Fats, Proteins, Carbs, Vitamins And Minerals, You Need ALL of Them

I want to talk about why you need all macronutrients, and I threw in cholesterol for good measure because it still is controversial. 

I often hear of folks eliminating or reducing one or more of these from their diets. This refers to fats, carbs and proteins

Macronutrients

Fats

• Fats are a source of energy, which your body can also store for later use

• Essential fatty acids are dietary fats that are essential for growth development and cell functions

• Essential means they come from your diet, and your body can’t make them

• Our brains contain large amounts of essential fats

• Fats are important for maintaining healthy skin and other tissues. 

• Fats are needed for absorbing fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K so you can use them

Protein

• Protein is needed for building and repairing every structure in your body down to the cellular level

• We don’t store it like we do fats and carbs, so we need to eat it every day to replenish stores and keep tissues from breaking down.

• There are 9 essential amino acids we need to get from foods we eat

Carbs 

• Carbs are a source of energy - our body uses carbs as fuel, and to spare protein

• By the way, there is no such thing as essential carbs. Your body can make glucose from just about anything, whether you eat carbs or not.

Cholesterol (fat) is needed for

• The structure of your cell membranes

• In order for your body to make vitamin D

• It’s essential for the synthesis of hormones including cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone

• It forms the myelin sheath that protects your nerve cells and allows them to conduct signals

• It’s needed to make bile acids so you can digest food

• Most of the cholesterol you have is made by your body (~65%). If you eat more your body will make less, of you eat less your body makes more!

I see cholesterol levels too low in so many clients. Yes, too low! If your LDL is less than 80, you’re going to have issues with all of these functions!

Micronutrients

Vitamins and minerals are cofactors for enzymes in your body, and they play a wide range of roles. 

Enzymes are actually proteins (made by those essential amino acids and protein you eat) that make reactions in your body happen. Those reactions do everything from making energy, to building cells, tissues, and organs, to repairing structures, everything your body is able to do! 

In order to work those enzymes require vitamins and minerals which again come from foods you eat!

Most vitamins and minerals are essential which means they come from your diet, your body can make some vitamins but not enough to compensate if they are not on your diet in the first place.

Those 9 essential amino acids which come from protein rich foods like animal products are complete proteins, which means they contain all the amino acids, plant protein sources do not and are not complete proteins.

Certain fatty acids like omega 3s which come from healthy fats like salmon as well as flaxseed for example are also essential. 

Remember, essential means you need to eat them because your body can’t make them.

Important note!!! Your body uses essential nutrients to make others. So if you’re not eating essential nutrients you’re going to be lacking in many others as well.

• https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/three-functions-fat-body-3402.html

• https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/howgeneswork/protein

• http://www.pathwaymedicine.org/hormone-biochemistry

• http://psych.colorado.edu/~spencer/PSYC4092/Handout6.html

• https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/disorders-of-nutrition/overview-of-nutrition/carbohydrates,-proteins,-and-fats

• https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/vitamins-and-minerals

• https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/listing_of_vitamins

For questions, or if you’re ready to get started with next steps on your health journey to nourish your body and beat your symptoms and health problems, book your introductory consultation with me!

If you’re a self started who doesn’t need much handholding, my Online Gut Restore Program is for you! It address all 3 of the common reasons I see nutrients missing, which leads to imbalances followed by symptoms and chronic health problems.

How To Make Healthier Choices

There are strategies you can implement for making healthier choices!

Shopping tips: https://jennifercarynbrand.com/diet-tools/shopping-basics

Timesaving tips: https://jennifercarynbrand.com/diet-tools/diet-timesavers 

Healthy snack ideas: https://jennifercarynbrand.com/diet-tools/healthy-snacks 

Remember, old habits are hard to break, it takes time to create new ones, and to cement those new ones, that might take some time too. DON’T GIVE UP!

It’s been said that it takes 21 days (3 weeks) to create a new habit. Some research indicates it’s actually longer, up to 60 days. And that varies, because we are all wired differently so for some, the timeframe may be shorter, and others, longer (in some cases and in some folks, it can be closer to a year).

