Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Volga bomb Here. Once upon a time, calories bore
Speaker 1: the brunt of dieters. Ire would be weight watchers meticulously
Speaker 1: crunched numbers on nutrition labels and brands made major bucks
Speaker 1: shilling snacks made of little more than artificial sweeteners and air. Then,
Speaker 1: as the world learned more about the potential waistline expanding
Speaker 1: and otherwise unhealthy power of processed sugars, many people begin
Speaker 1: paying less attention to their total cloric intake and more
Speaker 1: attention to the composition of their meals. Focusing on quality
Speaker 1: over quantity isn't a bad idea, since nutritionists are adamant
Speaker 1: that not all calories are created equal, meaning your body
Speaker 1: will process a hundred calories worth of kale much differently
Speaker 1: than wild process a hundred calories worth of ntella, which
Speaker 1: sadly isn't very much to tella. But breaking down the
Speaker 1: benefits of what's on your plate requires some basic knowledge
Speaker 1: of the building blocks of food. So do you even
Speaker 1: count Macro's bro Should you ever find yourself down in
Speaker 1: Instagram fits bow rabbit hole, you may be overwhelmed by
Speaker 1: the amount of talk about macros. Along with pounding protein
Speaker 1: powder and nailing dead lifts. Fitness enthusiasts often discussed the
Speaker 1: practice of counting macronutrients to hit their goals. Macronutrients are
Speaker 1: what constitute the foods you eat, and they can be
Speaker 1: broken down into the following basic categories. Carbohydrates, proteins including
Speaker 1: essential amino acids, and fats including essential fatty acids, though
Speaker 1: experts often also tack on water and fiber to this
Speaker 1: list as your body needs them for healthy organ function
Speaker 1: and digestion. Different types of macronutrients have different amounts of
Speaker 1: calories per serving. Fats yield about nine calories program, while
Speaker 1: proteins and carbs contain about four calories program each. Dietitians
Speaker 1: generally recommend divvying up your diet so that you get
Speaker 1: a variety of macronutrients, since each type provides different payoffs. Carbs,
Speaker 1: most commonly found in foods like grains, fruits, and vegetables,
Speaker 1: fuel your brain and body with energy. Proteins often obtained
Speaker 1: from meat, dairy, eggs, tofu and lagoons, help prepare and
Speaker 1: build your muscles, skin, and organs, and aid in hormonal production.
Speaker 1: Fats found in foods like avocados, olive oil, seeds, nuts,
Speaker 1: and various animal products are stored in your body and
Speaker 1: then used as backup fuel and to protect and insulate
Speaker 1: your organs and bones, including one that we particularly prize
Speaker 1: around here, your brain. Everyone's nutritional needs are different, but
Speaker 1: the U. S Department of Health and Human Services generally
Speaker 1: recommends the following daily macro ranges for adults forty to
Speaker 1: sixty of your diet from carbs, ten to thirty pc
Speaker 1: from protein, and twenty from fat. But micronutrients matter too.
Speaker 1: Dr Donald hens Red, head of the Mayo Clinic Healthy
Speaker 1: Living Program, recently talked about micro and macronutrients in an
Speaker 1: addition of Mayo Clinic Minute. He said, we need both
Speaker 1: macronutrients to help with energy, and we need micronutrients to
Speaker 1: help our body be healthy and digest those macronutrients. The
Speaker 1: World Health Organization has an even more colorful definition of
Speaker 1: micronutrients quote called micronutrients because they are needed only in
Speaker 1: minuscule amounts. These substances are the magic wands that enable
Speaker 1: the body to produce enzymes, hormones, and other substances essential
Speaker 1: for proper growth and development. What both of those definitions
Speaker 1: mean essentially, is that micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals
Speaker 1: found in food, and as you can imagine, there are
Speaker 1: a ton necessary to keep your brain and body in
Speaker 1: top shape. They typically fall into the following categories. Water
Speaker 1: soluble vitamins like vitamin C and B, vitamins, fat soluble
Speaker 1: vitamins like vitamins A, D, E, and K, and essential
Speaker 1: trace minerals from chromium to zinc. About thirty vitamins and
Speaker 1: minerals are considered essential. That means your body can't manufacture
Speaker 1: enough of them on its own, so you need to
Speaker 1: get them from food. And five micronutrients vitamin B, six,
Speaker 1: vitamin C, B of an, E, magnesium, and zinc are
Speaker 1: important for keeping your immune system boosted, so it's a
Speaker 1: good idea to ensure your food choices are chalk full
Speaker 1: of them. But one last thing, not all micronutrients supplement
Speaker 1: pills actually deliver a useful amount of vitamins and minerals
Speaker 1: to your body. As Dr Howard D. Sso, Associate Professor
Speaker 1: of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, told Harvard Health, you
Speaker 1: should ideally try to meet your vitamin and mineral needs
Speaker 1: through your diet rather than supplements, and indeed research shows
Speaker 1: that wild supplements can be a stop gap for a
Speaker 1: poor diet. It's better to spend your money and effort
Speaker 1: on eating a balanced diet. It'll probably taste better too.
Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Klang. For more on this and lots of other
Speaker 1: nutritious topics, visit our home planet, how stuff works dot com.