How to understand our food III

There are many sources of nutritional information from the Western perspective and also sources of information from the Tradition Chinese Medicine perspective.  This ongoing series will look to bridge the two perspectives.

Before we dive into the subject, let’s layout the basics of nutrition from a Western point of view.  Here are the common categories you would find on a nutrition label in the grocery store:

Carbohydrate

People avoid carbohydrates, “carbs”, when trying to lose weight but carbohydrates are present in all the food, just in different quantities. Carbohydrates are divided into two groups, fiber and glucose.

Fiber is indigestible organic compound and can be categorized into soluble and insoluble fiber.  When people think of fiber, insoluble fiber is what usually comes to mind but soluble fiber is also important. Soluble fiber rich foods can reduce cholesterol levels and stabilize blood glucose levels.

Glucose is also called saccharides, which is divided into different categories, including monosaccharides and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides are simple sugar and fructose (sugar from fruits). These sugars are readily used in the body and can be easily consumed to generate energy. Polysaccharides are multiple monosaccharides combined together (complex sugar). Complex sugars release energy slower than simple sugars. Having a good balance of these sugars and understanding what kind of sugars to avoid will help you to get through a day with sustained energy and vitality.

Protein

Proteins that we consume do not provide energy like the other micronutrients seen in food labels; in fact, protein consumes energy when used.  They are the building blocks of the human body.  Consumed protein is broken down into smaller amino acids which are then reassembled to produce DNA, RNA, and cellular proteins. This breaking down and reassembly process requires energy from other consumed foods or stored. Therefore protein consumes energy to consolidate our muscles and cellular structure.

It is true that proteins (i.e. muscles) are also used as an energy source. However, this is only the case when there is not enough bodily fat.  So unless you are have no body fat, excessive protein consumption is not beneficial.

(1) http://annals.org/aim/article/1846638/association-dietary-circulating-supplement-fatty-acids-coronary-risk-systematic-review