Monitoring your macronutrients can be a tedious process. If you’re starting a low carb diet, tracking your low carb macros is even more critical. That’s because reducing your carb intake affects your body’s metabolism. At first, your body craves carbohydrates, making the transition difficult. So, how to track macros?
Tracking macros helps ease this transition by allowing you to keep your low-carb intake in check. This guide will help you tackle the task of tracking macros. You’ll discover valuable insights on low-carb macros to make your next low-carb diet easier. DietAI’s calorie counter can help you count calories faster with artificial intelligence, making tracking low-carb macros a breeze.
Table of Contents
Are Low Carb Macros Good for Weight Loss?
Quick Weight Loss with Low Carb Macros
Low-carb macros can lead to faster initial weight loss. Low-carb diets often result in quicker initial weight loss than low-fat diets due to the depletion of glycogen stores in the body, leading to a loss of water weight.
Fat Burning with Low Carb Macros
Low-carb macros increase fat burning. When limiting carbohydrates, the body is forced to burn more fat for energy, potentially leading to increased fat loss.
Appetite Control with Low Carb Macros
Low-carb macros promote appetite control. Low-carb diets encourage feelings of fullness, potentially leading to reduced calorie intake.
Ideal Low Carb Macros Ratio for Weight Loss
Low Carb Macro Ratios
Low carb diets typically reduce carbohydrates below 40% of total calories, with some plans limiting carbs to as low as 10%. These diets often increase protein and fat to compensate for the calories lost from cutting carbs. A 2020 review of 121 studies from a trusted source found that low-carbohydrate diets reduced body weight and improved cardiovascular risk factors. After 12 months, dieters lost an average of 13 pounds (6 kg). Research shows that reducing carbs may help some people lose weight more quickly than other diets.
This could motivate adherence to a low carb diet. Over time, weight loss and health improvements decrease, and different diets may produce similar results. In a 2018 study of 600 overweight people, participants were assigned to a low-fat or low-carb diet. After 2 months, they added fats or carbs to their diet. After 1 year, the low-fat diet group lost 11.7 pounds (5.3 kg), while the low-carb group lost 13.2 pounds (6 kg) — a mere difference of 1.5 pounds (0.7 kg).
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5 Low Carb Macro Mistakes to Avoid
1. Avoiding the Carb Trap: Too Many Carbs Can Ruin Your Low Carb Diet
There’s no hard-and-fast rule for how many carbs you can eat on a low-carb diet. However, a daily intake of fewer than 100 to 150 grams of carbs is generally your best bet for achieving noticeable results. This is significantly less than the average intake of carbs on a typical Western diet. While eating within this carb range can help you achieve great results, especially if the majority of your carbs come from whole, unprocessed foods, it’s not low enough for entering ketosis. For most people, achieving a state of ketosis requires drastically limiting carb intake to fewer than 50 grams of carbs per day. This doesn’t leave you with many carb options, so be prepared to eat your fill of non-starchy vegetables and small amounts of berries. When tracking carbs on a ketogenic diet, calculate net carbs by subtracting fiber, sugar alcohols, and other nondigestible carbs from the total. These are the carbs to limit on a ketogenic diet.
2. The Perils of Protein: How Too Much Protein Can Hurt Your Low Carb Diet
Protein is one of the most essential macronutrients. Most people eat sufficient amounts of protein. Increasing protein intake can improve feelings of fullness, boost metabolism, and increase fat burning more than other macronutrients. So, it’s only logical that eating more protein on a low carb diet would help with weight loss and improving body composition. However, low carb dieters who consume many lean animal foods can eat too much protein. When the body doesn’t have sufficient carbs, it will turn to amino acids from proteins you eat for energy. This process, called gluconeogenesis, can become a problem on very low-carb ketogenic diets and prevent your body from going into full ketosis. According to some scientists, a well-formulated low-carb diet should be high in fat and moderate in protein. A good range to aim for is 0.7 to 0.9 grams of protein per pound (1.5 to 2.0 grams per kg) of body weight.
