How much carbs, fats, and proteins do you need?

      We all know that we need a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in our diet, but how much do we need each day? All three of these are important and have their roles to help our body function. Carbohydrates gives us energy and fuels our brains,  proteins are needed for structure, function, and regulation of the body’s tissues and organs, and fats insulate our body, cushions organs and can also be converted into energy.  There are also many other functions that they have but that is another topic!  But since they are all equally important it is crucial to have them in your everyday diet and to make sure you are not getting too little or too much. So, an easy way to remember is 60/20/20.  That means you need 60 percent of your daily calories to come from carbohydrates, 20 percent of daily calories from protein, and 20 percent of daily calories from fat. 

^{Now you do not have to have those exact numbers every day.  The Dietary reference intake recommends:}

^{45-65% of carbohydrates}

^{20-35% of fat}

^{10-35% of protein}

^{So, if I use a 2000 calories diet it would be broken down to:}

^{900-1300 calories of carbohydrates}

^{400-700 calories of fat}

^{200-700 calories of protein}

^{I like to know how many grams of day I need because it is easier to keep track of.  This is easily done by knowing that there are 4 grams per calorie in carbohydrates and proteins and 9 grams per calorie in fats.}

^{To break down calories to grams just divide the calories by 4 or 9.}

^{Carbohydrates 225-325 grams per day}

^{Fats 44-78 grams per day}

^{Proteins 50-175 grams per day}