Macronutrients are the three main nutrients your body needs to survive. You need to consume relatively large amounts of carbohydrates, dietary fats, and protein to ensure your body functions properly. However, there is a limit to how much you can safely consume, and exceeding that limit can have a number of adverse effects. In this article, I will expand on this topic and discuss four of the negative side effects associated with macronutrient overdose.
1) DEHYDRATION: Eating too much protein has been linked to dehydration. A study from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology looked at five endurance athletes who consumed low (63 g per day), moderate (123 g per day), and high (246 g per day) levels of protein over three periods of four weeks. They found that as protein consumption increased, hydration levels decreased. Dehydration can have an adverse effect on your health and put you at risk for a number of heat-related illnesses.
2) FLUCTUATING ENERGY LEVELS – Eating too many carbohydrates causes blood glucose levels to rise rapidly and then drop dramatically. Eating high levels of omega-3 essential fatty acids (EFAs) has also been linked to elevated blood glucose levels. Your body uses blood glucose for energy, so any fluctuations can have a direct effect on your energy levels. One minute you may feel full of energy and then the next minute you may feel as if all the energy has been sucked out of your body. This makes it extremely difficult to focus and function properly throughout the day.
3) INCREASED LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN (LDL) CHOLESTEROL LEVELS: – Eating high levels of saturated fat has been linked to elevated LDL cholesterol levels. LDL cholesterol builds up on the walls of the arteries and causes blockages. This restricts blood flow to your vital organs, which can lead to organ damage and heart disease.
4) WEIGHT GAIN: – Weight gain is probably the most common symptom associated with macronutrient overdose. If you eat too many carbohydrates, the ones that are not needed for energy are stored as body fat. Consuming too much protein has exactly the same effect, and any excess is converted to body fat. Excessive consumption of dietary fats can also lead to rapid weight gain, as they contain more than double the calories (nine calories per gram) of carbohydrates and protein (four calories per gram).
While macronutrients are essential for life and good health, you should monitor how much of each type you consume. To make sure you’re not eating too many macronutrients, you should first check that the daily number of calories you consume is in line with the amount your body burns. Next, you want to make sure that no more than 70% of your daily calories come from a single macronutrient (so having 90% of your daily calories from carbohydrates would be too much). If you follow these rules, you should avoid the negative symptoms discussed in this article and enjoy all the benefits that macronutrients can offer.