A Primer on Macronutrients
3 Feb
This is part of an ongoing Science Made Simple series that aims to make the tough science a little more palatable. To view all articles, click here.
Macronutrients. That word is thrown around all over the place and can be defined several different ways. For these purposes, we will talk about them as The Stuff That Makes Up Our Food or The Ingredients to Your Food’s Ingredients.
The main players: Protein, Carbohydrate, Fat.
Macronutrients
What We Will Learn
- What makes up a macronutrient
- Function of each macronutrient
- Good dietary sources
- Poor dietary sources that will make you unhealthy
What We Will Not Learn
- The nitty-gritty of each macronutrient
- How to draw
Let’s begin, shall we?
Protein
What it’s made of
Protein is made up of amino acids (AA), which are called the “building blocks of protein.” Our bodies use 21 AAs; 8 are considered essential because we must get them from our diet.
Function
Protein makes and fixes our body tissue, everything from the inside out.
Good dietary sources of protein
Animal proteins such as beef, fish, poultry, eggs, etc. are good sources of protein.
Poor dietary sources of protein that make you unhealthy
Legumes (including soy) are a no-no protein source
While there is technically protein in beans and soy, there is way more bad stuff that is going to harm your body than do well for your body.
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Carbohydrate
What it’s made of.
At its most basic level, carbohydrates are sugars.
Carbohydrates are made up of sugars like monosaccharides (one sugar), disaccharides (two sugars), and polysaccharides (many sugars).
Function
Carbohydrates are a form of fuel, whether it is burned immediately or saved for later (stored).
Good dietary sources of carbohydrates
Vegetables and fruit are good sources of carbohydrates (I didn’t realize for a long time that they were even carbohydrates to begin with).
Poor dietary sources of carbohydrates that make you unhealthy
Grains such as bread, pasta, rice, corn, etc. are doing more harm than good. Sorry 
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Fat
What it’s made of.
Fat (dietary fat, not body fat) is made of triglycerides. Triglycerides are three fatty acids (tri) attached to one glycerol molecule (glyceride)
Function
Good dietary fat helps all of the systems in our body function as best as possible. Examples include the immune system along with our heart, bones, liver, lungs, brain, and nerves.
Good dietary sources of fat
Avocados, coconut, and olives (as well as their corresponding oils) are good dietary sources of fat.
Poor dietary sources of fat that make you unhealthy
Margarine and vegetable oils such as canola and corn oil are bad news for your body.
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There you have it–the basics of macronutrients. The information will indeed come in handy, though my drawings may have scarred your brains forever. My sincerest apologies.
(And a very big thank you to The Paleo Solution (pgs 49-50), The Primal Blueprint (pgs 85-94), and Wikipedia for their big science brains.
Genius!
Thanks Jeanye! How’s that Waxahachie treating you?
I like your drawings. They are amazing…just like you!
Thanks Karen! I think they kinda look like a 4th grade art project. But now I understand macronutrients, so worth it…right?
This is a great read you got on macro-nutrients! spreading the word on Paleo!
Thanks Fitness Fabulous! (And I’m totally loving your blog)
Keep blogging!
This is such a great, non-threatening tutorial on the basics of macro-nutrients.
Job well done!
Thanks! I appreciate the feedback.
Jennifer, I’ve stumbled upon your blog through the Whole9 website when you won their contest. I’ve never been happier to have ‘stumbled’ somewhere, you’re doing some great stuff here with your posts and I love this one. I have 4 young kids and this is ideal for them to learn about the all-important Macronutrients (and it helped me quite a bit, also
)
Keep up the good work and Congratulations on your life being renewed through your new lifestyle!
Hi Brian, thanks for stumbling! I sure hope this helps with your kiddos. That’s actually a big reason I’m doing the Science Made Simple series (more sciency stuff coming soon). I want an easy way to explain to my children (and it turns out I need it a whole lot more than I thought). Let me know how it goes with your four.
Thank you for taking the time to do this post!
I am new to paleo. 3wks! Looking forward to reading
all of your post. (past and future)
Welcome to Paleo, Betty! So glad to have you in our midst.
hmm…very nicely explained…I don’t think that legumes and vegetable oil etc. are that bad though..
Hi, I love your visuals….I do like your visuals for the different types of carbohydrates, and fatty acids.
However the rest of your information is very very very misleading.
Legumes are an excellent source of protein, being lean and full of fiber and other vitamins.
Beef would probably be the more unhealthy meat having more saturated fat than the others.
breads, pasta, rice, and corn are not bad for you… If you want to say processed and refined grains are, then you should include that.
Coconut oil is a saturated fat, therefore it is worse for you than all other oils from plant sources.
vegetable, canola, and margarine (as long as it is trans fat free) are unsaturated fats so they are considered the healthy fats….
I am sorry, I do not know where you got all your information….but it is not correct.
Ellie Rolle, RD
I
Hi Ellie,
Thanks for your thoughtful comments. I appreciate you taking the time to weigh in.
My family and I have come to a very solid understanding and belief that conventional wisdom isn’t the right path for us. From your viewpoint, I can certainly see how may feel I am presenting misleading information. However, I find the information you’ve shared to be inaccurate.
When referring to grains, I actually DO mean all grains, not just processed and refined (though I could possibly make some concessions for rice in a person who is not metabolically deranged).
Legumes most certainly have protein; while I’ll concede that the research is still developing, I believe they do more harm than good and I prefer to get my protein from animals.
I’m also of the opinion that saturated fats have been unnecessarily villainized and that vegetable/canola/margarine oils are on my list of Top 3 Things to Avoid.
We operate from divergent paradigms, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. We’ve come to different conclusions based on our experiences and that’s one of the lovely parts about being human. Thanks for participating in the discussion.
All my best,
Jennifer
I too stumbled upon your website when I was doing an image search for my Nutrition class presentation. I read your story and felt like you were describing my life. When I saw the word PCOS I was shocked that those initials actually meant what I thought they did. I was diagnosed years ago and was put on Metformin but it tore up my stomach and I took myself off. I have been trying to get pregnant for years now but the doctors just tell me no treatment will solve my problem without weight loss. I am extremely anxious to give this a try and pray this is the answer I was looking for. THANK YOU!!!
Debra, I certainly am praying with you that this is your answer, and if at the very least, leads you to your right answer. Thank you for sharing a piece of you with me.