Global Nutrition Trends: Protein, Carbs & Fat Around the World

Have you ever wondered how your daily meals compare to the world’s diverse dining tables?

From Uganda’s bustling street markets to Italy’s serene kitchens, what we eat shapes our bodies, cultures, and economies.

Understanding how the balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fats varies worldwide can provide valuable insights into health and dietary patterns.

Different countries and regions have varying dietary habits influenced by global nutrition trends, culture, food availability, and economic factors. This article explores these profiles, shedding light on how these trends influence global dietary habits.

This deep dive into global nutrition trends reveals intriguing patterns in how countries fuel their days.

Whether you’re a nutritional novice or a dietetic devotee, join us on a fascinating journey through the world’s plates and palates to discover how your eating habits compare with those of others.

Ready to see where you fit in the grand nutritional mosaic?  Read on!

Highlights

• Average Calories: A surprising global average reported a calorie intake of 1657 calories per day, less than many might expect.
• Protein Disparities: There are stark contrasts in protein intake, with Optimisers averaging 32% protein while regions like Ethiopia and Congo manage only 8%.
• Carb Consumption: Dramatic differences in carbohydrate reliance, from Uganda’s high of 76% to our Optimisers’ low of 23%.
• Fat Facts: Fat intake varies widely, with Optimisers consuming 45% of their calories from fat, contrasting sharply with Burkina Faso’s 12%.

Energy Intake Across the World

In our previous article, How We’re Using Big Data to Help Anyone Eat Better, we covered the source of our extensive dataset, which we’ve collected to help us understand how to optimise any diet. Now, let’s look at some highlights to see how you compare. 

The chart below shows the energy intake range across the data, with an overall average of 1657 calories per day. 

When we look at calorie intake across various countries, the reported energy intake is surprisingly consistent.  Even in most third-world, people tend to get enough energy to survive. 

But it’s also worth noting that there is a wide range of calorie intakes across the 1M+ days of data within countries. 

Larger and more active people will require more energy, no matter where they live.  The energy you need to gain, maintain or lose weight primarily depends on your lean mass, which uses the energy. 

Rather than calculating a theoretical target, the best way to determine the right calorie target for weight loss is to track your maintenance food intake for a week and then incrementally adjust your current diet to increase satiety, which will naturally lead to a reduction in calories and sustainable weight loss. 

While many factors influence our energy needs, our food choices play a major role in how much we eat.  Our updated satiety algorithm now allows us to predict with 40% accuracy how much you will eat merely based on what you’re eating, without knowing anything about your gender, weight, activity, etc.  But that’s a topic for a future article.   

How Much Protein Do People Consume Across the World? 

The average protein intake, in percentage terms, is 20.7%. At the upper end of this range, our Optimisers average a solid 32%, while Ethiopia and the Congo get a meagre 8%. This is likely due to a lack of protein-rich foods like meat, seafood, and dairy. 

One consistent trend across the data is that we tend to gravitate to the 12.5% bliss point for protein, where we eat the most.  We love foods with this perfect blend of protein and energy that enables us to grow and store more fat. 

We don’t binge on very low-protein foods, like flour, rice, sugar and oil, because they lack the required protein.  Our appetite effectively gives up on eating until real food with the minimum protein content is available.  

But towards the right of the chart, we can see that increasing our protein % allows us to get the protein we require to thrive with less energy, which leads to greater satiety and fat loss. 

There’s a lot of debate online about how much protein we need, but in reality, we can survive on a very wide range of protein intakes.  The distribution chart below shows a broad range, with individuals consuming less than 20 g to more than 250 g.  The average protein intake is 82 g/daily.  Optimisers average 111 g/day at the upper end, while the people of Tanzania average 31 g/day.  

Not everyone needs more protein, but the data suggests you should get at least 12.5% of your energy from protein. Your protein percentage should increase for weight loss and greater satiety. Nutrient density and protein percentage are closely related, so if you pack plenty of minerals and vitamins, your protein percentage will also increase. 

In our Macros Masterclass, we suggest Optimisers work towards 40% protein for greater satiety and weight loss. Exceeding 40% protein is no problem; it’s just hard to do, and it’s even harder to sustain because your appetite will crave more energy from fat and carbs to stop the rapid fat loss. 

Global Carbohydrate Consumption

It’s fascinating that humans survive and thrive on a wide range of carbohydrates, from 0 to greater than 80%.  In percentage terms, the overall average carbohydrate intake is 46%.  At 23%, Optimisers tend to consume the least carbohydrates, while Uganda consumes the highest energy from carbohydrates, at 76%. 

Many healthy traditional cultures, like the Kitavans and Okinawans, have thrived on diets that get most of their energy from carbohydrates.  Meanwhile, the Inuit, who live in a colder climate, have thrived on fat and protein. 

We eat less when our carbs are low or very high.  But we get into trouble when we combine the perfect blend of fat and carbs. 

As the chart below, created with USDA Economic Research Service data, shows, Americans get most of their energy from carbohydrates. However, over the past century, we’ve added much more energy to our diet, mainly from refined vegetable oils. 

Modern processed foods allow us to hit the bliss points for carbs, fat and protein 24/7/365, and obesity rates have exploded!  

Again, individual carbohydrate intake ranges from zero to more than 550 grams per day. On the lower end, our Optimisers average 84 grams of carbohydrates per day, while the residents of Guatemala consume a much higher average of 370 g. 

