Make your meal choices easier with this list of healthy carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The two most important choices for your diet include the quality of food you eat and the number of calories you are consuming. The list below contains some healthy options for each type of whole food macronutrient.
Be aware that you should be eating healthy foods but you still need to manage your calories according to your health and fitness goals. Each carbohydrate contains 4 calories per gram, fat provides 9 calories per gram and protein contains 4 calories per gram. Although not a macronutrient, alcohol contains 7 calories per gram.
Proteins: chicken, cottage cheese, lean beef, eggs, pork tenderloin, protein powder, chicken, duck, turkey, ground chicken and turkey, catfish, cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, herring, mackerel, Pollock, salmon, sea bass, snapper, swordfish, trout, tuna, shrimp
Carbohydrates: whole oats, yams, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, black beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), kidney beans, lentils, lima beans, navy beans, pinto beans, soy beans, split peas, white beans, cassava, corn, black-eyed peas, green peas, green lima beans, plantains, potatoes, taro, water chestnuts, acorn squash, butternut squash, carrots, hubbard, squash, red pepper, barley, quinoa, rice
Fats: flax oil, fish oil, nuts, olives, some fish, avocados, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts (filberts), mixed nuts, peanut butter, pecans, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts
Dominick Walsh is a blogger for Performance Nutrition and TMRzoo.com and covers all men’s health topics and exercise issues including protein powders, diets, weight loss, weight lifting supplements, fat burners and supplement reviews. Dominick’s columns cover everything you need to know about your pre, during and post workout nutrition.
