Low Carb, Med Protein and High Fat

I have been away for awhile, but I am back now and will try and post frequently on here … some will love my posts and some will hate my posts … so here is my first one, which deals with carbs, protein and fat, with the optimal diet for anyone being HIGH FAT, MEDIUM PROTEIN and LOW CARB ! Enjoy !

We know that calorie restriction can significantly increase life span but is likely unworkable for humans. The main outcome of calorie restriction is the reduction in daily exposure to both insulin and glucose and this same outcome is accomplished by restricting dietary carbohydrate intake.

A low carbohydrate diet as I show can halve daily insulin and glucose levels in the blood and even in the fasted or basal level there is a dramatic reduction. Consuming a low carbohydrate diet will lead to little change in these numbers during the day whereas consuming carbohydrates will cause dramatic changes.

By reducing glucose intake, a change in the nutritional profile of the blood occurs: the hormonal picture changes, leading to decreases in insulin and increases in glucagon, an overall decrease in the Insulin/Glucagon ration. This in turn, alters the cellular metabolic machinery by increasing the enzymes responsible for burning fat and reducing those responsible for burning carbohydrate.

Because of carbohydrate restrictions, there’s a turning on of the manufacture of the enzymes that convert carbohydrates to fat (these are different than the ones involved in the burning process); they increase rapidly, but since carbohydrate availability is low, these enzymes donâ??t have much to do. Itâ??s only when carbohydrates become available again that these enzymes spin into action, laying down body fat at a rapid rate. At the whole body level, the net effect of a falling Insulin/Glucagon ration is to keep fat fuel in the blood thereby providing fuel for the active tissues.

THE CARB SCAM has held humans captive throughout the last 10,000 years and it’s only now that a few people are gathering up the courage to lead a revolution to unseat it and the low carbohydrate diet is the chief weapon.

What, precisely does a low carbohydrate diet do to help us control our weight and avoid Glycation? The three primary aspects of the low carbohydrate diet include: 1) a means of stimulating fat stores to release fat, 2) the ability to burn the released fat and 3) a means of preventing the conversion of carbohydrate into body fatâ?¦ or in scientific terms, lipolysis, oxidation and lipogenesis. The outcome however, of this cellular response is the reduction of food intake at the whole body level.

In a carbohydrate fed state, carbohydrate converts to fat and this process shuts down the burning of fat and the primary fat burning hormone, glucagon is low and the storage hormone, insulin, is high. In the public discussion about what I call the Net Carb Scam, which is based on the idea of impact carbs (bad) and non impact carbs (good), everyone talks about insulin, but you never hear about the critical hormone glucagon, to the control of fuel flow.

The primary effect of insulin is to reduce the release of fat from the fat cells â?? the opposite of what is sought by the person intent upon losing body fat.

The primary effect of glucagon is to stimulate the liver to convert newly released fat into what are termed ketones, which are then circulated as an energy source.

LETS TALK ABOUT PROTEIN, the issue of protein is rarely understood in many diet programs - you are told that protein increases metabolism and therefore it can help you lose weight and also that if you follow a low carb eating program, you should replace your carbohydrate intake with that of lean proteins.

Letâ??s deal with the metabolism issue first and I am sorry to have to tell you that this is simply untrue â?? at least in the amounts of metabolic increases that you are told. All food increases your metabolism slightly and this is called the Thermic Effect of Feeding, but it is not a significant amount - maybe 5 - 10% of total caloric intake and the idea that protein stimulates more of an effect is simply untrue.

Now here is a fact that may shock you - up to 66% of all protein ingested is converted into glucose! The actual amount will differ by the type of eating plan that you follow. For example, for those people following the HIGH FAT, MEDIUM PROTEIN version of the low carbohydrate diet, you will be eating a significant amount of saturated animal fat and the protein/glucose conversion rate is not significant. For those following a low carb, low fat, high protein diet, it is way up there and can prove disastrous to both weight loss and exposure to Glycation.

Finally, if you follow a high animal fat diet, you will experience a protein sparing situation because the high levels of fat will be used as the primary source of energy and you will not experience the breakdown of muscle tissue, for the supply of energy.

YOU ARE FAT, NO REALLY YOU ARE FULL OF FAT! We can determine the optimal diet by having an understanding about the cellular processes for fuel selection. Without doubt, all animal cells prefer to burn fat and the enzymatic and genetic mechanisms are all primed to optimize fat burning for fuel needs and to convert and sequester carbohydrates into storage as saturated (animal) fat.

Theses pathways can be manipulated but, nonetheless, this biochemical picture, I believe, dictates the ultimate diet of man as one that should be extremely high in animal products. I also argue that since we convert carbohydrate into saturated human fat, that this type of fat, in fact, is the healthiest fat for humans, the one that our evolution dictated, for whatever reason, to be manufactured in our bodies. Therefore, I concentrate my selection of foods towards those possessing the most saturated fat.

Obviously, every day when I consume the fat that’s in my body for fuel Iâ??m consuming a highly saturated animal fat. When anyone loses weight, that’s what he consumes. Scientists will be hard - pressed to convince me to give up my beliefs and dietary habits and hand the power of decision - making over to some arrogant human, wholly ignorant of an understanding of the power and Laws of Nature.

