Macro-focused diets say that by getting the right balance of proteins, carbs and fat, you can lose weight and be healthier.
OK, you might not have heard of the term “macronutrients” before, but you still eat them every day.
They are carbohydrates, protein and fat, and your body needs a lot of them – which is why they’re called “macronutrients,” not “micronutrients,” such as iron and zinc. Macros also provide your body energy: Each gram of carbohydrate contains 4 calories; protein contains 4 and fat, 9. (The only other substance that feeds our bodies calories is alcohol, which has 7 calories per gram. But, since we don’t need booze to survive, it doesn’t get to be a member of the macronutrient club.)
For years, diets have ganged up on this-or-that macronutrient, telling us to banish them as much as possible to lose weight. In the 90s, it was the fat-free craze. But then research found that healthy fats such as avocados, walnuts and olive oil can help you shed fat. For instance, one study in the British Journal of Nutrition shows that adults who eat the most unsaturated fat have lower body mass indexes and less belly fat than those who eat the least.
Then, in the early 2000s, the Atkins Diet stormed onto the scene, and urged people to cut carbs – even from fruits and veggies – and fill up on protein and fat. But some research disputes that approach. In one 2014 PLOS ONE study, when adults tried two different diets, one rich in whole grains and low in red meat and one low in whole grains and rich in red meat (both diets packed the same number of calories), they enhanced the diversity of their gut bacteria, lost more weight and body fat and improved their BMI more than when they swapped whole grains for red meat.
That brings us to today’s macro-focused diets, including The One One One Diet and the IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros) diet, along with apps such as My Macros+ and Fitocracy Macros. These diets don’t cut macronutrients, but instead tell you to get them all.
“Carbohydrates provide us with energy as well as fiber, which improves heart and digestive health; protein is the building block for strong muscles and healthy tissues and also helps make hormones and enzymes; and fats help maintain healthy tissues and cells, ensure proper nerve and brain function and increase the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins,” says nutritionist Rania Batayneh, author of "The One One One Diet: The Simple 1:1:1 Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss." She adds: “Put simply, each macronutrient plays a very different role in keeping your body healthy, and skipping out on any one of them can compromise health.”
Counting Macros
The One One One Diet focuses on getting one serving of carbohydrates, one serving of protein and one serving of fat at every meal and snack. “Because every meal or snack contains a protein, a carb and a fat, you’re supporting each structure and function of your body with nutrients every few hours, which leads to overall health and wellness," she says. Plus, by combining them at each meal, you can stay full longer, keep your blood sugar from spiking, prevent fat gain, and give your muscles a constant supply of protein for muscle growth.
“Portion control is inherent in the diet and based on the formula when you stick with one of each of the macronutrients,” she says. For example, in The One One One Diet, a serving size of nut or seed butter (which would count as a fat), is 1 tablespoon, not 2 as indicated on the nutrition label. Some foods, count as two different macronutrients, for example, beans count as both a carb and protein, and cheese counts as a fat and protein. In her book, Batayneh provides a cheat sheet of common foods, their macronutrient classifications and serving sizes. Those serving sizes are critical to keeping your macro intake balanced as well as not overdoing it on calories.
Meanwhile, the If It Fits Your Macros diet requires a lot of math. You have to know how many calories your body burns in an average day, and eat 10 to 20 percent fewer calories every day than that number. Then you’ve got to split those calories so you get 40 percent of them from carbohydrates, 40 percent from protein and 20 percent from fat during the course of each day. It doesn’t matter when you get each of them. Meanwhile, drink plenty of water and make sure you’re getting a good bit of fiber from the foods you’re eating. It’s worth mentioning that while some nutritionists say this is a pretty healthy split, the diet was designed by competitive bodybuilders, not licensed health professionals.
Does It Guarantee Healthy Eating?
“Eating a variety and balance of each macronutrient ensures that you meet your micronutrient goals, which is also key in promoting good health. Proteins tend to be high in iron and zinc; carbs boast fiber and B vitamins; and fats offer omega-3 fatty acids and help absorb fat-soluble vitamins found in many fruits and vegetables,” Batayneh says.
Is that an excuse to get your carbs from donuts and your protein and fat from bacon? There, The One One One diet and IIFYM diet don’t agree. According to Batayneh, you can moderate hits to your health by making sure splurges pack all three macros in roughly similar amounts, but a salmon fillet with brown rice and a green salad with lemon and olive oil is still going to pack more vitamins, minerals and healthy fats (not to mention fewer chemicals) than a fast-food cheeseburger made of processed ground beef, American cheese and a white-bread bun. However, according to IIFYM.com,bodybuilders designed IIFYM so that dieters could eat so-called “dirty” foods without gaining weight. According to the diet, it doesn’t matter if you get your carbs from whole grains or cupcakes, as long as you get the right number of calories from carbs that day
Other health experts such as Wesley Delbridge, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, gravitate toward the The One One One approach. “All carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram, but we are seeing that refined ones are adsorbed and stored differently in the body,” he says. Focus on getting your macros from whole, unprocessed foods and weight loss will likely follow, says Holly Herrington, a registered dietitian in the Center for Lifestyle medicine at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. But remember that to lose weight, you still have to take in fewer calories than you’re burning, she says. Getting your macros at every meal will make that easier by reducing insulin spikes, crashes and cravings.
While counting macros may be the nutritional ideal, it’s not super practical, Delbridge says. For those who aren’t up to measuring serving sizes or tabulating percentages, simply taking a quick scan of your plate and making sure it contains some of each macronutrient is an easy way to lose weight and be healthier. “If you are really mindful of getting whole, fiber-filled carbs, lean proteins and healthy fats at each meal, you will get yourself into a habit where you won’t really have to think about calories,” he says.
“What I think is missing from the common American diet is that we aren’t focused on getting all of our macronutrients for every meal and snack. People wake up and have a granola bar and an apple for breakfast and think they are doing well. Not to knock apples, but without fat and protein in that breakfast, too, they are just going to be starving and tired in an hour,” he says. Protein and fat delay gastric emptying (how long it takes for food to leave your stomach), prevent blood sugar spikes and help keep your hormone levels stable for longer-lasting fullness and energy.
The American Heart Association recommends that no more than 30 percent of your daily calories come from fat (only 10 percent should be saturated fat). That leaves 70 percent or more of your calories to divvy up between protein and fat. There’s debate over what that split should be, but Herrington recommends that 40 to 60 percent of your total calories come from whole carbs and 20 to 30 percent from lean protein.
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