Macronutrients

[biddy22]

Can someone please explain to me the Macro Nutrients and how to use it?? 

[DanielleinDC]

Macronutrients are protein (four calories a gram), carbohydrates (four calories a gram), and fat (nine calories a gram). They all have different functions (protein for muscle and other tissue repair and rebuilding, carbohydrates--a.k.a. the dreaded carbs--for energy, and fat as another source of energy and healthy body functioning), so you should get a balance of all three.

Not a nutritionist, but going by what I've read.

[Dominique]

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@DanielleinDC wrote:

so you should get a balance of all three.

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I’ll add that many combinations of the three are possible, as the minimum requirement for each macronutrient is relatively low.

However, for weight management, health, body composition etc., energy balance (calories) comes before macronutrients.

[DanielleinDC]

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@Dominique wrote:

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I’ll add that many combinations of the three are possible, as the minimum requirement for each macronutrient is relatively low.

True. When it comes to protein, you need about 0.5 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight. (Although athletes might want to bump that up a tad.) And you're right that calories count, but this was a question about macronutrients.

[lennythek]

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True. When it comes to protein, you need about 0.5 to 0.8 grams per pound of body weight.

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per body body weight (including fat)?  or per pound of lean muscle mass?

[DanielleinDC]

@lennythek

Per pound of bodyweight.

[Dominique]

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@lennythek wrote:per body body weight (including fat)?  or per pound of lean muscle mass?

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For people carrying a lot of extra weight, I often see recommendations to base protein intake on target weight rather than current weight. If someone is 300 lbs and eating at a 1000 calorie deficit, 300 grams of protein (1200 calories) may not leave much room for other macronutrients. OTOH, this is for the very high protein intake (1 gram per pound of body weight) typically favoured by bro lifters, not the much more moderate intake (0.5-0.8 grams) suggested above.

[DanielleinDC]

Also keep in mind that excessive protein--especially animal protein--is tough on your bones and your kidneys. I worked as an admin assistant at a nephrologist's office some 20 years ago, and the dialysis patients were all on low-protein diets.

[Dominique]

I agree that if you happen to have a medical condition, you don’t want to make it worse because of what you are eating. If you have the celiac disease, don’t eat products that contain gluten. If you have high blood pressure, watch your sodium intake. If you are diabetic, you need to be careful with carbs that have a high glycemic index. And if your kidneys are deficient, you need to restrict the amount of protein you are eating. However, someone who hasn’t any of these diseases should be fine eating any of the aforementioned items, within reason, of course. These medical conditions weren’t cause by eating a single food item, they’re usually the consequence of a combination of multiple factors, including life-style. If you have healthy kidneys and are in good health otherwise, you can expect them to perform their job and deal with an diet higher in protein just fine.