preview

Macronutrient Ratios In Diet Analysis Essay

Decent Essays
Open Document

Macronutrient Ratios in Diets Macronutrient prescription or recommendations need to be first related to the goal at hand. These goals may range from body composition changes, maximal force output, maximal endurance capacity, or any other number of performance or health related goals. For the purposes of this discussion, high protein, low carbohydrate (CHO), moderate protein, moderate CHO, and low protein, high CHO diets will be examined as they are related to a few different types of athletic performance. High Protein, Low Carbohydrate. High protein, low CHO diets have a somewhat controversial background, but have shown their value in a variety of performance and health related circumstances. For example, Martens and colleagues (2014) …show more content…

In the health realm of dietary intervention, high CHO diets are even more convoluted in terms of weight loss and insulin resistance. McAuley and colleagues (2005) examined the effects that a high CHO diet had on weight loss and insulin resistance compared to high fat or high protein options in overweight, insulin-resistant women. They found that high CHO diets may be inferior to high protein or high fat options in terms of decreasing the factors associated with metabolic syndrome (McAuley et al., 2005). The high protein group especially reigned supreme in this study, with significant changes in waist circumference, lipid profile, and insulin response. The high CHO group showed improvements in these categories as well, but not to the same magnitude as the high protein group (McAuley et al., …show more content…

To be more specific, the athlete wants to improve intermittent high power output endurance, as this is the nature of basketball. Regarding training, the athlete trains on an undulated weight training model based on heart rate variability, and conditioning at this point is more low/moderate intensity aerobic work to not neglect this system in a highly anaerobic sport. All conditioning is done in a non-impact variety in targeted heart rate ranges. This would be considered an in-season strength and work capacity maintenance program, with the majority of the improvements desired from an endurance standpoint coming from getting into ‘basketball’ shape by practicing hard and competing.
The fictional athlete’s diet at this point can be considered balanced, but more biased towards CHO due to preference. The current approximate macronutrient ratio is 50% CHO, 20% protein, 30% fat. Most of his CHO intake is from high-glycemic index sources due to preference, and meal frequency is four times per

Get Access