Fiber

Throughout history there were always tendencies in human’s eating habit. As nutrition evolved, so did our food choices. However, the media always had a greater impact over the population than plain and clear research data. For example, there was a time when people over ate carbohydrates because they though that grains and all cereals are natural, which must mean that they are good. After this came a period in which, due to the desire of building muscles and misinterpreting all the beneficial facts, protein quantities were hugely exaggerated. In recent years fats, which are a must for your health, got neglected while fiber got a huge exposure. But what is dietary fiber? First of all it is a macro-nutrient which has the characteristics of a carbohydrate but doesn’t have any calories.

This is the reason why we have all these fiber diets everywhere and which are … let’s just say ... idiotic. But lets get back to the subject… Fiber can be of 2 kinds:

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The misunderstood fat

I’m sure whenever you hear the word fat you immediately think of something that gets you… well… fat. There’s no surprise that a lot of people avoid it. When they buy something, they reject a product that has lots of fats but are happy with the ones that are “fat free” and filled with sugars. In recent years, research showed not only that fat is helpful but also that it is a key component to your general health.

      Fat is made of groups of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Every dietary fat is consisted from 3 fatty acids stuck to a glycerol backbone (you can think of the letter E). Variety is usually achieved by the length of this chain and the number of double bonds. Yes you’ve heard right, these are the bonds that you’ve learned about in the chemistry class. To keep things simple, if there are double bonds, there is space within the molecule and therefore it can combine with other elements. 

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Carbohydrates

Carbohydrate is the most common nutrient found in food today. If you enter a supermarket, grab a random box and check the nutritional values there are very high chances for it to contain over 50% carbs. You may think that this macronutrient has its role in the body so it is normal to be found in such quantities but as we shall later see there a lot more important factors to be kept in mind.

Carbohydrate is obtained from combining hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. Generally their arrangement takes the form of a circle. Its main function in the body is to serve as fuel for the brain, nervous system, and energy for muscles. If you’re thinking how much energy they provide, the answer is simple: the same as protein, 4 calories per gram.
But let’s not forget that they don’t require the extra process of eliminating the nitrogen (gluconeogenesis). Unlike protein, carbs can be stored internally in the liver or in the muscle reserves. These stores are called glycogen, a term which I’m sure you’ve heard of before.

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The almighty protein

This is definitely the most famous macronutrient among bodybuilders. What’s the number one answer you get when asking someone for advice on building muscle? “Train hard and eat lots of protein!”. It would had been such an easy world if things only resumed to that, but let’s take a closer look at this wonderful nutrient. The name protein means primary and suggests the fact that it is critical to your body’s development and cannot be produced internally. There are approximately 20 amino acids. If you link several aminos together you get a peptide. Keep linking peptides and you get a protein. 

You might now wonder what separates protein from fats or carbs. Their uniqueness comes from the fact that they contain about 16% nitrogen which supports lean tissue growth, also known as anabolism. Proteins have another feature in the form of a thermogenic effect, meaning that its digestion, metabolism, and use require a lot of energy.

This is why from all the macronutrients, it is the least probable to end up as fat. However, people tend to badly interpret facts and this a good example of just that.

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