Low Fat Diet and Protein Questions

[Morg]

Hello,

I have been researching quite a bit into nutrition and I have been keeping track of what I am eating and currently its composed of about:

*These percentages are of what my daily food intake is composed of.

Fats - %10 - %13
Carbs - %60 - %70
Protein - %17 - %30


I have been reading quite a bit on fat and have a pretty good idea about good fats are and the benifits of comsuming them are. However I am worried about any other side effects of having such a low fat diet. I plan on eating fish and peanut butter for my main sources of fat. Mainly because fish and nuts sometimes are composed of the essental fatty acids and omega 3 & 6.

If I stick to the %10-%20 fat content of the good fats that should keep me very heathly right?

My other question is that I plan on loosing more body fat (Currently at %8-%9 I believe) and gaining some muscle.

I am just wondering where that protein will go? Like will my body turn it into fuel and use it that way or use it for repairing the torn muscles?

Thanks for the help

 

[Rob Blok]

Bodybuilders eat at times 30% fat because you need fat to get your hormones going. If you dont eat enough fat then you can get a problem. And of course im talking about the healthy fats.

Flask oil... fat from nuts.. even the fat of egg is healthy. (The myth of it increasing your colestorol is already been proven wrong)

 

[sea-wolf]

Morg, if you want to loose weight, you'd better lessen the consumption of carbs rather than that of fats.

 

[Rob Blok]

All those carbs can make you insuline sky rocket and that is not good if you want to loose weight. Also try to eat complex carbs.. whole weat... brown rice ect.

 

[tylerz]

My other question is that I plan on loosing more body fat (Currently at %8-%9 I believe) and gaining some muscle.

I am just wondering where that protein will go? Like will my body turn it into fuel and use it that way or use it for repairing the torn muscles?

My understanding to date: Ingested protein will be digested and broken down into amino acids and then your body recombines the various amino acids to form the types of required protein. Your body is constantly repairing tissue, which requires proteins to be synthesized, and if you are exercising towards developing muscle, it will synthesize proteins for tissue growth. However, there is no means of storing amino acids/protein, therefore if there is a surplus of amino acids, that are not required for any immediate protein synthesis, then the body converts them to glucose for immediate energy demands and/or fat for storage. A by-product of these conversions is nitrogen, which puts a load on your kidneys to extract, therefore eating more protein than the understood body requirements is generally agreed to be unhealthy, aside from the extra fat you will gain.

 

[Rob Blok]

You can easily consume 2 grams of protein per kg of bodyweight when you are following a excercise program. I have heard of bodybuilders using much more without any problems. The getting fat thing is irrelevant you get fat from too much fat or too much carbonhydrates or proteins.. if you eat more then what you burn. It doesnt mather what food source it is.

 

[tylerz]

Just to clarify, carbs should only give you an insulin rush if they are simple carbs, concentrated forms, and eaten in a short period of time. Food takes time to be digested and absorbed into the blood. Insulin spikes in response to sharp increases of glucose being absorbed into the blood. Therefore, having a high ratio of carbs in one's diet does not automatically mean you are subjecting yourself to insulin surges and the negative effects thereof.

 

[jome]

I don't think that "bodybuilders are using much more and have no problems" is a very good argument for something being safe or not. Problems with kidneys for example would not propably show up in very short term, but one might regret torturing them a couple of decades later. It's like people saying "all that health crap is BS, I eat junk, drink and smoke like a chimney and I'm fine!" at 20 years of age. Of course they are, anyone is at that age!

Bodybuilding is actually a pretty extreme sport and they eat a lot of stuff "just to be sure" in huge quantities. I don't think their dietary guidelines suite an average person very well.

That said, I do think that on average people get too much simple carbs and could eat more protein. A few simple dietary choices will fix that easily.

All in all, I don't think the food thing should be made too complex. Common sense will get you very far. Eat a lot of things in great variety and good balance. Eating is supposed to be one of the most basic, fundamental things we do. Doing it right is important, but obsessing about it is just wasting resources...

 

[Morg]

Thanks everyone for the helpful insight.

I am really trying to balance out my diet and find whats the best for me right now.

A good amount of those carbs come from very healthy foods so I would imagin that they are the complex ones.

Here is a usually day of my eating habbits.

1 Bowl of Special K Low Carb (10g protein in the cereal)
I have low fat or skim milk and I put some fiber rich cereal in there as well.

Lunch I might have like 4 pieces of whole wheat toasted with some jam and then a banana after that and sometimes an apple as well.

Dinner is where I have no control... I am suject to my aunts cooking and that can have very negative side effects. Infact I might be sick from the last meal she cooked.... it was chicken. Not sure if wasn't fully cooked or what. But my stomach is telling me something is wrong :vangry.

Thanks Tyler for explaining how protein works in the body. I was told to eat protein withing like 15 minutes of a work out. Is this because the body will put those animo acids right to where they are needed? (The muscle that needs repairing)

Thanks,
Morgan

 

[fcallagy]

Hi Morgan,
i think your right about protein repairing muscle ( effectivly torn while working out ) Depends how much muscle you want to add I guess and the duration or how hard the work out is. Bear in mind if you do bulk up on muscle you kinda have to maintain it forever I think.

 

[Morg]

Yeah I plan on trying to maintain it as best as I can. I also heard that once you get to a certain size it is a little bit easier to get there again. Not sure if its just the body of you go back to your same routine and do the same thing.

I am not really looking into getting really big anyways. I just want to put on a few pounds of muscle because I feel I am underweight.