Calculate your need for macronutrients quickly and easily yourself! Like everyone else, your astral body needs proteins, fats and carbohydrates daily. Only then can it work. In the following guide, we will show you what your optimal supply of macronutrients looks like. Together we clarify how much and, above all, which nutrients your body needs.
What are Macronutrients?
You have to supply it with the appropriate macronutrients so that your body has enough energy. He uses various nutrients as an energy supplier or so-called building materials. But what exactly are macronutrients?
Macronutrients are fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. These are found in the foods you consume every day.
Attention, now it will be fascinating for all calorie counters: The composition of the various macronutrients is decisive for the calories of the food you consume.
Macronutrients are essential for the human organism. Proteins and fats are of particular importance.
They are essential for your body, so necessary. Carbohydrates, on the other hand, play a unique role. The organism can do this through gluconeogenesis, e.g. B. can also be made from amino acids yourself. Your body also needs vitamins, minerals and trace elements.
- Your calorie balance and
- Your personal goal setting.
It is essential to define your goals as clearly as possible, right from the start. It would help if you answered the following questions to achieve optimal success:
- Do you want to build muscle?
- Do you want to lose weight
- Do you want to keep your weight and get fitter?
If you want to build muscle, the simple rule applies: you need to consume more calories than usual. You should always coordinate training and the amount of food. Of course, those who increase their amount of food without exercising only gain body fat.
On the other hand, if you want to lose weight, you have to get into a calorie deficit to achieve weight loss. The easiest way to get there is to consume fewer calories and increase energy requirements through exercise.
If you only cut calories without exercising, you will lose weight, but your muscle mass will most likely slowly dwindle. The tricky thing about it: Muscles may shrink, but fat deposits are retained.
Regardless of whether you want to gain muscle or lose weight, you have to put up with one or the other effort in both cases. It is advisable to determine your calorie requirement in advance.
Depending on the work, leisure activity, size and current weight, this can vary significantly. As already mentioned, there are no general recommendations for an optimal supply of macronutrients. Everything always depends on your requirements and your goals.
Also Read: Vitamins And Their Function In Your Body
How high your daily requirement for the individual macronutrients varies from person to person. The two most important parameters are:
Individual Building Blocks
Proteins
Whether muscle building or muscle maintenance, in both cases, you need sufficient proteins. Muscles shape your body and keep it healthy. In your diet, you should make sure not to reduce muscle mass. With a sufficient intake of protein and regular strength training, this is not a problem.
Protein is also considered to be the building block of cells. They largely determine your metabolism. Proteins are also indispensable for the development of new cells. This also includes the repair of all cells such as muscle cells, skin cells and nerves.
Proteins are made up of several amino acids. Here is an example of how much protein an athlete needs every day:
Hobby athletes: 1.6-1.8 g protein per kilogram bodyweight
Strength athletes: 1.8-2.0 g protein per kilogram bodyweight
Fats
Fats are also an essential part of your optimal supply with macronutrients. A critical fact in advance: Fats are by no means inadequate! They can store energy and build reserves.
The production of hormones, such as the sex hormone, is also dependent on fatty acids. Sex hormones are critical to building muscle and losing fat. Fats are found in every human cell and play an essential insulating role there. Even vital, fat-soluble vitamins (e.g. vitamins A, D, E and K) can only be optimally absorbed with fats’ help.
However, it should be noted that fats have the highest energy content of the macronutrients. Fat contains 9.3 calories per gram, so reducing your fat intake can help you lose weight.
However, a fat intake of 0.5 grams per kilogram of body weight should never be undercut. A fat intake of around 1 gram per kilogram of body weight is recommended to build muscle. If you are on a diet, you should ensure that you consume between 0.5 grams and 1 gram of fat per kilogram of body weight.
Carbohydrates
carbohydrates provide us with energy. Above all, as an athlete, you need enough carbohydrates to continue to perform well in your respective sport.
Nevertheless, carbohydrates are the only macronutrient that is not essential for you. Carbohydrates can also be made from amino acids, for example. But that doesn’t mean that carbohydrates aren’t necessary. If you want to be efficient, you should not do without carbohydrates.
We differentiate between short-chain carbohydrates (e.g. in sweets and fruit), which can be broken down quickly by the body, and long-chain carbohydrates (e.g., potatoes or rice). These must first be split in order to ultimately obtain glucose. Glucose is used to regulate blood sugar. Glucose can provide you with direct energy or be stored as glycogen in liver and muscle cells.
For optimal planning, we recommend that you integrate the carbohydrates into your nutrition plan last, regardless of whether you want to build muscle or lose weight. First of all, you need to meet your protein and fat requirements to fill the remaining calories with carbohydrates. Here again, all the relevant calorie values per gram:
- 1 gram of carbohydrates = 4.1 kilocalories
- 1 gram of protein = 4.1 kilocalories
- 1 gram of fat = 9.3 kilocalories
All three macronutrients are essential for our body. Of course, the ratio and extent of the nutrients must be in harmony. This is the only way to achieve your personal goals.
Also Read: The Role Of Proteins In Nutrition: How Much Protein Is Healthy?
Sample Calculation for an Optimal Distribution of Macronutrients
- Name: Anna
- Body weight: 60 kilograms
- Goal: building muscle
- Calorie consumption: 2000 kilocalories
- excess: 200 kilocalories Total intake: 2,200 kilocalories
Proteins: 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight
- Fats: 1 gram per kilogram of body weight
- Carbohydrates: Remaining calories
Individual calculation:
- Proteins: 60 kilograms x 1.6 grams = 96 grams of protein daily
- Fats: 60 kilograms x 1.0 grams = 60 grams of fat per day
- Total calories from proteins and fats: 96 gx 4.1 kcal / g + 60 gx 9, 3 kcal / g = 393.6 kcal + 558 kcal = 951.6 kcal daily through proteins and fats
- Carbohydrates: 2,200 – 951.6 = 1,248.4 kcal left over for carbohydrates (results from total calorie
- requirement – calorie requirement for proteins and fats) of carbohydrates in grams: 1,248.4 kcal / 4.1 kcal / gram = 304.49 grams
- Anna has an optimal macronutrient distribution with a daily calorie intake of 2,200 kcal:
- Proteins: 96 g / day
- Fats: 60 g / day
- carbohydrates : 304.5 g / day
Conclusion
The correct distribution of macronutrients is of great relevance for achieving your athletic goals. Only in this way can energy stores, hormones and muscles function in harmony. If you know or determine your calorie requirement, you can quickly and easily calculate macronutrients’ optimal distribution.