References 1. Clark N. A low-carb diet for athletes? Separating fact from fiction. American Fitness website. Published Accessed April 2, Hawley JA, Leckey JJ. Carbohydrate dependence during prolonged, intense endurance exercise.

Sports Med. Ivy JL. Regulation of muscle glycogen repletion, muscle protein synthesis and repair following exercise. J Sports Sci Med. Kanter M. High-quality carbohydrates and physical performance.

Nutr Today. Kressler J, Millard-Stafford M, Warren GL. Quercetin and endurance exercise capacity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Med Sci Sports Exerc. Smith-Ryan AE, Antonio J. Ronkonkoma, NY: Linus Learning; Mueller A, Reek A, Schantzen J.

Effects of carbohydrate loading on high performance athletics. Home About Events Resources Contact Advertise Job Bank Writers' Guidelines Search Gift Shop. click to enlarge Carbohydrate Loading Carbohydrate loading is a dietary practice used to enhance athletic endurance performance by supplying adequate glycogen to the muscles for stored energy.

Great Valley Publishing Company Valley Forge Road Valley Forge, PA Copyright © What makes ACE's program different? Call or Chat now! But what exactly do these terms mean for you and your clients? Energy or calories is the core of nutrition and health, and the foundation for this energy comes from the three macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

These traditionally have been set as percentages for total calories, falling somewhere within the following USDA guidelines:. Recent research and position stands have helped narrow these ranges quite a bit.

Below is a review of some basic recommendations for macros, along with some strategies to help educate clients on their individual nutritional needs. Kreider, R. et al. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 7, 7.

Westerterp-Plantenga, M. Protein intake and energy balance. Regul Pept. Tiffani Bachus, RDN, is a wellness professional dedicated to helping her clients develop a healthy balanced lifestyle.

An accomplished fitness competitor and dancer, Tiffani won Fitness America and Arizona Dancing With The Stars and has graced the covers of numerous fitness health magazines including Oxygen Magazine. She has been featured as a fitness expert on Channels 3 and 15 in Arizona and is a columnist for Oxygen and Clean Eating Magazines.

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Macronutrients are the basic fuel and building blocks of bodies. The first nutrient is carbohydrates. Think of carbohydrates as fuel for your body. Carbohydrates also are important for recovery and help to build muscle.

There are simple and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates are found in sugary foods such as sweets and candy. Complex carbohydrates are found in whole grain foods, vegetables such as potatoes, legumes and beans and fruits that contain many vitamins and minerals.

The second macronutrient is protein. Proteins helps to build tissues in your body, like skin and muscle. Fats are the third macronutrient. You may think that fat is something that needs to be eliminated or reduced from your diet.

You are correct in thinking that it needs to be reduced. Knowing what to reduce is the key question. Fat is important to your health and performance and is the primary fuel we burn when at rest and during low-moderate intensity activity or exercise.

The fat that needs to be reduced in your diet is fat that is solid at room temperature. This type of fat is called saturated fat. Some of the amino acids in protein-rich foods are essential i.

For more details on the amino acids, see Optimal Amino Acid Intakes for Weight Loss and Satiety. In addition to the amino acids in protein, higher-protein foods and meals also tend to contain a spectrum of other essential fatty acids , vitamins , and minerals critical for human health.

For example, other micronutrients like niacin , zinc , selenium , phosphorus , calcium , sodium , and potassium tend to accompany higher-protein foods. Because we need protein to maintain our lean mass and execute all bodily functions, we have an exceptional appetite for protein.

In other words, we will continue seeking food until we get the protein our bodies need to satisfy our demands. This is known as Protein Leverage.

Of all the macronutrients, research has shown that protein is the most critical for feeling full for longer or feeling satiated. This was supported by our in-depth satiety analysis and in numerous studies by Professors Simpson and Raubenheimer.

Hence, if your goal is to eat fewer calories, it is critical to get adequate protein. Your body craves adequate protein to ensure it has all the raw ingredients i. Hence, your appetite will ensure you eat enough over the long term to get the protein you need, even if that means eating excess calories.

