Food contains three main nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, and fats. All of them are collectively referred to as macros. Your body needs a lot of macronutrients every day to stay healthy and function properly. [1]
There are different amounts of macros in each food, with some foods having more protein and carbs than others.
People who want to lose weight and alter the way their bodies look frequently use this method. It can also help people with health problems, like type 2 diabetes, to know about macros.
This article tells you everything you need to know about macros, such as what they are, how to count them, and the possible benefits of doing so.
Contents
What are Macros?
More of the macronutrients are needed than the micronutrients, which are things like minerals and vitamins.
Carbs, proteins, and fats are the three types of macronutrients that your body needs.
- Carbohydrates: This word refers to all types of carbohydrates, such as sugars, starches, and fibers. The primary function of carbs is to give your cells energy, but they also help keep your gut and immune system healthy. Each gram of carbohydrates gives you four calories, and most people get most of their calories from carbohydrates. Grains, starchy veggies, beans, dairy products, and fruit are all high in carbs.
- Proteins: Proteins have four calories per gram, just like carbs. Proteins give us the amino acids we need to make hormones, antibodies, and neurotransmitters, which are all important for life. Eggs, chicken, fish, and beans are all examples of foods that are high in protein.
- Fats: With nine calories per gram, fats have more calories than carbs and proteins. Fat gives your body energy and helps it do important things like absorb nutrients, make hormones, and keep your body temperature stable. Foods like nuts, meat, fish, butter, and oils have fats in them.
Some foods only have one macronutrient, but most foods have a mix of them. To give you an example, nuts have all three macronutrients, but olive oil is only fat. [2]
To keep track of your macronutrient diet, you’ll need to know how many of each macronutrient a food contains.
What are the ideal macro-ranges?
Macronutrient levels, also written as “macros,” show how much of each macronutrient you should eat.
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) created the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR). It is the percentage of energy intake that lowers the chance of chronic diseases while still giving the body the right amount of nutrients. It ranges from 45 to 65% for carbs, 20 to 35% for fats, and 10 to 35% for proteins.
There is no “ideal” macro range, though, because everyone has different nutrition needs and reactions to different amounts of macronutrients. Some people may do better on diets that are higher in protein and lower in carbs, while others may need diets that are higher in carbs.
As an example, eating habits that are low in carbs and high in fat and protein have been shown to help people with type 2 diabetes, obesity, and fatty liver disease. [3]
Plant-based meals, on the other hand, have been linked with better heart health, weight loss, and many other benefits. [4]
That’s why everyone should have a different diet with different amounts of each macronutrient, depending on their general health, any underlying medical conditions, their food preferences, and other factors.
Should You Track Your Macros?
Keeping track of your numbers may help your health in some ways, like helping you lose weight and change the way your body looks.
However, keeping track of macros can be time-consuming and isn’t necessary to create a healthy eating plan that will help you reach your health goals.
Benefits
One of the best things about counting macros is that it can help you become more aware of how many nutrients are in the food you eat. A lot of people only care about how many calories are in food rather than about the mix of macronutrients.
Knowing how your meals are broken down into macronutrients can help you eat better because different macronutrients affect how full you feel, how your blood sugar reacts, and other things. For instance, keeping track of your macronutrients might help you eat more protein, which is the macronutrient that makes you feel the fullest. Increasing the amount of protein you eat might help you lose fat and build muscle. [5]
Keeping track of macros may be particularly helpful for people who need to follow special diets, like the keto diet, which is very low in carbs and high in fat, or for people who need a lot of protein, like bodybuilders and elite athletes. These groups can make sure they’re meeting their intake goals and staying within their macronutrient amounts by counting macros.
The act of keeping track of your calories while counting macros has been shown to help people lose weight, if only for a short time. A review from 2023 found that calorie-counting apps can help people lose weight, and may be a cheaper and easier way to do this than intense weight-loss programs that take place in person. [6]
Limitations and Risks
While some people may find that counting carbs helps them reach their goals, you don’t have to do it to improve your health, lose weight, or change your diet.
In a 2022 study of 72 overweight or obese people, they were randomly assigned to one group that kept track of the high-calorie foods they ate or another group that used a mobile app to keep track of their calories for six months. At the end of the six-month intervention, both groups had lost about the same amount of weight: 5.7% in the group that tracked calories and 4.0% in the group that didn’t. Also, about the same number of people in each group lost five percent of their body weight after six months—less than five percent more or less. [7]
This means that less strict and longer-lasting ways of keeping track of your diet, like cutting back on high-calorie foods like sweets and cooked foods, can work just as well as calorie or macro tracking.
Keeping careful track of your calories won’t help your diet or health in any way, and it can even make you obsessed with counting calories, which can raise your risk of having disordered eating.
