Nutrient Know-How: Micronutrients and Macronutrients

In the quest for optimal health and a fit physique, understanding your diet’s core components is paramount.

You can de-construct your daily nutrition into two essential categories:

1. Micronutrients
2. Macronutrients

Micronutrients are the unsung heroes your body craves in minuscule quantities, encompassing vitamins and minerals.

These tiny powerhouses perform a multitude of vital functions, including energy production, regulating enzymes and hormones, fortifying your immune system, growth, bone health, and fluid balance.

Iron, for example, is an essential nutrient needed to produce oxygen-carrying proteins, ensuring your muscles receive the energy-producing oxygen they need. Similarly, calcium is indispensable for maintaining bone health.

Micronutrients can be classified into four categories:

1. Water-soluble vitamins: These dissolve in water and are excreted if consumed in excess, including the B-vitamins and vitamin C.
2. Fat-soluble vitamins: Absorbed best when consumed with dietary fat, these are stored in your liver and fatty tissues, including vitamins A, D, E, and K.
3. Trace minerals: Essential in small amounts but critical for various bodily functions, such as iron, manganese, copper, zinc, iodine, fluoride, and selenium.
4. Macro-minerals: Required in larger quantities than trace minerals, macro-minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and sodium play specific roles in your body.

Unlike macronutrients, your body cannot synthesise micronutrients, necessitating their inclusion in your diet.

Whole, unprocessed foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, are your best allies in obtaining micronutrients. As the micronutrient content varies among foods, diversifying your diet is the smart way to ensure you meet your recommended daily allowance (RDA). Additionally, supplements and fortified foods can complement your micronutrient intake.

Micronutrient deficiencies can unleash a slew of health woes, from illnesses to reduced energy levels, mental fog, and compromised immune function.

These deficiencies can undermine educational achievements, hinder exercise efficiency, decrease work productivity, and elevate the risk of various diseases.

Macronutrients are the nutritional juggernauts your body craves in significant quantities to fuel daily activities, support metabolic processes, and promote tissue growth and repair.

Each macronutrient also brings along its unique vitamin, mineral, and fibre contributions, making dietary diversity key to optimal health and performance.

Macronutrients can be categorised into three primary groups:

• Proteins: Essential for tissue repair, growth, and a variety of biochemical processes. Proteins also play crucial roles in metabolism, hormones, and maintaining acid-alkaline balance.
• Fats: Often misunderstood, dietary fat is vital for energy, hormone production, and the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. It also serves as a protective layer for your organs and aids in insulation.
• Carbohydrates: These serve as your body’s primary energy source, powering muscles and the central nervous system during physical activities.

The Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board recommends a macronutrient distribution range (AMDR) of 45-65% carbohydrates, 20-35% fat, and 10-35% protein. However, individual responses to macronutrient ratios can vary, making personalized guidance from a qualified dietitian invaluable.

Factors influencing your ideal macronutrient ratio include your metabolic rate, daily activity levels, energy requirements, and health status.

For example, highly active individuals may require more carbohydrates for immediate energy, while those with insulin resistance or diabetes might benefit from a lower-carbohydrate diet. Nonetheless, a well-rounded diet should never exclude an entire macronutrient group.