Macro and Micro Nutrients
Macronutrients are the main nutrients our body needs to stay alive and functioning. They come from our three main nutrient sources: carbohydrates (which our body uses immediately to break down energy), protein, and fats. They are referred to as macro because we need a large amount of them for energy in the form of calories. They also maintain your body’s structure and functioning. This is why it is important to eat balanced diets with the suggested amount of each macro at every meal instead of favoring any one macronutrient per a weight loss diet or other reason (unless advised by your doctor per a health condition). There is scientific basis for the recommended amount of each macronutrient based on age and energy output. For more information, take a look at the American Dietary Guidelines.
Micronutrients are referred to as micro NOT because they are less important than macronutrients, but because we need smaller or trace amounts of them for normal growth and development. Micronutrients, often referred to as vitamins and minerals, are vital to healthy development, disease prevention, and wellbeing. With the exception of vitamin D, micronutrients are not produced in the body and must be derived from the diet.
Though we only need small amounts of micronutrients, consuming the recommended amount is important. Micronutrient deficiencies can have devastating consequences. At least half of children worldwide younger than 5 years of age suffer from vitamin and mineral deficiencies CDC/Nutrition/micornutrient
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Eating Disorders, Disordered Eating, & Dietary Restriction Can Result In Macro & Micro Undernutrition
According to the Cleveland Clinic, malnutrition is an imbalance between the nutrients your body needs to function and the nutrients it gets. It can mean undernutrition or overnutrition. You can be malnourished from an overall lack of calories, or you might have a protein, vitamin or mineral deficiency. You might also have more excess calories than your body knows what to do with.
Macronutrient undernutrition
Also called protein-energy undernutrition, this is a deficiency of macronutrients: proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Macronutrients are the main building blocks of your diet, the nutrients that your body relies on to produce energy to maintain itself. Without them — or even just one of them — your body soon begins to fall apart, breaking down tissues and shutting down nonessential functions to conserve its low energy.
Micronutrient undernutrition
Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. Your body needs these in smaller amounts, but they are very necessary for our body, for all types of functions. Many people are mildly deficient in certain vitamins and minerals from a lack of variety in their diet. This is why the medical and nutrition community reminds us to vary our daily nutrient intake. You might not notice a mild vitamin deficiency affecting you, but as micronutrient undernutrition becomes more severe, it can begin to have serious and lasting effects on the body and brain.
An increasing number of studies are revealing that diet and nutrition are critical not only for physiology and body composition, but also have significant effects on mood and mental well-being. In particular, Western dietary habits have been the object of several research studies focusing on the relationship between nutrition and mental health. Muscaritoli M. (2021). The Impact of Nutrients on Mental Health and Well-Being: Insights From the Literature. Frontiers in nutrition, 8, 656290. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.656290