A guide to understanding macronutrients: carbs, protein, & fat

A logical segue to my guide to understanding micronutrients is an entire post on understanding macronutrients: carbs, protein, and fat.

Talking about the small stuff (ie vitamins & minerals) made me miss the brawny players of nutrition. I’m that kinda nerd.

Macronutrients are all the hype, per se. The evil doers in the weight-loss world. The building blocks of heart-healthy or heart-killing diets. And they are:

• Carbohydrates

• Protein

• Fat

I hated biochemistry in college. I despised anything to do with metabolism (so many enzymes!). And I lost patience in nutrition classes because none of it applied to me, being unable to digest basic foods.

What’s a girl gotta do to get some answers around here? 

Do my own research, of course, but you couldn’t get me to do that back then. I was busy reading fantasy and watching anime.

Here’s what I learned on my journey. If something scares me, the trick is to stop running and learn about it. Become a subject matter expert.

And that’s what I’ve been doing with nutrition for 5 years.

So let’s dive into understanding the three groups of macronutrients: carbs, protein, and fat.

Macronutrients and Dietary Guidelines

The three musketeers of nutrition–carbs, protein, and fat–provide the bulk of energy we need from food. And we definitely eat them in bulk.

Here are some depressing stats.

The American Dietary Guidelines state that approximately 75% of the population doesn’t eat enough fruits, veggies, or healthy fats and “most” Americans eat too much sugar, bad fats, and sodium.

Health-wise, it’s no secret we’re in a bad place. Chronic diseases have soared over the last half-century, including obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. 

This impairs the quality of life of millions of people… and the associated healthcare costs put huge economical stress on the country. According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes costs around $327 billion dollars per year.

And that’s just diabetes!

These metrics from the American Heart Association show cardiovascular disease costs America $555 billion in 2016 and is projected to hit $1.1 trillion in 2035.

Holy shit.

Why am I telling you this? 

Because we need a wake-up call. Most Americans (and others worldwide) don’t eat right. 

In fact, this study found that nearly all Americans make poor diet choices, regardless of age, gender, race, and income, calling for “individual- and environmental-level interventions” so we don’t all die from disease.

People don’t know to educate themselves on nutrition, even though it’s the root cause of most illnesses in Western civilizations. Doctors don’t discuss diet with patients until the disease has already manifested, after which they prescribe a bottle of pills and call it a day.

Side note: if you guessed the pharmaceutical industry is making a killing out of this… you’re right!

So yeah, welcome to my blog. Let’s get educated.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are sugars, divided into two categories: complex and simple. They break down into glucose in the body–with the exception of fiber–and provide us with lots of energy.

• Simple carbohydrates, referred to as mono- or disaccharides, include sucrose (table sugar), lactose (milk sugar), fructose (fruit sugar), and glucose (the end-product after carbs are metabolized in the body). 
• Complex carbohydrates are larger molecules made of many monosaccharides, hence termed “polysaccharides”. These include starches, cellulose, and other fibers.

The important thing to remember about carbs is that they are sugars. Eating sugar prompts the body to release insulin, which pulls sugar out of the bloodstream and into our cells.

If insulin is having trouble doing this–which often happens if there’s too much fat buildup on cells–blood sugar remains high and insulin will continue to release.

As this study will tell you by the American Diabetes Association, high insulin levels cause an increase in blood cholesterol and promote plaque build-up in arteries, which leads to hypertension and heart disease. High insulin secretion also causes weight gain (adding even more fat on your cells) and diabetes.

In simple terms…

An unhealthy balance of carbs and fat = disease.

It’s essential to watch our carbohydrate intake, and not just in quantity. The type of carbohydrate is also important. Whole-grains, for example, have higher nutritional value than refined grains and don’t cause a spike in blood sugar after ingestion.

There’s definitely a lot to remember but the good news is we have access to free dietary resources all over the internet. One is the Glycemic Index.

The Glycemic Index (or GI) was developed by the University of Sydney to rank all foods on a scale of 0 to 100 based on the spike in blood sugar after eating. Plug in any food and and the index will give you its GI value. 

The lower the GI value, the better (fruits, vegetables, and whole-grains). 

Protein

Proteins are an essential part of our diet due to their numerous functions.

In the body, proteins break down into amino acids. There are 20 different amino acids, 9 of which are essential (meaning the human body can’t synthesize them on its own). 

