I have my macros set at 80% (108 grams) fat, 15% (46 grams) protein, and 5% (15 grams) carbs. I’m tending to go over on my protein most days. I haven’t even had lunch yet and I’m already at 54 grams of protein. I’m averaging about 73 grams per day. Is that considered excessive?
I’m worried because I keep hearing that too much protein will turn to sugar in your body. Any insight would be great. Thanks!
There is a shorter version if you’re not interested in hearing the details and lead up to.
Don’t restrict calories in the beginning.
This is great intro from another member that might help you-
There are two phases to ketosis and a ketogenic lifestyle.
Nutritional ketosis is phase one. Your body begins to produce and uptake some ketones while dumping the rest. It will still search for glucose to use as fuel. In this phase it’s not an efficient process. It has to work actively to get rid of stored glycogen, clean up excess blood sugar, and turn on the ability to use ketones.
Fat adaptation is phase two. Your body is efficiently producing ketones from intake and stored body fat and is also using them efficiently for energy. It takes around 6-8 weeks of strict keto to achieve for many but not all.
The basic “rules” I go by and many others can agree with especially for beginners are:
*20g net carbs max (you might tolerate more but, starting out, 20g net carbs or less will get you into ketosis.)
*Moderate protein (Moderate means eating different meats and eggs. Preferably meats with their own fat or meats you will add fat to. We aren’t trying to eat protein to be full, we want to add enough fat to our meals to be full with. If you are searching for a number, 1g-1.5g per kg of lean bodyweight is a good goal based on the 2 Dudes recommendations.)
*Fat to satiety (add fat to every meal and, if you are hungry, eat more fat. Don’t be afraid of fat. It is energy.)
*Do not restrict calories
*Do not exercise excessively in an effort to lose weight
*Drink plenty of water
*Get plenty of sodium and other electrolytes (Try homemade ketoaide)
Okay, so the long answer is long, but the short answer is somewhere between “nobody really has an answer” and “it depends.” The only way to really know if you’re comsuming too much protein to be in ketosis, is to get a blood ketone meter, and periodically check yourself around different levels of protein consumption. If your ketones drop out of the optimal levels, well…you’ve had “too much”. The amount of protein you would probably need to eat to kick yourself out of ketosis is pretty damn high…WAY higher than the number you quoted us. However, there is also the separate issue of protein triggering an insulin response, which I’ll discuss at the end.
The studies suggest that anywhere between .3 and .8 grams per kg’s of lean body mass is totally sufficient. In America, we rounded it up to 1-1.5 grams “just to be safe”. To be clear, we consume more protein than anyone else out there, so take that for what it is. So frankly an adequate number for your could be anywhere from .3-1.5 grams per kg of lean mass. That’s a huge window, so you’re going to likely have to experiment with yourself. I am paraphrasing this all from Jason Fung if you’re interested in further reading.
I’m on my last 25 pounds (already lost 80), and I recently looked at my protein grams per day for the first time. I had been getting anywhere between 90-150 grams per day, which arguably should be fine. BUT! I’m at a place where I am just waiting around for my insulin to decrease further and allow me access to my body fat. Protein will have about 56% the insulin response of carbs. So it makes sense that at this point I would consider lowering protein slightly, so as to keep my insulin as low as possible for as long as possible. I’m getting .5 grams per kg of lean mass right now, whereas before I was between 1-1.5 grams.
So off that metric, my theoretical “acceptable” window is between 39 and 195 grams of protein. I’m getting between 50-70 grams right now. I’m not concerned about being kicked out of ketosis…and I can’t say that’s ever happened to me through the over-consumption of protein. But I am concerned about my insulin responses, which is the only reason why I’ve decided to play around with my protein numbers. If you’re still losing weight, I wouldn’t screw around with that number yet…don’t make it a problem until it’s a problem. Keep that as a tool in your back pocket. But that last part is just my opinion.
Corrected. Thanks Rob!
You ever have the fingers type different than what the mind is thinking???
