In this episode, Coach Jo and Coach Kim discuss the importance of macros (aka macronutrients) and how they affect our overall health. They start by giving listeners a basic overview of the three types of macros: protein, carbs, and fat and the vital role each plays in our body, including breaking down popular myths and misunderstandings about each macro. Then, Coach Jo and Kim get into the exciting facts about how macros communicate with our bodies, brains, and hormones—everything you didn’t know about macros but will be so happy you learned!

Coaches Jo and Kim go beyond the simple facts of how macros affect the body and dig into the science of how each macro affects our body, how we process the energy and how we overcompensate for an imbalance of each of the three. This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about their food choices to achieve optimal body and brain health while avoiding extreme diets and false information about food.

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Transcript:

Coach Jo 00:09

Welcome to Perfectly Unfinished Conversations, the Iron Lab podcast with Coach Jo…

Coach Kim 00:14

…and Coach Kim…

Coach Jo 00:15

Where you ride shotgun with us as we have raw, real, unfiltered, and unfinished conversations about trying to eat, sleep, train, and live with some integrity in a messy, imperfect life.

Coach Kim 00:27

We're all about creating a strong support system, taking radical personal responsibility, having fun, and being authentic. And one of the most common themes you're going to find in this podcast is the idea that we create positive momentum in our life, by doing what we call b-minus work.

Coach Jo 00:45

We’re making gains and getting ahead and loving life without self-sabotaging our goals by striving for perfection. We get it done by moving ahead…

Coach Kim 00:55

…before we're ready…

Coach Jo 00:56

…when we aren't feeling like it…

Coach Kim 00:58

…and without hesitation.

Coach Jo 01:00

Be sure to subscribe now on Apple or Spotify, so you don't miss a single episode. It’s good enough. Let's go.

Coach Jo 01:11

Welcome back. This is episode seven, and we are talking about everything you didn't know about macros, what food is telling your body what to do, or food as a set of instructions to your body. All macronutrients, there's three of them, they are protein, fats and carbohydrates. There are micronutrients as well, available in your food. You know, examples such as iron, zinc or copper, but we're going to focus on those three today.

Coach Kim 01:46

Right, so everything that we eat is made up of protein, fats and carbs, either there is like straight up protein, which isn't available in a lot of foods, things like shrimp, tuna, a lean cut of beef is up, venison, moose, really high in protein, very little to no fat, definitely no carbs, unless you're mixing your meat with something, you know, like a sauce or something like that. So that's straight up protein. Some things are straight up fats, like olive oil or coconut oil or butter. And then some things are straight up carbohydrates, like oats, instant oatmeal, blueberries, oranges or gummy candies, honey, pop. But in order to, you know, obtain good body composition, you got to have all three in your diet. Skipping one macro might work for a short period of time, but it's really not ideal for the long term.

Coach Jo 02:48

Yeah, for sure. Let's talk about how to decipher what's in each macronutrient. So for every gram of carbohydrate that you consume, there are four calories energy sources per that one gram. So if you're having, say, a banana, you know, 30 grams, you would multiply that by four, and that would give you your caloric intake of just that carbohydrate. Now when we break down protein, it's the exact same as carbohydrates. It is four calories per that single one gram that you get. Now, the difference, and they're very dense when it comes to energy dense, is fats. Fats are higher. They're almost one like and a half times higher, nine calories you get per one gram of fat. Also something to consider is alcohol. And this is on the same scale when it comes to energy, because when we grab an alcoholic beverage and it says, Oh, hey, it's 100 calories only, well that might be just what it is made of, but it's not the alcohol content. I don't know why they don't put this on the label. It would be really important to, but you get seven calories per one gram of alcohol. Like I said, it's not included on your label. This is extra. So everything between these four that we just talked about, they're broke down into different categories of energy that you get from each gram.

Coach Kim 04:22

So let's start with protein, because, you know, Jo and I, we love to talk about the importance of protein. It is so important for our health, and it has several benefits that you might not know about or think about. First of all, protein has a higher thermic effect, which means that it can boost your metabolism and help you burn more calories. In regards to instructions for the body, its job is to build and repair tissues, make enzymes and hormones, and it supports our immune system. We tend to hope that you know that. Good sources of protein include animal proteins like chicken and beef, fish eggs, whey protein supplements, or even plain Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. Out of the 21 amino acids that our body requires and uses for optimal health, nine amino acids are essential, meaning we have to get them from our food, because our bodies cannot make them. Simply put, if you're not eating enough protein, you're not getting these essential amino acids, which are crucial for repair and growth. And when I'm talking about repair and growth, we're always talking about not just muscles, we're talking about bones, tendon, skin, hair, eyelashes, taste buds, like all of it. Everything that makes up you is made up of protein. So let's clear up a common myth. Some people believe that eating too much protein can damage your kidneys. And I think this myth started because people with kidney disease are advised to limit their protein as their kidneys struggle to filter out protein waste. But if you're healthy and active, your kidneys are fully capable of handling protein intake. Your blood pumps properly. If you're active and moving and your kidneys will as well. They're part of your detoxification. Detoxification pathway, studies show that there's really no link significantly between high protein consumption and kidney damage in people with healthy kidneys. So remember, protein is not just essential from your metabolism and muscle repair, but overall health. Please don't be afraid to ...