What are Macros?

This is one common thing that confuses a lot of people when they begin looking at their diet in greater detail.

What are Macros?

Let's start off with an explanation of the term Macronutrients or Macros for short. macronutrient /mac·ro·nu·tri·ent/ (-noo´tre-ent) an essential nutrient required in relatively large amounts, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, or water; sometimes certain minerals are included, such as calcium, chloride, or sodium. Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers. © 2007 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.


What does this mean in terms of your diet though?

Well eating the right ratio of each of these are important to your diet by providing you with the correct amount of calories based on your body weight and goals. The three main macronutrients are Carbohydrates, Fats and Proteins.




Carbohydrates or "carbs" as they are better known are the primary source of energy for the body and the brain to function. These are used for everything. 1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories.  



Fats are usually what people worry about due to common myths that fat is bad for you. This is not entirely true as the body needs fats in order to function. In fact your daily caloric intake should consist of approximately 20% fats. The key is to avoid trans-fats and saturated fats. Good fats, such as unsaturated fats and essential fatty acids, including Omega 3 and 6 can be good for you. Fats not only provide slow energy, but are important for proper hormone production and function, as well as muscle growth. 1 gram of fat= 9 calories

 Protein, like carbs and fat, also provides us with energy. Protein is the building block of the body. It is essential for repair, growth, maintenance, and structural support of the body. The right amount of protein in your diet can help you lose body fat and gain or maintain muscle. 1 gram of protein= 4 calories  


Macro ratios

There is no set ratio for macros in a diet, as this will vary person to person and also depends on your goals/activity levels. We will hopefully in the coming months be able to provide you guys with a calculator to workout your macronutrient targets based on goals.

 Hopefully this article has given you a bit more of a background information about Macros and cleared up any confusions that may you have. Any questions then please don't hesitate to comment below.