Information guides cellular activities and shapes how cells manage energy and health.

DNA: The cookbook your cells follow

If you boil biology down to one idea, you’ll often land on the notion that cells are busy little agents doing work for you—every moment. They metabolize, repair, grow, and respond to what’s happening outside and inside your body. But there’s a quiet hero behind all that activity: information. Not energy, not enzymes, not even the raw materials themselves, but the instructions that tell those parts what to do and when to do it.

Let me explain with a simple thought experiment. Imagine your body as bustling, tiny factories. Each factory has a blueprint, a set of recipes, and a timetable. The blueprint sits in a folder labeled DNA. The recipes are the genes, and the instructions inside them tell the cells which proteins to build, which receptors to deploy, and when to switch gears in response to what you eat, how you move, or what your hormones are saying. That blueprint—information—keeps the whole system coordinated.

The big idea: information as the director

In biology, information is synonyms with the genetic instructions encoded in DNA. Genes carry the information needed to produce proteins, and those proteins do the actual work inside cells. Enzymes, transport proteins, structural proteins, signaling molecules—these all come from the blueprints in our DNA. Information is what guides the choreography: when to speed things up, when to slow down, which pathways to favor under certain conditions, and how to respond to stress or nourishment.

You’ve probably heard that energy makes things happen. And that’s true—the cell needs energy to carry out tasks. Likewise, chemical catalysts (think enzymes) speed reactions, and molecular building blocks (amino acids, nucleotides, fatty acids) supply the raw materials for the molecules that cells rely on. But here’s the distinction that matters for understanding cellular life—and for coaching nutrition: energy, catalysts, and building blocks are essential ingredients, yes, but information is the compass. It guides how those ingredients are used. It tells the enzymes which reactions to prioritize and when to switch from growth to maintenance, repair, or adaptation.

A closer look at what information does in the cell

• Gene expression is how cells read the blueprint. Not every gene is active all the time. Some genes are “turned on” when the organism needs a particular protein, like an enzyme for metabolizing a nutrient, or a transporter that helps move glucose into a cell.

• Proteins are the workhorses. The information in DNA determines which proteins are made, how much of them there is, and where they go in the cell. If the blueprint changes—or if signals say, “we need more of this protein now”—the cell adjusts.

• Signaling networks translate signals from the environment into changes in gene expression. Hormones, nutrients, stress, and so on all act like messages that the cell reads. The information contained in those messages is what prompts a response—whether it’s upregulating a metabolic pathway, repairing a membrane, or producing a specific enzyme.

• Homeostasis depends on information. The body keeps lots of variables within a healthy range: pH, temperature, glucose, electrolytes, and more. The information read from DNA helps the system tune itself to keep those variables stable, even as conditions change.

In everyday terms, information is the master plan. If energy is the fuel, and enzymes are the skilled workers, information is the blueprint that tells the workers how to use the fuel and which jobs to tackle first.

Why this matters for nutrition coaching

If you’re learning topics that show up in NAFC’s nutrition coaching framework, you’ll see this idea echoed in several practical ways. The foods you choose, the patterns you promote for clients, and the way you explain metabolism all interact with how information guides cellular life.

• Individual responses to diet aren’t just about calories. Two people can eat the same meal and have different metabolic outcomes. Why? Because gene expression and signaling networks respond to nutrients differently based on your unique biology. Information in your DNA helps shape how your body handles glucose, fat, and protein, and how it adapts to training or stress.

• Protein turnover and tissue repair depend on timely gene expression. When you eat protein, amino acids aren’t just raw materials; they’re cues that can influence how genes are expressed and how enzymes involved in synthesis are deployed. Understanding that helps you explain to clients why consistent protein intake supports recovery and adaptation.

• Gut function and nutrient sensing involve information networks. The gut is full of receptors and signaling pathways that interpret what you eat and translate it into actions—hormone release, enzyme production, and shifts in motility. The DNA-backed instructions gear how sensitive those responses are and how quickly they adjust to dietary patterns.

• Epigenetics adds nuance (without turning nutrition into a mystery novel). Environmental signals—like diet, stress, or toxins—can influence how readily certain genes are expressed, without changing the DNA sequence itself. It’s a reminder that information isn’t just something locked in the nucleus; it’s dynamic and responsive to lifestyle.