Fat Intake Trends Worldwide

Finally, we come to fat. The average fat intake across all the data is 33%. Despite what you may hear online, very few people get more than 75% of their energy from fat. 

At the low end, the residents of Burkina Faso consume only 12% of their calories from fat on average, while at the upper end, Optimisers are getting an average of 45% of their energy from fat.   

Some Individuals consume more than 200 grams of fat per day. From a country perspective, on the low end, the residents of Peru average 23 g/day of fat, while Italians enjoy a more luxurious 82 g/day!

Macro Breakdown by Country/Group (Grams)

If you’re interested in how your diet compares to the rest of the world, the table below shows the breakdown of macronutrient intake (in grams) for the different subsets of the data, sorted by the number of days of data for each subset. 

Group	calories	protein (g)	carbs (g)	fat (g)	fibre (g)	days
MFP	1600	88	170	63		425,629
NHANES	1877	71	237	71	14	159,267
Optimisers	1474	111	84	77	20	155,786
Brazil	1688	75	235	50	19	141,994
India	1622	45	290	31	30	39,920
Philippines	1404	49	223	35	3	29,910
Tunisia	2104	69	321	61	31	28,580
Mexico	1787	57	253	61	14	10,185
Italy	2113	82	262	82	18	9,465
Kenya	1643	45	294	32	26	6,543
Romania	2094	102	261	75	31	6,539
Argentina	1695	69	213	63	11	6,441
Bangladesh	1753	47	315	34	15	4,381
Bulgaria	1293	43	163	52	13	4,040
Guatemala	2152	66	370	45	31	2,933
Burkina Faso	1742	79	308	26		2,605
Uganda	1885	52	343	34	22	2,217
Malaysia	1774	63	242	62	8	1,629
Nigeria	1786	59	255	59	17	1,349
Tanzania	1200	31	196	32	27	1,297
Mozambique	1381	35	228	37	22	816
Peru	986	34	161	23	0	619
Costa Rica	1956	64	301	55	14	566
Pakistan	1451	37	243	37	19	515
Cabo Verde	1615	73	178	68	16	484
Indonesia	2154	72	338	57	0	360
Bolivia	1772	61	298	38	18	328
Ethiopia	1708	36	262	57	17	323
Congo	1864	40	256	76	22	271
Cameroon	1555	39	219	58	0	74
overall	1657	82	192	62	18	1,045,066

Macro Breakdown by Country/Group (%)

Meanwhile, this next table shows a breakdown of macronutrients, sorted by protein %.  

Group	protein (%)	fat (%)	net carb (%)	total carbs (%)	fibre (g/2000 cal)
Optimisers	32%	45%	17%	23%	28
MFP	22%	35%		43%	–
Burkina Faso	19%	12%	72%	72%	–
Romania	19%	32%	44%	50%	30
Brazil	18%	25%	52%	56%	24
Cabo Verde	18%	37%	41%	45%	21
Argentina	17%	33%	48%	51%	14
Italy	16%	35%	46%	50%	18
NHANES	15%	33%	48%	51%	16
Bolivia	14%	19%	63%	67%	20
Philippines	14%	20%	65%	66%	4
Peru	14%	20%	66%	66%	–
Malaysia	14%	31%	53%	55%	9
Indonesia	13%	23%	63%	63%	–
Costa Rica	13%	25%	59%	61%	15
Tunisia	13%	26%	55%	61%	29
Nigeria	13%	29%	54%	58%	18
Mexico	13%	30%	54%	57%	16
Bulgaria	13%	35%	48%	52%	19
Guatemala	12%	19%	63%	69%	29
Uganda	11%	16%	68%	73%	27
Bangladesh	11%	17%	68%	72%	17
India	11%	18%	64%	71%	37
Kenya	11%	18%	65%	71%	28
Mozambique	10%	23%	60%	66%	32
Pakistan	10%	23%	61%	67%	27
Tanzania	10%	27%	53%	63%	52
Cameroon	10%	33%	57%	57%	–
Ethiopia	8%	31%	57%	61%	21
Congo	8%	36%	51%	56%	24
overall	20.7%	33%	44%	46%	23

Western diets tend to be higher in protein and fat than in Asian countries, which often have a higher carbohydrate content, reflecting global nutrition trends in dietary preferences.

Stay tuned for the next article, in which we’ll dive into the craving and satiety response to individual micronutrients and how we can use that better to understand our craving and satiety response to food. 

Conclusion

Our journey through global eating patterns reveals a fascinating mosaic of dietary preferences.  From Optimizers’ protein-rich plates to Uganda’s carbohydrate-heavy meals, there’s no single “right” way for every human to eat.  

The consistent trend we see when we look at macronutrients is that it’s not carbs or fat that get us into trouble.  Instead, it’s the perfect blend of fat and carbs with a little protein that is the recipe for overeating and obesity.  Once we understand this, we can reverse engineer the problem to make more informed food and meal choices that nourish and crush our cravings without leading to overeating and energy toxicity. 

And remember, stay tuned for our next article, where we’ll delve deeper into the science of cravings and satiety to help you understand your body’s unique responses to food.

More

• How We’re Using Big Data to Help Anyone Eat Better
• Satiety Per Calorie: Eating Less & Feel Fuller Longer
• Robb Wolf – Can Nutrient Density Save the World?
• Brian Sanders – Chasing Nutrient Density All Over the World
• Satiety: How to Lose Weight with Less Hunger