Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The Central Macronutrients Of Nourishment

By Vincent A McDonald

Food can be a puzzling topic for the ordinary individual. Of course we have all heard about vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and fiber, complex carbohydrates and sugars but how does it all fit collectively?

The macronutrients of protein, fat and carbohydrates are the necessary building blocks of all nutrition. We all require macronutrients to stay alive. There are people who may favor one of another of the macronutrients but a wholesome, balanced diet has a good mix of all three.

The macronutrients are fat, protein and carbohydrates. They provide the calories our bodies need to stay alive. Carbohydrates and protein provide 4 calories per gram while fat provides 9 calories per gram. A calories is the measurement of the energy content of food and it is in effect the total of heat energy mandatory to raise the temperature of 1g of water 1 degree Celsius.

Due to the surplus calories in fat it was long believed that the additional fat that we ate was the foremost cause of the extra fat on our bodies. It turned out that this explanation was exceedingly simplistic. The fat on our bodies is caused by a number of different factors including the ingestion of too many total calories be they from fat, carbohydrates or protein.

Protein is basic as it is the building block of all of the tissues in our bodies and it is vital to all of the processes within our cells. Protein is found in eggs, dairy products, meats and fish but there are also some great plant sources of protein including beans, legumes and especially soybeans.

Carbohydrates offer the main source of energy for our bodies. Carbohydrates are changed into sugar in our bloodstreams which provides the energy we need to function. There are simple carbohydrates, such as pastries and candy, white sugar and white flour products and complex carbohydrates, which are the whole grains and vegetables. Complex carbohydrates are superior to simple carbohydrates in that they break down slowly and provide us with continuous energy while simple carbohydrates break down quickly and cause an energy rush followed by greater than before hunger later on.

Fat has long been the most misaligned of the three macronutrients. However fat is basic for our bodies. There are bad fats and good fats. The bad fats are the saturated fats from animal products and the "fake" fats or the trans fats that are created by hydrogenation. The good fats or the healthy fats are the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as those found in olive oil, peanut oil and canola oil and also the fat that is found in nuts and seeds, avocados, olives and the acai berry.

Macronutrients are the main construction blocks of all food and the micronutrients, such as the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber are all found within the macronutrients.

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