Our satiety analysis has shown that people consuming a higher proportion of their energy from protein tend to eat less. To lose weight, you need to reduce the energy from fat and carbohydrates while consuming a little more protein in grams. This leads to a higher protein percentage.

Additionally, your body not only requires dietary protein to maintain your muscles, organs, and other tissues that make up your lean body mass but also needs protein to build muscle.

Lean body mass is your most metabolically active tissue, which burns more calories at rest. If you do not get adequate protein, your body will begin to catabolise your metabolically active body mass, leading to a lower metabolic rate.

Protein is also the most thermogenic macronutrient, or the macronutrient we burn the most calories turning into usable energy. Hence, rather than feeling cold, tired and lethargic, eating enough protein can keep our metabolism in full gear. The United States Dietary Guidelines recommend a minimum protein intake of 0.

However, consuming additional protein above this minimum intake is often beneficial. As the chart below shows, the average protein intakes of our Optimisers are variable. The median intake is around 2. The table below shows what the minimum protein intakes look like for men and women based on height.

Once you consistently consume a minimum of this much protein, you can begin dialling back energy from dietary fat and carbs. Here, we walk our Optimisers through dialling up their protein and fibre intakes while dialling back their fat and carb intakes so they can find the protein intake that suits their goals and preferences.

For more details on determining the ideal protein intake, check out Protein — Optimal vs Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range AMDR and How Much Protein Should You Eat to Lose Weight? Protein does elicit a moderate insulin response over the medium term , but it also tends to have a negligible impact on blood glucose.

However, consuming more high-protein foods and meals also limits the amount of refined, high-carb foods you eat. Hence, prioritising protein improves blood glucose control directly and indirectly.

Aside from blood glucose control, higher-protein foods tend to improve satiety , making it easier to eat less. This results in fat loss and a gradual decrease in insulin and blood sugar levels over time. For more detail on the effect of protein on insulin and blood glucose , see:. People like athletes or bodybuilders who are more active tend to crave more protein so they can build and repair their muscles.

Hence, their appetites will lead them to consume more protein. However, their energy requirements are also higher, so the overall percentage of their total calories from protein may actually be lower.

Conversely, you will naturally crave less protein if you are older or less active. However, your percentage of total calories from protein may need to be higher because your overall energy intake is lower.

A higher protein percentage as you age is critical to ensure you get enough protein to prevent sarcopenia and slips and falls, especially if you want to lose weight or manage your blood glucose levels. Hence, they are critical for fuelling explosive activity and exercise.

Your cells convert converted carbohydrates into glucose to produce energy in the form of ATP. Your body can store anywhere from calories worth of carbohydrates in your liver and muscles as glycogen. While our bodies mainly rely on glycolysis and the Krebs cycle to synthesise glucose from carbs, they can also use protein to make glucose through a process known as gluconeogenesis.

However, gluconeogenesis is rate-limited and requires considerable time and energy. Thus, you will benefit from at least consuming enough carbohydrates to prevent your blood glucose from going too low if you do a lot of explosive activity.

As shown in the chart below, our analysis shows that a lower-carbohydrate diet aligns with greater nutrient density. Hence, dialling back your carbohydrate intake can help you get the nutrients you need with less energy.

From our detailed satiety analysis , we know that increasing the nutrient density of our diet allows us to feel satiated and to give our bodies what they require for fewer calories. Thus, eating more nutrient-dense foods is positively associated with improved satiety.

Looking at the nutrient contents of various carbohydrate sources, we know that more fibrous, non-starchy carbs contain more nutrients per calorie.

Conversely, sugary, starchy, and processed carbs supply fewer nutrients per calorie. Hence, focusing on fibrous, non-starchy, whole-food carbs is critical for feeling full on fewer calories. The chart below of non-fibre carbs vs calorie intake was taken from our satiety analysis.