Please PM me for any questions !!!

Interesting post!

Waiting for Modok, Bonez, etc. to chime in.

:wink:

Definitely an interesting read.

S

Yes indeed … Most of my research goes against the “norm” I guess you could say. Whats sad is that most science and medical journal information can not be marketed … if it was, well, billions would be lost yearly.

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Interesting post!

Waiting for Modok, Bonez, etc. to chime in.

;)[/quote]

Most of that goes way over my head. I dont deserve to mentioned nxt to MODOKs or any other doctor’s name when it comes to biological discussions.

Interesting read. What would an ideal fat/protein/Carb ratio be?

that’s the type of diet i try to follow. always looking for more meal ideas… what’s a sample day in the life of your diet?

@PJH

My suggestion would be keep your carbs/sugars at no more then 15% of your total calorie intake, protein 25% and fat 60%. You will have to adjust that as you go to get an optimal result. When doing so, keep in mind 1) the glycemic index is crap 2) “net carbs” are crap, a carb is a carb!

Remember, at the end of the day, if you eat more then you burn you will gain weight !

I remember at one point in my life, I was eating about 10,000 calories a day … I do not suggest that lol

[quote]DrGregEllis wrote:
My suggestion would be keep your carbs/sugars at no more then 15% of your total calorie intake, protein 25% and fat 60%[/quote]
For sedentary people? For marathon runners? For BBers? For all of the above?

@ProjectX

Well considering that I am almost 65 and not training as much as I used to, I am a tad lax on what I eat. However I can say that when I do train heavily (mostly in the summer), I tend to stick to STEAK AND EGGS. Ditch the fruits and veggies, starches, breads … I mean thats extreme! I would not go that far unless you are going for a NO CARB DIET …

@Tolismann

Yes … please keep in mind that there are 2 benefits to this lifestyle … 1) health 2) weightless/ control … I assume that most people on this board care more about the weight control and muscle gaining abilities of this lifestyle …

The bodys preferred source for energy is FAT … however … the world tells us that FAT IS BAD and FAT CASUES FAT … If your body is used to burning carbs as energy well you can’t switch it off overnight … It takes time … How much time, well through my research everyone has been a little different. Studies show that it could take 1 month - 6 months to totally flip the switch from using carbs as fuel to fat as fuel … and that means even MARATHON runners … they think that loading on carbs is the only way to have energy … thats not the case … I have worked with several runners and they keep up if not out run “carbers”!

There was a great interview with some doctor on WAPF basically talking about the same recommendations. Forget his name, but it was an interesting interview.

Dr Greg

Do you view green vegetables the same as breads in all of this? Any distinction between the type of carbohydrates (broccoli, sweet potato, rice, white bread; for simplicities sake)?

Interesting about protein.

So, while yes TEF only accounts for 5-10% would you still say that protein is on comparison with fat and carbs individually speaking about TEF?

thought it was well established that protein has about a 20-25% TEF. Meaning for every 100 cals eaten, 20-25 are burned in digestion.

Are you disputing this, or simply saying that because the overall TEF of eating is negligible that protein consumption for the metabolic effect is not that important?

DrGreg,

So I would like to get your take on the primary fuel used during moderate to intense activity. Research that I have read shows that glucose is the primary fuel during these periods. I know you say that fat is the preferred source of fuel for the body, but what about during those periods of activity?

Also, what is your opinion on glycogen replenishment and insulin spikes to enhance protein synthesis. It would seem difficult to accomplish these on a diet like you are suggesting. Or do you suggest to limit the very small amount of carbs consumed around the periods of activity to accomplish that, and do you feel like the percentage of carbs you recommend is enough to do that?

Great information by the way.

I have to disagree with your statement that when we eat carbs…they convert to fat. DNL is not a process that the human body engages in unless certain conditions are met. Those conditions are just not typical of any normal human even on the grain heavy/carb heavy modern day american diet.

Glycogen storage would need to be COMPLETELY maxed out, then you’d need to basically eat in caloric surplus, and the vast majority…if not all…of said calories would be made up of carbohydrates. On top of all that…it would need to go on for more than one day. At that point in time, the body will readily turn to DNL…

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions.

Interesting read, although I also question the point on protein and TEF. My understanding is that protein does stimulate a greater TEF than other foods, and there seems to be plenty of studies to back that (see link). Would you mind explaining your thoughts on this further.

http://www.jacn.org/content/23/5/373/T1.expansion.html

@bonez217

All carbohydrates convert to sugar, doesn’t matter if its a fruit, veggie, potato, bread etc etc etc. there are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Our bodies all function the same on a biological level. Once we convert these carbohydrates to sugar, we burn this as fuel at a very high rate of speed, we rapidly convert this sugar to body fat and burn very little of it for energy.

Once we become hungry again, we consume more food, convert it to sugar and so the cycle continues. The public is left thinking that they are eating ?healthy? yet they are obese and starving all of the time.

@jehovasfitess

Very good comment/question … I am walking out the door to pick up my wife, I will answer your question when I get back !!

Cool… Don’t take the below as me disagreeing with anything you’ve said thus far.

What about all the “benefits” from the other nutritional properties of fruits/veggies?