Posted on August 26, 2015 by Jenny Cromack
What is a balanced diet can be a hard question to answer as firstly, you need to know what healthy is defined as, it may mean one thing to me but a different thing to you.
In fact issuing guidelines regarding the effect of varying macronutrient ratios on health, weight loss and aging is a current objective in literature so this topic is very in vogue at the moment.
Most research now focuses on individual macronutrients, (carbohydrates/ fats/ proteins) in the hope that identifying specific characteristics in the macronutrients may help explain the growing levels of obesity and disease. While it would seem common sense to state that not all calories are created equal, for example consuming 100g of refined sugar every day is going to result in you looking very different than if you consume 100g of protein from fish. It may be that the secret to better health and body composition doesn’t lay in one particular macronutrient. Rather the ratio of macronutrients may be the key fundamental. For example:
- Consuming 100% of your meal via refined sugar is terrible for weight loss
- Consuming 60% refined sugar with 40% protein is bad (but much better)
- Consuming 40% refined sugar with 40% protein and 20% fat is not perfect but its looking better (but considerably better than the 2 previous options)
If we consider that each are matched for calories we know that each of the above will have unique effects on the body. However what is a balanced diet, after all not all calories are equal? In nutritional research this is a very difficult task to answer, considering all of the variables that face the researchers, such as gender, body fat percentage, compliance to nutrition plan, height, physical activity level, lifestyle, sleeping habits, ambient temperature amongst one million other things.
Ultimately before we examine macronutrient ratios its important to state that total calories is an important factor to consider, yes calories from different sources are not all equal… however if you want to lose fat and you have an exercise adjusted BMR of 2100 calories, shoveling 2900 calories a day down your throat will still lead to weight gain. What we are interested in, is what is the optimal composition of that 2100 calories.
It appears that a distribution of calories in the following ratio is optimal:
- Carbohydrates 40-60%
- Protein 25-35%
- Fats 15-35%
Not only should we be striving to adhere to this ratio of calories daily but the source of the food is almost just as important, carbohydrates must be complex, and come from ideally plant sources, beans, grains and pulses. Proteins should be even more varied than carbohydrates, striving to consume organic, grass fed products where possible. Fats should predominately come from unsaturated sources, and include high omega-3 to omega-6 ratio sources.
Exceeding 60% carbohydrates could potentially lead to elevated levels of insulin through the day, excess protein has been linked to a strain in the kidneys and acidosis. Excess fat, especially the saturated and trans fats is associated with rapid weight gain and production of bad cholesterol. To be healthy ultimately the calories we consume must come in a suitable ratio to one and other.