A quick contrast: what energy, catalysts, and building blocks do—and don’t do

Here’s a simple way to keep the distinctions straight, especially when you’re explaining this to clients or colleagues:

• Energy: It’s the capacity to do work. Without energy, nothing moves, even if the blueprint is perfect. Think calories from carbs, fats, and proteins fueling muscle contractions, nerve impulses, and cellular maintenance.

• Chemical catalysts (enzymes): They speed up reactions so the cell can get more done in less time. Enzymes don’t decide what to do; they make the processes go faster, given the instructions they’re coded to follow.

• Molecular building blocks: These are the raw materials—amino acids, fatty acids, nucleotides—needed to assemble the molecules the cell uses. They’re crucial for construction, repair, and signaling, but they don’t dictate the plan.

• Information: It’s the plan, the hierarchy, and the timing. It directs how energy is used, which enzymes are needed in a given moment, and when to deploy building blocks for growth or maintenance. In short, information governs the entire orchestration.

A practical lens for coaches: turning biology into client talk

When you translate biology into coaching language, you’re not dumbing down science; you’re helping people connect the dots between what they eat and how they feel, perform, or recover. A few approachable frames you can borrow:

• Your body follows a blueprint that comes to life with food. Food isn’t just fuel; it’s a signal that can tune how genes respond. That’s why consistent eating patterns often support steadier energy and better recovery.

• Recovery isn’t just “more protein.” It’s about signaling and building blocks working together. Your cells need the right amino acids at the right times, but they also rely on information from hormones and receptors to know when to rebuild tissue.

• Training adaptations hinge on gene expression in concert with nutrients. The same workout might yield different adaptations in different people because the information networks interpret the signals in unique ways.

• Diet quality can influence how efficiently information guides metabolism. A nutrient-dense pattern supports smoother signaling and more reliable enzyme production, contributing to better energy management and mood regulation.

A few friendly tangents you might enjoy

• The cookbook analogy can go further. Your DNA is the cookbook, but your experiences—your meals, sleep, stress, activity—are like edits to the edition. Over time, these edits can influence which recipes get a spotlight and which stay on the shelf.

• Epigenetics is real but not mystical. It doesn’t rewrite your code on a whim; it nudges which recipes get practiced more often. That’s one reason lifestyle consistency can feel more impactful than a single grand change.

• If you’re curious about tools, there are legit, beginner-friendly resources that talk about gene expression and metabolism in accessible ways. Textbooks, peer-reviewed summaries, and reputable health sites can help you ground your explanations in solid science without overwhelming your clients with jargon.

A handful of takeaways you can put into practice

• Lead with the idea that information is the conductor of cellular life. When you explain metabolic differences, frame them as differences in regulation and response, not just raw numbers.

• Use everyday examples. Compare the DNA blueprint to a master recipe, energy to fuel, and enzymes to kitchen helpers that speed things up. A client who “gets” the metaphor is more likely to remember the point.

• Emphasize balance, not perfection. Nutrient signals help tune gene expression, but the system works best with consistency, not a one-off miracle meal.

• Stay curious and cautious about overstating genetic influence. Yes, information matters, but environment, behavior, and context steer how that information is used.

Bringing it all back to the core idea

The essential need that guides cellular activities is information. It’s the master plan written in DNA that directs how cells grow, adapt, and respond to the world around them. Energy fuels those actions, enzymes accelerate them, and building blocks supply the materials, but it’s the information that decides the course. For anyone coaching others in nutrition, that distinction is more than a fact—it’s a bridge between the science inside the body and the everyday choices clients make about food, activity, and recovery.

If you’re trying to explain cellular life in a single, clear sentence, you could say: Information tells cells what to do; energy gives them the power to do it; enzymes speed things up; building blocks supply the parts. And when you help clients see that, you give them a framework that’s not only scientifically sound but also practically meaningful.

A closing thought

Your body is a living map of signals and responses, all stitched together by information. It’s a tricky balance—biology loves nuance, but it loves rhythm even more. When you talk about nutrition in this light, you’re helping people appreciate that food is more than calories; it’s a language, a conversation between DNA and daily life. And that conversation, when understood, can guide better choices, steadier energy, and healthier habits over time.