Is low protein necessary for benefits?

[Guest Popinjay]

Hello all,

 

I am currently dieting. I have lost about 25 pounds from about 300. I have a long way to go, but what motivated me is that I have an eye towards doing calorie restriction once I get to my recommended weight.

 

To that end I have been reading quite a bit about it on the net, but I get a lot of conflicting information.

 

One bit of information I keep running into seems to suggest that low protein is necessary to receive health benefits from CR. Does anybody know if this is true?

 

It is pretty important to know. I have been using a program to keep track of my fat, carb, and protein intakes, and my protein for the day is always something like 200-300% the recommended amount. It is hard not to do that since I seem to be able to best control my appetite by restricting how many carbs I take in. I have even started trying to learn how to cook so that I can make lower cal versions of chicken parm, fish dishes, etc. But all that is high protein, as is the non-fat greek yogurt I tend to eat every day.

 

Are the proteins I am taking in counter productive? Is there any hard evidence one way or another?

 

The more I look for information about health the more frustrating things seem to get. It seems like everywhere I turn the information is conflicting.

 

Thanks for your time,

 

Popinjay

[keithsct]

Hello all,

 

I am currently dieting. I have lost about 25 pounds from about 300. I have a long way to go, but what motivated me is that I have an eye towards doing calorie restriction once I get to my recommended weight.

 

To that end I have been reading quite a bit about it on the net, but I get a lot of conflicting information.

 

One bit of information I keep running into seems to suggest that low protein is necessary to receive health benefits from CR. Does anybody know if this is true?

 

It is pretty important to know. I have been using a program to keep track of my fat, carb, and protein intakes, and my protein for the day is always something like 200-300% the recommended amount. It is hard not to do that since I seem to be able to best control my appetite by restricting how many carbs I take in. I have even started trying to learn how to cook so that I can make lower cal versions of chicken parm, fish dishes, etc. But all that is high protein, as is the non-fat greek yogurt I tend to eat every day.

 

Are the proteins I am taking in counter productive? Is there any hard evidence one way or another?

 

The more I look for information about health the more frustrating things seem to get. It seems like everywhere I turn the information is conflicting.

 

Thanks for your time,

 

Popinjay

Hi Popinjay,

Have a look at this study from Dr. Luigi Fontana

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673798/

 

You want to reduce your growth hormones so that you don't grow any bigger. Yes too much protein will block some CR benefits. CR is all about balancing your diet. Slow down the protein intake a couple of % each week until you hit somewhere around 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight each day. So if I weigh 120 kg, then I'd limit my protein to 120*0.8 = 96 g per day. Make up the extra calories by increasing the fat in your diet with healthy fats. I like nuts and olive oil. Keep flaxseed oil down to about 3g per day. Try to get some of your protein from non-animal sources like tofu instead of chicken. Tofu will mix in nicely with other meat dishes, but will help to reduce inflammation. Don't buy low fat or non-fat products like the non-fat greek yogurt you mention. They make it taste good by increasing the carb content. Compare the labels and buy the yogurt with the lowest carb count. Soy yogurt is for sale in whole foods and could be an alternative. I worry about the bovine growth hormone sneaking into the conventional yogurt.

 

Cheers.

[Guest Popinjay]

Thank you for your response and link.

 

I'm curious--why the limitation on flax seed oil? I ask because I was taking flax seed oil for quite a while because of an eye condition. I moved over to fish oil (I think mostly because it was cheaper) which had the same omega-3s that were supposed to help with my eyes.

 

Pop

 

Hi Popinjay,

Have a look at this study from Dr. Luigi Fontana

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673798/

 

You want to reduce your growth hormones so that you don't grow any bigger. Yes too much protein will block some CR benefits. CR is all about balancing your diet. Slow down the protein intake a couple of % each week until you hit somewhere around 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight each day. So if I weigh 120 kg, then I'd limit my protein to 120*0.8 = 96 g per day. Make up the extra calories by increasing the fat in your diet with healthy fats. I like nuts and olive oil. Keep flaxseed oil down to about 3g per day. Try to get some of your protein from non-animal sources like tofu instead of chicken. Tofu will mix in nicely with other meat dishes, but will help to reduce inflammation. Don't buy low fat or non-fat products like the non-fat greek yogurt you mention. They make it taste good by increasing the carb content. Compare the labels and buy the yogurt with the lowest carb count. Soy yogurt is for sale in whole foods and could be an alternative. I worry about the bovine growth hormone sneaking into the conventional yogurt.

