Nutritional information is constantly being thrown toward us but little if anything sticks. That’s because it’s near impossible to understand. So let’s simplify things. The following isn’t 100% technically correct but by bending a few rules, we’ve come up with something most people can understand.
Food is often categorized as being either protein, fat, or carbohydrate. But we also hear terms like fibre, vitamins and minerals, and water used to describe food. What about them? Aren’t they part of the family?
Our first step toward simplification is to acknowledge that food is made up of all six elements: protein, fat, carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins and minerals, and water. Tada! You just learned something. But let’s make it seven. Because the label carbohydrates is broad and somewhat confusing, let’s break “carbs” into two elements: sugar and starch.
Carbohydrates are sugars. There are three types of sugar: natural sugar (e.g., the sugar in fruit), processed sugar (e.g., the sugar you put into coffee), and starch. Starch is a complicated form of sugar found in grains and some vegetables.
The Mighty Seven
So now there are seven basic elements that make up all food: protein, fat, sugar, starch, fibre, vitamins and minerals, and water. That’s it—there are no more.
Of course, not all food is made up of all seven, but food is definitely made up of elements and only elements. Imagine putting grams of protein, fat, sugar, starch, fibre, vitamins and minerals, and water into a mixing bowl. Turn on the blender and voila! Out comes food. It might not taste as good as nature’s combinations but I’m sure you get the point.
Making food (the element game)
To hammer home this concept, let’s analyze the makeup of some common foods. For example, if we take water and add sugar, we get pop; if we take water and add protein, we get skim milk; and if we combine water, protein, and fat, we get whole milk.
- water = water
- water + sugar = pop
- water + starch = alcohol, beer
- water + protein = skim milk
- water + fat + starch = gravy
- water + fat + protein = whole milk (i.e., homo)
- water + fat + protein + sugar = chocolate milk
Let’s try another group starting with protein (this is kind of like chemistry class). Something made primarily of protein is lean meat (e.g., fish). Protein with fibre and starch equals beans, and protein plus fibre and fat is nuts and seeds.
- protein + little fat = lean meat
- protein + lots of fat = cheese, fatty meats
- protein + starch + fibre = beans
- protein + fat + fibre = nuts and seeds
How about fibre plus sugar?
- fibre + sugar = fruits and vegetables
Let’s look at starchy foods. Starch (flour) makes bread. Add fibre and you get whole wheat or raisin bread; add fat and protein to starch (e.g., cheese) and you get pizza. Take starch (flour) and add fat (butter) and sugar, and you get cookies and baked goods.
- starch = bread
- starch + fibre = whole wheat bread, raisin bread
- starch + fat + protein = pizza
- starch + fat + sugar = cookies and baked goods
And lastly, our old friend ice cream?
- fat + sugar = ice cream
You’re probably getting the idea. Every food can be broken into seven elements (and remember there are only seven). See, this isn’t hard.
Elementary confusion
Few foods contain only one element. Most contain many. Pasta, for example, has starch, protein, and fibre along with a few vitamins and minerals. Beans have protein, fibre, starch, and a few more vitamins and minerals. But we commonly refer to pasta as a starch and beans as a protein. Why?
It’s just nature’s way of confusing us. Pasta is considered a starch because it’s mostly starch, and beans are referred to as a protein because they’re high in protein. Somewhere along the way, we decided to group foods by their primary element for simplicity’s sake, but in many cases, we’ve made things worse. Like cheese—is it protein or fat?
Don’t get hung up on these single-element labels. We should actually be saying high-starch foods or high-protein foods instead of referring to them only by their primary element.
Calories, fill factor, and nutrition
Now, if you look into each element a little deeper, you’ll find the following:
- Protein helps build muscle, contains 4 calories per gram, and fills us up.
- Fat comes in two forms, animal (saturated) and non-animal (non-saturated). Animal (saturated) fat contains cholesterol, which is believed to clog arteries. Both forms of fat contain 9 calories per gram, and both fill us up.
- Starch provides us with only calories (4 per gram) and moderately fills us up.
- Sugar provides us with only calories (4 per gram) and doesn’t fill us at all.
- Fibre lowers cholesterol by acting as tiny scrub brushes cleaning our intestines. It has no calories and fills us up.
- Vitamins and minerals are good for us because they’re vitamins and minerals. They contain no calories and don’t fill us up.
Let’s put this information into a chart so it’s easy to remember:
| Element | Calories / Gram | Fill Factor | Nutritious |
| Protein | 4 | Very | Yes |
| Fat | 9 | Very | Animal – No |
| Starch | 4 | Mid | — |
| Sugar | 4 | — | — |
| Fibre | 0 | Very | Yes |
| Vitamins & Minerals | 0 | — | Yes |
| Water | 0 | — | Yes |
Now you see why high-protein, high-fibre, low-sugar, low-starch, low-fat diets work best. They give us all our nutrition while keeping us full.
For more information see Chapter II in Think Yourself Thin.