OT: Protein and Weight Gain

Can you help me understand this article and study? http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/Obesity/30481?

I have gained some weight recently and want to make sure my diet is proper.

Thank you.

Hmmm.

The title is valid... "Calories, Not Protein, Count in Fat Gain"

I think that there are people who incorrectly assume eating a low carb diet means you can eat like a trash can. While low carb diets seem to have some resistance to upside gain (low insulin levels stop the body from packing away fat).

When a person stops low carb, kaboom, the weight can go back up b/c the increased fat gets stored. If you are curious why you are gaining weight, keep a food diary for 3-4 days (try not to under report) and see where you end up. On maintenance, most men are 11-13 cals per pound and women 9-11 per pound depending on activity level.

If you decide to question or target you macro consumption of protein, take your total weight, figure out body fat percentage, subtract body fat from weight to get lean body mass. LBM * .9 grams per pound would give you a base daily consumption of protein.

200 pound male at 30% bf. 140# lbm. * .9 is about 126 grams of protein (500 cals). Most people have a hard time eating this small amount of protein considering that 200*11 or 200*13 is 2200-2600 cals.

It can't be the 500 cals in protein that is causing the problem, must be carbs or fat?

cheers.

How many grams of protein and how many calories are in .5 liters of blood?

NightMonkey wrote:How many grams of protein and how many calories are in .5 liters of blood?

That is not funny!

( haha )

I recommend a book called "Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It" by Gary Taubes ($7.99 on Amazon, paperback or Kindle).

Gary Taubes explains in plain English why it's not all "calories in/calories out". It's what you eat that matters. The bottom line is a low carbohydrate, moderate protein (not high protein), high fat diet is the healthiest and the most effective diet. Yes, you read that right--high fat.

An even simpler explanation here: http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf (Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt)

And Dr. Mary Vernon here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=p ... aquSijXJkQ

It's really carbohydrates that determine fat storage. Excess protein turns into glucose through a process called "gluconeogenesis" and can act like a carbohydrate in your body, but moderate levels of protein do not. It's the resulting excess glucose in your blood that cause you to store fat and form the bad cholesterol (very dense LDL). Carbohydrates are the real culprit.

Fat does NOT make you fat. The evidence is mounting.

It's not that calories don't count at all. But they don't count as much as we have been led to believe. Your choice of foods is what matters most.

Oh yes Janknitz, thanks! I have read about the things of which you speak. It has been discussed here several times that I have seen.

What about that study? What does it mean?

It's a bit convoluted, but the conclusion spells it out. People who eat high carb and low protein seem to gain less weight than people who eat high carb and moderate or low protein. To find out why, these researchers fed each of three groups 1000 excess calories per day and three different levels of protein. They measured two factors of body weight: fat and lean muscle mass. Subjects with low protein gained only fat, not lean muscle mass, but subject with moderate and high protein levels also gained lean muscle mass. So while the total weight gain was similar for all three groups, the low protein group gained all fat and the higher protein groups gained more healthy muscle mass. Bottom line is that protein doesn't make you fat.

I think the truth is that over eating will STILL make you gain weight, even if the proportion of protein to other foods is high.
Odd premise for a study; wonder who financed it.
What we need to remember, is that when you are eating LESS food than you are used to, protein satiates better than carbs.
Protein and raw or fresh veggies and fruits can make you feel less like eating too much.
It is still no substitute for discipline, but it can certainly help.

The Choker wrote:What about that study? What does it mean?

If you eat more calories than you burn up, you will gain weight. If the excess calories are from a high carbohydrate, low protein diet, the weight you gain will be mostly fat. If the excess calories are from a high protein, low carb diet, the weight you gain will be more body tissue and less fat.

Pennington Biomedical Research Center is a highly respected research center focusing on diet research. I participated in a couple of clinical studies there about 10 years ago.

I believe the key to losing weight is to have an affair! That is, a love affair with hunger pangs. If your stomach isn't growling before most every meal you won't lose weight!

I have found that more protein curbs carb cravings. If I eat low carb for a day and add protein I am not foraging for carbs and don't get hungry as quickly between meals.

It has been my experience with high protein and low carb diets you start losing your hunger pains two weeks into the diet. After a month you no longer desire sweets. Grilled chicken or fish with steamed veggies will make the fat fall off your body. Make yourself drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day to flush your system. If you want to lose 10lbs or 100 lbs this is the best diet in my opinion.

Calories in/Calories out. If they match, you maintain your body weight, if there's more in that out, you gain weight, if there's more out than in, you lose weight. Protein is needed for building muscle and muscle burns more fat than if you are non muscular. Basically, if you want to lose weight, you have to use more calories through diet and exercise than you take in. Protein is affective in a weight loss program, not because it will help you lose weight but because it, along with a high fiber diet, will keep you full longer, keeping those hunger pains under control. Low protein, high protein is immaterial except in calories in/calories out. You can eat nothing but donuts and still lose weight if you eat less calories than you use. Wouldn't recommend it though. The goal behind any weight loss program shouldn't be just to lose weight, it should be to change life styles. If you eat healthy and exercise within your capabilities you will lose and maintain a healthy weight and a healthier body.

The Choker wrote:Can you help me understand this article and study? http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/Obesity/30481?

I have gained some weight recently and want to make sure my diet is proper.

Thank you.

I am interested to know if anyone here has lost weight, let's say more than 20 pounds, and successfully kept it off for 5+ years (without weight loss surgery).

I would refer you to the National Weight Control Registry.
Their site has some interesting observations.

I am actually familiar with the registry, although not in depth. It seems to me though that if it is a registry of people 18 and over who lost 30 lbs and kept it off for at least a year, that it would attract exactly those people. I wonder what percentage of the dieting population it represents.

I was also wondering about people with OSA like the ones represented here.
Thanks.