What da frick are macros!?

Hey Y'all!! This article is gonna be covering the basics of macronutrients. Kinda what they are, and how they play a role in your life.

I can't stress enough how important having a basic understanding of macronutrients is. So, hopefully by the end of this article you'll understand why it matters and be equipped with enough knowledge to make better nutritional decisions. As always my goal is to empower y'all with the knowledge and skills to succeed. Let's dive on in y'all!!

First thing first, wtf are macronutrients?? Macronutrients aka macros are the basic building blocks of nutrition; they're the main thing our body needs and most surface level component of the nutritional world. If you can master macros, so many things will fall in place without even trying.

There are 3 main macros Protein, Fats, and carbs. There is also a 4th less talked about macro, and that's alcohol. while not a traditional macro alcohol is certainly worth mentioning. All macros are measured by the gram and each gram of macros contains a set amount of calories. Which means if you're tracking macros you're automatically tracking calories. However, if you just track calories you're not automatically macros. A lot of people get caught up tracking calories and they don't understand that what makes up all those calories actually matters more. Not you though, you'll know better and be the example for all those other people. But, how many calories are in each gram of each of these macros?

Protein is 4 cal per a gram

Fat is 9 cal per a gram

Carbs 4 cal per a gram

alcohol is 7 cal per a gram

So, if you were to eat 100 grams of protein that would be 400 calories. Like I was saying, if you track macros you'll know your calorie intake and more importantly you'll know what's making up those calories! We can also see that fat and alcohol are pretty calorie dense per a gram when compared to carbs and protein. That's part of the reason why fatty foods and alcohol can cause us to throw our diet pretty quick. However, on that note the wrong type of carbs can be just as deadly to our diet and we'll get more into that later. So, now we're gonna touch on each of these macro just a bit, starting with protein.

Protein

One of the first things I want to talk about is protein quality. Not all protein is created equal and it's very important to understand that. The protein from a chicken breast is not the same as the protein from black beans. What makes some protein sources better than others? well, it basically comes down to the amino acid profile. You either have a complete protein(chicken breast) or an incomplete protein(black beans). A complete protein is gonna have all the essential amino acids(EAAs). A incomplete protein is gonna be missing 1 or more of those essential amino acids. This is very important when we are trying build new cells in our body. Foods that have all the EAAs are considered to be high biological value, while foods that are missing 1 or more EAAs are Low biological value. That should really say it all right there.

Now, a lot of foods that lack a complete amino acid profile can be paired with other foods to create what's called a complementary protein. These food pairings don't need to be eaten at the same time, but do need to be eaten in the same day. A great example of this is black beans and rice. One has the amino acids the other lacks therefore creating the amino acid profile we're looking for. Keep in mind that's just one example, there are countless out there to play with.

How much protein should we be eating a day? Well, that varies on many things. As a general guide line, anywhere from 0.8-2.2 grams per a Kg of body weight will get you in the right direction. If you want to play it safe aim for about 1 gram per a pound of body weight. If you plan on being in a calorie deficit make sure you're getting enough protein to maintain your lean muscle mass! Having enough protein in your diet will also help big time when it comes to controlling hunger levels; it's really a win win.

Moving on lets talk about fats.

Fats seem to get an unfair amount of hate, and it's very important to understand that fats play a critical role in healthy body function. Yes fats are calorie dense and easier for the body convert for storage, but we still need them. Fats come in 2 main forms, saturated fats, which are typically solid at room temp and animal based(butter) and unsaturated fats, which are typically liquid at room temp and are plant based(extra virgin olive oil). There's small exceptions to that, but we're not gonna that crazy with it today.

when it comes to unsaturated fats they're broken down into 2 categories; monounsaturated(extra virgin olive oil) and polyunsaturated(Walnuts). Both are gonna be more heart healthy than saturated fats. The one exception being seed oils(canola oil), which are highly inflammatory. I would rather y'all use butter or even lard before a seed oil. Also, don't be scared of animal fats within reason. The fat from a good cut of steak is not gonna throw you into a death spiral, but if you're having ribeye ever night that's a different story.

How much fat should I have in my diet then? Well, that depends on a few factors, but in general aim for 0.5-1 grams per Kg or 20-30% of your daily calories. Now that we have fats out of the way lets move on to carbs!

Alright carbs, something we hear a lot of back and forth on. Carbs do have a place in our diet, but they should really match how we're living. If you're a hard training athlete, more carbs. If you're chilling in a chair most of the day, less carbs. That's a very general guideline, but basically carbs fuel and replenish more serious effort. Everyone falls somewhere on that scale and it might take a bit of trouble shooting to find where we fall on that scale.

similar to protein not all carbs are equal. A potato is a carb and so is candy, we know there is a clear nutritional difference between the 2; so don't fool yourself when it comes to carbs. What makes really makes carbs different though? well, we have simple carbs(sugar) and complex carbs(potatoes). It comes down to molecular structure of the carbs. A simple carb is gonna enter our body much quicker than a complex carb, because it's broken down more easily. This is what affects our glucose level and a big rise and fall in glucose is gonna cause hunger cues in our body. There is a time and place for simple carbs, but for most of us day to day we need to be mindful of them.

Aside from that carbs come in many forms from many sources, so how do we pick a good carb source? Think about the vitamins and minerals that are coming in with that carb source. Most fruits and veggies are gonna have way more of that than bread and candy.

Fiber also falls into the carb category and is often neglected. Fiber is so important for a healthy body and we really should be aiming for about 20-30 grams a day. There are 2 types of fiber soluble fiber, which is great for heart health and glucose control. The other is insoluble fiber, which is great for bowel regularity.

So, how much carbs should I have a day? A lot goes into that question, the 2 main things to think about is your diet and lifestyle. If your doing keto like 0 carbs. If you're a college athlete it could be as much as 12 grams a Kg. A general guideline would be 3-12 grams per a Kg, depending on life style and you'll most likely have to play around with that number to see what works best for you. I like to say earn your carbs, maybe that will help maybe not.

Well this is the end, you powered through this long af article and you're that much better because of it! Remember this is just a basic crash course. All the knowledge won't be here and everything we covered can get way more in depth. This article hopefully gave you some sort of clue of what's going on when it comes to macronutrients and if not R.I.P. Until next time y'all, peace!!