Naturally occuring macronutrient ratios

mrmagee3

I was reading some stuff throughout the internet regarding food marketing and food science (specifically, the way test groups respond to specific macronutrient profiles in a given food) and a question popped into my head that I couldn't immediately answer:

Are there any foods that occur naturally with equal (or relatively similar) levels of fat, carbohydrate, and protein? That is to say, vegetables tend to be carbs, but not fat or protein, animal products tend to be protein and fat, but no carbs, etc., but I can't think of a food that would have all three in one package. Thoughts?

Hildy_J

*puts hand up*

A rabbit with a bellyful of carrots? *biology face*

Seriously... I don't think so? Aren't proteins complex molecules only found in animals? In plants the cells are simpler - made of just long chain molecules of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen?

Shellz31

Protein is in almost everything. Yes, vegetables have protein. Not as much as meat, but they still have protein. Beans, legumes, grains all have protein also. Proteins are simply amino acids. Eat a variety of foods and you'll get all your amino acids even without meat. It's not true protein is only found in animals!

There's also fat in vegetables, BTW, but really small amounts.

I can't think of any single food item with equal macronutrients, but I'm sure you could come up with an equal nutrient meal.

StrictlyPro

Fried chicken

mrmagee3

Protein is in almost everything. Yes, vegetables have protein. Not as much as meat, but they still have protein. Beans, legumes, grains all have protein also. Proteins are simply amino acids. Eat a variety of foods and you'll get all your amino acids even without meat. It's not true protein is only found in animals!

There's also fat in vegetables, BTW, but really small amounts.

I can't think of any single food item with equal macronutrients, but I'm sure you could come up with an equal nutrient meal.

To be more specific, the general theory in food science appears to be that there's a "perfect" ratio within a given food that people will find most appealing. It might vary between given foods, mind you, but their goal when they're demonstrating products is to find the one that the people find most pleasing, by slightly varying makeup until they find their perfect spot. I guess one could even go further and remove protein from the picture completely, as the article (and now, videos) that I've seen seemed to focus most on fat, carbohydrate, and salt balance.

That made me wonder if any food like that actually occurs naturally. Even removing protein, I'm having problems thinking of a food with relatively equal carb and fat levels. Basically, I find it odd that the things we seem to be attracted to the most do not seem to be the same as the things that are naturally occurring.

Edit to address the other points --

Yes, protein and fat occur in vegetables, in relatively tiny amounts. In green vegetables, the ratio might be a little better, but I think that's likely more of a function of their overall lack of caloric density than anything else.

As of right now, the only thing I can think of with decent levels of both carb and fat is an avocado, and even that's like 13:8:2 fat-carb-protein. A little closer.

mrmagee3

Fried chicken

Thanks for your reasoned input.

BarbieAS

That's why humans very often choose to eat meals that pull foods from different food groups. Think about it. Your typical, standard meal (from nearly any culture) is going to include some kind of carbohydrate (rice, bread, potatoes, vegetables/fruits, whatever) and some kind of protein (fish, beef/chicken/pork, beans), plus fat, either coming from the protein source or as an additive via cooking, saucing, etc. Even ancient humans had their hunters for meat and their gatherers for vegetation. OBVIOUSLY there's exceptions as everyone eats differently, but the vast majority of combinations of foods that one would typically consider a "meal" follows this pattern.

Nature is designed for us to pull from all sources in order for us to maintain our health, not to eat a single food every single day.

Hadabetter

Yep, there is no single perfect food.

StrictlyPro

Fried chicken

Thanks for your reasoned input.

ok ok so it doesn't occur 100% naturally, but it is a good mix of protein, carbs, and fat.

Lizzy622

Chia seeds - kinda

Shellz31

To be more specific, the general theory in food science appears to be that there's a "perfect" ratio within a given food that people will find most appealing. It might vary between given foods, mind you, but their goal when they're demonstrating products is to find the one that the people find most pleasing, by slightly varying makeup until they find their perfect spot. I guess one could even go further and remove protein from the picture completely, as the article (and now, videos) that I've seen seemed to focus most on fat, carbohydrate, and salt balance.

That made me wonder if any food like that actually occurs naturally. Even removing protein, I'm having problems thinking of a food with relatively equal carb and fat levels. Basically, I find it odd that the things we seem to be attracted to the most do not seem to be the same as the things that are naturally occurring.

I agree with the other poster that the reason why we tend to combine certain foods in meals is to creat a good ratio. I do wonder though if eating the most nutritious diet possible would yield certain ratios. I really don't think there should be an equal amount of carbohydrates and fats in our diets. At least, I don't see why it would be that way.

I also think we are attracted to certain nutrients specifically because, in former times, these things were the hardest to come by. Fat, for instance, was probably not available daily to our ancestors who mostly foraged on veggies and every so often managed to catch an animal to eat. We're hard wired to go for fatty foods because they are important to our health and were at one point harder to come by. Same with salt. Of course, in our modern society they are easy to come by and therefore cause problems...

So if we are designed to mostly eat plants and only sometimes get a hold of some meat or some salt, then it stands to reason our intake of carbs to fats (and protein) shouldn't be equal. There could be a perfect ratio, though I know nutritionists and doctors could argue forever over what the ratio should be. But I don't think the perfect ratio would be "appealing" to people because we are predisposed to seek out foods that shouldn't be consumed in large quantities.

With food science, if it's not about nutrition but just about being appealing, I think it's probably a bit individualistic but I'm sure there's a certain ratio of carbs and fat that are appealing, albeit extremely unhealthy (I'm thinking potato chips, french fries, etc). But again I don't see why carbs and fat would need to be equal. Being equal and having some ideal ratio are two different things.

Okay rambled a bit there, sorry about that. I'm enjoying the thought experiment.