look in the grocery store, you’ll see processed food. 

Undernourished

Let’s talk about being ‘undernourished’ or ‘malnourished’. What does it mean to be undernourished?

Basically, to be undernourished means having a lack of or insufficient amount of the right nutrients the body needs for good condition, impacting your weight & overall health. Most of those who are undernourished lose a significant amount of weight, but it’s still possible that those with healthy weight or overweight are undernourished.

Some of the signs that you can be undernourished is unintentionally losing 5-10% of your weight within a span of 3-6 months or having a body mass index (BMI) under 18.5. 

Other symptoms include reduced appetite, burnout, weak stamina, frequent illness, longer healing time for wounds, poor focus & depression.

So, be mindful. If you are experience at least 3 or more of these symptoms, better consult a doctor.

Overfueled

To be overfueled, on the other hand, is the opposite. If being undernourished means lacking, being overfueled means having too much. It’s having way too much carbs, which is not good for the body. It’s overeating food not good for you such as processed food.

There are a lot of health risks caused by eating too much of this. One of which is an higher risk of getting cancer. Studies have shown that a 10% increase in consumption of processed foods equals to a 12% increased risk for cancer. Another risk is getting too much sugar & fat in the body, which we know later lead to obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure & diabetes.

This is why it’s important to keep watch of the food we eat. We can be having a healthy weight & all, but internally our body’s suffering from lack of the right nutrients. 

Parting Thoughts……..

I have trained with alot of athletes on strict macro calculated nutrition plans, that were eating fried chicken tenders for proteins and fat and gummy bears for carbs, limiting their rice and potato sources to have more carbs to spend on the gummy bears.

I am strong believer that even though the macro nutrition was on point, and the individual is getting enough Calories in, they are not nourisng their body and fueling it optimally for health and function. 

In order to be healthy & vibrant, we need to look at more than just the calories & the macros. Rather, we have to carefully determine we are feeding ourselves with variegated resources of nutritious food that has colour, vitamins and fibre in it.]

But I am curious what you think, lets continue this dialog on Instagram, let me know what your thoughts are through DM or comment on this weeks post on this topic.