Simply Real: The Big Three

Over the past few weeks, I’ve discussed health and what makes food healthy in general terms. Remember, in trying to keep things simple, we’re going to define “healthy food” as the least processed and closest to natural food you can find, with the best natural nutritional value (the most vitamins and minerals!). It’s nothing fancy or super-special, and it’s not (at least it shouldn’t be) exclusive. Today, we’ll take it a step farther and look at the three “parts” of food we need to keep us going – and yes, we do need all three of them, despite whatever the fad diet of the moment says.

In nutrition science, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are all clumped together under a group called “macronutrients”, which pretty much means “large nutrients”. These three nutrients are responsible for providing us with calories (energy so we can live and breathe and do other amazing things) and building materials to help us grow, heal, and thrive. 

In the next post, I'll discuss micronutrients - vitamins and minerals, which participate in thousands of processes in our bodies every second of the day. How amazing is that???

Carbohydrates (Carbs)!

Sweet, sweet carbs (literally, they’re chemically made of sugars). My favorite food group of all, and what also seem to be the most evil of the food groups according to many popular diets. Many people believe that carbs are "bad" for you because of the misconception that carbs = potatoes, bread, and pasta. While it's true that those are all carbohydrate-rich foods, carbs as a nutrient group include way more than that! Take a look:

 

The problem with carbs in the American diet is that most of the carbs a lot of people eat are either super- processed, added to processed foods in the form of extra sugar and syrups. We also tend to cook and prepare carbs at home with a lot of extra stuff they don’t really need like oil, fat, and more fat. You’ll notice in the picture that carbs are also in fruits, vegetables, and grains; all foods that you’ve probably been told are healthy. And they are (even potatoes)! These forms of carbs all come with an extra health-kick, fiber. Fiber has all sorts of magical (science-y) benefits, like slowing down the rate your body takes in the sugar from the food you’ve eaten, and making you feel full faster so you don’t over eat.

Carbs also have great benefits of their own – they help proteins repair your muscles after working out, they help your brain function clearly, and they provide fast energy. The types of foods that carbs are in, like fruits and vegetables, also have high naturally occurring vitamin and mineral contents.

Proteins

Protein and I have a weird relationship. I appreciate it, but I’m not the protein super-fan that many Americans are. Don’t get me wrong, protein is extremely important for a healthy body, just like carbs and fats are: you can’t grow and thrive if you’re not getting enough protein regularly. It also has a role in more science-y stuff like building and activating enzymes (for digestion and many, many other things that happen in the body) and hormones. Thankfully, it’s actually quite easy to get enough protein.

 

The amount of protein you need depends on a lot of different things: if you’re growing (like a baby – they need lots of protein!), pregnant, sick, or an athlete, you might need more or less, but that’s a bit more advanced than we’ll go today. Generally, though, most Americans get more than enough protein every day.

Since you don’t actually need to eat an entire chicken to get enough protein every day, this also means that it’s totally realistic and actually very easy to eat enough protein without needing to eat meat. If you’re on a tight budget and can’t afford meat all the time (or if you don't eat meat for any other reasons), this is great news for you, and your family and friends who may question you dietary choices.

Fat

For some reason, protein tends to get all the love as a nutrient while carbs and fats have been turned into some kind of villains. The truth is that, yes, we need fat, too. The way we treat fat in our diets is very similar to how we treat carbs – we think they’re all “bad” because the types of fat we’re exposed to tends to be processed and not very nutritious. Think dairy products, shortening and oils, and fried foods. Fats, like carbs, are a beautifully misunderstood food group that offer many benefits for health: fats help our cells function, insulate the little telephone wires in our brains that help us think and move and feel, and even help us absorb certain vitamins!

There’s a lot of debate on what fats are “good” and what are “bad”. As usual, I personally prefer more plant-based like oils, nuts, seeds, and vegetables since they typically carry more nutritional value than animal-based fats do. I like to get the biggest bang for my buck when it comes to nutrients, so if I can get fat, protein, carbs, and some vitamins and minerals in one ‘lil nut butter, I’m all for it.

 

In each of the pictures, I’ve shown a few examples of different types of foods that I consider to be healthy with these three nutrients. Simply knowing which foods contain which nutrients is a huge help in planning healthy meals. Try creating a meal plan based off of the examples I’ve given, and don’t be afraid to try something new!