Help Me To Understand Macros

(Lacy) #1

So I dont get the macro percentages when translating to food. This is new to me, was never taught good nutrition in my life. I understand The 75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbs but how does that translate into food? So how many ounces of protein in a meal, is that like a piece of chicken or pork? Is that ratio for every meal? Anyone else had this issue before?

(Bob M) #2

The best way to do it is ignore them and just eat a low amount of carbs every day.

If you want to use them, the ratios are generally for a day. You’d have to track what you’re eating to get a sense of where you are (thus, the reason I’ve never used them).

I can’t see any way other than to use some type of tool to do this, such as a program.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

There are three macronutrients: carbohydrate, protein, and fat. The first two contain around 4 (k)cal/gram, and the latter, about 9. Percentages, for historical reasons are calculated off the total number of calories consumed. So if you eat 2500 calories, and 50% of those calories are fat, then you are eating about 139 grams of fat. If you were to eat equal amounts by weight of fat and protein, and no carbohydrate, you would be eating 61% of your total calories as fat and 39% as protein.

As a rule of thumb, each ounce of most meats contains 7 grams of protein. The rest is water and fat, for the most part.

Note that when we advise limiting carbohydrate intake, we advise a strict limit of 20 grams by weight, not a percentage of your caloric intake. The reason is that 20 grams of carbohydrate becomes a certain amount of glucose in your bloodstream, and blood glucose above a certain amount triggers insulin secretion, and insulin levels above what is necessary for survival are to be avoided.

(Vic) #4

I got into all that when I started in Jan, calculating 9 cals for fat gram 4 for protein and fat figuring %

what a waste of time,

I learned if I make sure I stay under 20 net carbs and

get enough protein for me I try to get near 100 grams many times I am over

And add fat to satiety

Then it all works out no need to go crazy

#5

Ignore percentages. They aren’t meaningful. Macros should be based in grams. Your need for proteins should be based on your lean body mass, not as a percentage of caloric intake.

The proteins macro is a lower limit, while the carbs and fats macros are upper limits. Ideally, hunger should be the guide as to how many fats you eventually end up eating. That’s because if you restrict calories and are always hungry, the way of eating won’t be sustainable. And part of your need for fats can be satisfied with stored body fat. The advantage most people have with keto is that carbs and insulin are no longer creating a false sense of hunger.

(Lacy) #6

Thanks For the reply, 100 grams of protein in each meal or a day?

(Vic) #7

No that is per day

And that is for me I am male and 288 Lbs atm

been running that since 350 lbs I guess I will reevaluate at 250? Maybe not if not having issues

So you may need less

#8

It’s very individual… Some people have 2 eggs for a meal, I may have 10 AND cheese and meat too… Whatever works for you. We have different protein needs and different sized meals. 60g protein for 3 meals or 160g protein for one, it’s quite different, obviously.
There are no fixed rules about it.

The others already wrote but it’s very important: percentages doesn’t really matter (unless you do therapeutic keto where they do)… You need grams but not fixed numbers for fat or protein (carb has a very low limit so it’s fixed enough). I consider my protein goal as a wide range where a single day matters very little so I can go out of my range occasionally.

Some people eat 60-65% fat, some people over 80, both can be perfect for someone, it doesn’t matter if it works. You go to ketosis and say there because you eat low enough carbs in grams. You need some (not very little) amount of protein (again, in grams. just because you eat little, your protein need doesn’t get tiny) but ketoers have wildly different fat:protein ratio as it’s logical as they have different needs, energy need and so on.
My typical food has 65-70% fat so my fat percent is usually there, no matter if I eat 1000 kcal or 2000… It’s comfortable and I couldn’t care less about my actual percentage as it doesn’t matter as long as my average protein intake is fine and it is.

It’s important what satiates you. It’s fatty protein for me so I can’t just add fat for satiation, it doesn’t work. So my protein is often higher than needed as it works for me and I would have serious problems with only adequate protein. It seems most people get satiated even with added fat and cream, they can have a higher fat percentage for the same calorie intake… But if I used fat tissue, the only not protein-rich fat source that actually satiates me, I could change my percentages myself without overeating.
So it’s really personal for multiple reasons.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #9

Phinney has demonstrated that, in people with excess stored fat to lose, eating to satiety pegs the appetite at somewhere around a thousand (kilo)calories less than total expenditure would normally require, the missing calories coming from the excess stored fat. He adds that, as the person loses the excess stored fat, the appetite will naturally rise, so that when there is no more excess to consume, all calories at that point will come from food intake.

The human body naturally maintains a store of fat against times of trouble. Men’s bodies generally maintain 10-12% body fat, women’s, in the neighborhood of 20-23%, if I recall correctly. (Women need the extra fat as a buffer against pregnancy.) Or at least these used to be the normal percentages, before the dietary advice changed. To get a good idea of what the normal, lean human body actually looks like, search out pictures of naked hippies during the 1960’s, and soldiers and sailors with their shirts off during World War II (I’m sure there are other photos to use as a reference, but these are easy to find). You might be surprised at what you see, because we are so used to seeing overweight people these days.

Protein recommendations are usually expressed in terms of the total daily amount. Experts vary in their recommendations, but what the Dudes feel is a good range is 1.0-1.5 grams a day for each kilogram of lean body mass. Protein is essential in the human diet, but it is not normally used for energy, being needed instead as the resource for repairing tissue and building new tissue (muscle, bones, etc.). Moreover, the protein we eat must contain certain amino acids (the building blocks of all proteins) that are essential to the human diet. The human body can make most amino acids from other amino acids, but the essential ones cannot be made, they must be present in our food, though not always in large quantities. (The list of essential amino acids varies from species to species, apparently.)

There are also two types of essential fatty acids, the ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Though necessary to the diet, they are not needed in large quantities, and the ω-6 fatty acids can cause systemic inflammation if overconsumed (one of the reasons to avoid vegetable oils). Since all carbohydrates are made from different configurations of glucose, and glucose can be made by the human body, carbohydrate is not necessary in the human diet.

#10

Dump the %'s and go by grams. Going by percentages can get REAL weird menu depending. The ratio’s are daily, many try to break them up evenly, many go for an end of the day balance, but it’s a nightmare.