What is meant by Functional Nutrition?
This approach, rather than focusing on calorie restriction for weight loss, aims at the molecular quality of the foods we consume. Carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, water, and minerals, that is, all the molecules contained in foods, stimulate the body to secrete hormones and signaling molecules when they are metabolized. These, acting as true biological switches, can predispose the accumulation or loss of fat.
It is essential to understand that the qualitative characteristics of the diet, namely the composition and daily distribution of meals, directly influence body weight through mechanisms independent of overall caloric intake.
It is now known that there are mutual influences between diet, hormonal regulation, the nervous system, and enzymatic systems.
The brain, for example, influences the diet and is in turn influenced by it; it is capable of directing quantitative and qualitative eating behavior in the choice of nutrients that are best able to satisfy the body’s metabolic signals.
In particular, for example, norepinephrine produced by the nervous system directs food choices towards carbohydrate consumption, while serotonin induces a consumption more oriented towards proteins.
Conversely, meals with a high protein content cause an increase in the blood concentration of amino acids, precursors of dopamine and norepinephrine, promoting their formation. Carbohydrate-rich meals, on the other hand, increase the passage of tryptophan into the brain, a precursor of serotonin.
The qualitative-quantitative composition of the diet also impacts hormonal production.
For example, with the same calories, certain eating habits induce the secretion of leptin, which will allow the thyroid to convert a greater portion of the energy consumed into body heat production rather than fat accumulation.
Most hormones have circadian rhythms, meaning they are not secreted constantly by the body, but follow a specific rhythm throughout the day: for example, the circadian rhythm of cortisol reaches its highest level in the early morning hours and remains quite high until 4 PM, then gradually decreases. Therefore, setting a nutritional plan also based on chronobiology, that is, respecting the timing of various secretions, is a fundamental ingredient for fully developing the body’s potential and promoting the maintenance of health.
Finally, it is important to note that age, like clinical-functional condition, are variables that significantly impact neuro-hormonal balances and should therefore be adequately weighed in the overall assessment.
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