Names, functions, and sources of essential macro- and micronutrients.

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Welcome back!  After my last post I challenged myself to find a new recipe that was healthy.  I just wanted to share that with you before I jump into my new topic.  It was for “skinny” orange chicken and let me tell you it was awesome and if I can make it you can make it.  http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/skinny-orange-chicken-recipe/ 

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Moving on into the depths of the nutrition world, this blog post is going to give you more information on the names, functions and sources of essential macro-and micro-nutrients.  Macro-nutrients provide us with energy and calories, they are needed by our bodies to promote growth, metabolism and other functions and the three types of macro-nutrients are carbohydrates, protein and fat (McKinley Health Center, 2014).  

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Carbohydrates are the one type of food that most people eat in excess.  Think of potato chips and just about any of the other foods that are white and you will have a nice list of foods that have carbohydrates in them.  Carbs are found mostly in grains, potatoes, fruits, milk, yogurt, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and cheeses (McKinley Health Center, 2014).  Without carbs in our diets, we will not get the energy that is needed to fuel our bodies and other vital organs will also lose their functionality.

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Protein is something that just about everyone is familiar with.  Protein comes from lean meats, fish, cheese, nuts and certain vegetables.  A lot of people jumped on the bandwagon with the protein diet because it fostered weight loss in large amounts because it was removing carbs from your diet.  The only downfall to that is when you begin eating carbs again, your weight comes back.  Even body builders ingest a large amount of protein because it can help to build lean muscle mass when used with a good diet and exercise program.  

The last macro-nutrient is fat.  While fat gets a bad rap, we actually need about 20 – 35% of our daily caloric intake to come from fat in order to have normal growth and development (McKinley Health Center, 2014).  Fat is the one nutrient that is never hard to find.  It comes in oil, lard, meat, chicken and even in your salad dressing.  Rather than shying away from all fat, just make sure to eat it in limited amounts.

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Micro-nutrients are just as important as the macro-nutrients because without them, our overall growth and health would be affected.  Micro-nutrients are the vitamins and minerals that we ingest from the foods that we eat.  For the people that are unable to eat the vitamins and minerals that they need, there are vitamins that they can take to ensure that their bodies do not suffer from deficiencies.  Some of the vitamins that can be found in micro-nutrients are Vitamin C, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Biotin, Beta-carotene, Vitamin D3, and Vitamin E (Dr. Matthias Rath, 2015).  Many people receive monthly or even weekly B12 injections from the doctor’s office if they have a deficiency.  Some of the minerals found in micro-nutrients are Magnesium, Calcium, Potassium and Phosphorus.  A combination of the required micro-nutrients can help strengthen your immune system, which alone is a good enough reason for me.

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In keeping up with my former blog posts, I am issuing this challenge for myself and anyone else that wants to try it.  The challenge is to create a meal or snack that is high in macro- and micro-nutrients.  If you have trouble doing that, I challenge you to start taking a daily multivitamin and after a week really think about how it has affected your mood and your body.

Dr. Matthias Rath. (2015). List of Micronutrients. Retrieved from http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/open_letters/img-nyt0506/micronutrients.htm

McKinley Health Center. (2014).  Macronutrients: the Importance of Carbohydrate, Protein and Fat.  Retrieved from http://www.mckinley.illinois.edu/handouts/macronutrients.htm