Refined carbohydrates raise blood glucose levels quickly, which may be challenging if you are insulin-resistant or managing diabetes. When you consume carbohydrates, your pancreas produces insulin that works like a brake to keep your stored energy locked away until you have used up the energy from your mouth and cleared the glucose and lipids from your blood.

Rapid rises in blood glucose and insulin rises can lead to reactive hypoglycaemia, which are blood sugars that rise and fall not long after eating. As a result, you may experience more intense hunger when your blood sugar drops below your average, which will prompt your appetite, drive you to eat more, and push you to make less-optimal food choices.

Stabilising glucose into the healthy, non-diabetic range is beneficial for reducing your risk of chronic diseases related to metabolic syndrome. It is also critical for normalising energy levels and reducing cravings for less-than-optimal foods.

While you can fuel activity using energy from carbohydrates or fat, people who engage in intense activity will likely see an increase in performance from consuming more carbs before, during and after their workout. If your glucose levels are low before exercising, you may benefit from eating some fast-acting carbohydrates during your workout to keep your blood sugars from dropping.

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Especially in the fitness realm, protein is touted as the king of macronutrients. Low-carb diets have infiltrated sports nutrition, boasting the benefits of boosted energy and increased athletic performance. The ketogenic diet is the most prevalent of the low-carb diets today.

Some athletes seek to burn more fat during activity to improve performance; however, most studies show no benefit to ketosis during activity. Fat compared with carbohydrates requires more oxygen to produce energy. This means low-carb athletes would have to work at a higher level to uptake more oxygen to produce comparable energy levels as those achieved with a higher-carbohydrate diet.

This means a lb male athlete would need anywhere from to g carbohydrates per day. Benefits Adequate carbohydrate intake can prevent muscle breakdown from glycogen depletion and prevent hypoglycemia, both of which have been independently proven to reduce athletic performance. Once this happens, the body needs alternative fuel sources and will turn to protein and fat in a process called gluconeogenesis.

Having enough glycogen on board before exercise and refueling during workouts can help preserve skeletal muscle integrity during exercise.

And as exercise intensity is increased, glycogen becomes progressively more important as a fuel source. During strenuous exercise, muscle tissue damage occurs and can continue after exercise. Due to the anabolic nature of insulin, it increases muscle amino acid uptake and protein synthesis while decreasing protein degradation.

After exercise, raising the plasma insulin level within one hour is key for limiting muscle damage. They can enhance muscle glycogen storage significantly by adding protein to a carbohydrate supplement. This reduces the amount of carbohydrate required to maximize glycogen storage.

If athletes consume both a protein and carbohydrate supplement post workout, they should consume 0. Downside to Low-Carb Diets Though growing in popularity, long-term low-carbohydrate diets are deemed potentially harmful to athletic performance. Research suggests that low-carb diets can lead to a decline in cognitive performance and mood, perceptions of fatigue, and lack of focus.

Other data suggest a stronger risk of skeletal muscle damage during training or competing in individuals following a low-carb diet. Due to increased reliance on carbohydrates for energy during dehydration and decreased exercise economy from a low-carb diet, researchers are clear that low-carb diets make it difficult to sustain the intensity levels required for competitive and serious athletic performance.

Fueling and Refueling To ensure proper muscle energy stores for sports performance, fueling and refueling before, after, and sometimes during a workout is imperative.

Examples of balanced preworkout fuel are egg whites with breakfast potatoes and strawberries, Greek yogurt with berries and granola, or an apple with almond butter and a serving of whole grain crackers.

Within 30 minutes post workout, 1 to 1. An example of a refuel meal would be steak, potatoes, and a side of asparagus or a protein shake with protein powder, fruit, milk, and oats.

click to enlarge. how much we need of each , the truth is, no macro is better than another. Below, read up on the unique physiological roles of macronutrients, factors that influence how much you need including how active you are , and nutritious foods from each macro category.