3. Don’t Fear the Fat: Why Eating Enough Fat Is Crucial for Your Low Carb Diet
Most people get their calories from dietary carbs — especially sugars and grains. When you remove this energy source from your diet, you must replace it with something else. However, some believe cutting out fats on a low carb diet will make your diet even healthier. This is a big mistake. If you don’t eat carbs, you must add fat to compensate. Failing to do so could lead to hunger and inadequate nutrition. There’s no scientific reason to fear fat — as long as you avoid trans fats and choose healthy ones like monounsaturated and omega-3 fats. A fat intake around 70% of total calories may be a good choice for some people on low carb or ketogenic diets. To get fat into this range, you must choose fatty cuts of meat and liberally add healthy fats to your meals.
4. Why You Need to Replenish Sodium on a Low Carb Diet
One of the main mechanisms behind low-carb diets is reduced insulin levels. Insulin has many functions, such as telling fat cells to store fat and kidneys to retain sodium. On a low-carb diet, your insulin levels decrease, and your body starts shedding excess sodium and water. This is why people often get rid of excess bloating within a few days of low-carb eating. However, sodium is a crucial electrolyte.
Low sodium levels can become problematic when your kidneys dump too much. This is one reason people experience side effects on low carb diets, such as lightheadedness, fatigue, headaches, leg cramps, and even constipation. Adding more sodium to your diet is the best way to avoid this issue. You can do this by salting your foods — but if that doesn’t suffice, try drinking a cup of broth every day.
At the same time, it’s important to remember that the Food and Drug Administration has set the Daily Value for sodium at no more than 2,300 mg daily. Consuming more than this amount can be very dangerous for your health, particularly as a risk factor for high blood pressure. In most Western diets, consuming too little sodium is generally not a concern. In addition, the kidneys are pretty good at regulating electrolyte levels and maintaining chemical balance after adjusting to a low-carb diet.
5. Patience Is Key: Why You Shouldn’t Quit Your Low Carb Diet Too Soon
Your body is designed to burn carbs preferentially. Therefore, if carbs are always available, that’s what your body uses for energy. If you drastically cut back on carbs, your body needs to shift to burning fat from either your diet or your body’s stores. It can take a few days for your body to adapt to burning primarily fat instead of carbs, during which you will probably feel a little under the weather.
This is called the “keto flu” and happens to most people who go on ultra-low carb diets. If you feel unwell for a few days, you may be tempted to quit your diet. However, remember that it may take 3 to 4 days for your body to adjust to your new regimen, and complete adaptation may take several weeks. Use your judgment to decide whether this diet is working for you and whether you will continue. As with any new diet, it’s a good idea to consult a dietitian or another healthcare professional before you start.
Benefits of a Low-Carb Diet
1. Use Diet AI for All the Benefits
Diet AI transforms tracking macros by making it fast and effortless—no more tedious food journaling. With Diet AI, you simply snap a picture of your food, and our app instantly analyzes your meal, providing accurate macro and calorie information. Aside from photo recognition, Diet AI provides in-depth progress tracking and personalized insights tailored to your goals. Whether you are trying to lose weight, gain muscle, or simply maintain a balanced diet, Diet AI makes nutrition tracking effortless by eliminating the tedious aspects of traditional food journaling. Download now to effortlessly track your calories and macros with Diet AI, the app that makes logging meals as simple as snapping a photo.
2. Low-Carb Diets Reduce Your Appetite
Hunger tends to be the worst side effect of dieting. It is one of the main reasons many people feel miserable and eventually give up. However, low-carb eating leads to an automatic reduction in appetite. Studies consistently show that when people cut carbs and eat more protein and fat, they eat far fewer calories.
3. Low-Carb Diets Lead to More Weight Loss at First
Cutting carbs is one of the simplest and most effective ways to lose weight. Studies illustrate that people on low-carb diets lose more weight faster than those on low-fat diets — even when the latter actively restrict calories. This is because low-carb diets rid excess water from your body, lowering insulin levels and leading to rapid weight loss in the first week or two. In studies comparing low-carb and low-fat diets, people restricting their carbs sometimes lose 2–3 times as much weight — without being hungry. One study in obese adults found a low-carb diet particularly effective for up to six months compared to a conventional weight loss diet. After that, the difference in weight loss between diets was insignificant. In a year-long study in 609 overweight adults on low-fat or low-carb diets, both groups lost similar amounts of weight.
