The foundation of a primal diet is choosing the healthiest, most nutritious, freshest, and highest quality foods possible: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, produce, nuts, seeds, and optional dairy products, all of which form the basis of a species-appropriate human diet. Then, since we are sensuous creatures with a bit of hedonistic tendencies, we add the following reasonable indulgences: coffee and dark chocolategood wine If that’s your thing, and sometimes a non-primitive show off too.
What you eat takes precedence over everything else. If that’s all you focus on, you’ll do better than most of the population.
After progressing away from carbohydrate dependence, metabolic flexibilityYou can trust your body to tell you what it needs. Over time, you will naturally develop eating patterns that fit your lifestyle.
But I find that most people, when they decide to follow a raw blueprint, want to know how far they can take it. When you realize how good you feel just by choosing raw foods, it’s natural to ask if there’s an extra level of health and vitality waiting to be unlocked. This is where methods like intermittent fasting and macronutrient experimentation come into play.
The Primal Blueprint does not prescribe specific macronutrient ratios, but here are some best practices to consider. Let’s dive in.
First, some basic terminology. Macronutrients, or “macros,” are the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats found in the foods you eat. These are building blocks and energy substrates apart from other compounds present in food, including water, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and artificial ingredients.
The calories in food come from macronutrients. Protein and carbohydrates each provide 4 calories per gram, and fat provides 9 calories per gram..
Now I have a real problem with this. Although the body wants to burn fat and glucose (carbohydrates) for energy, protein is always used first for muscle protein synthesis and repair, or for building cells, hormones and enzymes. In that context, specifying a “burn rate” of 4 calories per gram hardly seems fair. That’s like saying that if you run out of firewood, the 2×4 studs that support the walls of your house could easily burn down. It will be so. But that’s not the point.
Nonetheless, that’s how math is done.
So let’s say you’re interested in conducting some kind of n=1 nutritional experiment. Maybe you want to go keto by increasing your protein intake or reducing carbohydrates during your hypertrophy cycle. You should enter all your food into a tracker like Cronometer or My Fitness Pal to see how many grams of protein, carbohydrates, and fat you’re eating, which means how many calories you’re eating. Done right, tracking your food can be tedious, but the data can be eye-opening. Most people have no idea how much they are actually eating.
Once you have established your baseline, you can increase or decrease your intake of specific macros. As I said, Primal Blueprint doesn’t specify the exact macros to target, but here are some things to consider:
Of the three macronutrients, protein takes priority in my book. Most of what I do comes down to one goal: maximizing healthy longevity. That means staying healthy and cognitively sharp for as long as possible. The cornerstone is maintaining mobility and strength and preventing muscle loss and weakness due to aging. To do this, you need two things: building blocks (amino acids from protein) and a stimulus (exercise) that tells your body to invest in your bones and muscles.
For the average person, a good goal is to consume 0.7 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight (1.6 to 2.2 g/kg).
You can go higher than that if you want, you may have some advantages, but this is a good starting point. Taking more than that isn’t dangerous, but you’ll soon see diminishing returns.
Whenever I write about protein, I always get a follow-up question like this: Should I use my current weight, lean body mass, or ideal weight? How do age and gender affect it?
For example, I’ve written extensively in other posts about how much protein you should eat if you’re an athlete or someone trying to lose weight. The numbers are slightly different Anything in the range of 1 gram per pound of body weight should be fine. Likewise, if you calculate it based on lean body mass instead of total body mass, you’ll fall into a similar range, especially if you’re already on the thin side. Let’s take an example of a 180 pound individual with 20% body fat. The calculations show that you consume 126 to 180 grams per day based on total body weight and 100 to 144 grams per day based on lean body mass. It’s not much different.
Also, don’t stress about eating the same amount of protein every day. Take a look at your protein intake over the last 3-5 days. Do you average about 1 gram per pound per day? If so, you are in good shape.
I’ve said that many times. collagen It should be classified as a macronutrient in its own right. Collagen is a protein made up of amino acids, but it is not a complete protein because it lacks tryptophan. In general, you shouldn’t include collagen in your total protein intake when tracking your food, but I completely disagree. collagen is protein. The amino acids are the same ones you get from steak, but in different ratios.
