People are often seen taking supplements to fulfil their vitamins and mineral requirements. People try to dig deep into minute details without accomplishing their foremost task of balancing the macronutrients in their body. Macronutrients basically constitute Carbohydrates, Lipids and Proteins. The acceptable macronutrient distribution ranges (AMDR) for macros are distributed in very sophisticated manner; 45 to 65% of your daily calories must be sourced from carbohydrates, 20 to 35% should be coming from fats or lipids and 15 to 20% from proteins. Every individual is unique and their requirement of macronutrients is different, since human body is so complex & one size doesn’t fit all! That’s when nutritionists come into play.
For balancing and maintaining macronutrients in body, it is recommended to choose your food from all the food groups; meat, milk, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. When you lose weight by removing a complete food group from your diet, along with losing that initial weight, you also lose crucial vitamins and minerals. In simpler words, making your plate colourful by picking up different foods from all the food groups is an advisable way to accomplish the goal of balancing macros.
A question that spontaneously gets popped into mind is, “Why is it important to regulate the intake of macronutrients?” Carbohydrates provide fuel and stamina to brain, central nervous system and to the whole body in general terms. Each cell of the body requires carbohydrates to function properly. The most important type of sugar consumed by body is “glucose”. Carbs are mostly sourced from sources like fruits, whole grains rice, barley etc.
No one can deny the importance of proteins in manufacturing and repairing muscle cells. A definite amount of your daily caloric needs are supposed to be fulfilled from proteins, amd they hold the utmost importance due to their structural properties of building and repairing skin, brain and muscle cells.
Fats and lipids are often underestimated and avoided by most of the people, but the healthy fats (omega 3, alpha-linolenic acid) are extremely vital to proper body function. It’s difficult for the fat soluble vitamins to get absorbed if our body is lacking on fats.
If the meals we eat are not macronutrient balanced, it can affect the way our bodies function.
