If you’re considering a Very Low
Carb (VLC) diet to lose weight, it will help you to get “into the weeds” a
little. So, first, a few definitions: Very Low Carb is usually
defined as no more than 20 to 30 grams of carbs a day. Low Carb is defined as 50 to 100 grams a day
or 20 to 30 grams per meal. And to be clear, Low Carb is not
what I’m doing. This post is for serious
Very Low Carbers who want
to lose serious weight and do
it in a healthy way and without hunger.
If you decide you want to try eating this way,
you will also need to accept that it is also a limited-calorie diet. That’s not going to be as difficult as
it sounds because you won’t mind eating less if you aren’t hungry, and
you are burning your body fat for energy. You will not be hungry at or between meals, I promise. In fact, after
a few days you will stop thinking about food. You will not be interested snacks,
and you will forget it’s lunchtime. Honestly.
So, after deciding to eat VLC, the next thing you
need to decide is how much protein should you eat? The answer is: it depends.
It is different for everyone because it depends on your weight (not your
current weight but your ideal “lean body weight”), your muscular development, your
age, your exercise regimen, and your general level of activity. These are all variables, but there is also a constant: your basic need for protein
for countless bodily activities. Protein’s component amino acids are necessary
– in fact, essential – for life. Everybody needs to eat protein. In fact,
everybody needs to eat a variety of protein (with fat) to get all their amino
acids, especially the “essential” amino acids that the body cannot make, or
easily make, by itself.
The easiest way to get all 22 amino acids,
including the essential ones, is to eat a variety of animal
proteins. That isn’t the only way, but it’s the easiest way. During the years
of my initial weight loss, I was successful following the advice of Richard K.
Bernstein, MD, a life-long Type 1 diabetic and author of “Diabetes Solution,” the “bible” for diabetes health care. He is a pioneer in “eating-to-the-meter”
– in fact, it could fairly be said he “invented” it.
As a Type 1, Dr. Bernstein advises his patients
to eat equal portions of protein in three small meals every day that are
equally spaced about five hours apart. That allows the protein, which digests
more slowly than carbs or fat, to be absorbed and circulate (as amino acids) in
the blood for 4 to 5 hours. They replenish and repair muscle tissue and perform
many complex cellular and hormonal activities. That also allows a 14 hour fast
between supper and breakfast during which ketogenesis occurs. This means you
burn body fat at night to supply your basal metabolic energy
needs. So, to lose weight while you sleep, don’t eat too many carbs, or
too much protein, at supper.
How much protein should you eat at each meal? You
are not eating protein to feed your fat; the protein you eat is related to your
lean body mass, that is, your body with only the minimum amount
of fat needed to cushion the organs and supply energy stores. For people who
have been overweight their entire lives, this will look like an unimaginable ideal.
Nevertheless, “lean body weight” is the measure you should use for protein
calculations.
Considering all the variables
above, I chose 0.9 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body weight. Converted to U.S. units, 0.9 grams per kilo
is roughly 0.4 grams of protein per pound of lean body
weight. And using the truly
unattainable “lean body weight” ideal, from the middle of the “normal”
weight range in the BMI table for a person 5’-10” tall, my lean body
weight should be 150 pounds. Based on this truly skeletal lean body weight, my protein intake should be 60 grams a
day, divided per Bernstein into 3 equal meals of 20 grams each. So that’s what
I use.
My regular breakfast (2 fried eggs, 2 strips of
bacon, coffee with heavy cream) is 20 grams of protein, and my usual lunch (a
can of sardines in EVOO) is 15 grams of protein. That leaves 25 grams to
splurge on supper. And if I eat more protein than that at supper, I better
remember to take my Metformin to suppress gluconeogenesis! Or, just eat 25 grams of protein with supper.
That 60 grams of protein a day total, by the way, is still 20% more
than the 50g/day Percent Daily Value (RDA) recommended in the HHS/USDA
Nutrition Fact panel on processed food packages for women (on a 2,000 cal/day
maintenance diet) or just about the 62.5g/day recommended for men.
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