Aug 12, 2021

Count calories or count macronutrients

Perfect weight – different for everyone, but we all want it. To make this dream come true, we reach for various ways to make it come true. One of the most popular ideas to lose weight is meticulous counting calories, which is also helped by numerous applications and conversion factors. However, this does not always work. For this reason, specialists, nutritionists, the interested themselves, and even scientists began to wonder if calories are actually what is crucial in losing weight. This way, the world of science drew attention to the macronutrients (1) and their dependencies related to the pursuit of an ideal BMI.

What is a calorie anyway?

Simply put, a calorie is the amount of heat energy needed to raise one gram of water temperature by 1 ° C. The most common use of calories is to describe the amount of energy that the human body receives from its diet- kilocalorie (kcal). For example, one carrot is roughly 25,000 calories = 25 kcal (2).

What is the problem with a calorie-counting diet?

While keeping an eye on the number of calories consumed seems to be a good course of action in achieving the desired weight, the problem is to determine a balanced diet. Suppose the chosen plan has an upper limit of 1,500 calories consumed, which is the same as the following meals:

• 4 slices of chocolate cake,
• 375 strawberries.

Would it be a good idea to stick to a specific amount of calories in this case – knowing that both examples of the all-day menu are not a good health choice? This caused the world of fitness to pay more attention to macronutrients as an element based on which it might be better to compose the right diet.

Why is the macronutrient diet popular?

The new concept is based on the daily counting of macronutrients, such as:
• fats,
• carbohydrates,
• proteins.

Must include all these elements in the consumed beverages and food products in the conversion factor. Although it might seem a tedious and complicated concept at first, after a short time of monitoring macronutrients, many people decide to continue this diet, if only because it allows you to eat almost any food – and therefore, it is extremely flexible.

The downside is that there is still no scientific backing to the effectiveness of this type of diet. However, there is no lack of research into the effects of limiting or manipulating individual macros for weight loss. Significant long-term difference between diets is still sought – but it is an increasingly popular trend that cannot be ignored.
The macro diet is based on calculations estimated on the following items:
• increase,
• weight,
• level of activity.

It should be emphasized that, with all its potential advantages, a diet based on macronutrients can be quite a time-consuming task – which not everyone is convinced in the era of access to applications that allow for the simplicity of calorie calculation.

Weight loss and its basic assumptions – which diet to choose?

To wonder which method to use – first of all, you should understand the slimming mechanism itself, where the basic rule is to consume less energy every day than the amount required by the body. If you follow this rule, you can expect weight loss, no matter what diet you choose. However, we should also remember that not every diet is good for the body.

In this context, it should also emphasize that regardless of whether you choose counting calories or macros – determining the body’s energy requirements is the basic starting point for any diet. While calories may be more difficult to determine – since they are closely related to the activity undertaken by a given person, when it comes to macronutrient requirements, they can be easily found even in government guidelines.

The simplicity and flexibility of a macronutrient diet seem to be very encouraging, but the most important thing is that by counting macronutrients instead of calories, you have more control over the fact that all the necessary nutrients will go to your daily diet. Here, it may also help reach for additional aids, such as dietary supplements from Body Union, thus supplementing the diet, which is poorer during weight loss, with the nutritional values ​​that the body needs according to the guidelines.

Choosing a diet is just the beginning!

Whether you choose a diet based on macronutrients or calories – the most important thing is to use common sense. It is important not to forget to read food labels meticulously and keep an accurate record of everything you eat and drink each day. Online databases can also help these tasks – although you should always remember that they are not 100% accurate. There is also a chance that a given person will absorb not all ingredients – although a greater chance of success in this matter is when they are macronutrients in the most easily digestible form for the body – for example, by supplementing the diet in the form of thoughtful supplementation.