4. A Greater Proportion of Fat Loss Comes From Your Abdominal Cavity
Not all fat in your body is the same. Where fat is stored determines how it affects your health and disease risk. The two main types are subcutaneous fat, under your skin, and visceral fat, which accumulates in your abdominal cavity and is typical for most overweight men. Visceral fat tends to lodge around your organs. Excess visceral fat is associated with inflammation and insulin resistance — and may drive the metabolic dysfunction so common in the West today. Low-carb diets are very effective at reducing this harmful abdominal fat. A more significant proportion of the fat people lose on low-carb diets seems to come from the abdominal cavity. Over time, this should lead to a drastically reduced risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
5. Triglycerides Tend to Drop Drastically
Triglycerides are fat molecules that circulate in your bloodstream. It is well known that high fasting triglycerides — levels in the blood after an overnight fast — are a decisive heart disease risk factor. One of the main drivers of boosted triglycerides in sedentary people is carb consumption — especially the simple sugar fructose. When people cut carbs, they experience a dramatic reduction in blood triglycerides. On the other hand, low-fat diets often cause triglycerides to increase.
6. Increased Levels of ‘Good’ HDL Cholesterol
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is often called the “good” cholesterol. The higher your levels of HDL relative to “bad” LDL, the lower your risk of heart disease. One of the best ways to increase “good” HDL levels is to eat fat — and low-carb diets include a lot of fat. Therefore, it is unsurprising that HDL levels increase dramatically on healthy, low-carb diets, while they tend to increase only moderately or even decline on low-fat diets.
7. Reduced Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels
Low-carb and ketogenic diets can also be beneficial for people with diabetes and insulin resistance, which affects millions of people worldwide. Studies prove that cutting carbs lowers both blood sugar and insulin levels drastically. Some people with diabetes who begin a low-carb diet may need to reduce their insulin dosage by 50% almost immediately. In one study in people with type 2 diabetes, 95% had reduced or eliminated their glucose-lowering medication within six months. If you take blood sugar medication, talk to your doctor before making changes to your carb intake, as your dosage may need to be adjusted to prevent hypoglycemia.
8. Lower Blood Pressure
Boosted blood pressure, or hypertension, is a significant risk factor for many diseases, including heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure. Low-carb diets effectively lower blood pressure, reducing your risk of these diseases and helping you live longer.
9. Effective Against Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a condition highly associated with your risk of diabetes and heart disease. Metabolic syndrome is a collection of symptoms, which include abdominal obesity, boosted blood pressure, boosted fasting blood sugar levels, high triglycerides, and low “good” HDL cholesterol levels. However, a low-carb diet effectively treats all five of these symptoms. Under such a diet, these conditions are nearly eliminated.
10. Improving ‘Bad’ LDL Cholesterol Levels
People who have high “bad” LDL are much more likely to have heart attacks. However, the size of the particles is essential. Smaller particles are linked to a higher risk of heart disease, while larger particles are linked to a lower risk. It turns out that low-carb diets increase the size of “bad” LDL particles while reducing the number of total LDL particles in your bloodstream. As such, lowering your carb intake can boost your heart health.
11. Therapeutic for Several Brain Disorders
Your brain needs glucose, as some parts can only burn this type of sugar. That’s why your liver produces glucose from protein if you don’t eat carbs. Yet, a large part of your brain can also burn ketones, which are formed during starvation or when carb intake is very low. This is the mechanism behind the ketogenic diet, which has been used for decades to treat epilepsy in children who don’t respond to drug treatment. In many cases, this diet can cure children of epilepsy. In one study, over half of the children on a ketogenic diet experienced a greater than 50% reduction in their number of seizures, while 16% became seizure-free. Very low-carb and ketogenic diets are now being studied for other brain conditions as well, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
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