Research
Macro partitioning
Dietary composition should favor complex carbohydrates over simple sugars and be enriched in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids rather than saturated fats.
Optimize your macronutrient quality by choosing complex carbohydrates (e.g., whole grains, vegetables) over simple sugars, and prioritizing monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (e.g., olive oil, nuts, fish) over saturated fats. This composition is supported by abundant evidence for metabolic health.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
For instance, there is abundant support for diets that favor complex carbohydrates over simple sugars, and diets that are enriched in monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids rather than saturated fats (3,4).
Why this rating
Described as having 'abundant support'.
Source
What Should I Eat and Why? The Environmental, Genetic, and Behavioral Determinants of Food Choice: Summary from a Pennington Scientific Symposium
Emily Qualls‐Creekmore et al. · Obesity · 2020
DOI 10.1002/oby.22806
narrative_reviewCited 23×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Reducing total energy (calorie) intake is the primary and necessary strategy for weight management, regardless of the specific macronutrient source.Good
- Prioritizing whole or natural foods over highly or ultraprocessed foods is highly recommended for weight management and metabolic health.Good
- Obesity is associated with decreased prefrontal cortex activity and decreases in goal-directed decision-making, which influences food intake.Good
Related findings · Macro partitioning
- Total daily protein intake of 1.6 g/kg/day is sufficient for maximizing resistance training-induced muscle gains, with an upper confidence interval of 2.2 g/kg/day.Strong
- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
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