Understanding macronutrients
Proteins, fats and carbs – three words that are very popular today, everyone talks about them and seems to make a big deal out of them. But what are they? And what makes them so important? These are key elements in our diet, and understanding them is a must, in order to have a proper nutrition and healthy life. They are known as macronutrients, they have an important role in our body, and our diets should always contain the proper amounts of each one of them. They should not be confused with micronutirents though, because these are a slightly different story.
To get a better understanding of the difference between them, let’s put it this way: macronutrients (fats, carbohydrates, proteins) are the ones that are required by our bodies in large amounts, and micronutrients(for example vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and so on) are the ones that are needed by our bodies in smaller amounts. The reason why proteins, fats and carbs need to be consumed in large quantities, is because they are the ones that provide our body with energy. Still, we need to keep an eye on them and also consume them in moderate quantities, because macronutrients contain calories, and overeating them will cause us to gain in weight, because our metabolism cannot process them as fast as we would want, and the leftovers will be deposited as fats throughout our bodies. To put this into perspective, here’s how much calories per gram each macronutrient contains:
- Proteins contain 4 calories per gram
- Fats contain 9 calories per gram
- Carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram
Proteins
Proteins are surely one of the most vital things in our body, and lots of our bodily functions depends on them. For example, our skin, blood, muscles and bones are containing a very high quantity of proteins, and they help our body grow, repair itself, break down the food, and many other things. Proteins are made out of amino acids, which are responsible for creating “life”. But what does this have to do with our nutrition and way of eating? Simply put, there are three kinds of amino acids: essential amino acids, conditional amino acids and non essential amino acids, meaning that the essential ones cannot be produced by our bodies, and we have to take it from our food. The non essential ones are not so important as the other ones as the name implies, because our body can produce them itself. The conditional ones are only required in certain situations, for example when we suffer from an illness.
This is why is important to have a various diet, because there are thousands of kinds of proteins out there, and our body needs as much as them as possible. For example, meat and eggs are good sources of proteins of animal provenience, but there are also vegetarian protein sources such as tofu, soy, nuts, seeds and beans. Another good example of protein sources are protein shakes, which many specialists say they are a must when it comes to workouts and muscle gain.
Carbohydrates
Next stop are carbohydrates, or how many people call them, carbs. You may have heard people talking about carbs, as in a negative thing and associated with weight gain. But are carbs really that bad? No, in fact, they are very important for our body. Carbs won’t make you fat, too many carbs and a lack of physical exercise will make you fat. More exactly, carbs are the fiber, starch and sugar that’s contained in the food we eat, which are some of the most important sources of energy for our body. There are two kinds of carbohydrates: simple and complex. The simple ones are containing one or two kinds of sugars, whereas the complex ones contain three or more kinds of sugar. Another difference between them is how fast the sugars contained by them are processed, but also their chemical structure. The “good” carbs, or the ones that are recommended are complex, because when broken down by the body, they will release a more stable and durable source of energy. It’s also good to mention that carbs also make our brain healthier and it has a positive influence over your memory, mood and complex thinking.
Some people opt for low carbs diets, in order to have more control over their weight, or to lose weight. This can be a helpful method, but it’s always recommended to have them in moderation all the times. Too many carbs can make us gain weight really fast and cause health issues, whereas not enough carbs can cause as well issues, such as digestive system problems. Some sources of carbohydrates are: oatmeal, bananas, potatoes, broccoli, berries, bread, and the list can go on.
Fats
Similar to carbohydrates, in the modern times, fats are demonized by a lot of people, who try to eat as much as low-fat foods as possible, and usually link fat with obesity and other health issues. But again, fat is not all that bad. In fact, your body needs fat, and fat can be very healthy. Being one of the primarily three sources of energy for your body, fat is essential in a lot of bodily functions. In order to keep it healthy, we must keep an eye on what kind of fats we eat and in how much quantity, because moderation is always the key.
Healthy fats are highly nutritious, and have a wide range of benefits for our body. They can significantly reduce the risk of many potential health hazards, such as: heart disease and stroke. Good fats are also called natural fats, because they are basically unrefined animal and fish fats, but also from some vegetables such as olives, nuts, avocados, etc. The most beneficial fats are mono saturated and saturated fats, because they have a higher concentration of Omega 3s. Some good sources of fats are: avocados, extra virgin olive oil, fish such as wild salmon, nuts and seeds.
Unhealthy fats or also known as trans fats, they are found in foods that contain hydrogenated vegetable oils. These can raise the level of bad cholesterol (LDL) in your body, cause heart disease or stroke, and cannot be fully burned by the body, causing the leftover fats that were not burned to be deposited in your arteries. These fats unfortunately are largely consumed by the public, but it’s important to know that without moderation, they can be a serious threat to our health. These fats are usually found in things like margarine, highly processed butter, fried foods such as fast foods, deep fried foods, french fries, baked foods such as pastry, cake or cookies, snacks.
