Calories, Carbs, Sugars Oh My!

Cache_Fitness

For us nutrition newbies out here -
is there some kind of "nutrition for dummies"
or sort of explanation guide, video, or book
that explains not only

the importance of enough
Calories, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Sodium, Sugar
but
how to make the right selection when planning meals?

yirara

I think the most important question to ask is: what is your goal, because goals differ. Simply for weight loss calories are king and macros only play a role in keeping you full and happy. What keeps you full is totally individual: some people love high volumes of food, others fats and protein, again others things like pasta or rice. You need to find out what works for you. With regards to actual nutrition: the standard setup isn't too bad. Protein is important for muscles. Fat for providing fatty acids, moving stuff along your intestines, brain function, some vitamins. carbs: see feeling full.

Chef_Barbell

Just right up top is a bunch of stickied topics for reading:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300312/most-helpful-posts-food-and-nutrition-must-reads#latest

cmriverside

The Basics:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/833026/important-posts-to-read/p1

springlering62

Cache_Fitness wrote: »

For us nutrition newbies out here -
is there some kind of "nutrition for dummies"
or sort of explanation guide, video, or book
that explains not only

the importance of enough
Calories, Carbs, Fat, Protein, Sodium, Sugar
but
how to make the right selection when planning meals?

Don’t overthink it. Most of us know what nutritious food looks like.

When I started calorie counting, the best way to get volume was to automatically make more nutritious choices. The more I got in the habit of counting, the better my choices became.

I learned pretty quick that a large bowl of cottage cheese fruit and sweet balsamic vinegar were roughly equal to three Oreos- and a lot more satisfying.

A large bowl of airpopped popcorn was more filling than a couple servings of potato chips.

I also learned, I don’t have to deny these things to myself-if that’s what I truly want at that moment. But I have to fit them within my calorie goals, and more often than not, it’s a lot more pleasant to eat a lot if something than have the momentary happiness of an Oreo or two.

And after awhile, they lose their appeal anyway. Many foods I consumed in mass quantities did. (Cadbury Crispy Eggs anyone? To the tune of a couple pounds a day when they were in season? Like they were produce, lol.)

And so, those days of Unlimited Oreos get further and further in the rear view mirror.

Do I eat perfect now? Nope.

But is it better than it was before? OMG, yes!!!!!!!

Don’t stress over macros. I find that if I look at a seven day average (versus daily numbers), I’m tolerably reasonable.

It does help to learn which macro fills you up the best, as someone mentioned above. I’m a protein junky, and eat naturally low carb low fat. When I try to increase either, I can tell within 24 hours that things are off.

Which being me back to my first point. When I was obese, carbs and fats were all I ate. Things naturally fell into place when I simply started paying attention to what when across my tongue.

AnnPT77

I may feel more strongly than some here about overall nutrition. As long as it doesn't become obsession (like orthorexia), it's fine to try to get closer to optimum. But it needn't be instantly perfect, y'know? If you don't have a diagnosed deficiency, or a dire diet-related health condition, you can take some time to learn about nutrition, dial in something that works for you.

For me, "overall" is a key word: Overall good nutrition, on average, over a short span of a day or few. Humans are adaptive omnivores. We don't have to get the perfect macro/micro mix in every single meal, nor even a single day, IMO. What matters is our overall average patterns. It isn't about individual "superfoods" or things we should never eat (mostly).

Bodies do a bit of juggling to keep nutrient intake on hand until it's needed. Some things can hang around a long time (energy, in the form of body fat, is obviously one). Others leave quicker, but I know of nothing that has a teeny tiny time window. (Protein may come the closest, but even that's more of an all-day balance thing, at least until one's later decades, usually.)

The implication is that most people can take their time learning about nutrition, and work at improving it gradually, eating foods they like, plus find affordable and practical. The MFP food diary is a great tool for that.

Depending on your personal goals - such as weight loss, specific interventions because of health conditions, muscle gain, other athletic performance, etc. - you might pick a different starting point. But the routine is the same: Clarify your needs by researching and asking questions (look out for biased commercial or advocacy sites, though). Then, review your diary, see where you stand on the relevant nutrients, and tweak what you eat to improve the situation. Once that factor's ingrained in your eating patterns, pick another aspect to work on. Things will fall into place.

If the key goal is weight management, calorie intake is the key thing to dial in first. (Food choice or macros may affect satiation or energy level - you'll notice - but those are indirect effects on fat gain/loss.)

Nutrition-wise, for most average people, the MFP default macro goals are a pretty good starting point (as long as the person doesn't try to lose weight super-fast, or have special health conditions). If someone's trying to gain muscle or improve athletic performance in other ways, the protein part is especially important (but not the only important part). For endurance athletes, carb intake (and its timing) can be important.

For someone with a genetic predisposition to certain diseases or conditions (diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, some cancers, etc.), there's decent information about diets to avoid or manage those conditions on web sites of mainstream organizations focused on those conditions. Here in the US where I am, that would be things like American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association - that sort of thing.

It gets a lot of hate from people who've never looked beyond the front-page infographics (which are oversimplified - duh!) or from people who have adopted non-mainstream eating regimens, but eating recommendations from national health organizations are pretty good, useful, mainstream. I'm talking about My Plate in the US (go beyond the infographic!), Eat Well guide from NHS, that sort of thing. Low carb folks won't like the emphasis on carbs (whole grains, starchy veggies), some people think dairy is bad, etc. They won't like the mainstream sources. Your call.

In my personal experience, I get reasonable levels of essential micronutrients - over standard minimums - by working to get a large amount of varied, colorful veggies and fruits every day. I may be under on something one day, but average out above minimums over a few days to a week. That's fine with me.

At some point, you might want to look into balance between monounsaturated/polyunsaturated fats and saturated fats, Omega-3/Omega-6, and that sort of thing; and also consider probiotic foods (live-culture yogurt, raw sauerkraut/kim chi, kefir, etc.) and prebiotic foods (the stuff the gut microbes like to eat).

If you have special circumstances, it may be a good idea to seek out a registered dietitian (RD) who specializes in those circumstances. But for most of us regular folks who are reasonably intelligent and willing to do some reading, there's ample information out there making it possible to manage this ourselves.