Eating healthy makes you healthy

Much has been said about healthy eating, with the goal of improving health parameters and body composition. However, this recommendation without context may be of little use.

Unfortunately, even today, there's still a common misconception that eating healthy automatically equates to good health. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. In reality, it's not that simple.

You see, most health parameters are primarily determined by an individual's body weight and muscle mass (excluding specific genetic conditions). They are not significantly influenced by the specific composition of the foods they consume. To illustrate this point, consider the following analogy:

We have an individual X who has high body fat, low muscle mass, and currently consumes foods that are not considered "healthy." Eager to improve their health parameters and body composition, they decide to switch to "healthy" foods. However, their body fat percentage remains the same or even increases, and their muscle mass decreases instead of increasing. Do you think this person is now healthy simply by changing their diet?

The answer is no, because your body fat is what governs most of your health parameters, and in turn also your body composition, hand in hand with your muscle mass.

Previously, this belief arose because, by chance, some individuals managed to improve their body composition and health parameters by eating "healthily."

• The adjective is given by chance, as it's not guaranteed that someone can create a caloric deficit and reduce their body fat percentage solely through dietary changes.

Some doctors then make the mistake of saying, 'You're probably not following my instructions. You should be eating the right foods.' This can lead many patients to become angry or believe there's something wrong with them. The truth is that simply by eating healthy and switching foods as instructed, they may not have achieved a caloric deficit. Unfortunately, neither the doctor nor the patient seems to be considering this fact.

I don't mean to imply that changing your food choices isn't a good idea. In fact, it's highly recommended and often the best choice.

What I really want to contribute:

1. Most health parameters have nothing to do with food choices.

2. It is necessary to reduce the percentage of fat and increase muscle mass to improve health parameters.

3. To lose fat it is necessary to create a caloric deficit, in addition to a correct intake of macronutrients and fiber.

4. To increase muscle mass it is necessary to generate direct and progressive stimulation, and not simply walking or doing aerobics, because these two have no relationship with increasing muscle mass.

5. Studies on foods and their response in the body cannot be taken as absolute, since they are short-term studies, that is, after intake, and should not be taken as a sustained average value.

6. It is still a good idea to substitute foods for the contribution of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber, but not under the false belief that these will directly improve health parameters or body composition.

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