Welcome to the beginning of Week 3 of the #IMWChallenge
Topic for today.
On a low carb diet should I focus on protein or fat while lowering carbs?
The answer is different for each person.
Sorry if it seems like I punted, but I have people on high fat-moderate protein as well as moderate fat-moderate protein diet regimens.
So you really need to experiment a bit to see what helps you best to:
1- Feel satiated to reduce hunger
2- Helps with weight loss by lowering insulin
3- Just feels right- increased energy, clear head, normal gut function
In trying to figure out how to decide which may work best you first need to know the protein and fat contents of food. Here below is an example for 4 ounce cuts of beef.
The pic below is from https://cheatdaydesign.com/
They have some very informative pics such as shown below. Check them out if you get a chance.
One thing that should stand out is the protein content of beef. Pretty standard with the above cuts all being between 22-29 grams of protein per 4 ounce cuts. As the cuts above are all from muscle, and muscle is mostly protein, it kind of makes sense.
Also when you look at the protein/fat content always look at the serving size.
Ex: My favorite cut is the ribeye.
24g of protein and 8 grams of fat PER 4 OUNCES
My normal size is 12 ounces so multiply above by 3 and I get 72g of protein and 24g of fat. This is probably enough to keep me satiated.
If you eat beef what are your favorite cuts?
How about Chicken protein/fat?
My favorite cut of chicken are the thighs followed by the wings. I’m not a fan of drumsticks. Chicken breasts as they are highest in protein and lowest in fat are good if you are trying to lower your fat content, but get it skinless. OTOH if you are on a higher fat low carb diet, keep the skin on and enjoy.
How about seafood protein/fat?
Sorry tough pic to see. For a better pic go directly to their website
I don’t eat as much seafood as beef or chicken. But my favorites are Wild Salmon, Steelhead Trout, Scallops and Shrimp. If I am in Ocean City NJ and eating at Spadafora’s I get Broiled Flounder stuffed with crabmeat.
What are your favorites?
How about Vegan protein sources?
I do not eat any of these due to my own food intolerances as well as preference. But I have included this chart if you tolerate and enjoy Vegan protein sources .
So why the emphasis on protein today?
As humans our Lean Body Mass (LBM) is composed of:
Muscle - protein mostly
Organs - protein and fat
Bone - protein, minerals and fat (marrow)
It would seem logical to eat protein to continually maintain, renovate and build upon our lean body mass as our body can not manufacture protein by itself. We must get protein in our diets.
Without our muscles, bones and organs I don’t think we would be that healthy.
Medical signs of aging include:
Sarcopenia: Muscle loss leading to frailty
Osteopenia/Osteoporosis: Bone loss leading to frailty
An example of organ failure is Congestive Heart Failure where the heart “muscle” gets very weak. Muscle is protein.
So the trick to proper balanced nutrition is to get enough protein to maintain or build our lean body mass and then enough fat/carbs to use for energy, WHILE knowing that any EXCESS fat/carb we consume will be stored as fat for future use. Sooooooo, protein is for structure and function while carbs/fat are more for energy.
The EXCESS fat we end up storing is coming from both the excess dietary carbs stimulating insulin to store the excess carbs as well as the excess dietary fat that does not need insulin for storage.
Key word above is EXCESS.
What’s wrong with insulin you say?
If you are trying to lose excess fat stores, having a high level of insulin present moves you more towards storing fat than burning the excess. It’s almost like a one way door with fat cells. High insulin levels promote fat storage and make it difficult to burn fat. Hence the reasoning behind lowering carbohydrates. Lower carbohydrates generally results in lower insulin.
Please leave any comments and questions in the comments below.
Meme of the day