By height or by weight?

(Kaiden) #1

So far, the protein calculator formulas I’ve seen are all based on height, on the assumption that if you’re X tall, of Y gender, with Z build, you “ought” to weigh this or that.

On the other hand, a body composition monitoring tool can guess how much your lean body mass is.

Hearing the phrase “a ketogenic diet is protein sparing” put the idea in my head, Richard Morris saying on the podcast that he has higher than average lean body mass for his height gave birth to the idea, and seeing a number on the HiGi Station (see picture) gave the idea a graduation cap and gown.

So, what do you all think? Is it better to just go by height, or just assume 72 kilograms?

(Kaiden) #2

157lbs

My computer is old and slow, and I forgot the picture as I attempted to find a real world example where my calculation by height would be different than calculation by measured lean mass.

(Rob) #3

Don’t know that tool but I just use a LBM calculator, which uses age, height and weight and gives you the result by 3 different methodologies. Pick one or take an average and then apply your preferred g/kg amount based on your approach (high/low/moderate) protein.

http://www.calculator.net/lean-body-mass-calculator.html

(Kaiden) #4

After sleeping on it, it seems the best thing to do is to set a minimum via the Keto Cure method (57 grams, based on a height of 5’ 9"), and a maximum of (72 grams) based on the 1 gram per kilogram of measured lean body bass. Gives me a 15 gram wiggle room so that I don’t become OCD over an exact to-the-gram number.

I may consider going back to the Volek-Phinney range, 84-175. If the FDA is to be believed, “Current scientific evidence indicates that protein intake is not a public health concern for adults and children over 4 years of age.”

#5

By lean body mass. Some people can eat considerably more protein than that, depending on their metabolic history. I’ve been successful staying between 125-150 (.8 to 1 g/lb LBM). I am very physically active though, and find I feel a lot better with the higher intake.

(Rob) #6

Which for anyone not checking their units is 1.75-2.2g/kg in reference to the usual g/KG scale, which as @Genewich said is actually a pretty high level vs. the typical range of 0.6-1.5g. It just goes to show that protein is a very much n=1 thing and that people can happily tolerate and even thrive on a wide range of protein levels depending on too many underlying factors to really be able to predict (age, history, genes, gender, activity, etc.).

There is good logic in starting low and then building up as a testing approach since it is good to know the lowest level you can thrive on before deciding where to end up.

(Kaiden) #7

After a good night’s sleep and a panic attack, I decided that I needed to prioritize brain health. I’m going to use the Phinney and Volek ranges, but fast 1-6 days a week.

(Rob) #8

Good for you. Just remember that those ranges are so wide as to potentially have radically different effects at either end. The impact of protein specifically on brain health is largely supposition so I wouldn’t hang my hat on any specific advice there. At 72kg of LBM, you have a “safe” range of 45g to about 250g. Other research will tell you that over eating protein won’t have negative effects, though it might slow the positive ones if that’s how your metabolism takes it.

TL:DR - pick a rough level, see if it works, don’t sweat going under or over and change it up if you are not happy with the results. KCKO!

(Kaiden) #9

Just don’t let any JERF Jerks know that I’m mixing collagen and psyllium to finish a meal. I go from hungry to not hungry. I’m not sure if the collagen can work to heal my diverticulosis, but the fiber definitely can keep it from becoming diverticulitis, so I’m good with it.

90-100 grams of protein, with at least that much fat, seems to be what my body is enjoying.