Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins: How Much Per Day?

Nia Rouseberg Author: Nia Rouseberg Time for reading: ~6 minutes Last Updated: October 04, 2022
Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins: how much per day?

We believe that quality is more important than quantity: the main thing is to choose the right food sources.

We believe that quality is more important than quantity: the main thing is to choose the right food sources.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrate foods are those that contain large amounts of sugars: bread, pasta, potatoes, tubers, fruit, honey, sweet foods.  Official recommendations are in favor of the proportion of carbohydrates, as depending on the country they should cover 50 to 60% of energy needs (50 to 55% in France).  If you do not exercise much, these rather high recommendations may lead to the consumption of an excessive glycemic load.

In many studies, a high glycemic load has been associated with a higher risk of obesity and diabetes, possibly cardiovascular disease.

We can reduce the proportion of carbohydrates to "only" 40% of calories, while respecting the basic metabolic balances.  But depending on your level of physical activity (power worker, athlete), carbohydrates can represent up to 55% of your energy intake.

Therefore, we chose a wide range for carbohydrates, ranging from  40 to 55% of calories depending on physical activity  , the main thing is to choose the right carbohydrate foods, ie. those with the highest nutritional density. high, with the lowest caloric density, with a low  glycemic index  .  This boils down to extracting carbohydrates primarily from vegetables, fruits, tubers (limiting potatoes), unprocessed grains.  Above all, ultra-processed foods and added sugars , which are associated with many health problems,  should be avoided .   

Lipids: where to find them? Which lipids should we avoid? How many grams of fat per day?

Lipids are added fats and fatty foods.  The consumption of lipids is important for health, as they are involved in the proper functioning of the body, their role is even essential.  Lipids, in the official French recommendations, are offered at 35 to 40% of total calories.  For the best way to eat  , they can make up 30-40% of your total energy intake  .  However, there are several families of fats.

Lipids: definition, types of lipids

95% of dietary lipids are triglycerides, i.e. molecules that contain 3 fatty acids linked to a glycerol molecule.  Glycerol has little nutritional value.  It is the fatty acids that are important for the balance of the body and it is they that give the properties of fats.

Fatty acids are chains of 4 to 22 carbon atoms with an acid group (COOH) at one end and a methyl group (CH3) at the other.  Fatty acids differ according to the number of carbon atoms and the number of double bonds.  In fact, these parameters determine the general shape of the molecule and its properties, especially when it is incorporated into a biological membrane.  Thus, there are short (less than 18 carbon atoms), long (18 carbon atoms) and very long (20 to 24 carbon atoms) fatty acid chains.

  • When a fatty acid has no double bonds, it is called "  saturated  ".
  • When it has a double bond, it is said to be "  monounsaturated  ".
  • When  there are several double bonds, it is said to be "  polyunsaturated  ".

Short (4 to 6 carbon atoms) and medium chain (8 to 10 carbon atoms) fatty acids never have a double bond.  Only long-chain fatty acids of 18 carbon atoms can be unsaturated.

Saturated fatty acids are of animal origin.  They are found in butter, milk, meat.  Unsaturated fatty acids are mainly of plant origin.

There are other lipids in the diet:

  • phospholipids, molecules that contain fatty acids and phosphorus (soy lecithin and egg yolk)
  • cholesterol.

What are lipids used for? What is their role and function in the body?

Once absorbed by the gut, fatty acids can be used as a source of energy for muscles (at 9 kcal/g they are the most energetic nutrients).  When you consume more than you need, they are stored in fat tissue in the form of triglycerides.  But their role is not only energetic.  Fatty acids are structural components of cell membranes, especially neurons.  The brain, thymus and retina are the organs most rich in fatty acids.  Finally, depending on the needs of the body, some fatty acids are transformed into carrier molecules such as thromboxanes, prostaglandins or leukotrienes.

