Have you noticed that more and more people — whether it’s your coworker who loves bodybuilding or your health-conscious neighbor — are talking about how they’re “counting macros”?
Although the term is becoming more common, unless you’ve done some internet sleuthing, what “counting macros” really means is probably unclear. Here’s the lowdown.
“Macronutrients are the primary nutrients that provide energy to the body,” says Jessica Levinson, RDN, a culinary nutrition expert in Westchester, New York. “Namely, they are carbohydrates, protein, and fat,” Levinson says.
Thus, when you’re counting macros, you’re tallying how many grams of carbohydrates, protein, and fat you’re taking in, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Here, discover more about how to count macros and whether you should start keeping tabs on them.
What Are Macronutrients (or Macros)?
Food is composed of many different types of nutrients, and the bigger nutrients are called macros. “Macro generally means ‘large enough to see,’ as opposed to micro — it’s an imperfect distinction but good enough,” says David Katz, MD, the president of the True Health Initiative and the founding director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
The three main macronutrients in our food are carbohydrates, protein, and fat.
“Carbohydrates are the preferred source of energy for the body, especially the brain,” says Levinson. “Carbohydrates break down into glucose in the body, and glucose goes from the bloodstream to the body’s cells to help them function,” Levinson adds. This in turn aids bodily functions and provides energy for physical activity, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
On the other hand, proteins are known as the building blocks of life, according to MedlinePlus. Protein is the main component of muscles, bones, organs, skin, and nails, says Levinson. “Protein is essential for growth, development, repair, and maintenance of body tissues,” she adds.
Dietary fat, meanwhile, provides the body with energy, aids cell function, protects organs, and keeps the body warm, notes the American Heart Association. “Fats also play a role in hormone production, cell growth, energy storage, and the absorption of many vitamins — aka micronutrients,” adds Levinson.
If these macronutrients sound like a big deal, it’s because, well, they are. “Since the macronutrients are the source of all protein, fat, and carbohydrate in the body — and since they are delivered along with the micronutrients we require — their role in the body is, simply, everything,” says Katz. “They are the stuff of which we are made; they are the fuel on which we run,” Katz says.
And as for micronutrients, they’re the smaller vitamins and minerals that also play an important role in your body, according to the Cleveland Clinic, helping with everything from digestion to brain function.
How to Count Macros (and Why People Do)
It takes effort to focus on macronutrients, and depending on their diet, people will likely have different macronutrient goals. But the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dietary Guidelines for Americans suggests aiming for these percentages of macros as a rule of thumb for women ages 31 to 50:
45 to 65 percent of calories from carbohydrates
20 to 35 percent of calories from fat
10 to 35 percent of calories from protein
So, if a person aims to eat 1,800 calories per day (which the USDA suggests for women ages 31 to 50), they might want 810 calories from carbohydrates (45 percent), 630 calories from fat (35 percent), and 360 calories from protein (20 percent) each day.
Typically, carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram, fats have 9 calories per gram, and protein provides 4 calories per gram, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
So if that same person on a 1,800-calorie diet focuses on grams, they’d want about 203 grams (g) of carbohydrates, 70 g of fat, and 90 g of protein per day.
If that seems a little complicated, you’re right. As the Cleveland Clinic notes, counting macros requires some math, and can be challenging for people to do (although there are apps that can simplify the process).
Also, the formula gets more complicated if you want to tailor your numbers more specifically. For example, you can take your height, weight, age, and sex into account when figuring your target number of calories to take in each day (that’s called your “BMR,” which can be calculated online. That cheat sheet also gives you adjusted numbers depending on how active you are each day (another factor some people consider).
