Because of this, they won’t meaningfully affect your Keto macros. Not all carbs, however, are on the chopping block.įiber and sugar alcohols, for instance, have very little blood sugar (or glycemic) impact. You just learned why you need to cut carbs on Keto.

And when you stay in ketosis over a period of weeks, the benefits of fat loss, stable energy, appetite management, and mental clarity often follow. With insulin absent, a neon sign lights up inside your liver cells: CARBS ARE SCARCE! TIME TO START BURNING FAT AND MAKING KETONES. That’s because keeping carbs low keeps blood sugar low-which means that less insulin (your blood sugar boss) is released into circulation. Keeping your macros in these ratios signals your body to enter the fat-burning state known as ketosis. On the Keto diet, minding your macros means eating 60-70% of your calories from fat, 20-30% from protein, and 5-10% from carbs. The #1 rule of low-carb dieting is to mind your macros. In other words, eating fat helps you access body fat. On a Keto diet or during a fast, fat becomes your primary energy source. Fat helps you produce and store energy, absorb fat soluble vitamins like A, D and K, and build cell membranes. That doesn’t happen when you restrict carbs or fat.įat gets a lot of flak, but assuming we’re talking about healthy fats like olive oil, avocados, coconut oil, butter, and animal fat-this is mostly undeserved. If you don’t get enough protein, your body breaks down your muscle mass to meet those needs. Getting enough protein helps you maintain muscle, produce neurotransmitters, and synthesize a wide variety of hormones. Protein is found in both plant and animal sources, and it’s an absolute dietary necessity. Your ability to process carbs depends on the hormone insulin, which we’ll cover soon.

This blood sugar can either be used immediately for energy, or stuffed away as glycogen (stored sugar) or fat.

When we digest carbs, they end up in our blood as blood sugar. So plants store carbs.then animals eat them. With that in mind, let’s run through these macros:Ĭarbs are how plants store energy. And protein has its own special functions too. In other words, a fat calorie doesn’t affect your body in the same way as a carbohydrate calorie. (Fortunately, most people find that overeating isn’t a problem on Keto, likely due to reductions in hunger hormones like ghrelin.) For instance, if you eat too many calories (even healthy fat calories) on a Ketogenic diet designed for weight loss, you probably won’t lose weight. Alcohol: 7 calories per gram (in case you were wondering!)ĭespite what you may have heard, calories matter on a macro-based diet.(Calories approximate the amount of energy released when a food is digested.) Here are the calorie counts in each macronutrient: Technically, alcohol is also a macronutrient, but it’s not essential, and not something you need to track on a macro-based diet.Īnother feature of macronutrients? They contain calories. These three macros provide the raw materials to produce energy, build muscle, heal wounds, and much more. Macronutrients come in three main forms: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Nutrients required in smaller amounts, like vitamins and minerals, are called micronutrients. Macronutrients are nutrients required in large, or “macro”, amounts in your diet. We’ll cover what they are, why they matter, and practical tips you can implement right away. Today you’ll learn all about tracking macros. But then - lo and behold - after they began strictly tracking macros for 30 days, they came back and reported life-changing results. The truth is, the benefits of Keto-fat loss, better energy, reduced cravings, and focus-are 100% dependent on hitting your macros! We’ve had users complain that they’d been on Keto for 9 months, and it just isn’t working for them. Once you dial in your macros (especially your carbs), you’ll get your low-carb diet humming on all cylinders. It’s extra work to log your meals, even if you have a well-designed app that makes this as easy as possible.īut it’s worth it. Tracking macros-short for macronutrients-means tracking your carb, protein, and fat intake for each and every bite of food.Īt first, tracking macros may seem like a pain. New to Keto? Trying it out, but still learning the ropes? If you haven’t already, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the concept of tracking macros.

Keto macro tracker app