Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat are our 3 sources of energy called macronutrients. They are the only nutrients that provide the body with caloric energy and so they are very important for survival. Since the goal with wieght loss is to consume less calories than the body uses, the 3 macronutrients mentioned are going to play an important role in weight management. All diets that are designed for weight loss, play around with macronutrient consumption. For instance some common diets include low fat, high carb and also low carb, high protein.

To understand how everything really works we need to look deeper. Not all calories are made equal and it is now becoming obvious that fat, which has the highest caloric density, has very little impact on weight. The 2 main energy sources that influence weight are actually carbohydrates and protein, the reason for this should be made clear below.

The 3 calorie providing nutrients and their effect on your weight

1. Fats

Fat has been pegged as the 'bad guy' ever since the 80's. Since then everything has gone rapidly downhill. This has been a huge blunder by nutritional experts and something that will take a while to recover from. There is so much money invested in the idea that fat is bad that nutritional companies and governments are reluctant to change.

The truth is that fats have very little impact on weight. The reason for this is that the caloric energy from fat is not converted into glucose, which is the bodies main energy source. Since it is excess glucose that is stored as fat, actually consuming fat does not make you fat.

2. Carbohydrates

As nutritional science starts to really move forward it has become clear that carbohydrates are the 'bad guy'. They are the first line of energy that is readily converted to glucose, the balance of glucose levels in the blood is essential for good health. The big problem is that carbohydrates come in different molecular complexities so some release their energy faster than others. A lot of the high carb foods we consume created a surge in glucose, which disrupts the balance and this is what creates the problem.

Throughout history we see a decline in health ever since carbohydrates took a leading role in the human diet. This can be traced back to the introducation of agriculture some 10,000 years ago. The reason why health has declined so rapidly in the past 3 decades in particular is because of the extreme low fat, high carb diet that was adopted.

3. Protein

Protein would seem to be the miracle cure. This is because where carbohydrates push the balance of glucose out of its optimal level causing health problems, protein tends to balance out glucose levels. Seeing as protein can serve the same purpose as carbohydrates it would seem that our diets would ideally be made up of mainly protein. In fact carbohydrates are not needed by the body at all.