Macronutrients
I made a post about this on my instagram so I thought I would post it here
I want to talk about the basics about nutrition in a simple easy way so you can live a healthier, happier life and continue to do so and hopefully change your perspective and the perspective of others around you about what it means to be healthy.
Nutrition is the intake of food, considered in relation to the body’s dietary needs. Good nutrition – a well balanced diet combined with regular physical activity – is a cornerstone of good health. Poor nutrition can lead to reduced immunity, increased susceptibility to disease, impaired physical and mental development, and reduced productivity. This is all according to WHO.
So what is good nutrition?
To understand this we first need to understand more about the food we ear. All food is made up of three main components otherwise called macronutrient.
Which are carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Before I go into detail about these three components I just want to define what macronutrients and micronutrients are.
Macronutrients by definition simply means the nutrients that the body requires a large amount of hence the word “macro” which in ancient greek means large. There are also things called micronutrients micro meaning small in greek these are the vitamins and minerals which the body only needs small amounts of to function adequately in the body but are also vital for body function as you can imagine.
Now back to the macronutrients which we said are the things that make up every single thing we eat and that everything is made up of.
We said theres three, carbohydrates, protein and fat.
So, let’s start with carbohydrates, everyones favourite macronutrient.
Carbohydrates
There are three different types of carbohydrates found in food: sugar, starch and fibre.
Sugar is found naturally in some foods, including fruit, honey, fruit juices, milk (lactose) and vegetables. Other forms of sugar (for example table sugar) can be added to food and drink such as sweets, chocolates, biscuits and soft drinks during manufacture, or added when cooking or baking at home.
Starch, made up of many sugar units bonded together, is found in foods that come from plants. Starchy foods, such as bread, rice, potatoes and pasta, provide a slow and steady release of energy throughout the day.
Fibre is the name given to the diverse range of compounds found in the cell walls of foods that come from plants. Good sources of fibre include vegetables with skins on, wholegrain bread, wholewheat pasta and pulses (beans and lentils).
They contain 4 calories per gram, so does protein fat by contrast has 9 calories per gram and thus this is why it provides more energy and why people try and avoid fat when trying to stay healthy or lose weight as you can quickly go over you daily calorie requirements by eating too much of it.
However, Fat our next macronutrient is a very important macronutrient and thus should not be demonised the way it is.
Fat
Fat is a concentrated source of energy and as said before 1 gram of fat contains 9 calories, much more than a gram of protein or carbohydrate which both contain 4 calories. The body can pull on its fat reserves during lean times for energy, converting fat into glucose. Fat is also important because provides a cushion to help protect our vital organs – without fat our organs would be more prone to damage. Furthermore, it acts as an insulator, helping us to maintain the correct body temperature. It enables our bodies to process vitamins A, D, E and K, which are all fat soluble and vital to good health.
Like amino acids in protein, fat contains essential fatty acids (EFA’s). These EFA’s are, as their name suggests, essential to good health and likely to help the heart and immune system.
The human body cannot make its own (synthesize) these EFA’s and therefore has to get them from consumption of fat.
Some fatty acids – like omega 3 – may provide other health benefits such as complimenting the cognitive processes of the brain.
Although we need fat, we only need small quantities of the right kinds of fat to stay healthy. We all know that too much fat can be detrimental to our health. But there are also different types of fat and certain fats e.g HDL can actually be good for you and lower your cholesterol whereas LDL’s raise it and I will go into what these are after explaining our final macronutrient Protein.
healthy fats include, the unsaturated types (unsaturated just because of their chemical structures) such as plant sources: nuts, seeds like sesame, sunflower seeds, avocados olives, eggs fatty fish like salmon.
Saturated fats and the ones we should avoid and consume minimal amounts of
are: Fatty cuts of meat meat products, ghee, butter, cheese, ice cream some savoury snacks, like cheese crackers, chocolate, biscuits, cakes and pastries. A side note even food eaten from restaurants and takeaways will tend to have high amounts of salt and saturated fats to make the food taste better. Sometimes even the food sounds like a healthy option it often has increased amounts of these additives more than if you prepared it at home by oneself.
Protein
Protein is an important component of every cell in the body. Hair and nails are mostly made of protein. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.
Unlike fat and carbohydrates, the body does not store protein, and therefore has no reservoir to draw on when it needs a new supply.
Whilst we are on the topic of protein there is a big misunderstanding or myth that extra protein builds more muscle. In fact, the only way to build muscle is through exercise. Bodies need a modest amount of protein to function well. Extra protein doesn’t give you extra strength.
Many people have also jumped on the high-protein/low-carb bandwagon. Many people seem to have great results but it’s important to know that when people eat lots of protein but few carbohydrates, their metabolisms change into a state called ketosis. Ketosis means the body converts from burning carbs for fuel to burning its own fat. When fat is broken down, small bits of carbon called ketones are released into the bloodstream as energy sources. Ketosis, which also occurs in diabetes, tends to suppress appetite, causing people to eat less, and it also increases the body’s elimination of fluids through urine, resulting in a loss of water weight.
But high protein low carb diets consumed by many tends to involve the consumption of high levels of animal protein as oppose to plant protein as it has a lower carbohydrate content and these forms of animal protein tend to have a high fat content and thus lead to an increased fat consumption which in the long run can have a negative impact on ones heart health and can increase the risk of heart diseases and strokes.
In my next post, I’ll talk about the good forms of each Macronutrient, What to eat, BMI, metabolism and more.
Thank you for reading and have a lovely day,
Noor
P.S Feel free to leave any questions, comments or suggestions below
HealthyScientist 