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We talked with a few health experts about their experience with macronutrients, and what we learned is that ultimately it just depends on your personal health goals. But how important is it to track our macros? And can it actually help us reach our health goals? Is it important to track your macros?Ĭounting macros can be a bit more time-consuming than counting calories, so it's understandable that people would want to know if it's worth their effort. When comparing macros and calories, we can think of macros as a more specific way of tracking the energy that our food gives us. For example, according to Dana Carpender, author of the Keto Fat Gram Counter, someone on the keto diet would probably be aiming for a macro count of around 10-20 percent proteins, 75-85 percent fats, and 5-10 percent carbohydrates. This allows us to raise or lower our intake of specific nutrients to match our health goals. When we count macros, we are measuring the percentage of each nutrient that we get from our food in a day. But more specifically, macros, or macronutrients, are the three foundational nutrients of dietary health: carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Macros are similar to calories because they are also measurable units of energy that we get from food. So if we consume 2,000 calories during a day, we can look at that as consuming 2,000 units of energy. When we count calories throughout our day, we are essentially counting the energy we get from the food we eat. First things first: how are macros different from calories?Ĭalories are units of energy. If you're curious about counting macros or have ever thought about giving it a try, there are a few important things to know first.