Cholesterol, whether it is food or made by the liver, is used to make essential substances such as bile, sex hormones (progesterone, testosterone, estradiol) or stress hormones (cortisol).  It is also a major component of cell membranes.

Dietary fat serves as a vehicle for fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K (example: vitamins A and D in butter, vitamin E in vegetable oils).

How to distribute them perfectly in your average consumption?

PREMIUM CHAPTERS ▼

Saturated fat: moderation, but not exclusion (PREMIUM)

Saturated fats are found in foods of animal origin, such as butter, full-fat dairy products, some meats. They are also found in vegetable fats, especially in tropical oils (palm, palm oil, coconut).

MFM предлага глобален хранителен режим, от който не са изключени наситените мазнини. Причината за това е, че последните проучвания не откриват ясна връзка между консумацията на тези мазнини и риска от сърдечно-съдови заболявания. Всички обаче са единодушни, че не трябва да се злоупотребява . Излишъкът от наситени мастни киселини може да направи мембраните на нашите клетки твърде твърди, което, когато е в излишък, например не позволява на червените кръвни клетки да се промъкнат в малките кръвоносни съдове (риск от съсиреци) или не позволява на нервите на клетките да получават важни химически съобщения ( риск от депресия).

Смятаме, че тези наситени мастни киселини могат да представляват 10 до 12% от общите ви калории или около една трета от мазнините, които консумирате , което означава да ги ограничите, без да ги изключвате. За жена, която консумира 1800 калории (kcal) на ден, и мъж, който консумира 2400, това съответства съответно на приблизително 20 и 27 грама на ден.

Следователно можем да продължим да консумираме малко масло (по-скоро на препечен хляб, отколкото в кухнята), кокосово масло и мляко, сметана и сирене, колбаси за удоволствие. Във всеки случай, ако ги намалите, не трябва да заменяте наситените мазнини с въглехидрати с висок гликемичен индекс, а по-скоро с други мазнини: мононенаситени и полиненаситени.

Мононенаситени мазнини: около половината от дневните ви мазнини (PREMIUM)

Зехтинът съдържа около 70% мононенаситени мастни киселини (особено олеинова киселина), рапичното масло около 60%. Има ги в изобилие и в авокадо, лешник, макадамия и пекан.

Може да се каже, че като цяло мононенаситените мастни киселини са благоприятни за здравето на сърдечно-съдовата система. Според най-новите научни данни, мононенаситените мазнини могат да съставляват 14-20% от общите ви калории, което е приблизително половината от общите мазнини , които приемате.

Като ги използвате редовно за подправки (маслини и рапица) и готвене (главно маслини, понякога фъстъци), имате добри шансове да постигнете физиологичната си цел. Бадемите, орехите и лешниците в междинните закуски могат да се разглеждат без страх от напълняване.

Полиненаситени мазнини: осигурете съотношението омега-6 към омега-3 (PREMIUM)

Това са растителни мазнини от семействата омега-6 (слънчогледови, царевични, гроздови, зърнени и зърнени животински мазнини) и омега-3 (ленено семе, рапично семе, орехи, мазна риба, краве яйца). кокошки, хранени с ленено семе). към нашия организъм.

Заедно те в идеалния случай могат да съставляват 4,5-6,5% от общите ви калории или една шеста от дневните мазнини (16%). Това представлява за мъж, който консумира 2400 калории на ден, приблизително 15 g (11 g за жени).

Омега-6 може да се намеси за 3 до 5% от общите калории, включително 3,6% средно идващи от линолова киселина (лидерът на семейството).

Омега-3, между 1,4 до 1,8% от общите калории:

  • 1,2% от алфа-линоленова киселина (ALA, лидер на семейството) или 2,4 g ALA
  • 0,4% от дълговерижни омега-3 мастни киселини, включително EPA и DHA от мазна риба, или 800 mg на ден.

