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Posted by: skadeglad on 2010-03-13, 00:24:14
Yes and no. in the end, weight loss and gain IS governed by your calorie intake, although there is some wiggle room. (protein, for example, is filling, so it will make you want to eat less; it also requires energy in order to be metabolized. fiber contains a small amount of calories, but is very filling.) balancing your macronutrient ratio is important. most modern diets are too high in carbohydrates and too low in protein and unsaturated fat. carbs are fattening; protein is filling and stimulates weight loss, muscle growth, and organ maintenance. fat also helps the body repair itself. there is definitely something to be said for trying to manage your macronutrient ratios away from the 60/ 20/ 20 carb/ fat/ protein split and more toward a 33/ 33/ 33 split if possible. there is some wiggle room--the okinawan people eat a diet of about 90% carbohydrate (almost entirely rice) and the inuit eat a diet of close to 0% carbohydrate (almost entirely seal meat, blood, and fish), but for most people, a diet higher in protein would be better. within these macronutrients, there are also essential amino acids (in protein) and essential fatty acids (in fat). these are things that the body CANNOT synthesize on its own. if you don 't get them from your diet, you will die. (carbs are not really "essential ". your body can produce carbohydrate on its own, although it doesn 't like to.) a lot of people believe that dietary fat is fattening. this is not true. dietary fat is "dangerous " because it is calorie-dense and easy to overeat, but it 's not any more fattening than an equivalent amount of carbohydrate would be. many people also worry about their cholesterol intake. however, no correlation has ever been shown between dietary cholesterol intake and blood cholesterol. saturated fat is also feared to cause high cholesterol, but this correlation, too, is weak. a lot of the "health " craze is overblown, although concern regarding partially hydrogenated oils ( "trans fats ") is legitimate. these occur in very small amounts in nature and there 's no reason to eat any more of them than is absolutely necessary. however, in addition to balancing the macronutrient (protein/ carb/ fat) ratios, there are lots of micronutrients which people need, like vitamins and minerals. these usually represent things the body cannot synthesize on its own. we humans evolved in a very diverse environment and ate a lot of different foods for most of our history. as a result, we lost the ability to synthesize many of these nutrients ( "if you don 't use it, you lose it " applies in evolution). this is where eating a diverse diet comes into play--it is theoretically possible to eat a diet of nothing but protein powder (for protein), fatty acid supplements like fish oil and flax oil (for fat), and vitamin pills and supplements, but this is pretty darned boring. a healthy, mixed diet reflects the fact that our ancestors evolved to eat whole foods and to extract their nutrients from those foods. beyond that, eating "healthy " also means eating fresher, more natural foods--ones that are less likely to have artificial contaminants or parasites hiding in them. those can make you sick. |
