What Is A Macronutrient?
And why they matter for nutrition success
A macronutrient is simply the composition of the foods we eat. They are protein, fat, and carbohydrates and form the nutrient makeup of everything we consume.
They are often villainized for their role in the obesity epidemic, but the macronutrient makeup of food is nothing more than what it is. There are very few types of macronutrients that are inherently bad for you, such as trans fats. For most people, the poison is in the dose, as overeating any single type of macronutrient can lead to poor overall health outcomes. Understanding how they affect total caloric intake, personal eating preferences, and behavioral patterns is the key to controlling obesity. Many people lose weight and remain lean without fully understanding macronutrients.
However, as you’ll read below, learning about what they are and where they come from will help control and direct the types and amount of macronutrients you consume daily.
“Combinations of different foods, macronutrients, and fiber (which costs calories to process, too) will influence how much energy is required to digest the meal and what your net caloric profit actually is.” — Shawn Stevenson, Eat Smarter: Use the Power of Food to Reboot Your Metabolism, Upgrade Your Brain, and Transform Your Life
