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Nutrient count

shadow4478
shadow4478 Posts: 37 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
How important is it to reach your Nutrient goal. It seems on daily basis very hard to reach when on a diet.

If. Potassium and such

Replies

  • ariana_eatsandlifts
    ariana_eatsandlifts Posts: 197 Member
    Micronutrients aren't really as important if you don't have a medical reason to watch them. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    One, of course, should seek to get close the minimum required amounts of micro nutrients in their diet.

    That said, I don't obsess over it...it's sort of majoring in the minors. Eat a well-balanced, wide variety of foods, and it tends to work itself out in the end.

    Potassium is commonly brought up on the boards. The issue is that it's one of the micros not required to be disclosed on food labels (at least in the US), and as such, many of the entries in the database don't include potassium amounts.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    ariana_eatsandlifts wrote: »
    Micronutrients aren't really as important if you don't have a medical reason to watch them. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit.

    This is so incredibly wrong.

    Doesn't matter for weight loss, but critical for good health. Not much of an issue if don't hit every day but need to be getting them over the longer term so you're averaging the RDA.

    The following describes the importance:
    http://www.cdc.gov/immpact/micronutrients/

  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    I'm in the "eat what you want, and take a multivitamin to try to eliminate any deficiencies" crowd.

    The problem with paying too much attention to micronutrients is that there are simply so many things to keep track of. Your brain is actually not very good at handling a lot of competing goals, and too much information frequently causes decision paralysis. We're simply not very good at planning when there are thirty-some variables we're simultaneously trying to keep within a certain range.

    So my method is to be very simple (track overall calories, with some minor level of caring for protein goals), and then use a multivitamin to try to ensure I don't end up deficient. It may not be perfect, but it's something that is manageable and gets me to better overall health (as obesity is my biggest health concern).
  • ariana_eatsandlifts
    ariana_eatsandlifts Posts: 197 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    ariana_eatsandlifts wrote: »
    Micronutrients aren't really as important if you don't have a medical reason to watch them. All you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit.

    This is so incredibly wrong.

    Doesn't matter for weight loss, but critical for good health. Not much of an issue if don't hit every day but need to be getting them over the longer term so you're averaging the RDA.

    The following describes the importance:
    http://www.cdc.gov/immpact/micronutrients/

    Of course they are required for health and normal body functions. I just don't see the point in OP obsessing over the numbers if all he wants to do is lose weight and does not have a medical reason to monitor his micronutrient intake. As suggested above, a daily multivitamin should help with any significant deficiencies.
  • shadow4478
    shadow4478 Posts: 37 Member
    Does anyone pat the extra for MFP premium?
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    shadow4478 wrote: »
    Does anyone pat the extra for MFP premium?

    I do. I like having different daily goals, turning off exercise calories adding in (I use a TDEE method and set goals manually) and really, if this site helps me reach the single most important health and fitness objective I have, it deserves to make some money.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
    Depends on your goals. For weight loss alone - no, individual macro tracking isn't going to play a part :)
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    I track my micros. Micros are every bit as important as macros. They're just needed in smaller quantities. They perform required function(s) in the body. Meeting your macros does not mean that you're meeting your micros.

    Though it would be ideal, we don't have to hit the recommended amounts every single day. We should try to get them all in on a regular basis. Personally, I have not had a single day where I get all the micros. It's very hard to do on 1200 calories! It's hard to do on any calories, even if you work at it, but the fewer calories you have to play with, the harder it gets. It's unlikely that I'll ever have a day where I get the recommended amounts of all of them. My dietitian said very few people do and that she doesn't.

    Tracking micros was a practical help for me, because I have to take calcium all day, every day, and this is the easiest way to know when I last took it. I was deficient in several vitamins, so I got to see how I'm doing on those and find out how I was doing with others. The answer was: not too great. So, now I work on a few at a time, making foods that have a lot of whatever it is, seeing what I like, etc. I try to get what I can into my diet, but I'm still taking a multivitamin as well as supplements for deficiencies. It sounds like a bigger deal and more complicated than it is, lol.

    Potassium is tricky. Most Americans do not get enough potassium. If you're like most of us, you don't. But it's hard to know how much you do get because the food labels don't always include potassium on them. Very frustrating, lol.

    I use the USDA entries where I can because they include micros (like potassium), but sometimes there isn't a USDA entry, so I'm kind of winging it. The dietitian gave me some helpful pointers.

    Tracking micros can be a bit of a pain in the butt. It's worth it, though, IMO. I'm glad I decided to do it. I'll be even happier if I can stop swallowing some of those pills. :smiley:
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