Roles of amino acids include muscle growth, hormone and neurotransmitter production, enzyme synthesis, immune function, and energy production, to name a few.

A big source of protein is, of course… meat. But it doesn’t mean we should be gorging ourselves on it.

Too much protein can be detrimental to our health, especially if only obtained from meat. Not only are animals pumped full of hormones and antibiotics… but there’s a high chance of fecal contamination.

Plants don’t poop so that’s one less thing to worry about.

I won’t blab too much about meat and its dangers… that’s for another post. And I’m not saying all meat is bad. But below is some data. Food for thought (pun intended).

In this article, 22 scientists collated a list of studies to analyze the link between red meat consumption and mortality. They concluded that high red meat consumption is carcinogenic to humans and is linked to cardiovascular disease, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and prostate cancer.

This study found that replacing red meat with healthier sources of protein daily (such as nuts, legumes, or whole grains) reduced risk of mortality.

This study and this study talk about heterocyclic amines in cooked poultry and fish, which can lead to DNA damage and cancer.

Meat and fish aren’t the only source of protein. There’s plenty of it in vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, and a lot less carcinogens to boot.

Fats (lipids)

This word gets a bad rep and it makes me sad. Not only are fats delicious but they’re also good for us. As we’ll discuss, it’s the type of fat that matters, and of course the quantity.

Fats, or triglycerides, can be divided into 2 categories:

• Saturated fats contain carbons bound by single bonds in the fatty acid chain, totally saturated with hydrogen atoms.
• Unsaturated fats contain one or more double bonds in the carbon chain.

Isn’t chemistry boring?

Saturated Fats

It’s common knowledge that saturated fats are bad for us. But recent studies found that different saturated fats have different effects on the body. This meta-analysis found that the evidence is insufficient to link saturated fat intake with heart disease. And this study made a good point that our focus should be less on the chemistry of the fats and more on the source of intake, for instance focusing on whole grains, nuts, and vegetables rather than animal products and processed foods.

The way I see it, playing with saturated fat is like playing Russian roulette. Since not much is yet known–other than that too much is bad for us–might as well play it safe by limiting our intake ad focusing on healthy, plant-based foods.

Unsaturated Fats

Unsaturated fats are our “healthy fats”, with the exception of trans fats. 

Monounsaturated fats (one carbon double bond) or polyunsaturated fats (two or more carbon double bonds) usually come from plant sources, such as vegetable oils, seeds, and nuts. This is a good sign!

You might’ve heard of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, essential nutrients our bodies can’t produce on their own. It’s important to get these fats from food and many studies have shown they’re far better for us than saturated or trans fats. 

For example, this study found that replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and this study found that unsaturated fats can also improve cognitive function.

Experts on healthy fat choices are the Mediterranean folk (represent!). The Mediterranean diet has been linked to reduced risk of cancers and heart disease due to its richness in plant-based foods, seeds, nuts, and unsaturated fats such as extra-virgin olive oil. This study even found that a Mediterranean diet reduced the risk of mortality and disease for people aged 70-90 by more than 50%. 

Trans Fats

Although trans fats are technically unsaturated, the hydrogens on either side of the carbon double bond are on opposite sides, in the trans position.

Most trans fats are synthesized through the process of hydrogenation. Consumption leads to inflammation and increased blood cholesterol – LDL and HDL – and heart disease. 

It would be wise to stay away from candies, pastries, cakes, cookies, margarine, crackers, hydrogenated vegetable oils, and deep-fried foods.

Side note: beware of foods labeled “low fat” or “fat free”. The fat content in these products is usually replaced with starches and sugars which, as we already established, spike blood sugar levels, prompt insulin release, and increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. It’s advised to focus less on the fat content and more on the food itself by seeking heart-healthy whole-grain or plant-based products.

Conclusion

So what can we learn from this? I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be another statistic for a preventable disease.

It’s always good to refresh our understanding of macronutrients, and the biochemical role of carbs, protein, and fat. All are essential for good health… but it matters where they come from.

With any food, a good question to ask is: Did it sprout of the earth or was it made in a factory? Labels are often misleading and have only one purpose: to get the consumer to buy the product. So do your research.

Good nutrition calls for effort, but only in the beginning. Education is key and once you implement what you learn, it becomes a lifestyle. And that’s the goal.

Today’s Tunes: The Seed by AURORA