Eating Right: A Brief Guide to Macronutrients
If you have done any amount of training, you would know just how important eating the right foods are to your training results. High protein, low-carb diets are famous in the fitness industry and one that has become the go-to diet plan for expecting proper results. However, your diet is more than just about maximizing your intake of proteins and minimizing carbohydrates; it is about consuming the right amount of macronutrients to influence fat loss and build muscle. Here is a brief guide to understanding macronutrients and how they impact your health.
Carbohydrates
Lowering intake of carbohydrates has almost become a hard and fast rule of fitness. However, carbs, if managed properly, can be the key to your fitness results. What many people don’t know or fail to distinguish is between complex and simple carbohydrates, much like good and bad carbohydrates. If you consume more of bad carbs or simple carbs, such as those packed with refined sugar and white flour, you will gain weight and lose muscle definition.
On the other hand, complex carbs, such as wholegrain and wholemeal foods like brown rice and sweet potatoes are essential for energizing your body for longer durations and serve as an excellent meal for post-exercise recovery. Instead of skipping carbohydrates altogether that will only leave you with energy insufficient to train hard, consume the right proportion of complex carbohydrates in your breakfast and lunch meals.
Proteins
Proteins are the bread and butter for developing a lean or mass muscle physique. As a vital building block of your hair, bones, skin, and cartilage, proteins help nourish fatigued muscles, burn fat, and help build more muscle. Unsurprisingly, many strength and bodybuilders consume protein every few hours throughout the day to recover from intense workouts and build more muscle.
Eating more protein-rich foods also has the advantage of boosting your metabolic rate that helps burn more calories. Sources such as egg whites, lean meats, cottage cheese, and Greek Yogurt, for instance, can help repair muscle tissues and fibers and make it easier for you to achieve a strong and lean physique.
Fats
The very word ‘fat’ may raise your eyebrows, however, it is just as crucial to maintaining good health as carbohydrates and proteins. Fats are fatty acids that help supply your body with linolenic and linoleic acid. More importantly, they enable your body to consume and store fat-soluble vitamins such as Vitamins A, D, E, and K. Similar to carbs, fats are of two kinds, healthy and non-healthy fats. Simply put, any food item that is high in saturated fats will cause your body to bloat and gain size.
Unsaturated fats that are obtained from seeds, fish, plant oils, and nuts, on the other hand, consist of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Both of these play a vital role in lowering the risk of cardiovascular diseases by increasing LDL, or good cholesterol levels.
To obtain good fitness results, maximizing your macronutrients is essential. Make sure to fill your diet with plenty of complex carbohydrates, lean meat proteins, and healthy fats such as nuts and seeds.
Sources
https://www.realbuzz.com/articles/guide-to-micronutrients/