Macronutrients encompass three essential nutrients that the body requires in relatively large amounts on a daily basis: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. These nutrients serve as a source of calories that give us energy , and they help maintain various systems and structures within the body.

For example, carbs are an efficient generator of adenosine triphosphate aka ADP, which gives us energy , proteins build muscle and immune cells, and fats help you absorb nutrients and create hormones—just to name a few key roles of macros.

No healthy diet should eliminate or seriously restrict any macronutrient, unless followed under the supervision of an appropriate medical professional such as a registered dietitian. Micronutrients include essential vitamins A, D, E, K, C, and eight B vitamins and minerals e.

magnesium, calcium, zinc, selenium, and potassium. Many serve as helper molecules that assist in the metabolism or breakdown of macros to supply the body with energy, amino acids, and other building blocks. Carbohydrates, protein, and fat all play vital roles in promoting good health and optimizing fitness.

When you eat a carb-containing food such as oatmeal or a banana, the body breaks down those carbs into small, simple sugar molecules, including glucose, that go into your bloodstream and subsequently enter your cells.

From there, cells can convert glucose into energy in the form of ATP to help power countless biological functions necessary for survival, such as nerve impulse transmission, muscle contraction, and protein synthesis.

Excess glucose not used right away for energy may be stored as glycogen in your muscles and liver for later use, like during a workout. While fat and protein can also be used to produce ATP, the body is much more efficient at converting glucose to ATP.

This is why nutrition experts often recommend having a pre-workout meal or snack that contains some carbs before intense sweat sessions.

In this case, a post-workout meal or snack containing some carbs can help replenish glycogen and set you up for success for your next bout of exercise. Interestingly, though, carbs are good for more than just energy—they can help you preserve and build muscle, too.

This, in turn, helps the body maintain lean muscle mass and allows dietary protein to be used for muscle protein synthesis MPS and other important processes.

Not all carb-containing foods are created equal, though. In general, you want to focus on unrefined, minimally processed carb sources such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes and limit highly processed carbs like white bread, crackers, baked goods, and certain cereals.

Those minimally processed carbs are naturally rich in fiber , a type of nondigestible carbohydrate shown to support balanced blood sugar, help keep you full, improve cholesterol levels, promote insulin sensitivity, lower blood pressure, and support a healthy gut microbiome —plus, they tend to be a great source of micronutrients and beneficial antioxidant compounds such as polyphenols and carotenoids.

So, adequate protein is necessary for building strength , preventing injury , and supporting a healthy outward appearance. Consuming enough protein is particularly important for optimizing MPS, or the process by which amino acids are incorporated into skeletal muscle proteins to build and repair muscle tissue.

Eating enough protein can help preserve the muscle mass you already have while combining protein with resistance training can optimize MPS and help you build additional muscle mass. Having a healthy amount of muscle is not only key for boosting performance, but also for curbing risk of sarcopenia age-related muscle loss , which is associated with poor mobility and early death.

Muscle is also more metabolically active than fat , meaning you burn more calories—even at rest—when you have more muscle mass. Distributing protein intake throughout the day, as well as consuming a balanced snack that contains protein, carbs, and healthy fats after strenuous workouts , can also help optimize MPS and muscle gains.

But protein can do a lot more than build muscle. For one, including adequate protein and fat in meals helps stabilize post-meal blood sugar levels. Additionally, amino acids are an important component of enzymes, proteins that catalyze every chemical reaction in the body. Plus, plant proteins are associated with enhanced longevity.

Just aim to limit your protein intake from highly processed meats such as bacon, pepperoni, sausage, deli meats, and hot dogs, which are more strongly linked to cardiovascular disease and various cancers.

While carbs and protein often get all the hype when it comes to eating for optimal fitness, fat is just as crucial for overall health and well-being. Like protein, one of the most immediately noticeable benefits of including fat in your meals is that it promotes stable blood sugar and helps keep you full, Cording says.

Fats also aid in the absorption of fat-soluble compounds in our food, from the vitamins A, D, E, and K to carotenoid antioxidants and sterols plant compounds with cholesterol-lowering properties.

