Macronutrients: A Simple Guide to Macros | Avita Health System (2024)

Most have heard the term macro atsome point or another. It is brought up a lot, especially when the topic isabout eating healthy or losing weight. You may have heard it mentioned in termsof calculating or tracking macros, but what are macros?

Macros are macronutrients. Your bodyneeds these nutrients in larger amounts in order to function properly as macromeans large. In addition, all of these nutrients provide your body with energymeasured in the form of calories or kcals. There are three types ofmacronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

• Carbohydrates contain 4 kcal per gram
• Proteins contain 4 kcal per gram
• Fats contain 9 kcal per gram (thisis roughly double the amount found in the other two macros)

Along with energy, all of thesemacronutrients have specific roles in your body that allows you to functionproperly.

Carbohydrates

All carbohydrates are eventually brokendown into glucose, which is the main energy source for your body. In fact,specific organs, such as your brain, need glucose in order to function properly.Your body can make glucose out of necessity from proteins usinggluconeogenesis. Beyond being your main energy source, there are carbohydratesthat help synthesize specific amino acids (protein building blocks) and allowfor consistent bowel movements. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that cannot bebroken down by your GI tract. Therefore, this nutrient does not give youenergy, but it does help rid your body of waste and keeps your intestinal tracthealthy. Carbohydrates are not all created equally. Some are considered simplecarbohydrates and others are complex.

• Simple carbohydrates are easy for your body to breakdown for energy or glucose. They have 1-2 sugar molecules and are found in items that are usually sweet such as honey, table sugar, syrup, agave nectar, molasses, milk/yogurt, and fruit. Fruit does contain a natural sugar called fructose, however, fruit also has vitamins and minerals (these are your micronutrients: nutrients needed in small amounts), phytochemicals (not a needed nutrient, but can have positive effects on health), and fiber. Fiber is not digested and, therefore, increases the amount of time needed to break down the food item.

• Complexcarbohydrates take more time for your body to breakdown. They are long strandsof sugar molecules strung together and typically have a savory taste. They arefound in foods such as starches and grains: rice, pasta, bread, and starchyvegetables (potatoes, peas, corn). Other plant based foods such as non-starchyvegetables (beans, nuts, and seeds) contain carbohydrates, but in loweramounts. Complex carbs normally contain fiber unless they have been processed, wherethe grain has been stripped of its bran (outer coating), which gives us whitebread, white pasta, white rice, etc. These types of carbs become easier for yourbody to digest. Even though they are not sweet they will release glucosequickly just like a sweet simple carbohydrate.

Protein

Protein allows your body to grow, buildand repair tissues, and protect lean body mass (your muscle mass). Protein iscomposed of amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Thereare 2 types of amino acids: non-essential and essential. Non-essential aminoacids are not required to be consumed through the diet as your body canactually make these. Essential amino acids are required through your diet.Essential amino acids can either be used on their own or in some cases they aretransformed into a non-essential amino acid. Protein rich foods include meat,poultry, fish, egg, milk, cheese, or other types of animal by-product foods.These protein sources contain all of your essential amino acids. This does notmean you have to eat animal foods to be healthy. You can get the proper aminoacids from eating a variety of plant protein sources such as beans, lentils,nuts, seeds, and soy as well as lower amounts in grains, vegetables, andfruits.

Fat

Fat allows you to store energy,cushion organs, make certain hormones, absorb fat soluble vitamins, and helpswith cell membrane integrity. There are three types of fat: trans fat,saturated fat, and unsaturated fat.

• Trans fatshould be cut out of the diet. Most trans fat comes from hydrogenating oradding hydrogen molecules to unsaturated fats. This produces a hydrogenatedoil. These can be found in margarine, shortening, baked goods, doughs, andfried foods. If you see trans fat on the label it should be avoided.

• Saturatedfat does not have any bends, caused by double bonds, in the moleculebecause it is saturated in hydrogen molecules. In large amounts, saturated fatis known to increase cholesterol levels and can increase your risk for heartdisease. Decreasing the amount of saturated fat in your diet can be beneficial.Saturated fat is found mostly in animal sources with high fat contents such asfatty beef, lamb, pork, poultry with skin, lard, cream, butter, full fat cheese,and dairy. The American Heart Association recommends 5-6% of your daily kcalscome from saturated fat; meaning if your kcal needs are 2,000 per day, only 120kcals should come from saturated fat. 120 kcals/9 kcals/g = ~13 grams of saturatedfat per day. It is recommended that you decrease saturated fat intake and leantowards more healthy fats, known as unsaturated fats.

• Unsaturatedfat has at least one double bond causing bends in the molecule. These areharder to stack and, therefore, are usually found in a liquid state at roomtemperature. The number of double bonds allows for the naming of unsaturatedfats. Mono unsaturated fats have one double bond while Poly unsaturated fatshave multiple or many. Unsaturated fats are known as the healthy fat as theycan decrease your risk for heart disease. These healthy fats originate fromplant sources such as avocados, nuts and nut butters, seeds, olives, and oils(olive, canola, safflower etc.). They can also be found in animal sources suchas fatty fish including salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, and herring.

Fat gets a bad reputation because itis the highest in kcals and certain types of fat are not good for us, but ifyou can focus on the type of fat and amount of fat, it is instrumental to ahealthy diet.

Therecommended amounts of these different macronutrients are usually referred toas macronutrient split. A good place to start is using the USDArecommendations:

• Carbohydrates: 45-65%
• Protein: 10-35%
• Fat: 20-35%

Overall, these are considered healthy, but different combinations can help you achieve different goals or help manage different disease states. Each individual may thrive at different percentages, so what works for one person may not work for all. Downloading a tracking app can be helpful in finding and following where you are. MyFitnessPal is a great, free application that can be accessed on desktop and mobile where you can track daily intake and see the different percentages of macronutrients as shown to the right. At the end of the day no matter what percentages you choose making sure your kcals are appropriate is always where you need to start. Whether you are trying to lose weight, maintain, or even gain there is a kcal range that will help you succeed. If you want help determining a good place to start and how to stick with your nutrition related goals, speak with one of our Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN). Appointments can be made at any of our main hospital locations. To learn more about what a RDN can do for you, check out our Nutritional Services page.