If you miss a day or so here and there, you haven’t blown it! Don’t let that derail you. There is no such thing as perfection, and we aren’t looking for that anyway. We just want to find consistency, where we are practicing healthier habits most of the time. For some that’s 90%, for others it’s 85%, and maybe even 75%, or 65%. It all matters! The goal is to improve from where YOU were yesterday.

• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-happiness-project/200910/stop-expecting-change-your-habit-in-21-days

• http://repositorio.ispa.pt/bitstream/10400.12/3364/1/IJSP_998-1009.pdf

For questions, or if you’re ready to get started with next steps on your health journey to nourish your body and beat your symptoms and health problems, book your introductory consultation with me!

If you’re a self started who doesn’t need much handholding, my Online Gut Restore Program is for you! It address all 3 of the common reasons I see nutrients missing, which leads to imbalances followed by symptoms and chronic health problems.

Why Diets DON'T Work

Let’s talk about the reasons why I am an anti-diet advocate in more detail, and why diets don’t work.

Most of us have been on a diet at some point.

Most of us feel like we’ve failed at dieting.

It’s been said that 95% of people fail at dieting. 

When we restrict nutrients that our bodies need, we get cravings. Your body’s main energy source, and the fastest energy liberating source is carbohydrates and sugars. When your body needs fuel you will crave these foods.  This is a sign that your body isn’t getting what it needs. And what it needs isn’t simple carbs and sugar!

It’s important to mention this again [I mention this a lot], restricting foods, food groups, and categories of foods from your diet takes away important fuel sources. 

Over time this leads to nutrient insufficiency and deficiency. And this can cause a variety of symptoms and health problems due to imbalances that develop in your body. 

If you’re not in a state of deficiency, you can still have symptoms and health problems with insufficiency of nutrients and this doesn’t show up in your lab tests so you won’t feel well yet your Dr. can’t find anything wrong.

You’re healthy diet that restricts foods, good groups and categories of foods may be why you’re not meeting your health goals, and what’s causing the symptoms and health problems you’re experiencing.

We are led to believe that certain foods, food groups, and categories of food are the enemy and we become fearful of eating them which leads to disordered eating habits and eating disorders. This applies to any diet that removes foods, food groups and categories of foods.

There are a variety of adverse effects from dieting and the list here is just a small sample. 

For example your cravings arise due to low blood sugar levels, and this can create mood swings, issues with concentration and memory, and even anxiety. And of course your body needs nutrients to make energy. 

Dieting actually can make you gain weight and for more than one reason. Because you are nutrient and fuel deprived you will crave foods (calorie dense carbs) and end up overeating. Also when your body isn’t nourished your metabolism slows down and your body will start hoarding rather than burning. Your body also will not be able to maintain muscle mass so your body composition will be more unfavorable (less lean body mass/muscle mass and more fat mass).

Again, your body runs off of nutrients found in foods you eat. Those nutrients are the building blocks for everything down to the cellular level including neurotransmitters and hormones which regulate your mood, stress, and sleep.

Do you find yourself thinking about food all the time? That means your body needs fuel, it needs nourishment!

What to eat has gotten very confusing. There are entire industries (diet and fitness industries are examples) that make millions off of this confusion. If we’re confused, we need their help, and that help can come with a hefty price and broken promises. 

So when you can’t stay on your diet because you start having issues like these, it certainly is not your fault! 

Your body was not meant for this type of abuse! 

So rather than saying 95% of people fail at their diet attempts, the truth is diets fail us 95% of the time because they promote an unattainable and false ideal!

For questions, or if you’re ready to get started with next steps on your health journey to nourish your body and beat your symptoms and health problems, book your introductory consultation with me!

If you’re a self started who doesn’t need much handholding, my Online Gut Restore Program is for you! It address all 3 of the common reasons I see nutrients missing, which leads to imbalances followed by symptoms and chronic health problems.