Целта с полиненаситените мастни киселини ще бъде да се избегне всякакъв дисбаланс между тях, т.е. да се намери оптимално съотношение омега-6/омега-3, което считаме за близко до 2 към 3 .

Ако имате твърде много омега-6 в диетата си, ще се стимулират възпалителни явления и кръвта ще бъде по-малко течна, което може да насърчи сърдечни удари или някои видове рак, например.

Ако имате твърде много омега-3, рискът от инфаркт ще бъде много нисък, тъй като кръвта ще циркулира идеално и дори твърде добре: следователно рискът от хеморагичен инсулт ще бъде по-висок.

Така че целта ще бъде в менютата:

  • to reduce the proportion of omega-6s, which is not always easy as they are hiding everywhere and especially since most animals are now fed corn (rich in omega-6s) except those carrying the blue and white label heart that have flaxseeds in their diet rich in omega-3 found in their meat or eggs.
  • to increase the proportion of omega-3 by preferring canola and walnut oil (or linseed or camelina, if you visit organic stores) for raw vegetable seasonings and by reintegrating oily fish (salmon, mackerel, trout, etc.)) and some oilseeds (walnuts, flax).

If you suffer from inflammatory (joint pain) or cardiovascular (platelet aggregation) pathologies, the goal will even be to reduce this ratio to 2 or even 1.

If we consider our intake of unsaturated fat to come from one oil, more than half of the fatty acids in that oil should be monounsaturated (omega-9) and 16% polyunsaturated, with 3 times more omega-6 (linoleic acid) than omega -3 (alpha-linolenic acid). Which yields one part omega-3, three parts omega-6, and 12 to 13 parts omega-9. There is no oil with this ideal composition. Only the combination of two oils can come close. These are olive oil and rapeseed oil, which must be mixed in equal parts.

How much fat per day? (PREMIUM)

Fatty acids

Percentage of recommended calorie intake

Recommended daily amount for a woman (1800 kcal/day)

Recommended daily amount for a man (2400 kcal/day)

Monounsaturated omega-9

17% (14 to 20)

34 gr

45 gr

Omega-6 polyunsaturated

Linoleic acid

4% (3 to 5)

3.6%

8g

7.2g

10.7g

9.6g

Omega-3 polyunsaturated

Alpha-linolenic acid

EPA + DHA

1.6% (1.4 to 1.8)

1.2%

0.4%

3.2g

2.4g

0.8g

4.3g

3.2g

1g

Total polyunsaturated fatty acids

5.6% (4.5 to 6.5)

11g

15 gr

Saturated fatty acids

11% (10 to 12)

22 gr

29 gr

Total

35% (30 to 40)

70 gr

93 gr

Proteins, which sources to choose? (PREMIUM)

While in France the advice is to limit protein to less than 15% of total calories, we estimate that protein can contribute 15-29% of calories with at least half plant protein.

This equates to approaching the situation in countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Japan before 1980. For example, in the 1970s Spain and Portugal consumed between 80 and 100 g of protein per inhabitant per day, with just over half of plant origin, while animal proteins traditionally dominate in France.

Beans are not the only providers of plant proteins in the daily diet. In Greece, vegetables provide 8 g of protein per day, twice as much as legumes.

MFM recommends getting at least half of your protein from vegetables, legumes, tubers, fruits, nuts, oilseeds, rice, traditional grains (wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.).

About | Privacy | Marketing | Cookies | Contact us

All rights reserved © ThisNutrition 2018-2024

Medical Disclaimer: All content on this Web site, including medical opinion and any other health-related information, is for informational purposes only and should not be considered to be a specific diagnosis or treatment plan for any individual situation. Use of this site and the information contained herein does not create a doctor-patient relationship. Always seek the direct advice of your own doctor in connection with any questions or issues you may have regarding your own health or the health of others.

Affiliate Disclosure: Please note that each post may contain affiliate and/or referral links, in which I receive a very small commission for referring readers to these companies.