All three, protein, carbohydrates, and fat, make up what is termed macronutrients, otherwise seen / known as macros. Macronutrients are the underpinning of the diet or nutrition that we follow, basically, they are what makes up all the food that we eat, and give us the calories and energy that we need from day to day. Keeping things simple and understandable, for protein, think meats, nuts, seeds, legumes, and beans. We need protein to repair the damage that we do to our muscles within the workouts, where without an adequate amount, we would have a really rough time recovering properly. For carbs, think starches, sugars, and so forth. Examples of carbs are potatoes, rice, breads, pastas, sweet potatoes, and many more. One important note with carbohydrates, is that they are not the enemy. Instead, carbs are what fuels us! Our bodies (usually, not always), prefer carbohydrates as the primary fuel source for the activities that we do, like resistance training and so on. They are important to incorporate to allow for the body to have adequate energy to fuel us for the activities and the day in general. They are, however, easy to over consume if they are in a setting where they are more hyperpalatable (mouthful of a phrase right!). That means that the foods are salty, sugary, full of carbohydrates and fats together, think potato chips (it’s tough to have just one!). This brings up the next macro nutrient, fat, which has gotten a bad rap over time. Just like carbohydrates, there are a lot of different kinds of fats, there are some that are better than others for us, so for this, let’s think of avocados, nuts, seeds, and more optimal oils like avocado oil or coconut oil. The reason fat has gotten such a bad rap is because of how calorically dense it is, meaning there are a lot of calories per gram of fat, as compared to carbs and protein. So, fat has 9 calories per gram, whereas, protein and carbs both have 4 calories per gram. So having a proper individualized mix of the three are absolutely key for weight loss, weight gain, and overall body composition goals, which is a topic for another day!
