Macro-liscous! Breaking down Macro-nutrients

Macronutrients- Protein, Carbohydrates, and Lipids (Fats).

To most, these 3 things are just what they look like here, words. Let me tell you exactly what each macro-nutrient is, what it does for you, how it does it, and why it does it. I know most readers like to just have the concrete information about things rather than the complicated science behind it, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do for you curious George’s. Break everything down for you that your science teacher made so complicated. I’m going to make it bare-bones simple so everyone can understand what to put in their bodies, why, and how much of it and when. There will be a part 2 to this article down the road which will explain all of the biology and chemistry of macronutrients, but for now, let’s take it easy. Take off! Here we go!

Lipids

Fats (1 gram of fat = 9 calories of engery)
• Saturdated fats are solid at room temperature
• Saturated fats are refined so they are not used as a good source of energy
• Saturated fats should be eaten with moderation because it is harder to burn them off and whatever you don’t burn off turns into, well, fat.
• Saturated fats are the most important factor in raising someone’s cholesterol levels.
• Saturated fats are found in milk, eggs, meat, and butter, which is why it’s so important to watch how much saturated fat one takes in.
• Overall this should be the lowest macronutrient in your diet no matter what your goals are.
• Polyunsaturated Fats are liquid at room temperature
• These fats are found mostly in plants, soybeans, and nuts
• Very important in managing heart disease
• Essential to human health
• Very important to have these fats in your diet
• Monounsaturated Fats are liquid at room temperature
• Found in olive oils, peanut oils, and canola oils, nuts, seeds, and avocados.
• Good for preventing coronary heart diseases
• These are dietary fats, and should be consumed in higher grams than other fats.

Oils
• Vegetable oils (saturated)
• Canola oils (monounsaturated)
• Peanut oils (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated)
• Olive oils (monounsaturated)
• Safflower oils (saturated and polyunsaturated)

Proteins

The Bulding Blocks of Cells (1 gram of protien = 4 calories of engery)
The basic units of proteins are called amino acids. Amino acids do a wide variety of activities in the cell. You always hear the muscle-heads talking about protein and protein and protein, and there’s a reason for it. After a strenuous and long workout, you need proteins to rebuild torn muscle tissue so that you can recover and improve.
• Animal Protien - proteins that come from animals.
• Whey protein - usually in powder form, this protein contains many essential amino acids and is very good for healthy muscle tissue as well as the immune system.
• Soy protein - protein from soybeans.
• Casein protein - specialized protein found in cottage cheeses that has a different rebuilding effect on the muscles. It is a slow digesting protein and stays in the muscle cells longer than any other protein (My favorite protien!)

Carbohydrates

(1 gram of protein = 4 calories of energy} Carbohydrates are generally defined as the sugars and starches found in breads, cereals, fruits, and vegetables. During digestion, they are changed into glucose (simple sugar), which is stored in the liver until it is required to be used for energy. These are called glycogen stores.Here are the different types of carbohydrates:
• Monosaccharide - a single, or simple, sugar.
• Disaccharide - two monosaccharides joined together at the atomic level.
• Polysaccharide - known as complex carbohydrates, which are many glucose molecules linked together in a long chain.
• Carhohydrates are also starches and fibers.

That’s all I want to talk about macronutrients,..for now. This is a basic, yet advanced rundown of everything that goes, or should go, into your body. As you can see, for optimization, each of the sub-categories of the macronutrients must be consumed in different amounts. It is important to consume all kinds of fats (in different amounts), proteins (milk, animal, casein, whey), and carbohydrates. You can’t have an optimal base if you don’t eat all of the macronutrients. You want to be the best? Screw low-carb diets, screw high carb, low protein diets, screw low fat, high protein diets, well, you get the point. It is essential to get all of macronutrients into your body in different amounts in order to be on top of your game.

Well there it is, this is all I’m going to talk about for this part of the wonderful world of macronutrients. In part 2, there will be more scientific explanations and more in depth discussions of each macro and its sub-categories. For now, learn the basics, and then move on the advanced. WHEW!! A lot of info; hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! Now go and make yourself some food!!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 at 2:56 pm and is filed under Diet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.