Protein, Carbohydrates & Fats

Protein

You probably know you need to eat protein, but what is it? Many foods contain protein, but the best sources are lean beef, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, nuts, seeds, and legumes like black beans and lentils. Protein builds up, maintains, and replaces the tissues in your body. Your muscles, organs, and immune system are made up mostly of protein. Your body uses the protein you eat to make lots of specialized protein molecules that have specific jobs. For instance, your body uses protein to make h emoglobin, the part of red blood cells that carries oxygen to every part of your body. Other proteins are used to build cardiac muscle and so on.

Protein is crucial for muscle growth and development!  So, how much protein should you consume? Research has shown that between 1-1.5g of protein per pound of body weight is optimal. However, the amount of protein you need will vary depending on certain factors, such as weight, activity level, health and age.   

The chart below gives approximate daily protein intake suggestion for your weight and activity level.

Eating only whole food meals throughout the day isn’t always possible.   Protein Powder will become your new best friend when you can’t get those whole food meals in. I prefer whey protein isolate powder because it is low in calories, fat, and sugar, but high in protein. Down below I have a sample meal plan for you to go by. 

Carbohydrates

The primary function of carbohydrates is to provide energy for the body, especially the brain and the nervous system.   Once eaten, carbohydrates breakdown into smaller sugars (glucose, fructose and galactose) that get absorbed and used as energy.   Any glucose not needed right away gets stored in the muscles and the liver in the form of glycogen. Once these glycogen stores are filled up, any extra gets stored as fat. 

Glycogen is the source of energy most often used for exercise. It is needed for any short, intense bouts of exercise because it is immediately accessible. Glycogen also supplies energy during the first few minutes of any sport. During long, slow duration exercise, fat can help fuel activity, but glycogen is still needed to help breakdown the fat into something the muscles can use. 

Adequate carbohydrate intake also helps prevent protein from being used as energy. If the body doesn’t have enough carbohydrate, protein is broken down to make glucose for energy (Your body eats your muscle for fuel). Because the primary role of protein is as the building blocks for muscles, bone, skin, hair, and other tissues, relying on protein for energy (by failing to take in adequate carbohydrate) can limit your ability to build and maintain tissues. Additionally, this stresses the kidneys because they have to work harder to eliminate the byproducts of this protein breakdown. 

Carbohydrate has other specific functions in the body including fueling the nervous system and brain. 

Storing Carbohydrate
One gram of carbohydrate provides four calories of energy. Long duration exercise causes carbohydrate. During depletion (from diet, exercise or a combination) we use up the stored carbohydrate which burns fat.     

If we don’t replenish these stores, we can run out of fuel.   Our maximal carbohydrate storage is approximately 15 grams per kilogram of body weight [15 grams per 2.2 pounds]. So a 175-pound person could store up to 1200 grams of carbohydrate [4,800 calories]; enough energy to fuel high intensity exercise for quite some time. 

How Carbohydrate Fuels Exercise
Carbohydrates stored as glycogen is an easily accessible source of energy for exercise. How long this energy supply lasts depends on the length and intensity of exercise and can range anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. To avoid running out of energy during exercise, start with full glycogen stores, it is important to refill them after exercise to be ready for the next workout. 

Types of Carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are also divided into simple and complex forms. Simple sugars (carbs) are absorbed and converted to energy very quickly and provide a rapid source of energy. For weight loss purposes, it is crucial that you do NOT consume simple sugars!   Examples of simple sugars are white bread, white rice, pasta, and sugar. A general rule, if the food is white stay away from it! 

Complex carbohydrates take a bit longer to be digested and absorbed into the body. They also take longer to breakdown and therefore provide energy at a slower rate than simple sugars. Examples of complex carbohydrates are brown rice, oats, Ezekiel bread, and sweet potatoes.   

Fats  

Fat is often blamed for many health problems; however, fat is an essential for a healthy body!  Fat is stored when we consume more calories then we use. There is an optimal level of body fat for health and for athletic activity. When the optimal level of fat has been reached, problems occur.  Too much fat can lead to problems with health as well as athletic performance.  

Types of Dietary Fat  

• Saturated fats (Bad Fats) are found primarily in animal sources like meat, egg yolks, yogurt, cheese, butter, milk. This type of fat is often solid at room temperature. Too much saturated fat has been linked to health problems such as high cholesterol and heart disease. Because of this, saturated fat should be limited to no more than 5% of total daily calorie intake.  
• Unsaturated fats (Good Fats) include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are typically found in plant food sources and are usually liquid at room temperature. Unsaturated fats have health benefits such as lowering cholesterol and reducing the risk of heart disease. Common food sources include olive and canola oil, avocados, fish, almonds, soybeans and flaxseed.  
• Trans fat has recently been added to the nutrition labels of most products. Trans fatty acids are created (naturally or man-made) when an unsaturated fat is made into a solid. Trans fats, like saturated fat, should be limited because they increase cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease.  

Fat & Energy
Fat provides the highest concentration of energy of all the nutrients. One gram of fat equals nine calories. This calorie density, along with our seemingly unlimited storage capacity for fat, makes fat our largest reserve of energy. One pound of stored fat provides approximately 3,600 calories of energy. While these calories are less accessible to athletes performing quick, intense efforts like sprinting or weight lifting, fat is essential for longer, slower lower intensity and endurance exercise such as easy cycling and walking.  

Fat provides the main fuel source for long duration, low to moderate intensity exercise.  Even during high intensity exercise, where carbohydrate is the main fuel source, fat is needed to help access the stored carbohydrate (glycogen).  

Using fat for fuel for exercise, however, is dependent upon these important factors:  

• Fat is slow to digest and be converted into a usable form of energy.  
• Converting stored body fat into energy takes time. The body needs to breakdown fat and transport it to the working muscles before it can be used as energy.  
• Converting stored body fat into energy takes a great deal of oxygen, so exercise intensity must decrease for this process to occur.  

For these reasons, you need to carefully time when you eat fat.   So, how much fat do you eat?  What type of fat should you eat?  In general, it’s not a great idea to eat fat immediately before or during intense exercise.  

Unsaturated fats are ideal! Get your fat from sources like almonds, olive oil, or flax seed oil. Everyone reacts differently to fat intake. Personally, I don't respond well to high fat diets. This is one of the areas that you will have to tweak over time. An average ratio for fat intake is about 20% of your daily diet. It is very important that you pay attention to the changes that take place in your body.