This month’s topic again\u00a0deals with nutrition. Many\u00a0patients have asked me about the benefits of cutting fat, carbohydrates or proteins out of their diet. Most seem surprised when I inform them that there are many negative aspects to completely cutting our\/greatly decreasing the intake of any of these nutrients. Here is another insightful article written for us by\u00a0nutritionist\/writer \u00a0Lisa Irvine.<\/p>\n
Fat Is Not The Bad Guy: Why We Need Macronutrients\u00a0\u00a0 by Lisa Irvine<\/strong><\/p>\n For decades now, yo-yo dieters and \u201cnutritionists\u201d more interested in marketing than health have been extolling the virtues of avoiding certain macronutrients. These macronutrients – fat, carbohydrates, and protein – are a critical part of any person\u2019s diet, but this common sense fact has passed by many people. From the \u201cno fat\u201d phase to the carb-o-phobic Atkins diet, the \u201ceveryone knows\u201d folk wisdom has swung wildly from side to side, confusing people who simply want to eat right and doing everyone a disservice with its\u00a0simplistic view of nutrition<\/a>\u00a0and health. A balanced diet doesn\u2019t just mean eating your greens; it also means that you should be suspicious of any nutritionist who makes big claims about eliminating a vital macronutrient from your meals. If you\u2019re looking for a healthy diet, it\u2019s far more important to watch the percentage of these nutrients that you consume, not just the sheer amount.<\/p>\n How Our Bodies Use Macronutrients<\/strong><\/p>\n Carbohydrates, fat, and protein are known as macronutrients because they are the nutrients we must eat the most of in order to stay healthy. Aside from alcohol, they are also the only nutrients which provide us with calories: 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates or protein, and 9 calories per gram of fat. People tend to be afraid of calories (hence part of the reason for fat\u2019s vilification), but they\u2019re what gives us energy and keeps us moving. Each macronutrient is\u00a0used by the body in a different way, meaning that when we eliminate one it is difficult or impossible for the body to get what it needs from other nutrients.<\/p>\n Carbohydrates, for example, should make up the majority of most people\u2019s diets. Most people think of bread products when they think of carbs, but vegetables, dairy, and nuts are all sources. \u00a0It is easily converted in glucose once digested, which then provides most of the body\u2019s energy; the nervous system in particular requires glucose to function. Fiber, a non-digestible form of carbohydrate, is also critical for gastrointestinal health.\u00a0Fats are also a vital nutrient, despite their poor reputation. Many other nutrients are fat-soluble, meaning that the body absorbs them much better when they are consumed with fat. Once in the body, fats provide energy, cushion our organs, help to maintain cellular structure, and otherwise keep our body running properly.<\/p>\n Finally, protein – the big hero of the Atkins diet – is found in both meat and some vegetable products. However, beans and nuts do not contain all the essential amino acids found in meat protein, so vegetarians must work harder to make sure they have their protein needs met. This is important, since protein is the workhorse of macronutrients. In addition to providing sustained energy, it is critical for growth, tissue repair, and retaining lean muscle mass, as well as boosting our immune systems and helping our bodies create necessary enzymes and hormones. As you can see, none of these nutrients is a candidate for elimination from our diets.<\/p>\n What Happens Without A Macronutrient?<\/strong><\/p>\n Although it\u2019s more or less impossible to complete cut out fat, protein, or carbs, many people have done their best over the years. Some of these people saw initially encouraging results, which may have seemed to support their theories, but over time they would see far worse effects from their dietary choices.<\/p>\n Fat has been saddled with both an unappealing name and popular \u201cbad\u201d forms\u00a0which are better replaced by \u201cgood fats\u201d<\/a>. Yet if you cut it out entirely, you\u2019d soon decide that any fat was a good fat. Not only would your brain not be working up to speed (it\u2019s 70% fat), giving you depression and other potential mental illnesses, but the poor absorption of essential nutrients would also compound those problems. After long enough, the lack of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats would also lead to problems such as diabetes, macular degeneration, and high blood pressure with a tendency to clot. Your skin and hair would become dry, flaky, and thin, and eventually your\u00a0follicles would weaken, requiring special intervention<\/a>. Similarly, cutting out carbs will not leave you feeling or looking your best. Your skin will be tender to the touch, your hair will be brittle, and you\u2019ll have trouble concentrating. Lacking the energy boost of carbs, the body will turn on itself, which produces a byproduct called ketones – these will leave you feeling nauseated, run-down, ill, and will also cause your breath to smell horribly. Yet all of those effects are minor compared to the big guns: heart damage, the loss of lean muscle mass, insulin sensitivity, and gastrointestinal problems are all possible if you cut down too much on your carbs.<\/p>\n Fewer people are interested in cutting protein from their diet, but it\u2019s still important to note that doing so would be a dangerous move. Of course, current diet trends leave people much more likely to eat too much protein, which can increase the risk of osteoporosis, damages your kidneys and other internal organs, and causes nutritional deficiencies.<\/p>\n A Truly Balanced Diet<\/strong><\/p>\n The success of many macronutrient-cutting diet programs comes from the simple fact that switching from cake to lean proteins will make you feel better, and may cause you to lose weight in the short term. However, switching from cake to vegetables (eaten with a good fat<\/a>, alongside lean meat) is an even better choice, one which comes without the danger of cutting out the foods our body needs. What percentage of your diet should come from each macronutrient depends on your individual needs; a sprinter will eat differently than a weightlifter, who eats differently than an average person, who might need a different diet than someone recovering from an illness. For most people, it\u2019s not critical to stress out over exact percentages. Instead, you should focus on eating a balanced diet of unprocessed foods, gaining most of your calories from carbs and proteins with the addition of healthy oils. By listening to your body and eating a varied diet, you\u2019ll be well on your way to health without having to punish your body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"