Does Excess Protein Make you Fat?

[WillBrink]

Been eating "Keto-ish" for about two years now. Never felt better: fat % around 12; great workouts; lots of energy; great sleep. I say "Keto-ish" as I don't think I am in 'strict' ketosis (probably minimal to medium ketones) as I cheat on occasion with a couple potato chips, a spoonful of ice-cream, etc. I don't eat pasta, flour, taters, etc.

The more research I do, the more it looks like insulin is the culprit for weight gain, metabolic syndrome, etc. Insulin is apparently being targeted by more and more physicians as they study the interaction on calories, the endocrine system, exercise, etc.

I'm glad no one mentioned the "calories in v. calories out" canard....that was disproved back in the 1920's. A great book to read up on the issue of that myth is THE CASE AGAINST SUGAR, by Gary Taube (?). I just finished it and he slays a lot of dragons in there.

Will, that may be a good book for you as he does a great job at listing the various studies from which he draws his theories. There's a LOT in there ti unpack.

But, in the end, I think you summed it up best by saying whatever works for you......

Brother, that is not the case and and end of the day, energy flux (ergo calories) still rules all and no studies have disprove that, not in 1929 nor 2019. I don't tend to read people's books on the topic, I read the primary data. I'm a scientist and do that chit for a living. Taube's is considered a total joke among legit nutritional scientists, and got his ass kicked badly in a debate with a buddy of mine not long ago.

While it is more complex under the hood than simple cals in/out, that's still the primary driver of weight loss/gain.

My advice, ignore anything Gary Taube's has to say on the issue. He wants to sell books, not progress nutritional science. He cherry picks data and or misrepresents data to convince people sugar is the evil of all things, and it's BS.

When keto diets are matched for cals (iso caloric) and protein matched, weight loss is the same. It's still the calories that caused the wight loss. There may be some different metabolic effects between say keto (VLCD diets) and more traditional approaches, but weight loss is similar/same depending on the study.

I tend to support what people find works for them, but (1) when they start to also modify the science/facts to their own POV, such as other member who claims it's just fat that's the cause and never heard of a keto diet, I will correct it and (2) repeat, getting the weight off is not the hard part, keeping it off is, so the real issue is what approach leads to permanent weight loss and does not degrade health.

As far as Keto is concerned RE, the above points, data is mixed and I personally am not convinced it's a good long term strategy for most people. Article on my site also gets deeper into the overly simple 3500 cals per lb rule to get more granular:

https://brinkzone.com/is-the-dieting...-loss-correct/