Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Hay que cuidar la nutrición cada día si queremos tener energía. - You have to take care of your nutrition every day if you want to have energy.

Hay on its own = “there is / there are”
- Hay un libro. — There is a book.
Hay que + infinitive = an obligation or necessity in general, without saying who exactly has to do it.
- Hay que cuidar la nutrición. — One must take care of nutrition / You have to take care of nutrition (people in general).

So in the sentence, hay que cuidar la nutrición means it is necessary to take care of nutrition (in general, for everyone). It does not specify “we,” “they,” etc.—it’s impersonal.

What’s the difference between hay que cuidar la nutrición and tenemos que cuidar la nutrición?

Both express obligation, but:

Hay que cuidar la nutrición
- General / impersonal: “One must take care of nutrition” / “You have to take care of nutrition (in general).”
- Does not say exactly who; it’s like a rule, recommendation, or general truth.
Tenemos que cuidar la nutrición
- Personal: “We have to take care of nutrition.”
- The subject is clearly we (nosotros).

In the original sentence, the impersonal hay que is combined later with si queremos, which does have a subject (we):
Hay que cuidar la nutrición… si queremos tener energía.
= It’s necessary to take care of nutrition if we want to have energy.

So the first part is general, and the second part makes it personal (“we”).

Why is cuidar in the infinitive form after hay que?

After hay que, Spanish always uses the infinitive (the “to _” form of the verb):

Hay que estudiar. — You have to study / One must study.
Hay que practicar. — You have to practice.

So:

cuidar = “to take care (of)”
hay que cuidar = “(one) must take care (of)…”

You cannot conjugate the verb directly after hay que:

❌ Hay que cuidamos la nutrición.
✅ Hay que cuidar la nutrición.

Why is it la nutrición and not just nutrición without the article?

In Spanish, when you speak about a concept in a general, abstract way (like nutrition, health, life, education), you often use the definite article (el / la / los / las):

La salud es importante. — Health is important.
La educación es cara. — Education is expensive.
La nutrición es fundamental. — Nutrition is essential.

So cuidar la nutrición literally is “to take care of the nutrition,” but idiomatically it means “to take care of nutrition” in general.

Saying cuidar nutrición without the article is not natural Spanish here; you want la nutrición.

Why doesn’t the sentence say nuestra nutrición (“our nutrition”)? Would that be wrong?

Nuestra nutrición would be grammatically correct, but the nuance changes slightly:

Cuidar la nutrición
- More general: taking care of nutrition as a general habit or principle (everyone’s, in life, etc.).
Cuidar nuestra nutrición
- More specific: taking care of our nutrition (our personal diet/habits).

In context with si queremos tener energía (“if we want to have energy”), many speakers might also say:

Hay que cuidar nuestra nutrición cada día si queremos tener energía.

The original just sounds a bit more general or “textbook-style,” but both are natural.

Could you say la alimentación instead of la nutrición? Is there a difference?

Yes, you could say:

Hay que cuidar la alimentación cada día si queremos tener energía.

La nutrición and la alimentación overlap, but they aren’t identical:

Nutrición
- Slightly more technical/scientific; focus on nutrients and how the body uses them.
- Common in health, medicine, or education contexts (e.g., nutrición y salud).
Alimentación
- Closer to “diet / eating habits / the way we eat.”
- Very common in everyday speech: cuidar la alimentación, mala alimentación, etc.

In Latin America, cuidar la alimentación is extremely common when talking about healthy eating; cuidar la nutrición sounds a bit more formal or health-education-like, but it’s still fine.

Why is it cada día and not todos los días? Are they interchangeable?

Both are correct and very common:

cada día = every day, a bit more neutral, sometimes feels slightly more “scheduled” or habitual.
todos los días = every day / all the days, also very normal; many speakers use this more.

You could say either:

Hay que cuidar la nutrición cada día…
Hay que cuidar la nutrición todos los días…

Meaning is practically the same. Todos los días is slightly more colloquial in many contexts, but both are natural.

Position-wise, it can go:

Hay que cuidar la nutrición cada día si queremos…
Cada día hay que cuidar la nutrición si queremos…

Both word orders are okay; the original is the most typical.

Why does it say si queremos tener energía with queremos (present indicative) and not si queramos (subjunctive)?

In Spanish si + present is the normal structure for real or likely conditions:

Si llueve, nos quedamos en casa. — If it rains, we stay home.
Si tienes tiempo, llámame. — If you have time, call me.

So:

Si queremos tener energía = “If we want to have energy” (a real, possible condition).

Queramos is the present subjunctive and not used directly after si for this kind of “if” clause. You’d see queramos in other constructions:

Es importante que queramos cambiar. — It’s important that we want to change.

So the correct form after si here is queremos, not queramos.

Who is the subject of queremos in si queremos tener energía? Is it always “we”?

Yes. Queremos is the nosotros (we) form of querer in the present tense:

yo quiero — I want
tú quieres — you (singular, informal) want
él / ella / usted quiere — he/she/you (formal) want
nosotros queremos — we want
ellos / ellas / ustedes quieren — they / you all want

So queremos = we want.

Even though nosotros is not written, it’s implied:

…si queremos tener energía.
→ “…if we want to have energy.”

This matches the idea that the speaker includes themselves in the group that needs to take care of nutrition.

What does tener energía literally mean? Why use tener and not a verb like estar?

Literally, tener energía is “to have energy.” This is the standard way to talk about having physical or mental energy in Spanish:

No tengo energía hoy. — I don’t have (any) energy today.
Quiero tener más energía. — I want to have more energy.

Using estar (to be) with energía is not idiomatic:

❌ Estoy con energía is sometimes heard but less standard; it can sound a bit off or very colloquial depending on the country.
❌ Estoy energía is wrong.

Tener energía is the natural way to say “to have energy / to feel energetic.”

Could it be tener energías (plural) instead of tener energía?

In this context, no. You normally say tener energía (singular) when talking about physical/mental energy in general.

Plural energías exists, but it has a different flavor:

Often used in spiritual, mystical, or emotional contexts:
- Buenas energías, malas energías — good/bad vibes, energies.
- Siento tus energías.

So:

✅ tener energía = to have energy (to feel energetic)
❌ tener energías (for physical energy) — sounds odd or spiritual, not what you want here.

Can I add de and say cuidar de la nutrición, or is that wrong?

Cuidar can be used with or without de, but the meaning and common usage change:

Cuidar algo / a alguien (direct object)
- Very common: to take care of something/someone.
- Cuidar la nutrición, cuidar la salud, cuidar a los niños.
Cuidar de algo / alguien
- Also exists, but sounds more formal or old-fashioned in many contexts; more common in Spain than in much of Latin America for everyday speech.
- Cuidar de los niños, cuidar de la casa.

For this sentence, the most natural in Latin American Spanish is:

✅ Hay que cuidar la nutrición…

Hay que cuidar de la nutrición… is not wrong, but it sounds more formal, less colloquial.

Is nutrición feminine? How do we know to use la?

Yes, nutrición is a feminine noun:

la nutrición
una buena nutrición
esta nutrición

Most nouns ending in -ción are feminine:

la educación
la alimentación
la información
la situación

So la nutrición is correct and follows this pattern.