Are you looking for the best way to get healthy in 2024? Are you contemplating all the fad diets out there or considering eliminating food categories? Stop right there and listen to this episode where Jenn walks you through Nutrition 101 so you can create wellness within you! Today, Jenn is talking all about nutrition 101. She discusses what nutrition is and covers the essential macronutrients and micronutrients our bodies need, breaking down each category and how to incorporate them into your diet. Jenn also discusses the benefits of consuming these nutrients from your food and then talks about how some supplementation can help when you are missing the mark. She touches on poverty and food deserts and how people in those areas can focus on their nutrition despite limited resources, as well as how the food industry has changed across generations. Tune in today to learn how to simplify your nutrition with these simple guidelines to achieve your best health.  The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast is hosted by Jenn Trepeck, discussing wellness and weight loss for real life, clearing up the myths, misinformation, bad science & marketing surrounding our nutrition knowledge and the food industry. Let’s dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store. IN THIS EPISODE: ●  [6:27] What does nutrition mean? Why is the quality of nutrients so important? ●  [9:00] Jenn breaks down what each of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) are and why they are essential. ●  [25:49] How can you make sure you are getting the requirements of each category that the body needs?●  [30:29] Jenn breaks down the different micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and water).●  [38:11] How can poverty and food deserts affect nutrition? ●  [40:50] How has our food changed across generations? ●  [42:03] Jenn touches on other factors that go into the nutrients our bodies need and supplementation.  KEY TAKEAWAYS: ●  [06:30] Nutrition comes from nutrients. Nutrients are the building blocks of energy. Everything that we do in our lives requires energy, on a cellular level and on a physical level. Without nutrients or nutrition, producing energy becomes very hard. Nutrients are also essential for our bodies to grow and to heal. ●  [09:00] If you are trying a low/no-carb diet to kick off the year, pause for a minute. Carbohydrates are incredibly important. Carbohydrates are the preferred fuel for the body, providing the energy our bodies need to perform work, and the materials necessary to build and repair tissue. The quality of the carbohydrates make all of the difference when it comes to fueling your body. Simple carbs, as tasty as they are, are lacking quality and do not do our health any favors. Complex carbohydrates can provide consistent energy and help you feel sustained longer. ●  [11:00] An essential nutrient means that our bodies do not physically produce the nutrient, meaning we must get them from our nutrition or supplementation. There are 9 amino acids that our bodies cannot synthesize and 11 non-essential amino acids meaning, if the 9 essential amino acids are there, the body can make the other 11. ●  [12:30] Protein is another essential nutrient or building block for our health. Complete proteins, like an egg, contain all of the essential amino acids. Incomplete proteins, such as beans, lack one or more of the essential amino acids. So by combining different protein sources, we can ensure that we are getting all 9 of the essential amino acids. ●  [24:00] We need fat in our diets. Fats are involved in the production of hormones and affect our metabolism, which promotes digestion and satiety. When you are having digestion problems, ask yourself. “Am I missing a big category here?” and use your macronutrients to troubleshoot the problems. ●  [41:16] Even if you’re eating quality food, there tends to not be a wide enough variety of foods to cover all the nutritional needs, so the la