What Food is Made Of: Macronutrients

This article is part of our Empowered Eating series — a beginner-friendly guide to understanding nutrition basics and applying them in your everyday life.

In our journey to better understand our nutrition and improve our eating habits, it is important to understand what the food we are eating is made of.

You may or may not have heard the term macronutrient before. To put it simply, the food we eat is comprised of macronutrients. Therefore, it is important to understand how each of these affects your body and how they can help you reach your health and wellness goals!

The Big 3 Macronutrients

There are three main types of macronutrients — or “macros” for short. These macronutrients include protein, carbohydrates, and fats. It is important to note that alcohol is also a macronutrient but we will be focusing on the three found in most foods.

Macros are nutrients your body needs in large amounts to function. They provide energy for your body in the form of calories, and play essential roles in building, fueling, and maintaining your body¹.

1. Protein

Roles: Builds and repairs muscle tissue, supports the immune system, and ensures proper hormone and enzyme function¹.

1 gram of protein = 4 Calories

Sources: chicken, fish, eggs, tofu, Greek yogurt, beans

Protein is the macronutrient you most likely have heard of and correlate with health. People looking to grow muscle and/or lose weight will often prioritize protein in their diets, as they should!

It has been shown that a higher protein intake helps preserve lean body mass during weight loss² as well as promotes fullness³, making a high-protein diet very helpful for someone looking to lose weight. Protein is also necessary for your body to repair and build muscle⁴. Regardless of how hard you train, if you are not providing your body the protein it needs to grow then you will not gain muscle⁴. Intense training sessions can even lead to muscle loss if not eating enough protein⁴. A general rule of thumb that is helpful to remember is to aim to consume about 0.7g of protein for every lbs of bodyweight⁵, this will help ensure you are getting sufficient protein and not missing out potential muscle gains.

2. Carbohydrates (sugars)

Role: Your body’s primary energy source. Carbs fuel your brain, muscles, and organs⁶.

1 gram of carbs = 4 Calories

Sources: rice, oats, fruits, bread, legumes, potatoes

A lot of popular diet trends recommend cutting carbs completely to lose weight, but this is not a good idea. One very important reason is that your brain uses carbs exclusively for energy⁶, so if you are not getting sufficient carbohydrates, you are likely to experience headaches and brain fog. Carbs are also the main fuel source your muscles use during training⁷, so eating some carbs before you workout will lead to better performance and results! Not to mention, a low-carb diet can feel very restricting and is almost always unsustainable in the long run. In fact, carbs are so important for your body that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that 45–65% of your daily calories come from carbohydrates⁵.

Although carbs are necessary for your body to function at its best, not all carbs are created equal. Compared to simple carbs (like candy, white rice, or fruit juice), complex carbs (like whole grain bread/rice, lentils, and vegetables) offer longer-lasting energy, fullness, and contain fiber⁸. Not to mention, simple carb foods, like sweets and sodas, are often very high in calories and low in nutrients like fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Consuming too many simple carbs leads to a much greater chance of developing health conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease⁹. So try your best to have fruits, whole grains (brown rice, oatmeal, whole-grain bread), and starchy vegetables (potatoes, beans, corn) make up the majority of your carb intake instead of sweets like donuts, soda, and ice cream.

3. Fats (lipids)

Role: Supports brain health, hormone production, cell structure, and long-term energy¹⁰.

1 gram of fat = 9 Calories

Sources: salmon, avocado, nuts, seeds, olives, eggs, cheese

Fats are often seen as completely unhealthy but just like with carbs, fats are completely necessary for our bodies to function optimally. Fats we eat help with cellular development and structure¹⁰, nutrient absorption¹¹, and hormone production¹².

However, similar to carbs, not all fats are equal. We can group fats into 3 types: unsaturated fats, saturated fats, and trans fats. And to make it easy to remember how much of each fat you should get in your diet, you can think of these 3 fats as a color on a traffic light. Unsaturated fats (green) are the healthiest of the three and should make up most of your fat intake. Unsaturated fats (sometimes further broken down into: monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat) have been linked to reduced inflammation and improved heart health¹³. Saturated fats (yellow) are necessary in small amounts to ensure proper functioning of your cell membranes, especially in the brain¹², but can have adverse health effects when consumed in excess. Trans fats (red) only harm your health and should be avoided as much as possible. Trans fats are linked to an increased risk of heart attack, coronary heart disease, and diabetes¹⁴.

A healthy range is to have fats make up no more than 20-35% of your total daily calories⁵, and according to the American Heart Association no more than 6% of your daily calories should come from saturated fats¹⁵. Recommended foods that are high in unsaturated (healthy) fats include salmon, sardines, walnuts, and avocados.

Conclusion: Why This Matters for Your Health Goals

When you understand what food is made of, you:

• Can eat foods you enjoy without feeling restricted

• Build meals that support your health goals

• Improve confidence and control in your eating decisions

Now that you understand how each of the three main macronutrients contributes to building your body, you can be more mindful of the foods you eat and what they are made of. You need to recognize that your body is created by the food that you consume, and start treating food as fuel to help you reach you goals.

References

1. Carreiro, A. L., Dhillon, J., Gordon, S., Higgins, K. A., Jacobs, A. G., McArthur, B. M., Redan, B. W., Rivera, R. L., Schmidt, L. R., & Mattes, R. D. (2016). The macronutrients, appetite, and energy intake. Annual Review of Nutrition, 36, 73–103. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-nutr-121415-112624 

2. Leidy, H. J., et al. (2015). The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 101(6), 1320S–1329S. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.114.084038 

3. Halton, T. L., & Hu, F. B. (2004). The effects of high protein diets on thermogenesis, satiety and weight loss: A critical review. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 23(5), 373–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2004.10719381 

4. Phillips, S. M. (2014). A brief review of higher dietary protein diets in weight loss: A focus on athletes. Sports Medicine, 44(S2), 149–153. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-014-0254-y  

5. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2020). Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 (9th ed.). https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov 

6. Institute of Medicine. (2005). Dietary reference intakes for energy, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, fatty acids, cholesterol, protein, and amino acids. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK56068/ 

7. Kerksick, C. M., et al. (2017). International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: Nutrient timing. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14, 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-017-0189-4 

8. Schwingshackl, L., et al. (2017). Food groups and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. European Journal of Epidemiology, 32(5), 363–375. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-017-0246-y 

9. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (n.d.). Types of fat. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-and-cholesterol/types-of-fat/ 

10. Calder, P. C. (2015). Marine omega-3 fatty acids and inflammatory processes. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids, 1851(4), 469–484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbalip.2014.08.010 

11. Reboul, E. (2013). Vitamin A and fat absorption: New insights into the role of fat as a vitamin A carrier. Nutrition, 29(7–8), 964–969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2012.11.012 

12. Saini, R. K., & Keum, Y. S. (2018). Omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids: Dietary sources, metabolism, and significance — A review. Life Sciences, 203, 255–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2018.04.049 

13. Lichtenstein, A. H., et al. (2006). Diet and lifestyle recommendations revision 2006: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee. Circulation, 114(1), 82–96. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.106.176158 

14. Mozaffarian, D., et al. (2006). Trans fatty acids and cardiovascular disease. The New England Journal of Medicine, 354, 1601–1613. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMra054035 

    
    

15. American Heart Association. (n.d.). Saturated fat. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/fats/saturated-fats