Quick Guide to Macronutrients and Micronutrients

What are the Macronutrients?

Macronutrients – protein, fat and carbohydrate are our main dietary sources of energy. The three main macros make up the bulk of our daily diet. While carbs are not strictly essential, most healthy diets include good amount of all three macronutrients.

Energy in food is measured in calories. Therefore, it is important to count calories. Calories are not the enemy but simply a measure of energy consumption.
The only known way to maintain a healthy weight is to maintain calorie balance — consuming the same amount of calories as we use up. If we consume more than we use, then we will put on weight. On the other hand, if we consume less than we use up, we will lose weight. It’s that simple.

How many calories are in a gram of protein, fat & carbohydrates?

• Protein — 4 kcals / gram
• Carbohydrates — 4 kcals / gram
• Fat — 9 kcals / gram

To lose about 1lb (450 grams) of fat over a week, we need to use about 580 kcal more per day than we consume. For an average person (~160lbs or 73kg) that means 90 minutes of walking, 45 minutes of jogging or 55 minutes of swimming.

What are the micronutrients and how much do we need?

The micronutrients are essential elements in the diet. While vitamins and minerals don’t provide energy (calories), they serve to facilitate metabolic processes, protect tissues and form key structures in the body. Unlike the macronutrients, we need micronutrients in much smaller quantities, hence the name – micro.

Vitamins are organic carbon-based molecules which we need from our diet on a regular basis and are classified alphabetically (A, B complex, C, D, E, K). Vitamins are made by other living organisms.

Minerals are required for a wide range of structural and metabolic processes. We cannot synthesize them in our bodies (they originate from the Earth). They are obtained either by eating them directly (e.g. sodium from salt) or in plant or animal produce that we consume.

How many vitamins and minerals do we require daily?

Each country or region has a listing of Recommended Daily Amounts/Intakes for each vitamin and mineral. These are calculated in a variety of ways including observing the intake of each among healthy people, biochemical tests and tests to cure deficiency. The result is a figure given normally as a weight (g, mg, ug etc) that is required each day.

It’s important to understand that these values are ‘best estimates’ for ‘an average person’. Actually, the figures given vary quite a lot from country to country and also according to age, sex, pregnancy status and other lifestyle factors.

We should note that these Recommended Amounts/Intakes change over time as new scientific information becomes available. Recommendations for energy (kcals) are of course very general as each person requires a different amount of energy (kcals) per day according to how active they are.

Below are the USA and UK official RDAs (Recommended Dietary Allowance) for the minerals and vitamins.

If you want to learn more about nutrition and healthy eating check out the complete Zaggora’s Nutrition 101 Guide. You will learn:

• What is a “balanced diet”?
• What’s the best way to hydrate?
• Is fat good or bad? How much protein do we need? What carbs should we eat?
• Do we really need nutritional supplements?
• How home cooking can improve our health?
• Which nutritional myths are true and which false?