Eat Real Food: Macronutrients

Last week we discussed this crazy idea of “real food”. We went over tips on how to recognize what real food really is, and how to find it. To recap, the 5 tips are:

1. Food should be recognizable
2. Make sure you read labels: can you pronounce the words?
3. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store
4. Shop at Farmer’s markets when possible
5. Good food should make you feel good!!!

So, let’s go a little deeper and discuss what the macronutrients are. Macronutrients are fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. All of them have an important role in our lives, but the right balance, I believe is what really trips people up. Let’s break them down and see them for what they really are!

Proteins: Proteins are good for you. They help maintain and restructure weight. They help keep blood sugar from rising too much or dropping too fast. They help you concentrate because you won’t feel the spike and dip in that blood sugar. They rebuild and build muscles. They help maintain energy levels.

Carbohydrates: Carbs are tricky. They are so tricky that they often disguise themselves. They hide in fruit and starchy foods, (like sweet potatoes). This is what we know about carbs: they raise blood sugar and carbs, aka grains, cause visceral fat, or fat that resides on organs and around the abdomen, not great. The name of the game is keep blood sugar under control. We want to be fat burners not carb, aka sugar burners.

Fats: We need fat, but we MUST change the way we think about fats. Fats don’t make you fat! We have been created with this amazing little biochemical called a lipoprotein, whose purpose is to transport lipids (fats) throughout the body. Good fats fill you up, they are satstifying, they make your skin look and feel younger, they help with the immune system and concentration and much more!

If weight loss is among your goals, one especially powerful strategy is to purposefully load up on (healthy) fats to induce satiety, thereby reducing your desire to take in more calories.” Dr. William Davis, Undoctored.

5 Tips for Understanding Macronutrients:

1. Don’t be afraid of eating healthy fats!
2. Limit your overall carb load
3. Carbs hide
4. You want to be insulin sensitive, not insulin resistant. (Meaning, you want your body to respond the way it was meant to respond to the release of the hormone insulin.)
5. Proteins build you up, physically and emotionally.