 

Cheers.

[Guest pmcglothin]

Excellent advice about looking at the Fontana study, but be extremely careful about consuming any yogurt period. The lower fat varieties may have less sugar, but the protein is more easily absorbed, marking them much more likely to raise IGF-1. Many varieties of yogurt have IGF-1 and/or whey added, which sends IGF-1 through the roof on healthy people. Don't leave IGF-1 to chance. Test it and adjust your protein intake accordingly.

 

If carbs raise your glucose levels, you are eating the wrong kinds of carbs,Popinjay. The CR Way emphasizes very complex carbs and my glucose levels stay below 100 mg/dl almost every day.

 

Good luck with your weight loss regimen.You picked the world's healthiest diet for losing weight.When you achieve your weight loss goals, you may also enjoy great health.

 

Paul

 

Hi Popinjay,

Have a look at this study from Dr. Luigi Fontana

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673798/

 

You want to reduce your growth hormones so that you don't grow any bigger. Yes too much protein will block some CR benefits. CR is all about balancing your diet. Slow down the protein intake a couple of % each week until you hit somewhere around 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight each day. So if I weigh 120 kg, then I'd limit my protein to 120*0.8 = 96 g per day. Make up the extra calories by increasing the fat in your diet with healthy fats. I like nuts and olive oil. Keep flaxseed oil down to about 3g per day. Try to get some of your protein from non-animal sources like tofu instead of chicken. Tofu will mix in nicely with other meat dishes, but will help to reduce inflammation. Don't buy low fat or non-fat products like the non-fat greek yogurt you mention. They make it taste good by increasing the carb content. Compare the labels and buy the yogurt with the lowest carb count. Soy yogurt is for sale in whole foods and could be an alternative. I worry about the bovine growth hormone sneaking into the conventional yogurt.

 

Cheers.

[keithsct]

Thank you for your response and link.

 

I'm curious--why the limitation on flax seed oil? I ask because I was taking flax seed oil for quite a while because of an eye condition. I moved over to fish oil (I think mostly because it was cheaper) which had the same omega-3s that were supposed to help with my eyes.

 

Pop

 

 

Generally you want to limit the Omega-3 fatty acids (flax seed oil is a source) to 3 or 3.5 g per day. Higher levels have been linked to an increased incidence of bleeding on the brain and other delicate tissues in the body. My preference is for the ground flax seeds or flax seed oil because I believe that these reduce inflammation more than fish derived products. All these Omega-3 containing foods thin the blood and can cause bleeding. I get nosebleeds when I have too much of it, for example.

 

As for the yogurt, I think in moderation the effects of seeding the guts with good bacteria out weigh any increase in IGF-1. It's a matter of judgement and balance. Of course if you pig out on tons of it, then you're likely to block CR benefits. I eat 30 g (about 2 big spoonfuls) of soy yogurt with salsa every day as part of a salad dressing, and I'd be surprised if that's enough to spike my IGF-1 levels.

 

Paul, can you provide a link to the paper with IGF-1 levels from yogurt on pubmed?

Cheers

 

 

[Guest pmcglothin]

Generally you want to limit the Omega-3 fatty acids (flax seed oil is a source) to 3 or 3.5 g per day. Higher levels have been linked to an increased incidence of bleeding on the brain and other delicate tissues in the body. My preference is for the ground flax seeds or flax seed oil because I believe that these reduce inflammation more than fish derived products. All these Omega-3 containing foods thin the blood and can cause bleeding. I get nosebleeds when I have too much of it, for example.

 

As for the yogurt, I think in moderation the effects of seeding the guts with good bacteria out weigh any increase in IGF-1. It's a matter of judgement and balance. Of course if you pig out on tons of it, then you're likely to block CR benefits. I eat 30 g (about 2 big spoonfuls) of soy yogurt with salsa every day as part of a salad dressing, and I'd be surprised if that's enough to spike my IGF-1 levels.

 

Paul, can you provide a link to the paper with IGF-1 levels from yogurt on pubmed?

Cheers

 

This was not a pubmed study, but rather unpublished research we did when we wrote the CR Way. There you will find a protein absorbability chart we spent hundreds of dollars on to develop for the book. We used information from several studies combined with our own testing. The best thing to do is to test IGF-1 at your local lab and adjust protein intake accordingly. I agree that 30g of soy yogurt would probably not spike your IGF-1. However 30g of whey, brewers yeast or amino acid mixtures probably would.

 

Paul