This week: Macronutrients…the elements of nutrition
Did you ever look jealously at the woman who gave birth three weeks ago and somehow is able to fit back into her skinny jeans, and wonder, “why not me?!” Yeah. I’ve totally been there too. Losing weight after having a baby can be really difficult, but not impossible! Depending on our genetic makeup, how physically fit we were prior to the pregnancy, how much weight we may have gained, how much stress we are dealing with in our lives, whether or not we are getting enough (or any) sleep, and hormonal factors, losing weight after a baby can take a long time. And this is OK! Personally, I have never been able to lose all of the pregnancy weight within a couple of months. It has usually taken about one year, with all three kids. However, even though it took a long time I was still able to do it, primarily through good nutrition. Exercise is important too, but nutrition is is the key factor in promoting sustainable weight loss and a healthy body. Isn’t that what we all want?
In this series, I want to discuss the foods and nutrients we should include in our diets and what we need to avoid so that we can lose fat, look great, and rock our skinny jeans too! Oh. One more thing. The ultimate goal for postpartum weight-loss and weight-loss in general, in my humble opinion, should not be to get as skinny as possible and fit into a size zero. We all have different body types and healthy weights and sizes for those body types. If you feel healthy and vibrant and awesome, and are a size 14, then this is great! By the way, they make skinny jeans in size 14 too!
Let’s get sciency! (Ok…I know sciency isn’t really a word, but I like it!)
What the heck are macronutrients?
You may have heard the term “macronutrients” or have been told to eat a certain “macronutrient ratio” in order to lose weight or build muscle. But what are macronutrients and why are they important to be aware of? Macronutrients are the elements of nutrition, and are necessary for our bodies to function at a basic level, and provide us with energy. These nutrients are proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. Additionally the water that we drink and air that we breathe are needed by our bodies as well.
Carbohydrate
Although carbohydrates often get a bad rap, they are a necessity in everyone’s diet. They provide energy for both the body and the brain, help us to store energy, and help us to metabolize fat. Complex carbohydrates are wonderful for sustained energy and blood sugar regulation, since they take longer to digest. This can be quite helpful for weight loss. Beyond weight-loss and blood sugar regulation, complex carbohydrates are necessary for various basic functions of the body. Some of these include: mineral absorption, digestive health, formation of fatty acids, and immune function support.
Starches specifically, a type of complex carbohydrate, help to regulate blood sugar. This is the category that many nutrient-dense carbohydrates fall under, such as sweet potatoes, white potatoes, root vegetables, squash, and plantains. These are full of vitamins and minerals, and help us to fuel our bodies, while sustaining blood sugar.
Dietary fiber, another type of complex carbohydrate, is important to the daily functions of our bodies, including the growth and activity of healthy bacteria within the digestive system, and food moving through the digestive tract. Also, fiber is known to assist with weight loss, blood pressure, cholesterol and constipation. Additionally, a lot of research has been done on resistant starches, a type of fiber, which has been found to help with sugar cravings, weight loss, digestion, insulin sensitivity, and blood sugar regulation. This is because amylase, an enzyme which breaks starch into glucose, doesn’t work on resistant starches and therefore, they are resistant to digestion. Resistant starches are also prebiotic, which feeds the probiotic bacteria that are essential for healthy intestinal flora and gut health. Some great sources of resistant starch are green plantains and bananas, potato starch and white rice.
So do we need to eat a lot of carbohydrates to reap all of these benefits? It depends on various personal factors, such as: stage of life, weight goals, whether pregnant or lactating, and activity level. Many sources tout the benefits of a low carbohydrate diet for weight loss and for various health conditions such as seizures, and autoimmune conditions. While these benefits are real, women in particular need to be careful when going “low carb”, since their bodies need a certain level for basic functions such as hormone regulation and fertility. For more information about this, here is a great article by Stefani Ruper, of Paleo for Women.
Protein
Protein, another macronutrient, is also vital for numerous basic bodily functions. Some of these functions include the formation of enzymes that catalyze metabolism, as well as many of the hormones that regulate body chemistry. Protein also serves as a back up energy source to carbohydrates and fats, helps to normalize an acid-alkaline balance within the body, and it also helps to create body tissues.
