Being biased towards strength and obtaining that strength via barbells you’d think the first post on this site would about strength. It seems that most people are so confused about these simple macronutrients in foods that I figured I would make the introductory post about them. And hopefully it’s very simple and understandable. After you read this piece your grandmother should be able to understand it.
This is not medical advice. Just a simple “non-sciency” explanation of what the macronutrients are. Yes each of these nutrients have a certain effect on the body and can affect some people differently so try not to latch onto an explanation with the vigor of Thor getting turned on by his hammer. These explanations are simple, and “non-sciency”. Kinda like the flat-earth folk.
Protein
Protein is one of the building blocks of life. It’s made up of amino acids connected together like a chain on a chemical level. It is an essential nutrient, meaning you need it for survival. Think of protein as the little worker that goes and builds and repairs your muscles and tissues in your body after you exercised. Protein is involved in a long list of processes in the human body but for the sake of our explanation just know they help repair your body after you did some sweaty workout.
If you want to know if something is a protein, ask yourself this: “Did this piece of food come from something that had a face or legs in its previous life?”. If the answer is yes, you’re done, eat it. Except for eggs, technically not developed yet but you can just imagine an egg hatching and there you have a chick with legs and a face. Buying enough meat to make sure you have a protein source on your plate for every meal of the day can be expensive for some. A popular way to supplement your protein intake is to use Whey Protein. It’s a powder that is derived from the watery portion of milk and the good news is it’s a complete protein. It’s not special. It won’t
give you beach body abs or huge muscles. It’s just a supplement for your overall daily protein needs because chicken/beef is expensive.
Protein is found in almost all other foods that didn’t come from animals, but those foods contain what is called incomplete proteins. 9 out of the 20 amino acids need to be ingested via food because your body can’t produce them. So if a vegetable, or peanut butter, or beans, have protein in it, it’s not “complete”. If you want to make sure you get all the essential amino acids
you have to eat a variety of foods to cover all 9. Or, if you are not a vegetarian or vegan, just eat foods that come from animals because any animal based protein source is already a complete protein.
Take away: If it had a face or legs in its past life, it’s a protein. Whey Protein is a good way to help supplement your daily protein needs if buying chicken/beef is too expensive to have a protein on your plate for every meal.
Carbohydrates aka “carbs”
The first thing you need to know is that carbs aren’t bad. Understood? The low-carb/keto zealots would have you believe they’re the new version of the boogeyman and you’ll die if you eat a doughnut. They’re only bad because the late night over-tanned-steroid-dude told you so, and maybe your mother, or your friends, or all three. The second thing to know is that carbs are not considered “essential” meaning you don’t need them to survive. But, they have benefits.
They come in many forms. Everyday items are stuff like bread, pasta, oats, fruit, candy, chocolate, tortillas, rice, potatoes, snack bars, biscuits, baked goods. On a chemical level you get different types, but what they all have in common is they end up as sugar in the body after digestion. Glucose, to be more accurate. It provides energy to your brain and organs and it’s the preferred fuel source for activities. You can also store it in a form called glycogen in your liver and muscles. Think of it as your body being smart enough to store the fuel if it doesn’t need to use it right now. Like during that Brazillian Booty Pop workout your passive-aggressive sister in law bought you.
Take away: “Carbs” come in different forms but they end up as sugar(glucose) after digestion. You can store them (called glycogen) in your liver and muscles for later if your body doesn’t need it right now. Carbs are the preferred fuel over fat. THEY ARE NOT BAD FOR YOU.
Fat
This nutrient is found in a diversity of foods. You have to know the different forms of fat you get so that you can make sure to eat a variety of them. Saturated fats (SFA) are found mostly in animal meats (nice marble on a steak), dairy etc. Unsaturated fats have two categories: monounsaturated fat (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fat PUFA). MUFAs are plant based fats found in nuts, oils, avocados and some seeds. PUFA are found in foods like fatty fish, nuts and seeds. SFA was demonized back in the 80s but research has shown that it’s not actually that bad. But the guidelines are still to limit it to some extent and get more of your fats from MUFAs and PUFAs. Basically don’t shy away from eating that steak or
those eggs but make sure you eat some avocados, seeds, nuts, fatty fish and all that.
If you eat too many calories (energy from food), your body will store the excess in adipose, or fat cells. You don’t have control over where your body decides to store fat. That is determined by your genes. The reverse is also true, you don’t decide where your body takes fat off and burns for energy. You can’t do situps or booty kickbacks to burn fat on your belly or ass. Your
body decides where it takes fat from first. Anyone telling you that you can do some exercise to burn fat in a specific area is bullshitting you.
Fats play an important part in cells and in hormonal balance. They play a big part in testosterone as well. Does this mean if you eat tons of fat it will give you more testosterone?
Nope. According to Layne Norton in his book ‘Fat Loss Forever’, just eating a non-deficient level of fat will be enough. According to Layne, research says about 20% of your calories.
Take away: Fat is essential for a lot of cell and hormone function. Eat a variety of your fats from SFA, MUFAs and PUFAs and don’t feel guilty when you eat a nice fatty steak or some scrambled eggs and cheese.
Fiber
The gist about fiber is that there is a portion of some carbs that can’t be broken down by the digestive enzymes. There are two types but we’re not going to worry about which type we’re gonna eat(or not eat) for now. What you need to know is fiber is good for the poop shoot. It adds bulk to food and makes you sit on the throne regularly. It has many positive health benefits and if you want to know what, google is your friend. Sources of fiber are easy to identify. Green leafy veggies, broccoli, cabbage, and a lot of others.
When you decide which foods you want to try just google a big list of “foods containing fiber” and go pick a few from the grocery store to try. The important thing to note is that you eat some form of fiber every day. This can be easy to accomplish with a lunch salad and side salad during
dinner. Some sources have different numbers but overall 25g for women and 35g for men is sufficient fiber.
Take away: Fiber adds bulk to food and is resistant to digestion. It is good for the poop shoot and has a lot of health benefits.
In Summary
I hope the simple overview of each macronutrient type is clear now. I have to make a point here to tell you that most of your foods need to come from whole and unprocessed foods. Get 80% of your groceries from the outside skirts of the store. You know, where the veggies, fruits, meats
and dairy products are. What are the other 20%? You guessed it. The treats and foods you like to eat. Just make sure it’s not the ONLY thing you’re eating.
