Macronutrients vs micronutrients, carbs, fat, protein, calories, fiber. These are some of the many nutrition-related words that people hear, read and use frequently. But let’s back up a second. What actually are these things? If you’ve been a bit confused about some or all of these terms, you are not alone! Most of us unfortunately do not learn this kind of information when we are in school growing up. Fortunately, here at Nutriving we went to school (for a long time) to learn ALL about nutrition and how we can help others using that knowledge. So, let’s clear some things up.
Macronutrients vs Micronutrients
Macronutrients are the building blocks of our food, aka carbohydrates, fats and proteins. We did a deep dive on each of these in previous posts, so be sure to check those posts out! We receive energy (i.e., calories) from these macronutrients to do all the functions our bodies need to do to keep us alive. Calories are literally a unit of energy, and we use calories to quantify how much energy foods give us. A gram of carbohydrate gives us 4 calories. A gram of fat gives us 9 calories. A gram of protein gives us 4 calories. A well-balanced meal that has all 3 macronutrients will help your body meet your energy needs and help you feel full and satisfied after that meal.
Micronutrients are substances required by humans in trace amounts for normal growth and development. Trace amounts meaning smaller amounts as compared to the amounts of macronutrients we need, hence the “micro” and “macro” distinction. Micronutrients is an umbrella term that encompasses vitamins and minerals. Both vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients since the human body cannot synthesize them. We get vitamins and minerals from the plants and animals that we eat.
- Vitamins are organic compounds we get from our food. Vitamins can be divided into water-soluble and fat-soluble based on how the body handles them. Water-soluble vitamins include vitamin C and B vitamins. In general, water-soluble vitamins cannot be stored in the body as long as fat-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins include vitamin A, D, E and K and can be stored in body lipids (= fat).
- Minerals are inorganic compounds that are found in soil and water. The plants and animals we eat absorb and store minerals, and then we receive them when we digest those plants or animals. Minerals can further be divided into macrominerals and microminerals based on how much of that mineral the human body needs to function properly. This cut-off is around 100 grams/day, so macromineral means we need more than 100 grams/day of that mineral and micromineral means less than that. Macrominerals include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride. Microminerals include iron, zinc, selenium and copper to name a few.
Where are the macronutrients located on a nutrition label?
Okay now that we are clear on what macronutrients are, where in the world do you find this information on a nutrition label?!
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