By Kelly McPherson CPT, CFT, CES

In my personal training practice, I have found that a lot of people have at least some confusion about carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Are they good? Are they bad? Should I count them? What do they do for me? What? What? What? Well, if that is you, then listen up, I am about to explain a few basics about these important sources of energy and nutrients for your body.

Carbohydrates (carbs) - These come in so many forms and are generally used as quick energy in the body. Anything that is not a fat or a protein is a carb. That includes your breads, fruits, rice, etc. And yes, veggies are carbs too!

Carbohydrates are a necessary for maintaining energy levels and brain function. Have you ever noticed that when you are tired and hungry that you don't always think very well? Usually, when you get to these points, you start to crave carbs in a very big way. It is your body's way of saying it needs energy, NOW!

One of the drawbacks to carbs is that most forms are easily digestible and convert quickly into sugars in the bloodstream. If your blood sugars increase quickly without activity level to burn it, your body will release insulin to bring down the sugar levels. Unfortunately the insulin stores the sugar as fat. This is the mechanism that most of the low-carb diets are working on. By starving the body of carbohydrates, insulin responses are less likely to happen and so less of your food is being stored as fat. A word to the wise, however, in the absence of carbohydrates for energy, the body does NOT always use fat stores for energy. Sometimes it will digest your muscle as well! Yikes! You need muscle for burning the fat. That is the last thing that you want to get rid of. Also, remember, your heart is a muscle. I know that I would really hate to be digesting my heart!

The key with carbohydrates is to consume the proper kinds of carbs at the right times and in the right amounts. Determining the proper kinds, times and amounts varies greatly from person to person with their goals, activity levels and genetic make up.

Proteins - Proteins are great! Most people don't get enough of them. When digested, protein gives us the necessary ingredients to build muscle. Muscle, sweet muscle. That wonderful part of our bodies that we want to develop,. tone and use to burn those dreaded fat stores.

They come in so many forms. The one most of us think of is meat, but we can also get it in nuts, legumes, dairy and many grains. It is lurking in a lot of things, so look for it. Just make sure to read labels. Many packaged foods claim to be high protein, but when it gets right down to it, the food only has 1 or 2 grams. Right now, my favorite is in the form on yogurt. Mmmm.... I cut a slit in the top of the container, slide in a plastic spoon and then freeze it. Viola! A yummy, cool treat for a summer afternoon with some really good protein!

The great thing about proteins is that when eaten with carbohydrates, it slows the digestion process. That means that blood sugars don't increase quite as quickly and aren't as likely to elicit an insulin response which stores what you ate as fat. Is that cool, or what? Because it digests more slowly, it also means that you don't get hungry as quickly afterwards. That is why I highly recommend that every time you eat, that you make sure you get at least 5 grams of protein with it. It really does help keep a body inside a desired calorie range.

Again, just like the carbs, the proper amounts, times and forms of protein that is correct for a body, varies from body to body.

Fats - Fats have gotten a really bad rap in past years. A big portion comes from how calorie dense a gram of fat is. While carbs and protein have 4 calories per gram, fats have 9 calories. Wow! That's a lot more. So in an effort to cut calories, many people have cut the fats.

Now while I agree that it is good to have a low fat diet, there is a lower limit. You need fat! Your brain runs on it. A women's hormones are run on it. It also aids in the proper digestion of carbs and proteins. What's that? Yes, you need fat in order to properly digest and absorb the nutrients from all the carbs and proteins that you eat. Just like protein, fat slows down the digestion of carbohydrates.

The key here is to choose good fats. I really hate labeling some foods as good and others as bad, but in this case, we need to. In an effort to make more economical food sources, scientists have manufactured some real nasties for us. Trans Fats are one of those nasties. Read your labels and stay away from anything that says "partially hydrogenated" anything on it. I don't care what the nutrition label says, those are trans fats any way you look at them. The other ones to avoid or to reduce are the saturated fats. You do need some of these, but not nearly as many as most of us get. These are your solid fats at room temperature. One of my weaknesses, butter, is one such fat. Of course margarine is loaded with trans fats, so if you have to choose, choose butter over margarine. Better yet, skip it altogether and go for a little honey or fruit spread.

Don't be afraid of fats in things like nuts, seeds, avacadoes, fish etc. Those are the good kind! You will be better off for having eaten them.

Just like the carbs and proteins, the exact amount, type and timing of fats that a body needs varies greatly from body to body.

I hope that what you are hearing from what I have written is that you need a balance of carbs, proteins and fats in your diet. They work together to make a healthy body, so if you exclude one group completely you are compromising your body's ability to meet your physical goals and needs. I also hope that you are hearing that bodies vary in their needs to the ration of fats to carbs to protein intake.

If you hear someone say that you need a specific amount without talking to you and finding out more about you as an individual, they are going to be wrong more often than right. They will be right on for one segment of the population and they are hoping that you are in it. Feel free to try different things, but don't make them a hard and fast rule for yourself until you see the results that you are wanting.

Hopefully this helps clear up some of the confusion and gives you some tools for understanding the wealth of information out there. Happy eating!