If you are looking to make changes to your body, both exercise and good nutrition must go hand in hand in order to see results!

In terms of nutrition, the Australian Dietary Guidelines and the Healthy Eating Pyramid provide us with a guide on what good nutrition looks like by suggesting the types of foods we should eat and in what proportions different foods should be consumed each day from the five main food groups.

But, you may feel like you are eating right based on the five food groups and exercising regularly, but you still find it hard to lose or maintain your weight. If this is you, it is important to remember that sticking to the healthy eating principles also means drilling down into the amount of food you are eating, and in particular the amount of macronutrients or sources of energy you are eating.

What are macronutrients?
Macronutrients or macros, are the types of nutrients that make up the bulk of what we eat and the amount of calories that we eat each day. There are three macronutrients – carbohydrates, fats and protein. Our bodies need a combination of all three in order to function properly. So let’s briefly look at each one of these.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy. The body converts carbohydrates consumed from food mostly into glucose for immediate energy to power our muscles, however any excess glucose beyond what the body needs for immediate energy is converted into glycogen, a storage form of carbohydrates, or converted into fat.  So if we don’t move our muscles regularly, the carbohydrates we consume are stored in the body’s fat cells. 

But not all carbohydrates are the enemy as there are two main types:
• Complex carbohydrates – in starchy vegetables, including sweet potatoes, beetroot and pumpkin; gluten free grains like quinoa, brown rice and buckwheat; wholegrain bread, oats and pasta; low GI fruits like berries, citrus and stone fruits; and beans and legumes. These foods have good nutritional value.
• Simple carbohydrates – the sugary ones, found in cakes, biscuits and sweets which are sometimes termed empty calories or calorie dense foods, as they give you no nutritional benefits. Other simple carbohydrates include white breads, white rice, cereals, and potatoes.

Essentially, it’s the simple carbohydrates we need to minimise and consume more complex carbohydrates as part of a healthy balanced diet.

Fats
Despite common misconceptions, fats are important because they also provide energy, provide warmth for your bodies and help to conserve body heat and protect our organs from injury. 

But, there are four different types of fats, with some taking the body a lot longer to break down than others:
• Saturated Fats – these are mainly found in animal fats and are usually hard at room temperature e.g. butter, meat fats, cheese, ice-cream, coconut oil. These are the bad fats because they increase risk of disease and elevate cholesterol
• Trans Fats – these are also hard at room temperature and are also considered bad fats, e.g., pastries, cookies, donuts, muffins, cakes, pizza dough, packaged snack foods, fried foods, lollies
• Monounsaturated Fats – These are usually liquid at room temperature and considered good fats, e.g., olive, canola, sunflower, peanut and sesame oils; avocado; nuts; peanut butter
• Polyunsaturated Fats – These are the best type of fat for you and are found in oily fish and some oils and help lower cholesterol, e.g., salmon, tuna; soymilk; soybean oil, corn oil; walnuts; sunflower, sesame and pumpkin seeds; flaxseeds; tofu.

So, stick with the mono and poly unsaturated varieties as part of a healthy balanced diet, and consume these in smaller quantities than other macronutrients.  

Protein
The last main macronutrient and probably one of the most important is Protein. Protein provides energy and helps to build and repair our muscles.  Proteins are mainly found in animal products such as lean meat, fish, milk, eggs, beans, nuts and seeds. 

Protein takes longer for the body to break down, so increasing your daily intake can make a huge difference in energy and will help keep you fuller for longer. It also speeds up the metabolism and produces healthy hormones.  This is why it is crucial to eat a portion of protein with every main meal and at least a half-portion of protein with every snack.

However, some proteins are higher in fats than others, such as beef, salmon or full-fat cheeses, so its important to consume moderate amounts of these and opt for leaner protein sources. 

But despite its importance, protein is one of those macronutrients that we just don’t eat enough of as part of our daily food intake, especially if you are vegetarian or vegan.  This is where protein powders can come in handy as a healthy, safe, and simple way  to achieve an optimum protein intake. Protein powders also contain a number of other important vitamins and nutrients that can help round out a healthy diet.

Laura’s Power Protein Balls use Bulk Nutrients Earth Protein, a smooth blend of rice, pea and fava beans making our balls vegan, gluten and lactose free!  And each 40 gram ball contains approximately 6-7 grams of protein.  The Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) of protein for women is 45–60g and for men it’s 65–80g.   So, one protein ball offers around an 1/8th of a person’s daily protein requirement, as does roughly a serve of our granola, which is pretty good for a small power snack!  

So, if you are one of those people that just don’t seem to get enough protein in your diet, consider snacking on one of our protein balls every now and then to boost your daily intake!

In an upcoming blog we will look at the low down on the carbohydrate or sugar content in our protein balls and the difference between natural and refined sugars, so stay tuned for this one!