Macronutrients: official nutritional recommendations

For more than 50 years, Western public authorities have consistently favored the intake of carbohydratesto the detriment of lipidsas the main source of macro-nutrients.

Before 2019, the Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail (Anses) recommended that average daily consumption should be composed so that the calorie contribution of each major group of foodstuffs is balanced. macronutrients is as follows:

• 50 to 55% in carbohydrate form, i.e. essentially cerealsstarchy foods and some fruit and vegetables. vegetablesand, incidentally, simple sugars.
• 30 to 35 % in the form of lipids (the fats).
• 11 to 15% from proteins.

Since 2019, the situation has changed slightly, as Anses has revised its fat recommendations upwards (35 to 40%), and carbohydrate intake downwards (40 to 55%), which according to the "new wave nutritionists" is a good thing, and you'll understand why a little later.

In other countries, the recommendations are more or less the same, with carbohydrates always playing a major role. In Canada and the United States, the recommended carbohydrate intake is as high as 60%.

REMINDER: this article is one of the chapters in the Blooness feeding guidea guide to the ingredients of the ideal diet for humankind.

However, for many years now, a number of scientists, nutritionists, biochemists and doctors have been protesting against these recommendations (we'll call them the "new wave" mentioned above), which they believe are based on erroneous data. This emerging school of nutrition, which brings together scientists, sportsmen and enthusiasts, believes that fats have been wrongly demonized.

Carbohydrates therefore raise a number of questions as to whether it's a good idea to consume the majority of them. Before we go any further into the pros and cons, let's take a moment to define what carbohydrates are exactly, and what they're used for. That's the subject of the next chapter...

Next chapter: all about carbohydrates.
Previous chapter: all you need to know about macronutrients.