Once dietary fats are broken down into fatty acids and absorbed via the lymphatic system and bloodstream, fatty acids can serve as a structural component of cells, building blocks of signaling molecules, and a concentrated source of energy a gram of fat provides 9 calories, while a gram of carb or protein provides 4.

Fatty acids from dietary fat or stored body fat are also used to produce steroid hormones , including testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone.

A meta-analysis of studies found that low-fat diets may be associated with decreased testosterone production in men compared to higher-fat diets. Healthy testosterone levels not only positively impact sexual function, but also support optimal muscle growth, bone strength, and more.

But not all sources of fat are equally beneficial. Your best bet: Focus on sources of unsaturated fats, including monounsaturated fats MUFAs and polyunsaturated fats PUFAs like omega-3s and omega-6s.

Try to also minimize intake of saturated fat SFA , which contributes to elevated LDL cholesterol , arterial plaque buildup, and inflammation. Replacing SFAs with unsaturated fats is associated with a reduced risk of death from a variety of diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Experimenting with macronutrient ratios is crucial to finding the ideal one for you. Adequate protein intake supports muscle growth, while carbs give energy during exercise.

Healthy fats benefit overall health by regulating hormones. Remember that the ideal ratio depends on your fitness goals. Utilize technology to stay on track with your macronutrient intake by using tracking apps and calculators.

These tools make it easy to input nutrition information using barcode scanning or specific macronutrient ratios provided by calculators like the IIFYM Calculator. Reducing carbohydrates while increasing fat intake through low-carb or keto diets is a popular way of optimizing macronutrient ratios.

These diets focus on promoting ketosis-a metabolic state where the body uses up fats instead of carbs as energy.

Apart from being effective in aiding weight loss and boosting insulin sensitivity, low-carbohydrate diets may not be ideal for high-intensity exercises. The macronutrient ratio that is best for you will depend on your individual health condition. Here are some examples of how different health conditions may require different macronutrient ratios:.

If you have a health condition, it is important to talk to your doctor about the best macronutrient ratio for you. They can help you create a personalized diet plan that will help you manage your condition and improve your overall health. Here are some additional general tips for choosing the right macronutrient ratio for your health:.

By following these tips, you can choose the right macronutrient ratio for your health and improve your overall well-being. In conclusion, optimizing your macronutrient ratios is a key component of achieving your fitness goals.

Whether you want to gain muscle, lose fat, or improve your athletic performance, understanding the right balance of calories and macros is crucial. Finding the best macronutrient ratio can be personalized based on individual needs and health conditions.

Tracking your macros with apps and calculators can also help you stay on track with your goals. COMBAT SPORTS. BJJ Tournament Breaking Competition. CONTACT SPORTS. Sheru Classic IKC India Delhi Sheru Classic IKC India Mumbai Sheru Classic IKC USA Sheru Classic IKC UK.

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LIVE STREAMING. Sheru Classic DELHI Sheru Classic ITALY Npc Jr Nationals Chattanooga. Back to Blogs. Optimizing Macronutrient Ratios for Muscle Gain, Fat Loss, and Performance. Optimizing Macronutrient Ratios Optimizing macronutrient ratios is key to achieving desired results such as muscle gain or fat loss.

Importance of Balancing Calories and Macros Calories and macros are both important factors to consider when trying to reach your health and fitness goals.

Calories The number of calories you consume each day is important for weight management. Macros In addition to calories, it is also important to consider the balance of macros in your diet. It is also important for a number of other bodily functions, including hormone production and immune function.

They are also important for brain function and muscle glycogen stores. There are a number of benefits to balancing calories and macros, including: Weight loss or maintenance. If you are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, it is important to create a calorie deficit.

This means consuming fewer calories than you burn. Balancing your macros can help you create a calorie deficit and reach your weight goals.

Improved health. Eating a balanced diet that includes all three macronutrients can help improve your overall health.