Additionally, amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein, are responsible for countless bodily processes. Each amino acid, plays an important role in the daily well-being and inner workings of our bodies at a cellular level. Wound healing, immune function, hormonal balancing, growth, neurotransmissions, and tooth health are just a few of the many essential jobs and amino acids accomplish. In fact, even RNA and DNA cannot be created without protein. So it is clear that we need protein in our diets in order to complete these important tasks. High quality sources of dietary protein are especially important, since our bodies do not make the essential amino acids on their own. Animal products contain all 20 of the amino acids and should be consumed only if they are of the highest quality – – that is, organic, grass-fed, pastured – – if at all possible. A carefully planned vegetarian diet can also provide adequate protein, since nearly every vegetable, legume, seed, and nut contain some amount of protein. However, I do not recommend this in most cases.
Fat
Fats, which are often demonized by the media and dieters alike, also play a vital role in our health and well-being. Fats are part of every cell membrane and organ tissue, are important to our nervous system, insulate us and protect our vital organs, regulate body temperatures and transport nutrients. Fat gives us energy and contains over twice the amount of calories per pound than carbohydrates, which can be stored for months. Moreover, our brains are predominantly made up of fat! As if this wasn’t enough information to convince anyone who is afraid to eat fat, we also need fat in our diet in order to absorb certain fat-soluble vitamins.
Omega-3’s anyone?
Fatty acids are the building blocks of fat. They are categorized by different types, saturated and unsaturated. As with amino acids, each type of fatty acid plays an essential role within the daily processes of our bodies. For instance, short chain fatty acids are important for colon health, while medium chain fatty acids help with energy production. These both fall under the category of saturated fatty acids. Within the category of unsaturated fatty acids, we have polyunsaturated fatty acids, which contain both linoleic and alpha-linoleic acids. These are important for normal growth, especially growth of blood vessels, nerves, and for keeping skin and other tissues lubricated.
Omega-3 fatty acids also fall under the category of Polyunsaturated fatty acids. Omega-3’s have been popularized within the health industry for all of their benefits. Among their many benefits are their ability to help reduce inflammation, which is the cornerstone of many diseases. The list goes on for conditions that can be mitigated or treated with omega-3s. As with carbohydrates, women need to make sure that they are consuming adequate amounts of fat in their diets for reproductive health and fertility. This means you momma!
Perhaps the most important thing to remember about dietary fats are the sources we get them from. Since fat is where most toxins tend to accumulate in humans and animals, we need to be very careful about eating only the highest quality animal fats. This would include grass-fed tallow, pastured lard, pastured egg yolks and grass-fed butter. Of course high quality is also important when it comes to plant derived fats, such as organic coconut and hemp oils. See? Julia Child had it right when she recommended cooking with so much butter!
Since they are so vital to the health and functioning ability of our bodies, I consider water and oxygen equally as important as macronutrients.
Water
Since water comprises at least 60% of our bodies, and is a primary component of all bodily fluids, it is a necessary and life-giving nutrient. Water helps us to heal wounds, to detox, and moisten bodily tissues. It carries electrolytes, and helps to dissolve minerals and other nutrients, making them available to the body. These are just a few of the ways that water helps our bodies to function. As with every other nutrient we consume, it is very important to monitor quality. Since we drink water throughout the day, (at least we should!) we need to be aware of the possible contaminants that get into our drinking water. Some of these are: pharmaceutical run-off, pesticides, chorine, and the list continues! Finding a good quality water filter can help to improve the quality and safety of our water.
Oxygen
Without oxygen, humans and most life forms would cease to exist. We breathe it in continually throughout the day, and it supplies our blood with oxygen. Clearly, a nutrient that we are so dependent upon must be the best quality possible. While it is not possible for all of us to move to a low-pollution area, or buy an expensive home air filter, we can mitigate our risks in smaller, less expensive ways. Since many air pollutants exist within our homes, this could entail opening our windows daily to let air circulate, getting rid of toxic household supplies and home products such as candles, perfumes, and air fresheners, and also adding some natural air filters into our environment, such as plants.
As you can see, macronutrients are integral to the inner workings of our bodies and to good health. We need to make sure that we are including high quality carbohydrates, proteins, and fats into our diets to make sure that our bodies can complete their functions at a most basic level. Of course, we have no choice but to include water and air into our “diets”, but we must try to obtain the highest quality possible. Collectively, these nutrients help us to have strong, radiant and healthy bodies.
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