Pros and cons of tracking ‘macros’ in one’s diet

I hear a lot online about eating, tracking and managing “macros” for better health. What does that mean, and should I care?

The videos on social media typically follow a similar pattern. A fit-looking person performs a series of dizzying calculations to illustrate how many macros, or grams of protein, fats and carbohydrates, you should consume in a day.

Macros, short for macronutrients, “is just a trendy word for describing energy”, said professor of kinesiology Stuart Phillips at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.

People need large amounts of macronutrients like fats, protein and carbohydrates to perform basic bodily functions, such as for energy production, tissue growth and repair, digestion and more.

Many have used the term online to describe how they track what they eat for various goals like losing weight or improving their health, diet or fitness.

But while nutrition experts say that becoming more aware of what you eat through macro tracking can have some value, it can also become harmful if it turns into an obsession. And the research on the health benefits of macro tracking is limited.

What is macro tracking?

If you have seen the videos online, you have most likely been given some version of the following instructions: Plug your age, sex, height, activity level, current weight, desired weight and fitness or health goals into a specialised online calculator. It will then tell you how many grams of carbohydrates, fats and protein you will need a day to reach that goal.

If you would like to start following the Mediterranean diet, for instance, you might be advised to portion your daily calories into 18 per cent protein, 50 per cent carbohydrates and 32 per cent fats. If you consume 2,000 calories a day, that would translate to 90g of protein, 250g of carbohydrates and 71g of fats.

Several websites, which vary in complexity and cost for services, can help with these calculations. Or you can find tutorials on how to do them by hand.

Will macro tracking benefit your health?

Proponents claim that macro tracking can help with weight loss, muscle building, improved energy for workouts and even reductions in blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

When it comes to weight loss, Prof Phillips said that the primary lever is how many calories you consume and burn. If you are losing weight by tracking macros, it could just be that you are consuming fewer calories, for instance.

Other macro enthusiasts suggest that if you want to build muscle, you should wildly ramp up your daily protein consumption — to 1g of protein for 450g of body weight, for instance, or 180g of protein for a roughly 81kg person.

But Prof Phillips said you need only about half as much protein a day – or about 0.5 to 0.7g of protein – for 450g of body weight.

If you want to build more muscle, experts say that exercise is more important than what you eat. “Fitness, strength and muscles are made in the gym. That’s where the cake is baked,” Prof Phillips said. “Protein provides a very thin layer of icing on top.”

Some people manage their macros to control their blood sugar – by reducing carbohydrates – or to address high cholesterol – by reducing fats.

In those cases, tracking macros can be helpful, said Dr Kevin Hall, a nutrition and metabolism researcher at the National Institutes of Health. “If you’re saying, ‘I want to stick to a low-carb diet, and I want to make sure I’m actually doing it’, then, yeah, you might want to track these things,” he added.

What is the bottom line?

There is no one “correct” macronutrient distribution that is perfect for everyone, Dr Hall said.

The quality of the foods you eat – meaning choosing those that are high in fibre and low in sodium, saturated fats and added sugars – matters more than any specific macro mix. When people prioritise unprocessed foods over processed ones, he added, they tend to feel more satisfied, lose weight and enjoy better health.

The experts agreed that while macro tracking can be beneficial in some ways, such as by helping you to become more mindful of what you eat, doing it at every meal is probably overkill. And food tracking in general can increase the risk of disordered eating.

“Obsessively weighing food and eating a late-night 40g protein snack to hit your target is not useful,” Prof Phillips said.

For most people, sticking to the basic tenets of healthy eating – watching portion sizes and incorporating plenty of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats into their diets – is more important than trying to wrangle your meals into a perfect ratio, he added. NYTIMES