Macro-nutrition: Is the gym culture responsible for the rise of measured nutrition?

Once you noticed all those extra inches to your waist courtesy sweet tooth cravings and junk food, what did you do? Go straight to the gym and take admission. But, after a while you noticed that no matter how much you toiled in the gym, the desired output was far off. This was until someone spelt out the secret to you. It’s not just the gym and the equipments, but also watching what you eat. From one person to another to many and then a whole community, this secret spread like wildfire and gave birth to macro-nutrition.

What is macro-nutrition, and how did it gain popularity?

The rise of macro-nutrition did not happen overnight. It wasn’t a reel that could go viral. It was a tried and tested formula which took time to gain popularity and be accepted by people. Moreover, it wasn’t a mathematical formula either. It was a fusion of fitness, gym culture and the food industry that merged on one common point – to produce food for the health conscious and awareness community which not just kept them in shape but also elevated their gym results.

The eating clean shift

 Long ago there was a debate between good food and bad food. Today it has transformed into eating measured and eating clean. As strength training went out of the gym walls and into mainstream conversations, talks about eating right also took centre stage. People started focussing on eating protein, carbohydrates and fats as these helped in nutrient balance, muscle gain or loss and stamina. As more and more people started undertaking this routine of balancing food and work out, they realised that what they ate directly affected their gym results or work out goals. This gave rise to eating as per your goal. For instance, if you want to lose those extra inches, your diet should comprise high protein and low carbohydrate items. In case, you want to gain weight then it had to be high protein and carbohydrate.

Did macro-nutrition affect the food industry production?

Since people became more aware of what they wanted to eat, they also needed to calculate the quick measurements in minds. Grabbing this opportunity, the food industry fine tuned the labels on the packed items and made it tell the story behind the composition of the item. This, in turn, made it easier for one to pick up or pass certain food items. Today, a food label comprises detailed breakdown of percentage of carbohydrate, protein, vegan, synthetic ingredients and more. Since people wanted food to be more in synch with their goals you would notice a rise in protein powder, health bars, low-carb snacks, baked goodies and more. Further, as the food industry made it convenient for the people to count their nutrient intake, it created a whole ‘healthy and pre-packed’ food boom for not just the strength training community, but for the general crowd as well.

The digital interception

Once the market and people’s habits started changing, came the input of social media which played its part well in amplifying so that more people figured out the change and jumped right into the trend. With this, macro-nutrients, today, has been amplified to a way of life, a lifestyle in itself and not just aimed at people who once wanted to shred those kilos.

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