Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): La nutrición es tan importante como el ejercicio para la salud. - Nutrition is as important as exercise for health.

In Spanish, abstract nouns (like la nutrición, la salud, el amor, la felicidad) very often take the definite article (el / la) when used in a general sense.

La nutrición es importante. = “Nutrition is important.”
La salud es cara. = “Health is expensive.”

Using “la nutrición” does not mean a specific nutrition; it’s talking about nutrition in general. Omitting the article (“Nutrición es importante”) sounds ungrammatical in standard Spanish.

So:

La nutrición es tan importante como el ejercicio… = “Nutrition is as important as exercise…”

Both la nutrición and el ejercicio get the article because we’re talking about them in a general, abstract way.

Why is it “el ejercicio” with “el”? Could I say just “ejercicio” without the article?

In this sentence, “el ejercicio” refers to exercise in general, not a specific workout. In Spanish, when you talk about something in general (especially activities, abstract concepts, or things as a category), you usually use the definite article:

El ejercicio es bueno. = “Exercise is good.”
El café es caro. = “Coffee is expensive.”

If you say “Ejercicio es bueno”, it sounds unnatural or incorrect in standard Spanish.

You can drop the article in other structures:

Hacer ejercicio es bueno. = “Doing exercise is good.”
Me gusta hacer ejercicio. = “I like to exercise.”

Here “ejercicio” is a bare noun object of hacer, so no article is used. But as the subject of the sentence in a general statement, “el ejercicio” is the natural form.

Why is it “es” and not “está” in “La nutrición es tan importante…”?

Ser (es) is used for essential, permanent, or defining characteristics, including:

identity
inherent qualities
general truths

Importance here is seen as a general, permanent characteristic of nutrition:

La nutrición es importante. (It is important by nature.)

Estar would be used for temporary states or conditions, locations, or results of actions:

La comida está fría. = “The food is (temporarily) cold.”
Estoy cansado. = “I am tired.”

Saying “La nutrición está tan importante” is incorrect in this context; importance here is not a temporary state but an inherent quality, so es is required.

How does the structure “tan importante como” work? What does “tan … como” mean exactly?

Tan … como is a very common way to express equality with adjectives or adverbs, meaning “as … as”.

Structure:

tan + adjective/adverb + como

In this sentence:

tan importante como = “as important as”

More examples:

Es tan alto como su hermano.
He is as tall as his brother.
Ella corre tan rápido como tú.
She runs as fast as you.
Este libro es tan interesante como el otro.
This book is as interesting as the other one.

So “La nutrición es tan importante como el ejercicio” literally means:

“Nutrition is as important as exercise.”

Could I use “más” or “menos” instead of “tan”? What’s the difference?

Yes, but it would change the meaning:

tan + adjective + como = as … as (equality)
más + adjective + que = more … than (greater degree)
menos + adjective + que = less … than (lesser degree)

So:

La nutrición es tan importante como el ejercicio.
Nutrition is as important as exercise.
La nutrición es más importante que el ejercicio.
Nutrition is more important than exercise.
La nutrición es menos importante que el ejercicio.
Nutrition is less important than exercise.

Also notice the connector changes:

tan … como
más / menos … que

Could I say “para salud” instead of “para la salud”?

In standard Spanish, you normally keep the article: para la salud.

Again, la salud (health) is an abstract noun referring to health in general, and Spanish tends to use the definite article in that case:

Fumar es malo para la salud.
Smoking is bad for your health.
Caminar es bueno para la salud.
Walking is good for your health.

“Para salud” without the article would sound incomplete or foreign in this context. Very occasionally you might see an article dropped in set expressions or headlines, but in normal sentences, para la salud is the natural choice.

Why is it “para” and not “por” in “para la salud”?

Para often indicates purpose, goal, or benefit:

Esto es bueno para ti. = This is good for you.
Hago ejercicio para estar sano. = I exercise in order to be healthy.

Here, para la salud means “for (the benefit of) health”, so para fits perfectly.

Por is used more for cause, reason, or means:

Lo hago por ti. = I do it because of you / for your sake.
Murió por una enfermedad. = He died because of an illness.

Saying “para la salud” tells you the effect or benefit that nutrition and exercise have; using por here would be incorrect.

Why doesn’t “importante” change ending? Shouldn’t it match “nutrición” or “ejercicio” in gender?

Importante is one of many adjectives that end in -e, and this type usually has one form for both masculine and feminine in the singular:

El tema es importante. (masculine)
La idea es importante. (feminine)

So:

La nutrición es importante. (feminine noun)
El ejercicio es importante. (masculine noun)

Both use importante.

It does change for number:

Las decisiones son importantes. (plural)
Los ejercicios son importantes. (plural)

But not for gender: same importante for masculine and feminine singular.

Could I change the word order and say “Tan importante como el ejercicio es la nutrición para la salud”?

Yes, that’s grammatically possible, but it’s more marked and sounds more formal or literary.

La nutrición es tan importante como el ejercicio para la salud.
→ Normal, neutral word order.
Tan importante como el ejercicio es la nutrición para la salud.
→ Emphasizes the comparison; sounds more like written style, a slogan, or a rhetorical sentence.

Spanish allows some flexibility in word order to add emphasis, but the original sentence is the most natural everyday version.

What’s the difference between “nutrición” and “alimentación” in Spanish?

Both are related but not identical:

La nutrición: more technical/scientific. It refers to the biological process of taking in and using nutrients, and also to the field of study (nutrition science).
- Estudia nutrición. = He/She studies nutrition (as a subject).
- Problemas de nutrición. = Nutritional problems.
La alimentación: more about eating habits / diet / the act of feeding:
- La alimentación saludable. = Healthy eating / diet.
- Me preocupa su alimentación. = I’m worried about his/her diet/eating habits.

In everyday speech in Latin America, alimentación might be slightly more common when talking about how you eat, and nutrición more in health or educational contexts. In this specific sentence, nutrición sounds perfectly natural and maybe a bit more “technical” or formal.

In Latin American Spanish, would people say this sentence the same way, or are there regional variations?

The sentence “La nutrición es tan importante como el ejercicio para la salud.” is fully natural and widely understandable across Latin America.

Possible minor variations you might hear, depending on context:

La alimentación es tan importante como el ejercicio para la salud.
(using alimentación instead of nutrición)
La nutrición es tan importante como el ejercicio físico para la salud.
(adding físico for clarity)

But the grammar and structure (la nutrición / el ejercicio / tan … como / para la salud) are standard and don’t really change from country to country.

How should I pronounce “nutrición” and where is the stress?

Nutrición is pronounced approximately: [nu-tri-SYON] in Latin American Spanish.

Details:

nu – like “new” but shorter and without the glide: [nu]
tri – like “tree” but shorter: [tri]
ción – sounds like “syon”:
- c before i is an s sound in Latin America.
- The ó has the stress: nu-tri-CIÓN.
- The final n is clear, not swallowed.

Because of the written accent mark on ó, you know the stress is on the last syllable: nu-tri-CIÓN.

Similarly:

salud = sa-LUD
ejercicio = e-jer-CI-o with the stress on -ci-: e-jer-CI-o (Latin America: ci = [si])