All the time… when I read my own posts 5 mins later I find all kinds of things to correct. The little pencil icon is my best friend 
Here is another recent presentation that is suggesting eating more protein instead of fat. He finds in his clinic dealing with actual patients, that eating protein to satiety results in more weight loss than fat to satiety. That too much fat can result in no losses. My own experience reflects this - I gained weight last year by eating too much fat.
Dr Westman and others suggest to not just keep eating fat but rather you want to burn the fat from your body, not the fat you eat.
From low carb down under: Watch the entire video, or if pressed for time, start at approximately 17:30
Thanks Jennifer! I deleted my comment—I don’t want to trigger or encourage anyone!
Jennifer, nice post. I do have a question about the above, however. In the Dr. Bikman ‘Insulin/Glucagon’ video, he presents some profoundly different results with respect to eating protein for those on a ketogenic diet and those eating a lot more carbohydrates. He speaks of the Insulin/Glucagon ratio, but does not give the raw amount of insulin.
Starts at ~18:45 in the video. Eating protein on the “Standard American Diet” has the ratio of Insulin/Glucagon skyrocketing from 4 to 70, while those on a low-carb diet see almost no movement at all, only a 6% increase. An awe-inspiring difference for me. I always thought that protein had about half the insulin response that carbs had, but it may be a very different thing on low-carb.
The 56% is from an old dudes podcast - but I missed those numbers in the video. That’s fascinating.
Is this the same guy who is also all about vegetarianism being the solution to our health issues?
I think your personal health history makes a big difference, as well as your workout habits. I eat what many here would consider a silly high amount of protein, but it works for me. I would say eat as much as your appetite says you should (from whole foods), if you are in a place to trust your it, but that is a philosophical position as much as anything. Otherwise the guidelines @Jennafurry mentions are a good place to start.
No. That is what I thought at first too. They do look the same physically however. I really like what Dr Bikman has to say. Watch some of his videos like the ones posted above. He is a researcher in Utah doing work on insulin, etc.
Ahhhh my mistake, what a strange coincidence! Yes I’ve started watching and they’re really interesting.
73g isn’t too much for most people. How much is too much is dependent on the person and their activity level. If your working out (lifting weights) you can eat more, I typically take in around 150-175g on my gym days, but keep it around <100g or so on my off days. If your body can use it, it’s not too much. For me, my body lets me know VERY clearly if I overdo protein, typically in a early AM wake up confused covered in sweat feeling like garbage that’s on fire kinda way. The harder my workouts got, the more protein I could add without issue. GNG is real, but it’s not quite as touchy for most people as many are led to believe.
How did you calculate your lean body mass ? I am told that a dexa scan is the only accurate method.
Are scales that give a percentage body fat reading any use for working out lean body mass? On my scales my percentage body fat is 41% , do I just multiply my weight by 0.59 to work out lean body mass, or is it not as simple as this?
Those scales can be WAY off. I’ve got a pretty descent one and for me it’s more or less accurate as I’ve done DEXA and BodPod so I know my #'s, for my wife who is typically underhydrated and has rougher feet because she walks around barefoot it’s off by like 10-15% depending on the mood it’s in. Good, smooth (conductive) skin and proper hydration help them as it uses electrical impulses to guess, but they can still be all over the place.
I’ve got one of the higher rated smart bathroom scales with impedance sensors where one places their feet. Theoretically it applies a voltage between those sensors and measures the current to estimate bodyfat and it would mainly be measuring the fat in ones legs and lower torso. When setting it up I had to enter my sex, height and age. It neglected to ask whether I have a genetic neuromuscular wasting disease. It tells me I have 10-12% body fat when my most recent dexa scan told me I have 26% body fat. Much of my fat is in my leg muscles. Calf hypertrophy - grossly oversized calf muscles full of fat are a standard clinical symptom of my disease and this scale completely misses it. I believe it is very heavily biasing the results based on statistical averages for my entered data as opposed to actually measuring my fat through electrical impedance.
I take a very hot bath before bed. If I use the scale before the bath it will show my body fat at 12%. After the bath I might weigh 5 lbs less - all water loss and it will show my body fat % as 10%. With 5 lbs less water my body fat % just went up but the scale reports the exact opposite, body fat going down with a loss of water. In my estimation these things are quite fraudulent.