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Macronutrients as sources of food energy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2007

Andrew M Prentice
Andrew M Prentice*
Affiliation:
MRC International Nutrition Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK and MRC Keneba, The Gambia
*
*Corresponding author: Email andrew.prentice@lshtm.ac.uk
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Abstract

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This background paper considers the extent to which the development of new recommendations for dietary energy requirements needs to account for the macronutrient (fat, carbohydrate, protein and alcohol) profiles of different diets. The issues are discussed from the dual perspectives of avoiding under-nutrition and obesity. It is shown that, in practice, human metabolic processes can adapt to a wide range of fuel supply by altering fuel selection. It is concluded that, at the metabolic level, only diets with the most extreme macronutrient composition would have any consequences by exceeding the natural ability to modify fuel selection. However, diets of different macronutrient composition and energy density can have profound implications for innate appetite regulation and hence overall energy consumption.

Keywords

EnergyMacronutrientsFatCarbohydrateProteinAlcohol
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 8 , Issue 7a , October 2005 , pp. 932 - 939
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2005

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