Okay so we all know that we need energy to make our bodies work and that energy comes from macronutrients (ie carbs, fat, protein), but why from ONLY those three things? Isn’t there other forms of store energy in plant and animal matter that we could use to power our bodies? After all aren’t those three macro nutrients just chains of carbon and hydrogen with some other stuff hanging on, surely there most be other compounds that are similar enough that we could use as an energy source ?
In: Biology
Alcohol is a 4th.
Additionally:
Polyols are artifical sweeteners. They include lactitol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, erythritol, glycerol, hydrogenated starch hydrolysates, and isomalt. [Though note that while erythritol is a polyol, it is listed separately as non-caloric. And while glycerol, aka glycerin or glycerine, is a sweetener, it is also used in food for other purposes.]
Organic acids include acetic acid (the main component of vinegar, other than water), as well as citric acid, ascorbic acid, and malic acid (the latter three are found in citrus fruits).
Fiber refers to dietary fiber, which is the type of fiber we can digest completely.
Salatrims are “short and long chain acyl triglyceride molecules”; they are a type of low-calorie fat substitute.
[https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/127021/what-substances-do-humans-consume-that-are-caloric-but-neither-protein-carb-no](https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/127021/what-substances-do-humans-consume-that-are-caloric-but-neither-protein-carb-no)
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