Should you track macros? We asked nutrition experts if the purported health benefits of tracking macronutrients match up with the science.
Q: 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 Stuart Phillips, a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.
We need large amounts of macronutrients like fat, protein and carbohydrates to perform basic bodily functions, such as for energy production, tissue growth and repair, digestion and more.
People online have used the term 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?
Should I track macros? First of all what is macro tracking and how do you do it?
If you’ve seen the videos online, you’ve 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 specialized online calculator. It will then tell you how many grams of carbohydrates, fats and protein you’ll need per day to reach that goal.
If you’d like to start following the Mediterranean diet, for instance, you might be advised to portion your daily calories into 18 percent protein, 50 percent carbohydrates and 32 percent fat. If you consume 2,000 calories per day, that would translate to 90 grams of protein, 250 grams of carbohydrates and 71 grams of fat.
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.
Should I Track Macros to Improve My 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, Dr. Phillips said that the primary lever is how many calories you consume and burn. If you’re losing weight by tracking macros, it could just be that you’re 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 one gram of protein per pound of body weight, for instance, or 180 grams of protein for a 180-pound person.
But Dr. Phillips said that you need only about half as much protein per day — or about 0.5 to 0.7 grams of protein — per pound of body weight. (If you’re 180 pounds, that’s about 90 to 126 grams of protein per day.)
If you want to build more muscle, experts say that exercise is more important than what you eat. “Fitness and strength and muscles are made in the gym; that’s where the cake is baked,” Dr. 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 fat). In those cases, tracking macros can be helpful, said 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 said.
What’s the bottom line?
There’s no one “correct” macronutrient distribution that’s perfect for everyone, Dr. Hall said.
The quality of the foods you eat — meaning choosing those that are high in fiber and low in sodium, saturated fats and added sugars — matters more than any specific macro mix. When people prioritize unprocessed foods over processed ones, Dr. Hall 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 40-gram protein snack to hit your target is not useful,” Dr. Phillips said.
For most people, sticking to the basic tenets of healthy eating — watching portion sizes and incorporating plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats into their diets — is more important than trying to wrangle your meals into a perfect ratio, Dr. Phillips said.
Click here to read more about should I track macros.