I doubt too many people are using collagen peptides as the main source of protein in their diet. But it’s probably worth mentioning. The idea is that most protein needs should be met using complete proteins from whole food sources.
Primal diets naturally fall on the lower end of the carbohydrate spectrum compared to typical modern diets. A person eating the standard American diet can easily exceed 300 to 400 grams of carbohydrates by dinnertime thanks to grains, sugar-sweetened beverages and processed snack foods. In contrast, it is difficult to exceed 100 grams of carbohydrates when eating Primal foods. This is true even if you eat tons of colorful above-ground vegetables. Even if you eat a fairly large amount fruit Alternatively, if you eat starchy vegetables, it will be difficult to exceed an average of 150 grams of carbohydrates per day.
I have found that most people can easily maintain their body composition and have sufficient energy by eating less than 150 grams of carbohydrates per day.
However, if you specifically want to enter ketosisYou need to cut it down to less than 50g per day and be strict about it.
On the other hand, endurance athletes who consistently burn a lot of calories and regularly build up their glycogen stores may benefit from consuming more carbohydrates from additional fruits, tubers, and root vegetables. rice or oats. This is not required. Many athletes feel and perform well on a moderate carbohydrate or ketogenic diet. But very active people also “get” carbohydrates, so they shouldn’t be afraid to experiment with higher intakes, especially when they have a tough workout or competition.
I’m not. Net carbs are the total carbohydrates in a food minus the fiber. The great thing about eating Primally is that you don’t have to fuss about these details.
Net carbs are only relevant in the context of the keto diet, which seeks to distinguish between digestible carbohydrates, which actually convert to glucose, and fiber, which does not affect insulin levels. In the Keto Reset Diet, I suggested that there was no need to count the carbs in non-starchy ground vegetables and avocados. This is because the fiber content minimizes the impact on glucose/insulin. But that too is optional. For tracking purposes, it’s easier to limit your total daily carbohydrate intake to 50 grams per day and call it a day.
Once you establish your protein and carbohydrate intake, fat becomes the macro you utilize to increase or decrease your energy (calorie) intake.
Let’s say you typically eat 150 grams of protein and 100 grams of carbohydrates per day. Each provides 4 calories per gram, so these two macronutrients combined add up to 1,000 calories per day. The rest comes from fat, which has 9 calories per gram.
Primal Blueprint’s main goal is to help you fat burning machineThis means that cells are very efficient at using fat for energy instead of relying heavily on glucose. The fat may come from your plate or fatty tissue. Petite, moderately active women who want to burn off excess body fat can aim to consume 500 to 800 extra calories, or approximately 55 to 90 grams of fat, per day. However, larger men aiming for a calorie surplus during the bulking phase may need an additional 2,000 calories. Maybe you could increase your protein by 50 grams, but that’s only 200 calories. Remember that protein is not the most efficient fuel anyway. In any case, this person would need to consume close to 200 grams of fat per day to reach his goal.
On the Primal diet, you don’t have to worry about macros. This is especially true if you are satisfied with your current body composition, performance in the gym, and overall health. But if you’re having trouble shedding stubborn fat, struggling to build muscle, or if you think your health could improve and you’re already eating basic, adjusting the macronutrient composition of your diet may be a worthwhile endeavor.
One final note is important. For those following a standard modern diet, ditching grains, sugar, and sketchy oils will make more of a difference than increasing or decreasing your fat intake by 20 grams or so. Now, if your blood sugar is through the roof and you’re taking numerous medications to treat type 2 diabetes, reducing your carbohydrate intake may also be a top priority. (In this case, let your doctor know that you are changing your diet, as your medications will likely need to be adjusted at the same time.)
Simply put, you can get more bang for your buck by first adjusting your nutrition, movement, and key fundamentals of your lifestyle before experimenting with meal times, fasting, macros, etc. Lay the right foundation first, and then these details can take your results from good to excellent.
Thanks for reading!
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* This blog reflects my personal views and opinions and is not intended as medical advice, but I hope it will be informative and inspiring in your pursuit of a healthy and fulfilling life.
