You may have just heard the term Macro and are wondering what they are. You could be like me and learned about them eons ago and JUST NOW learned to apply them to my diet! If you don’t know anything about me yet, I am a Physical Therapist and have had quite a bit of exposure to information about diet and exercise over the last 18 years. The problem is that although I knew a lot of this information, I didn’t take the time to really apply it to myself!! SO FRUSTRATING!! I spent countless dollars and hours counting points and drinking shakes and doing cleanses when all I needed to do is find the correct combination of Macros!
But more about that below. I’m betting you have 3 questions: First, what the heck IS a macro? And second, why are they important? Third, how do I use them?
What are Macros?
The word Macro is short for Macronutrients. These are the things that our bodies use to create energy. The term Macro is used because we need large amounts of these nutrients for proper body function.
There are 3 Macros.
Protein– the building blocks of the human body. Protein is used to grow hair, skin, blood, bones, and nails. It is used to build muscle. It makes repairs in the body when we break down tissue from exercise or strenuous activity, when we get injured, or when we have surgery. The body uses protein to make enzymes and hormones. It is crucial to human life. I tell every patient that I work with to eat increased protein while doing Physical Therapy. Both because of the healing process and the work that we are doing to make the person stronger.
Carbohydrates-the macro that we love to hate. The body loves carbohydrates because they are easier to break down and use for energy than the other two Macros. The carbohydrates are broken down into glucose which the cells use to make energy and make up the walls and membranes of cells.
Fats-Fats are used, the same way as carbohydrates are, for production of energy. They take an extra step and extra work to release the glucose that is used by cells for producing energy. Fats help with absorption of vitamins and minerals in the body, assist with brain function, are a source of heat and energy, and are a source of essential fatty acids.
It is important to note that most foods have more than one of the Macros in it, and some have all three. Perfect example is Peanut butter. Peanut butter is known for being a great protein and fat source with approximately 7 g and 8 g of Fat, but a Tablespoon of peanut butter also contains 4 g carbohydrates which also have to be considered. All three of the Macros are in peanut butter, but since protein and fat are high content, especially for the only 1 Tablespoon/80 calories that is needed to be eaten to get that amount of protein, it is considered a “protein” or a “fat” source. Even chicken contains both protein and fat. This is a very important thing to understand if a person intends to begin to count Macros in their diets.
Why are Macros important?
Traditionally, diets over the past several decades have recommended calorie restriction and increased exercise in order to stimulate fat loss. More recently, diets have begun to focus on the Macro content of foods to improve overall nutrition.
Why? Because 100 calories of doughnut or bread does not equal the nutritional content of 100 calories of eggs or broccoli. And 100 calories containing mostly carbs will not keep you satisfied as long as 100 calories containing mostly proteins or fats. So, paying attention to Macros forces you to really choose higher QUALITY of food that you are eating by changing the way we look at food.
A lot of the newer movements such as Paleo and Ketogenic diets also take the argument back to the origination of human beings to better understand our basic DNA and origination and started to look at how we actually survived as hunter/gatherers and cavemen.
Our ancestors survived by eating the things that you find on the edges of the grocery stores. Not the stuff we find in the middle of the store such as bread, pasta, and other processed foods. If you think of most grocery stores, you walk into a produce section. Then you travel around the back to the meat section and in the far back corner of the store (not by accident) you find the dairy section with all the milk or cheese you can buy. The foods on the edges of the store are the healthiest for you and not by accident!! Grocers at every store know that we are all coming weekly (or more often) for certain items in the store. They force us to walk through the rest of the store (past the tasty cakes, pasta, and chips) to get to them which increases their profits.
If you think about it, paleolithic man did not make bread or even harvest crops. He hunted and fished game and gathered things like berries as the main source of calories. And let’s face it, (if you ever watched a survival show on TV) you can imagine he probably wasn’t successful with his hunting every night!! This means that in order for our civilization to advance, there has to be some type of system in the body that allowed man to continue to thrive even in periods of low food supply. The theory of these paleolithic diets and strategies is that modern man can survive and train on similar combinations of Macronutrients that our ancestors did. We can eat foods that contain the high fat and proteins and lower the carbohydrate content in our diet.
How do I use Macros?
There are several ways to look at how to structure the Macros in your daily diet. One thing to be concerned with is the level of activity that you perform on a daily basis and the intensity that you perform that activity. Also, it is important to consider your goals. I listed a couple of common Macro ratios below to demonstrate Macro content for each goal. Basically, these are the percentage of either the daily grams of food or the daily calories that you eat, however you choose to measure your food.
High Carb- Body Building 50% Carbs- 30% Protein- 20% Fats
Moderate Carb-Maintenance 40% Carbs- 35% Protein- 25% Fats
Low Carb-Fat Loss 30% Carbs- 40% Protein- 30% Fats
Ketogenic Diet 5% Carbs- 25% Protein- 70% Fats
I set this up in MyFitnessPal.com and use the premium feature (I get no affiliate commission from them). In the premium feature it breaks down Macro percentages for you and as you eat and track your food, it figures out how much of the macro was in each food and helps you to accurately track what you have been eating. This would be ideal for any of the plans above.
The other thing to keep in mind is that there are high quality food choices and low-quality food choices in each one of these categories. For instance, in order to get Carbohydrate Macros in each day, you can eat either bread and pasta or nutrient dense vegetables. To get fat Macros in each day, you can eat lard or you can eat nutrient dense avacados. For Protein Macros, you could eat processed pepperoni and beef jerky or you can eat some nutrient dense eggs. When you are choosing the food you are using to reach the goals above, try to choose the foods that give you the most bang for your calorie!
Choose foods that will give you vitamins (micronutrients) and minerals or antioxidants as well as the Macro values that you are looking for. To achieve this, I love to eat a salad during the day with avocado, egg, another protein, salad greens, tomatoes, and cheese. This provides a lot of healthy fats, healthy proteins, and carbs that provide me with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Just keep in mind that 100 calories of donuts DOES NOT equal 100 calories of eggs with protein and fat because you will be satisfied for longer during the day. That’s pretty much it about Macros. Please leave your comments below. I love reading them!
