Episode 27: Nutrition 101
What are macronutrients? How do they affect your body and health? Listen to today's episode so you can get a better understanding of the basics and start making smarter choices for a healthier lifestyle.
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Show Notes:
Introduction
Host: Cari Vann
Episode Topic: Foundations of healthy eating and the importance of macronutrients
Personal Journey
Cari shares her personal experience with food addiction from a young age
The transformation began when she saw food as medicine
Spiritual and mindset shifts helped her overcome struggles with eating
The Importance of Perspective
Viewing food as nourishment rather than a point of struggle can be a game changer
Not just for those with food addiction, but also for anyone aiming for healthier eating
Macronutrients Overview
Three categories: carbohydrates, fat, and protein
Individual needs vary based on age, activity level, and physiology
Carbohydrates
Types: starches, fiber, sugar
Occur naturally in fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans
Caution against refined carbohydrates in packaged foods
Importance of moderation, especially for diabetics or those with autoimmune disorders
Proteins
Made up of amino acids; nine essential amino acids
Importance in cell repair, growth, and immune system
Suggestions for healthy protein sources
Cautions against processed and poor-quality proteins
Fats
Essential for hormone balance, cell maintenance, vitamin absorption
Importance of choosing healthy fats
Saturated fats should be had in moderation, trans fats should be avoided
Closing Remarks
Summary of macronutrients: carbs, proteins, and fats
Invitation for the next episode
Key Takeaways:
Mindset Shift: Viewing food as a form of nourishment rather than a problem can significantly alter your approach to eating.
Individualization: The macronutrients needed vary from person to person and depend on individual needs like age, activity level, and personal physiology.
Quality Over Quantity: It's not just about how much you consume, but the quality of the carbs, proteins, and fats that matters. Make healthier choices in each category.
Moderation is Key: Especially for carbohydrates, moderation is essential for metabolic health, particularly for those with specific health conditions like diabetes or autoimmune disorders.
Holistic Approach: A balanced intake of all macronutrients is vital for overall well-being, from hormone balance to cell repair and energy production.
Transcript:
Hello everyone and welcome back to Better Than a Pill. I'm Cari Vann and I'm so grateful and excited to be here again to share with you today. In today's episode, we're going to be talking about the foundations of healthy eating in terms of what macronutrients our body needs in order to be healthy and what that includes. So what we put into our bodies is so important and just like with our movement.
And over time, for me, this shift really began when I saw food as a powerful form of medicine, just like I did movement. And this had tremendous power for me personally. And it was with time for me, over time I went from a place of struggling with my eating, struggling with my food. I had array of problems with food addiction, you could say starting at a very young age. I was told age seven that I needed to go on a diet and so that then went into different forms of deprivation or binging and so on. But like I said, over time and with the help of God, I was able to overcome that.
And that was based on how I began to view taking care of my own body and viewing food, like I said, as more of a form of something to nourish my body. And it doesn't have to be that you're struggling with any type of food addiction. You might be it might be for you just that thing you just want to eat healthier. So when we begin to view food in this manner, this can really be a game changer. And I know it was for me.
So what are the macronutrients? And there are three categories of macronutrients that our bodies need to create energy and these categories are carbohydrates or our carbs, fat and protein. And none of these are good or bad, but rather there are good options for each of them and there are not so good options for each of them. And how much you need of each of these really is going to be dependent on you as an individual. Your needs, your age, your activity level, your individual physiology. It's important to know that most foods have a combination of two or three of these macronutrients, with some exceptions. And all categories are important for our good health and for our balanced hormones.
Okay, so let's start off just talking a little bit about carbs or carbohydrates. And these include a broad range of starches, fiber and sugar. Carbohydrates occur naturally in foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains and beans. And they can be added to products mostly as refined sugar. And this is often where we get into trouble. Most not all packaged food contains refined carbohydrates. So each gram of carbohydrate contains about four calories. And these calories can either be full of nutrients and things that are good for our body, or they can lack nutritional value. Now, foods rich in naturally occurring fiber, which is a carbohydrate, have many health benefits. Fiber is food for healthy living bacteria in our gut, and they need it to thrive. So most foods that are high in natural fiber also contain micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals that support our bodily functions. And most carbohydrates, they also raise our blood sugar, so therefore, in our insulin levels, which is why carbohydrates within moderation is very important for our metabolic health. And this is especially important for those of you that are obviously diabetic, or even, in the case myself, have some type of autoimmune disorder. I know that it has been really helpful for me, for example, if I'm going to have an apple to have it with a handful of walnuts or something to balance out that spike in blood sugar. So again, some of our good choices for carbs are our vegetables, our fruits, lentils, beans, brown rice, white rice, sweet potato seeds, and so on. And things that we don't really want or to stay away from would be those fruit juices, the crackers, the baked goods, the processed foods, a lot of breads, chips, and packaged snacks.
Okay, so we're going to move on, and we're going to go into talking a little bit more about protein. And proteins are large molecules made up of amino acids. There are nine essential amino acids in which our bodies need but cannot make on its own. Complete proteins contain all nine essential amino acids, while incomplete protein contains less than this. Proteins can be thought of as the building blocks for all of our cells. They are necessary to repair damaged cells, transport molecules throughout the body, protect the body from bacteria and viruses, and they aid in growth and development. The average adult needs approximately 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. However, more may be necessary if you're active or if you're in a certain stage in life or if you're over 50. So, in general, I tend to think that we really need to get more protein into our diet. And that has been the case for myself. Not only is it good for us, but it fills us up and it helps us to stay full, so we're not so apt to snack as well. So some of the healthy proteins would be the things that are wild caught. Our wild caught fish and organic raised chickens and grass fed beef or lamb or whatever it might be. Organic lentils and beans and some grass fed unsweetened dairy products can be there as well. Some protein powders can be useful if you have difficulty getting in enough protein, but you want to avoid the brands that have preservatives. Even myself, sometimes I'll use a pea protein or a collagen. And the things that in terms of protein that we want to stay away from would be the processed meats, the grain fed meats, poor quality proteins, poor quality dairy, and farm raised fish. Okay, so those are some examples of things that we want to avoid.
And then we have last but not least, our fat and undeservingly fat has gotten a bad reputation. The low fat thing is a thing of the past, and there are so many healthy forms of fat that we need for survival that help improve our health, that are good for our brain function, and so many things. So, fat is made up of essential fatty acids that our bodies cannot create on its own. And these fatty acids help with hormonal balance, maintenance of our cell membranes, vitamin absorption, and energy production. Fat AIDS in the absorption of vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin E. Now, saturated fats can increase cholesterol and should be had in moderation. Some saturated fats are better than others. For example, saturated fat from coconut is better than saturated fat from highly processed conventional meat. And trans fats should be avoided. So, just again, some examples here of fats are our fatty fish, our well cut salmon, our pasteurized eggs, our olive oils, our avocado oils, our nuts, our seeds. And the things that we want to really stay away from would be like butter like products, or fried food, or our soybean, or corn and canola oil, vegetable oil, and fat from conventionally raised meat and fish.
Okay, so there we have it. And I hope that this has been helpful for you today. Just recapping all of the things that we need to know about our carbs, our proteins, and our fats. So thank you so much for listening. And remember, we do episodes weekly on Wednesdays, and I look forward for you joining me again.
