We generally think that carbohydrates & fat are bad guys & we should keep their consumption minimal. Lots of so-called fitness experts also propagate to eat anything under their macros to maintain a calorie deficit diet. All these baseless assumptions are false & should be avoided. Your nutrition composition is driven by your genetic insights & gut bacterial diversity & consumption. Based on your genetic & gut intelligence, the composition of protein, fat, carbs & most importantly fibre would vary.
Our objective of writing this blog at the beginning of the year is to help you deep dive into personalising & genetically aligning your nutrition so that you are consuming each of the macro & micronutrients in line with what your body requires & which foods you occupy place in your plate.
A healthy diet should have high fibre complex carbohydrates. Grain, starch vegetables & fruits all contain good amounts of complex carbs. Just make sure that your choices are aligned with your genetic & gut intelligence. When you are choosing grains such as rice, cereals, quinoa & bread, make sure that they have high fibre content. So the best bet is to have brown & wholegrain versions. Select legumes & starchy vegetables such as sweet potato, carrot, beans, peas since they contain a good amount of fibre.
We generally think that fruits are high in fructose, naturally occurring sugar & prefer to avoid them. This is only one side of the coin! Besides fructose, fruits also contain a lot of fibre & antioxidants which keeps our gut away from harmful bacteria. Just make sure that your plate has fresh fruits not packaged fruits. Non starchy vegetables such as broccoli & spinach have less amount of carbs & high amount of fibre. This is the reason they are called free vegetables. Therefore these free vegetables can be consumed in larger quantities without worrying too much about carbs consumption.
Your genetic insights on your carb sensitivity will drive how much carbs should be on your plate daily. Those who have a high genetic risk of consuming carbs should restrict their carb consumption to 25% of total calories. On the other hand, those having moderate & low genetic risk can consume up to 35% & 45% respectively. Those having low carb in their diet can consume 2 portions of fruit & starchy vegetables in a day. A high carb diet can include 4 portions of fruit & starchy vegetables each day. In both the cases, free vegetables are not restricted.
Fat is a dense source of energy since 1 gram of fat offers 9 calories. Plant based fats such as avocados, oil, nuts & seeds should also be preferred over saturated fats. This is very important for those highly sensitive to fat. Needless to mention that saturated fats are found in animal protein sources such as eggs, meat & milk & dairy products. Your genetic insights will guide how much fats should occupy your meal plate. A low carb diet is accompanied by 45% fat content & is suitable for those with low fat sensitivity. On the other hand, low fat diet is perfect for those having high genetic risk to consuming fat & would generally have 25% of calories from fat. Those advised with moderate carb intake should supplement with moderate fat intake.
Lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs & milk are excellent sources of protein. For vegetarians, good protein sources are legumes, lentils, nuts, seeds & grains such as quinoa. For healthy folks, around 20% of calories should be coming from protein. However, if you are looking to build muscle, this could be reasonably higher. Most of us require at least 8 portions of protein daily. One protein serving is equal to 30 gram of meat, chicken, fish or one egg. If you are a vegetarian, half cup of legumes, 2 tablespoons of nut butter( peanut, almond, cashew) or quarter cup of nuts or seeds is one serving of protein.
When you align composition of your macronutrients with your genetic profile, you will be friending with your body not working against it. Completely eliminating any micronutrient from the diet is not recommended. Tweaking the proportion of macronutrients in line with your genetic makeup can give amazing resultsDiscover your personal traits & learn about your genetic makeup to carb, fat & gluten sensitivity . By subscribing to our membership & preventive health solutions, you will get access to various resources, guidance, training, coaching & workshops covering the impact of your genetic predisposition to various aspects of health that will help you maximise your fitness potential & improve your health. Sign up for our membership here.
