In the human diet, our food consists of, 3 primary macro nutrients.
- Fat
- Protein
- Carbohydrate
A lot of media and hype surrounds macros and which ones you should eat and what you should completely avoid.
You should never completely eliminate a whole macro group.
In the 90's we were told all fat is bad and makes you fat. (False)
The new macro to bash and eliminate currently, is carbs. (False)
We will break it down for you below, on why you need each macro group.
Its all about choosing the correct foods to find the required macros.
We can not live without eating all three of these macros.
Each of the 3 macros provides an important and distinct role in our body.
What macros help with:
Control weight
Balance hormones
Immunity
Growth and development
Protein
Protein helps to form and maintain muscle mass, provide energy for our cells and our brain function.
It also helps control satiety, the feeling of being full.
Deficiency in protein can contribute to weakness, mood changes, trouble sleeping, ;anxiety, and muscle weakness.
Fat:
Healthy fats are an essential part of our diets. They plan a key role in weight managment and regulation of hormone production.
It is best to get a variety of fats, that are naturally occurring in whole foods.
Eating the wrong fats will cause weight gain, inflammation, hormone disruption, and a decline in health.
Eating the right fats helps skin and organ health, hormone balance, vitamin absorption, digestion, satiety, and energy levels.
The different types of good fats are:
Mono unsaturated: olives and its oil, avocado and its oil, nuts
Saturated: grass fed beef, dairy, coconut oil. MCT oil.
Poly unsaturated: fatty fish, nuts, cold pressed seed oils (hemp, pumpkin)
Don't eat vegetable oils like: canola oil, soybean oil, palm oil, sunflower oil.
Carbs:
Carbs are the new kid on the block to hate.
The reason for this is that sugar and processed junk, consists of mostly carbs.
Think about any junk food or treat you like.
It most likely contains carbs, as well as other bad oils and chemicals that make you want more.
Refined ( processed) carbs, release glucose into the blood stream more quickly than good starch.
This leads to increased cravings, and over eating.
But, we can not vilify this whole macro group based on the above information.
Carbs are the bodies preferred energy source, and the only source for your brain.
We like to break down carbohydrates into 2 groups:
Vegetables and Starch
Vegetables are a group that provides us with fiber (regulates digestion and increases metabolism)
and micro nutrients and minerals that are essential to proper body function and regulation.
The amount of calories in vegetable is essentially what your body burns, to digest it.
This means, eat as much as you like.
Some vegetables will fall under healthy starches.
Healthy starches:
This is where we get the energy source for our muscle and brain power.
Grains-- Quinoa, Steel cut oats, Rice, millet
Vegetables --sweet potatoes, yams, potatoes, squash.
Fruits -- fruits can be starchy and some have higher sugar than others. Eat them but don't go crazy.
We recommend eating 1-2 portions of fruit / day in order to reap the benefits of the fiber and micro nutrients they provide.
Some people prefer not to eat grains, that's fine, just make sure to get starchy vegetables and fruit in, to balance your plate.
If you workout at all, you need starch.
If you fail to eat starches in your diet, you may slowly lose fat but you will surely lose muscle. (NOT good)
However, they are not the only energy source.
Your body can convert fat and protein into energy if it has to.
That is why it is important to get your portion sizes under control and get the quality of carbs you are eating down,
as the foundation of your nutrition plan.
Once we have this in place, we can start to shift the amount and the timing of carb ingestion, to get the body to do different things,
like, lose fat, gain muscle, gain energy, and recover, when we want it to.
Your body requires certain things in food to survive.
If the food you are eating is not providing you with the right macros and micro nutrients, it will keep giving you the hunger signal, hoping that the next thing you eat, will provide it with what it needs.
Processed refined foods lack essential nutrients that the body needs.
That is why eating a balanced, whole foods diet, rich in diversity, is so important.
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So just remember:
YOU NEED TO EAT ALL 3 MACRO GROUPS - in balance and variety.