The first thing we need to understand when designing a diet is how and why to divide macro-nutrients in our meals.

The 3 macro-nutrients are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

Those are the large molecules that make up most of what we eat. It’s really important to eat these in the correct ratios. I’ll get to why this is later on. The average person’s diet is way off in this so pay attention. If you want health far above that of the average person, which I assume you do, then you’ll need to eat differently than they do.A common theme here is that people are genetically different so a little personal experimentation is necessary. Generally, in each meal, you should aim for approximately:

• 40% of your calories from carbs (much lower than the average person)
• 30% of your calories from protein
• 30% of your calories from fat (mostly “good” fats from plant sources)

Everyone is different. Giving one exact diet to follow is similar wearing a “one size fits all T-shirt”. Besides looking horrible, which they do, these T-shirts don’t really fit anyone. They are just a rough estimation. We can do better. Everyone is genetically different and metabolizes food differently. We have different health concerns. We also like different foods. It’s not that hard to design your own diet and it’s certainly worth the minimal effort. I’ve done most of the grunt work for you by researching and simplifying the latest in nutrition. I highly recommend reading this nutrition overview before jumping into designing your own diet. (more…)