Back in the Nutrition 101 series I did earlier this year I went through the basics of nutrition. I always think you can’t recap enough how important nutrition is because food is fuel and food is medicine. I wanted to do a little refresher for what I’m calling ‘Nutrient November’, so let’s do a quick refresher and go back to basics of Nutrition.
Instead of getting into the mechanisms of why we need certain nutrients, my aim for this article is to reiterate the basics of what a Nutrient Rich November will look like with actual, real food sources.
Macronutrients
Friendly reminder that macronutrients are what calories derive from. 1 gram of protein is 4 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrates is 4 calories, and 1 gram of fats is 9 calories. And even though alcohol is not a nutrient, 1 gram of alcohol is 7 calories. Calories are a unit of energy and we primarily get our energy from proteins, carbs, and fats. Each macro serves its own purpose which we’ll review below.
Protein
Protein is required for humans to eat because it is in all body tissues and our body cannot produce its own protein. We typically associate protein with muscle, but it is also essential for growth and repair of all of our body’s tissues. We also have enzymes which are proteins important for activating chemical processes in the body.
The building blocks of proteins are amino acids. We can get protein from both plant and animal sources, but animal sources are generally ‘complete’ protein sources whereas plant sources may be ‘incomplete’ in regards to the amino acid profile. You can pair different incomplete plant proteins together to compound into a complete protein.
Proteins take longer to digest than most carbohydrates which is why they keep us fuller for longer.
Fats
Dietary fats are required in body functioning for processes like hormone production, nutrient absorption, and healthy cell growth. Similar to protein, we cannot create dietary fats in our body so we need to consume them from our diet. Also similar to protein, fats take longer to digest and can keep us fuller longer. They’re also more caloric-ally dense and provide 9 calories per 1 gram of fat.
Fats are made up of fatty acids and glycerol. There are 4 classes: saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and trans-fat. We want to avoid trans fat and try to keep saturated fat under 10% of our daily calories.
The fats that are essential to our functioning and that we need to be sure to consume in our diet (because we cannot produce them in the body) are polyunsaturated fats - specifically Omega 3 and 6.
Carbohydrates
While carbs aren’t required for survival in the way that proteins and fats are (because our body can break down protein and fat for energy if necessary) they do contribute to maximal health.
Carbs can be starch, fiber, or sugar. Healthy diet patterns typically are high fiber, low added sugar. It’s recommended to limit added sugars to be 5-10% of our daily calories and to aim for 30 grams of fiber per day.
You’ll hear a lot about needing to limit “processed foods” which are also referred to as “refined" carbs” in which the fiber and micronutrients have been removed. Common examples of refined carbs are white bread and pasta. Unrefined carbs, like “whole grain” options, are typically good sources of fiber, micronutrients, and phytonutrients. While the calories may not differ greatly between a refined or unrefined carb, the whole grain or unrefined carb option is considered healthier because the beneficial nutrients are not lost in processing!
Guidelines for General Population
Our United States Department of Agriculture has come up with guidelines that they release for the public to guide how many carbs, fats, and proteins we should or shouldn’t have in our diet. These amounts are the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) from the USDA Dietary Guidelines for the generic population and are not specific to you. Discuss specifics with your medical professional.
★ CARBOHYDRATE - There’s a lot of varying recommendations out there, but from the USDA guidelines the current Recommended Daily Intake is 130 g carbs/day (520 calories)
★ FATS - There’s a lot of varying recommendations out there, but one of the most agreed upon is that daily recommended intake less than 10% from saturated fats
★ PROTEIN - there’s a lot of research coming out that the current recommended daily intake for protein is far too low, but lately there seems to be a good consensus that we should aim for 21 g protein @ each meal at 4 meals daily. If you don’t have 4 meals a day, try to at least find opportunities to have 21 g of protein 4x a day.
★ ALCOHOL - Not a ‘real’ macronutrient because no nutritional value, but still contribute to calories consumed hence ⇒ “empty calories”. 7 calories per gram. (Keep this in mind if you’re looking for somewhere to cut back on your calorie consumption!)