How much is too much protein?

#1

So I just started this diet and overall im ok at keeping my net carbs low but I seem to be having issues keeping my protein intake low as well

I was reading online that when you eat more protein than your body needs, some of the amino acids in the protein will be turned into glucose via a process called gluconeogenesis

But how much is too much?

I have seen many in hear argue back and forth on the subject. Some say eat more fat but I am not one to just put a stick of butter on my plate,

For example I went over my recommended amount due to eating about 1 cup of grilled chicken on my lunch and 2 pork chops for supper and 1 cup of pork rinds later in the day as seen by the screenshot below. (obviously there was small amounts in between from eggs, cucumbers etc)

Should I worry?

Any recommendations

im 5"11 and about 400lbs and 38

M5ABjeY.png720Ă—1480 110 KB

#2

You need to start looking into sample diets, I’m not in the crowd that fears protein and not only don’t I restrict and have a high meat intake but I supplement it in as well as I lift, but even then I’m typically in the 150-175g range. What are you doing to get up to 250g? Do you know what your muscle mass is?

#3

Im probably over estimating but for that day a few of my items but for that day I had some green beans with cut pieces of roast beef (about a cup) and since I was hunger I got a salad with some grilled chicken and steak pieces.

in terms of muscle mass im trying to build some right now maybe down the road

Just looking to lose weight right now

(Brian) #4

It sounds like you’re just starting. I also saw the part about you being hungry. You haven’t really settled into the keto thing yet and I think that’s probably normal. It takes a while.

You’re doing good keeping your carbs low. That’s good.

You’re worried about your protein. Hope I won’t take too many hits for saying so but for right now, I’m not so sure you should really be all that concerned about it. I wouldn’t be inclined to supplement it in any way but I wouldn’t be afraid of it either.

I’d definitely want to be inclusive of fats, whether it was fattier cuts of meat or burger, using plenty of butter over stuff you like butter on, using avocado if you like them, that kind of thing. I’m not one to down shots of olive oil or stuff like that but I definitely wouldn’t avoid fats.

I would be inclined to want to eat whole, real foods. Eat hamburgers made with fatter grinds. If you eat chicken or turkey, eat thighs or drumsticks, the darker, fattier meat. Eat eggs if you like them, they’re nearly the perfect food, about half fat and half protein, about.

You’re a male so protein is likely to work better for you at higher levels than if you were female.

A couple of things that I suspect will happen for you… Over the next few weeks, you’ll probably become better able to burn fat instead of sugar. It doesn’t happen overnight. But it does happen. And as that happens, you may just find that your hunger goes way down. It happens to a lot of us. As that happens, if you keep your carbs low, the other macros may just fall into line without a whole lot of effort on your part. Your body will have a ready supply of fat from which to draw energy from and it will. Instead of finding yourself hungry, you may find yourself skipping meals because your just not hungry.

So I guess in a nutshell, don’t stress to much over a little higher protein right now. Keep the carbs low and continue on your journey. A few months from now, it may be something you’ll want to revisit or maybe tweak a little. Or not. Honestly, some people kind of fall into a good place naturally.

Good luck with your journey! This is a good place to hang out while it’s happening. Lots of good people with lots of experience in lots of different ways of low carb and keto eating. There is the occasional uproar over something and we don’t always agree on everything but there are lots of good hearted people that want to help, too.

:slight_smile:

#5

Thanks. Have a 9 year old daughter and I need to change things drastically.

When im hungry im trying to drink lots of water to help with that

Also noticed fish like salmon and Tilapia are low in carbs and have less protein so ill try to eat more of that as well

Haven’t been able to find Shirataki Noodles yet in my area so im looking for that

(Karen) #6

Sometimes called miracle noodles. Usually in produce areas and refrigerated although they are shelf stable. Do not feed these to children. They do not dissolve and can be a choking hazard.
K

(TJ Borden) #7

Nothing to fear there. Gluconeogenesis is demand driven, not supply driven. It doesn’t happen just because there’s “extra” protein. It happens when your body needs glucose for systems that can’t use ketones. It’s also what shows we don’t actually NEED to consume ANY carbs.

Wether you believe in a creator or believe we came from some slug in the mud, that’s prettt fucking amazing. Sadly, if you pulled a Jay Leno type skit asking random people on the street about gluconeogenesis, most would probably think it was a band or had something to do with Star Trek.

(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #8

If you still have a desire to eat something with protein, after eating to your “keto protein macro” you probably aren’t eating too much protein. When the next piece of protein holds no desire for you, then you’ve consumed too much. Protein is pretty self limiting.

#9

I have had issues over eating so I need to adjust my appetite also

#10

As long as you keep your carbs low, your appetite will self adjust, there’s a REASON big people have big appetites! It’s because your body wants to maintain, and if you weigh 400lbs it takes a LOT of calories to keep everything going and you moving around. Pulling the carbs down will start dropping weight, your RMR will slowly come down and with it, your appetite. BUT don’t make the mistake of ignoring muscle or trying to not build. Muscle is your best friend when it comes to weight loss PLUS do have any clue how much muscle you must have simply from your weight? That’s all working for you right now and it also means your protein requirements are higher. GNG is a process that we all have going on all the time and you don’t have to be petrified of protein. Not saying you should eat 10lbs of meat a day either but you don’t have to worry of the protein you’re eating in normal amounts to make you satisfied turning into cupcakes inside you either.

(Running from stupidity) #11

Careful tracking is key (if you can do this). Takes away the guesswork.

#12

Some fears of eating too much protein come from the idea that they’ll hurt your kidneys. I like what Amy Berger wrote here:

(TJ Borden) #13

I love Amy Berger

(Wendy) #14

Oddly enough, this standard control diet was called a “protein restricted” diet,yet it called for 0.8g/kg. Funny how these kidney researchers even considered 0.8g/kg to be a restricted protein intake, huh? (And so many keto newbies think that’s the maximum they should be consuming. Oh, man…the LOLZ.) (The control diet was 65% carb, 25% fat, 10% protein; the low carb diet called for 35% carbs, 30% fat, 25-30% protein, 5-10% alcohol [for the red wine polyphenols or some such]. So the low carb diet was nowhere near ketogenic, but compared to 65% carbs, 35% is a substantial reduction.) To be clear, most of the subjects on the lower carb diet still declined; they just declined more slowly, and there were fewer deaths during the follow-up period. How much better might the results have been if this was actually a truly low carb diet? This is quite promising, though, because it shows that even when the diet is still 35% carbs, a low- ish carb diet has a more favorable impact on kidney disease progression than a low protein diet.
A good point here!

#15

I found them by the regular noodles at my grocery store…I kept looking in the refrigerated section with no luck.