Macro Question

MsLindaC2015 wrote: »

galgenstrick wrote: »

Calories for weight loss. Macros for health and body composition. You need a certain amount of fats and proteins for your overall health. You need even more protein if trying to build muscle. You also might consider eating more carbs for increasing strength in the gym. Basically it's a preference and something you should experiment with to see how your body responds.

Yes I get that but still doesn't answer my question. The macro percentages that mfp comes up with, what are they based on, since it doesn't seem to be the same ratio for everyone, even with the same calorie goal.

MFP has the same default ratio for everyone. People manually change their goals to fit their preferences.

MsLindaC2015 wrote: »

I'm confused. What sets the macro percentages? Is it only based on daily calorie allowance I.e. everyone on a 1200 diet would be attempting the same ratios, or do other things such as age and bin come into play? My recommended ratio is 50/30/20 per mfp. Are there any scenarios where this should be different?

I am not sure whether MFP provides different default macronutrient ratios based on age or BMI. That would be a question that only MFP can answer.

I believe MFP based (at least in part) the default macronutrient ratios on the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Those Guidelines reference the National Academy of Sciences, Institutes of Medicine (IOM) research.

The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) recently released energy, macronutrient, and fluid recommendations, which acknowledged for the first time that active individuals have unique nutritional needs. The IOM calculated an acceptable macronutrient distribution range for carbohydrate (45%-65% of energy), protein (10%-35% of energy), and fat (20%-35% of energy; limit saturated and trans fats). These proportions provide a range broad enough to cover the macronutrient needs of most active individuals, but specific carbohydrate and protein recommendations are also typically made based on a g/kg body weight formula. [1]

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 [2] have not included the specific information; however, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 [3] provided the information in a Table [4].




References:

[1] ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16004827

[2] health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/

[3] health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2010/

[4] health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/dietaryguidelines2010.pdf