Studies have shown that using apps like Fitbit to keep track of calories may cause or make symptoms worse, such as being fixated on calories, being too strict about what you eat, and being obsessed with keeping track of calories. [8]
A study from 2023 that looked at over 1,400 young adults found that those who used apps that focused on diet and exercise, like calorie-tracking apps, were more likely to do disordered weight-loss behaviors like fasting and purging, as well as disordered muscle-building behaviors like using steroids.
This means that using apps to keep track of calories, like those used to keep track of macros, might be bad for your physical and mental health. [9]
How to Track Macros
You’ll need to know how many calories you need and then choose a macro range that works for you if you want to keep track of them.
You can use an online calorie counter or an energy equation tool, like the Mifflin-St. Use the Jeor equation to find out how many calories you need. These tools figure out how many calories you need each day based on your height, weight, and amount of activity.
A person’s total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the total number of calories their body burns every day. This includes the energy their body burns while they are at rest, doing things like eating, and the energy their body burns when they are active.
To figure out how much energy you need, use the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation with your height, weight, and age as inputs:
- Men: calories per day = 9.99 (weight in kilograms (kg)) + 6.25 (height in centimeters (cm)) –4.92 (age) +5
- Women: calories per day = 9.99 (weight in kg) + 6.25 (height in cm) – 4.92 (age) -161
After the answer to this equation is found, it is multiplied by a number called an activity factor. This number shows the amount of activity. Your daily calorie needs will go up if you are more active.
Sedentary: x 1.2 (sedentary)
- Lightly active: x 1.375 (light exercise less than three days per week)
- Moderately active: x 1.55 (moderate exercise most days of the week)
- Very active: x 1.725 (hard exercise every day)
- Extra active: x 1.9 (strenuous exercise two or more times per day)
This number is an estimation of how many calories you burn each day. Remember that this number isn’t a perfect representation of your energy output because the number of calories you burn changes every day based on things like how active you are.
You can add or take away calories based on this estimate, depending on whether you want to gain or lose weight.
Once you know how many calories you need, you can choose from a range of macronutrients. A meal high in protein and low in carbs may help people lose weight or build muscle. If someone is on a 2,000-calorie, high-protein, low-carb diet, they might choose a macro split of 40% protein, 25% carbs, and 35% fats.
Keep in mind that the right amounts of macronutrients depend on your health goals, personal tastes, and whether you’re trying to control a health problem like type 2 diabetes through diet as well.
You’ll then figure out how many grams of each macronutrient you need every day by using your macro ratio and the number of calories you need. The macronutrient split for a 150-pound person on a 2,000-calorie diet is 40% protein, 25% carbs, and 35% fats. This person will need to eat 200 grams of protein, 125 grams of carbs, and about 77 grams of fat every day.
Track your macros and calories after figuring out how many calories you need and what range of macros you should eat. Many apps and websites can help you keep track of meals. You’ll keep track of everything you eat with your macro tracking app to make sure you stay within your macro range.
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Sources of Different Macronutrients
As previously mentioned, different foods have different amounts of carbs, proteins, and fats, and many foods provide a mix of these macronutrients. For instance, full-fat Greek yogurt has fat, carbs, and protein. Lentils, on the other hand, have a lot of carbs and plant-based proteins.
But some foods, like protein or fat, only have one macronutrient or are mostly made up of that one macronutrient.
Sources of carbs include:
- Grains: Oats, brown rice, quinoa, barley
- Vegetables: sweet potatoes, butternut squash, peas, and beets
- Fruits: Bananas, berries, apples, and peaches
- Beans and lentils: black beans, kidney beans, and lentils
- Dairy products: milk and yogurt
Foods rich in proteins include:
- Poultry: chicken, turkey, duck
- Eggs: whole eggs and egg whites
- Red meat: beef, bison, lamb
- Seafood: trout, shrimp, and clams
- Soy products: tofu, tempeh, and soybeans
- Dairy products: milk, cottage cheese, yogurt
- Beans and lentils: lentils, black beans, kidney beans
- Seeds and nuts: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and almonds
- Protein powders: whey protein, pea protein, and collagen peptides
Sources of healthy fats include:
- Oils: olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil
- Cheese: cheddar cheese, muenster, mozzarella
- Avocados: whole avocados
- Nuts and seeds: macadamia nuts, sesame seeds, cashews
- Dairy products: full-fat yogurt, cream, and cheese
- Eggs: egg yolks
Most foods have more than one macronutrient, so you’ll need to keep track of how many calories and macronutrients are in each food to stay within a certain range.
Conclusion
A common way to lose weight and change body makeup is to keep track of your macros.
Even though it can help people lose fat, build muscle, and stay on track when they’re following eating plans that require them to stay within certain macronutrient ranges, it’s not required to improve your diet, overall health, or disease markers.
Also, keeping track of your macros may make you more likely to develop a bad relationship with food and eating disorders.
If you want to keep track of your macros, you should work with a registered dietitian or another qualified health worker. They can help you decide if tracking macros is right for you and give you tips on how to do it safely and healthily.