High protein diets

Kimia

So I'm reading a book (well flicking through would be more accurate) called 'Getting the Best from the Gi Diet' by Rick Gallop. One part leaped out at me:

Over the years, a lot of nonsense and misinformation has been written about protein and its role in our diet.... then in the 1970's high protein diets suddenly because fashionable. You could supposedly eat all the protein and fat you liked, while minimising your carbohydrate intake.

This type of low-carb diet has become all the rage once again, but as we know by now, it's harmful to your health and does nothing to reduce fat cells. High-protein diets have rightly been criticised by nutritionists and doctors alike

What do you make of that? I was under the impression that high protein diets are good, and high fat (from good sources obviously) were also good, while only eating essential carbs (from leafy veg for example) was the ideal diet.. What do you think?

El_Dangeroso

Ah the irony! Low carb diets have about a dozen studies now showing their efficacy and safety. If there was even ONE clinical study showing what you quoted was true then people would quote it ad nauseum and the argument would be settled.

Contrast that with the dismal failure of the low GI diet to show any improvement in blood glucose control when tested in clinical studies. (Here's a recent paper demonstrating this)

Also, the term 'high-protein diet' is a misnomer. The author is lumping in low-carb, low-fat liquid protein diets from the 1970's with high-fat, moderate-protein low-carb diets. People did indeed die or suffer severe kidney damage from those liquid protein regimes. Google 'rabbit starvation'.

Seriously, diet book authors have a vested interest in discrediting any alternative dietary approach. I don't doubt that the book you're reading sets out a plan that will allow you to lose weight. But that's more than likely down to portion-control and eating fresh, unprocessed food while minimising sugar than anything to do with the glycemic index.

Does that mean low GI is a bad diet?

EileenG

It's not bad. As a lifestyle, it's fine. It's just not particularly effective for weight loss. In general, eating low gi means eating shredded wheat rather than cornflakes, and brown bread rather than white. But you are still eating a lot of cereal and bread.

Oh I thought it was a bit like low carb. That explains why the chart I found had special K on it, couldn't work that one out

El_Dangeroso

bluewolf wrote: »

Does that mean low GI is a bad diet?

No, just means that how healthy something is has nothing to do with the GI. There are some really unhealthy low GI foods and healthy high GI ones.

Like I said most GI diets advocate unprocessed food with an emphasis on minimising sugar and portion control, lots of vegetables etc. This is probably why they work. No point faffing around trying to calculate different numbers.

Kimia

Thanks Temple!

However I tend towards the high protein, moderate fat, low carb side of things. For example, on a usual day i'll have maybe

120g protein
90g fat
40g carbs

Do you think that's ok?

Red Cortina

Kimia wrote: »

Thanks Temple!

However I tend towards the high protein, moderate fat, low carb side of things. For example, on a usual day i'll have maybe

120g protein
90g fat
40g carbs

Do you think that's ok?

If you broke your diet down from a calories consumed perspective you would be looking at
480kcal protein
810kcal fat
160kcal carbohydrate
so from this perspective you would be looking at a high fat, moderate protein and low carb diet....

Kimia

Ah yes, that's very true, thanks Red Cortina! That sounds better - is that the optimal breakdown for a low carb diet that isn't dangerous?

El_Dangeroso

Kimia wrote: »

Ah yes, that's very true, thanks Red Cortina! That sounds better - is that the optimal breakdown for a low carb diet that isn't dangerous?

Spot on.. for some reason on a ketogenic diet everyone seems to end up in the same sort of 50:30:20 to 65:35:15 range to F : P: C.

You are at 55:33:12.

EileenG

Why should a low carb diet be dangerous? I've never understood why eating a very low fat diet is considered sensible and healthy, even though fat is an essential nutrient, but eating low carb is a dangerous fad.

Kimia

That's what I thought too Eileen! But this book kinda threw me a bit because I'm a huge reader and tend towards believing everything I read, especially when I'm not hugely knowledgeable about the content.

EileenG

Nutrition, like religion, is one of those subjects where people have strong opinions and tend not to be swayed by the facts. You'll find people who swear you should eat nothing you haven't killed yourself, and people who swear that if it isn't macrobiotic, organic and vegan, it's poison. And just about everything in between.

I tend to believe that humans have evolved to be extremely adaptable, and can thrive on most types of diet, just as long as you don't add into too many unnatural non-foods into the mix.

El_Dangeroso

EileenG wrote: »

Nutrition, like religion, is one of those subjects where people have strong opinions and tend not to be swayed by the facts. You'll find people who swear you should eat nothing you haven't killed yourself, and people who swear that if it isn't macrobiotic, organic and vegan, it's poison. And just about everything in between.

I tend to believe that humans have evolved to be extremely adaptable, and can thrive on most types of diet, just as long as you don't add into too many unnatural non-foods into the mix.

Never a truer word said, people are REALLY attached to the food they eat. I have added nutrition to the list of things not to discuss in polite company along with religion and politics. Read this comment on another article and I think it really rings true:

But I think Michael Pollan hit the nail on the head when he said that the reason we get SO uptight about our personal dietary choices is that we lack a coherent food culture, and something deep in our brains really, really needs that certainty about what is good to eat, so much so that once we have decided on what is good to eat, and surrounded ourselves with like-minded people, our brains will marshal any means necessary to preserve our certainty.

Red Cortina

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Never a truer word said, people are REALLY attached to the food they eat. I have added nutrition to the list of things not to discuss in polite company along with religion and politics. Read this comment on another article and I think it really rings true:

I am definitely gone that way too....

I'm trying kimia's sparkpeople thing too
I just want to doublecheck was that breakdown of:

120g protein
90g fat
40g carbs
good? I wasn't sure from the response... I'm trying to set this "targets" thing now



I really have to give up those nutrigrain bars for eggs

El_Dangeroso

Bradley Red Flowerbed wrote: »

Them dudes that live in igloos, whats the correct term, : ) ? Well they hardly ever eat carbs (supposedly) and are in great shape.

Some people have said one of the reasons we eat carbs, is because its cheap. Plate of veg and steak is cheaper than a full plate of steak.

I have tried low carb diets, they do work for me. But when I introduce them back, I tend to go up about 3kgs over time. I can feel a bit weak on them too. Guess I just love my carbs! MMMMMM porridge. On protein diets, I need a stack of cottage cheese and tuna etc near me to keep me alive.

You're so right, low carb diets don't work well for everyone, took me a while to understand that. When it works so well for you you tend to extrapolate that to the entire population. I remember reading the figure that 25% will feel like rubbish on low carb no matter what they do, don't know where that came from but it seems to be true in my own experience of watching people try it.

Regards introducing carbs back in, you need to be quite careful, do it very gradually, one food at a time. Your body may be healing from food intolerances so when you add back in everything at once you're going to get a big jump in weight.

One thing I discovered was wheat gives me a massive spike in weight no matter what the form, along with tummy cramps and bloating. I eat about 100-150g carb a day now (roughly, I don't count) and I maintain pretty easily in that.