Why everyone has nutrition gaps
Nutritional gaps come from repetition. If you eat chicken five nights a week, you're getting protein — but you're missing the omega-3s of fish, the iron of red meat, and the plant fiber that comes with legume-based proteins. That's a protein source diversity gap, which matters even if your total protein count is fine.
Similarly, if your vegetables are mainly tomato, onion, and cucumber, you're missing the vitamins in leafy greens, the fiber in root vegetables, and the minerals in cruciferous vegetables. Gaps are usually about variety, not just quantity.
The six nutrients worth tracking directionally
You don't need to count grams to eat well. But it's worth asking directional questions about six nutrients each week: Protein (are you getting enough, and from varied sources?), Carbohydrates (complex and whole-grain, or mostly refined?), Healthy fats (omega-3s and unsaturated fats vs. just cooking oil?), Fiber (legumes, vegetables, whole grains?), Vitamins (particularly from leafy greens and colourful produce), and Minerals (from varied protein sources and greens).
For each, you need a rough sense of whether you're consistently covering it — not a precise gram count. High, average, or low. That's enough.
How your recipe collection reveals your gaps
The fastest way to identify your nutrition gaps is to look at the recipes you cook most often. If 80% of your dinners are chicken-based, you likely have a protein diversity gap. If your breakfasts are all oats or eggs, you may be short on vitamins. If you rarely cook with leafy greens, vitamins are probably your weakest area.
Your recipe collection is a direct proxy for your nutritional habits — because you tend to cook what you have recipes for.
Filling gaps through recipe selection, not supplementation
The most sustainable way to fill nutrition gaps is to change which recipes are in your weekly rotation — not to take supplements or change your entire diet. Adding two or three new recipes that address your specific gaps can meaningfully shift your weekly nutrition within a few weeks.
For a protein diversity gap: add a salmon dish, a lentil curry, and a tofu-based meal alongside your usual chicken. For a vitamin gap: add shakshuka, a vegetable curry, or a leafy green salad. Small additions to your recipe library have compound effects over time.
The right level of precision
Tracking nutrition to the gram is both exhausting and unnecessary for most people. What actually moves the needle is knowing your patterns and shifting them directionally: eating more fiber this week than last week, adding a different protein source, including more leafy greens. Those directional improvements, made consistently, produce the same health outcomes as precise tracking — without the obsession.
The goal is a sustainable pattern, not a perfect week.