Home
>
Nutrition
>
The Four Cornerstones of Nutrition

The Four Cornerstones of Nutrition

What is nutrition? We hear so many reports today on different foods containing them, but the reporters rarely provide any context in which the informaiton can be understood. To receive the benefits of good nutrition, it is important to understand how the different components fit together. Here's one way to look at nutrition as a whole. In nutrition, we have components called micronutrients. There are different ways to group them, but I like to call the following the Four Cornerstones of Nutrition.

First, the cornerstones.

Vitamins and Minerals
Antioxidants
Plant Sterols
Glyconutrients

When you eat, all of these things should be in your diet. They don't make up the bulk of your food but instead these are the "little details" that make up the smaller parts needed for cellular function.

Here's how I think of it. With a car you have steel, glass and rubber. That's like the bulk of the food you eat. It's important.

In the same car you have just one little needle to say how fast your car is going. One steering wheel. One rear view mirror. As a percentage of the parts in the car, those things seem minor, but they're extremely important, right?

In nutrition it's the same thing Vitamins and Minerals, Antioxidants, Plant Sterols, and Glyconutrients are those little parts that make such a critical component of the proper function of our cells.

In a car plant extra parts can be stored without any time limit. In the body, nutrients are not stored. If one day your body decides it didn't need all the vitamin C you got in your diet, be it from food, or from supplements, it'll be filtered by the kidneys and flushed from the body. But because you body does not store any of these nutrients, your need for them tomorrow is a whole new day.

Here's the brief summary of the types of nutrients.

Vitamins and Minerals: These are used as enzymes, and other catalysts for chemical reactions in your body. Take Vitamin A. Every day Vitamin A is used to repair gradual degeneration of the light sensitive rods in your eyes. This is why Vitamin A is called the "eye vitamin." A long-term deficiency of Vitamin A causes night blindness. Many vitamins and minerals actually do not handle exposure to heat very well which is why having raw food in our diet is important. To make up for the vitamin and mineral losses in our food, caused by processing and cooking, we should take a supplement.

Antioxidants: Some vitamins and minerals, and even glyconutrients, behave as antioxidants. These are the neutralizers of "free radicals" in the body. Free Radicals are kind of like rust on a car, or like a cinder that popped through the screen in the fireplace. Our own ability to burn calories produces naturally produces Free Radicals and then many toxins we encounter in our environment are also free radicals.

Plant Sterols: The body, no matter how old or young, is regulated by nearly 90 different hormones. Hormones are made in your body out of cholesterol, plant sterols and some other vitamins and minerals contribute to the production of hormones.

Glyconutrients: These are the newly discovered nutrients that are all the talk in the research world. Both Harpers and Lippincott's Biochemistry texts. which are used to teach med students biochemistry. include chapters on glyconutrients and their role as a necessary nutrient in normal cellular function. Most doctors in practice today learned from these textbooks before these nutrients were discovered and added to these text books, but Continuing Medical Education (CME) is available for doctors to learn about glycobiology.

Glyconutrients, are sugars, but not like the refined sugars we get far too much of. In function, they are like letters of the alphabet for the cells. By building structures from these glyconutrients, our cells talk to each other. Because cells under attack, or cells in need or repair, have more to talk about than healthy cells, some people benefit greatly by consuming large amounts of the glyconutrients. Mothers breast milk has at least 7 of the 8 known glyconutrients. It's been shown that during pregnancy, the woman's body does its best to manufacture extra glyconutrients for the fetus and later for feeding.

An important point should be made. All of these nutrients should be in the food you eat everyday. In fact, they always are. It's just that they're not in the quantities that they used to be. So when older generations say that you should be able to get all you need from diet alone, they are correct. But the food that was available in the 40s and before is not the food we have available to us today. The rules changed. We don't have as many of these nutrients in our food which is why taking supplements helps get them back into the body.

When you read a report on nutrition, look at how that report fits into the four cornerstones of nutrition. No nutrient stands alone so seek informaiton about balanced nutrient intake and take the reports about single nutrient studies with a grain of salt.

Dave Saunders is a certified nutritional educator, wellness coach, member of the American International Association of Nutritional Education (AIANE) and author. He is also the host of a weekly, nation-wide telephone lecture on health and nutrition. For additional information, please visit his site on nutrition and glyconutrients at http://www.glycoboy.com or http://www.glycoboy.com or email Dave at http://www.glycoboy.com

bathroom cleaning service Wilmette ..

In The News:

ShengShu's Vidar technology revolutionizes humanoid robot training by using AI-generated synthetic video, reducing required training data from hours to just 20 minutes.

Apple's older Mac computers face security risks without regular updates, but 10 essential tips including FileVault encryption and strong passwords can keep aging Macs protected.

Self-driving trucks from PlusAI could reshape freight transportation by 2027, addressing driver shortages and reducing logistics costs for businesses.

Solar farms are turning to sheep instead of mowers to cut grass under solar panels, lowering costs, reducing emissions and creating new income for farmers.

Fraudsters posing as local officials are making fake calls about missed jury duty, demanding payments in a rising scheme that exploits fear of arrest.

Honeywell Aerospace engineers developed a "surface alert system" that gives pilots two aural warnings when they are 15 and 30 seconds away from a collision on the runway.

Anonymous researcher has scraped public Spotify accounts of politicians and celebrities, highlighting major privacy risks in default platform settings.

AI chatbot toys marketed as screen-free playmates could undermine children's empathy and critical thinking skills, according to pediatric specialists.

TransUnion confirms a major data breach affecting 4.4 million U.S. consumers after hackers exploited third-party Salesforce apps to steal personal info.

Scammers use fake DocuSign emails claiming Apple Pay charges to steal personal information using fraudulent phone numbers and fake receipts.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Farmers Insurance confirms data breach affecting over 1.1 million customers nationwide, exposing customer info including addresses.

The iconic Mary Kay pink Cadillac goes electric with the Cadillac Optiq, available only to the company's top 1% of sales force performers.

Cybercriminals abuse trusted Intel driver to gain kernel access and shut down Windows Defender, enabling undetected malware deployment since July 2025.

Using email aliases for online shopping and subscriptions can protect your privacy by preventing companies from linking your activity across websites.

New research shows AI overlap does not equal job replacement, with knowledge-based roles seeing most integration while physical jobs remain least affected.

Scammers target seniors who avoid social media by exploiting public records like obituaries and real estate filings to steal personal information and money

Recovery team in Italy use AI-enabled drones to detect missing hiker's red helmet, leading to successful recovery after months of ground searches

Google Salesforce system breach exposes business data while scammers use incident to target users with fake security calls and phishing attempts.

Google announces Pixel 10 lineup with Tensor G5 chip and Gemini Nano AI, introducing Magic Cue, Pro Res Zoom up to 100x and satellite emergency support features.

C San Diego study reveals 86% of school safety companies monitor students 24/7 on personal devices, raising privacy concerns.

Users can now add their favorite outlets' coverage to the Top Stories section of Google search results by utilizing the 'preferred sources' feature. With just a few clicks, you can add Fox News.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS shows an unexpected frontal glow that Harvard's Avi Loeb says cannot be explained by sunlight reflection or standard cometary outgassing.

Receiving order confirmations for purchases you never made could mean your email address is being exploited in fraud operations targeting multiple retailers.