These are nutrients that your body requires in large amounts for normal growth and development — namely, carbs, fats and proteins. On the other hand, micronutrients are nutrients that your body only needs in small amounts, such as vitamins and minerals. Counting macronutrients is similar to counting calories but differs in that it considers where the calories come from. When it comes to losing fat, how much you eat matters more than the amounts of carbs, fat and protein in your food. In a one-year study, researchers randomized over overweight people to a low-fat or low-carb diet 1.
In contrast, the participants in the high-protein or low-fat groups had more challenging dietary goals. Butryn M. Although obesity is a complex and multifactorial disease with genetic, behavioral, socioeconomic, and environmental origins, it is also preventable and treatable to a great extent [ 3 ]. The mean differences among the groups in fat, carbohydrate, or protein intake at 6 months were nevertheless often greater than those in several previous trials comparing diets for weight loss. A breakfast of fruit and oatmeal may be filling for one person but leave another hungry soon after.
Please return to AARP. Read Now. Share using email. Find articles by Theodoros Spinos. Medically reviewed by Natalie Butler, R. To convert the values for triglycerides to millimoles per liter, multiply by 0. When too many carbohydrates are consumed, the blood sugar level spikes, insulin rises, and the result of this is often weight gain.