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I am sick of the food as fuel parallel. Not because it’s wrong.
But because it does not let you appreciate how complicated food is. Imagine if fuelling up your car provided energy and spare parts, and repaired scratches, dings and wear and tear.
In the hierarchy of what food does for you:
Every food does this for you. And every food contributes a unique building block.
If you extend this ‘metaphor’, fats, carbs and protein can be fuel and spares for muscle, hair, skin, enzymes etc. All three are unique, distinct building blocks. But they are interchangeable for energy.
All fats can be energy. But Omega-3 is distinct from other fats. Protein and carbohydrates can become glucose. But leucine, an amino acid, can only come from protein, and some proteins carry far more of it than others. Protein cannot become fiber. Fiber is found only in certain foods.
Vitamins and minerals are distinct tools needed to put fats, protein and carbs to use well. Magnesium cannot do what calcium does. And vice-versa.
You need minimum amounts of protein, certain fats and carbohydrates to serve the functional roles in your body. This threshold is not for survival but for optimal.
The role of energy is the simplest one and all foods can serve this role. But foods have three roles. Energy should be the last role you consider when you consume a food. There’s so much more food needs to do for you. Basically function of food as a building block trumps its function as a fuel.
Now let’s not get started with the metaphor of what if you are an automobile? You can be a bulldozer, compact SUV, sports car, cargo carrier and jet-ski rolled into one.
But most of us choose to be a permanently parked Maruti Celerio with a fuel hose stuck in the tank all the time. That’s a problem.