The seminar went well this past weekend. All the speakers did a great job and Mark spoke so well with his raw milk presentation, he convinced my Dad to start drinking raw milk! These are the results that I love. I want to continue providing seminars/inspiration that can change the way people think. If anyone out there has any ideas, feel free to email me and discuss what can be done!
One question that went unanswered was a discussion about how much protein should be consumed on a Low-Carb diet. My answer was fairly vague as I did not know the precise requirements. I never really count my grams of protein intake or even my carbs or fat, I simply eat a lot of meat and a lot of fat (coconut oil/butter). With that being said, I decided to do a bit more research and found a few interesting articles that discuss this topic, specifically.
The more a cell contains mitochondria, the more those cells prefer to use fat/ketones as their energy source. an example would be the heart cells. Cells that contain virtually no mitochondria include white blood cells, the testes and inner part of the kidneys. With that being said, our body does need a bit of glucose to use as energy at some point. The body can create glucose by breaking down muscle proteins, but clearly this would weaken our muscles and significantly decrease sports performance.
So, what can we do? According to Jeff Volek, if we consume 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per lean kilogram of body weight, we will have enough protein to save our muscles and create enough glucose. Here is an example: I weigh 110 kilos. At 13% body fat, that leaves me with 95.8 kilos of lean body mass. If I consume anywhere between 100-140 grams of protein a day, I will be able to build muscle and use protein to fuel the parts of my body that cannot use ketones/fat as an energy source.
Most individuals think of low-carb diets as high protein diets. Fortunately, my first exposure to low carb consumption came from my brother’s need to consume a ketogenic diet to handle his epilepsy symptoms. Ketogenic diets are blatantly high fat. It took me a while to get over this mode as I was younger and uneducated on the positive aspect of ketone presence within our body. In my interview with Gary Taubes, Taubes mentions that the total fat consumption should comprise somewhere between 70 and 80% of the total calories of that diet. I believe this goes right along with historical observations of indigenous people who consumed a very, very high fat diet (Inuit were believed to be in upwards of 85%).
Consuming high amounts of fats can lead to the production of ketone bodies. At the seminar this past weekend, I argued that ketones were actually the preferred energy source for muscles and the brain. During the paleolithic era, glucose was only used heavily in the diet during the period in the fall when natives tended to gain more weight for the coming winter months. I also argued that insulin was a relatively dormant hormone, EXCEPT in the fall. With that being said, anaerobic activity was highly utilized by primitive movement which undoubtedly lead to higher levels of growth hormone. The higher levels of growth hormone protected the muscles/organs from being used as energy and instead forced the body to burn free fatty acids and any carbohydrates consumed from the diet.
Back to fat and ketones: Ketones may come from dietary fat or body fat. They are formed by the liver which processes free fatty acids and converts them into ketones and are then used as energy by the cells which turn the ketones into ATP. Basically, if you cut your carbohydrate intake, your body will burn the fatty acids stored on your body as energy. As Taubes points out…you can’t get fat on a low carb diet and as I mentioned previously, your muscles/brain/heart will all be thoroughly nourished by the presence of ketones.
The first priority is to make sure you are getting enough energy from your fat consumption. This fat consumption will not only provide substantial amount of energy, it will also keep inflammation down, lower your blood pressure, and fuel your brain. In reality, the protein is an after thought. If we are eating enough fatty meats, we will nourish our body with ample amounts of protein to recover from intense workouts.
After reflecting on my daily food consumption, I have found that most of my fat comes from egg yolks, beef, chicken skin, pork, lamb tallow, raw cheese and coconut oil as well as my raw milk consumption. My protein is then taken from the egg whites, beef, chicken, lamb and raw milk. My remaining carbohydrate intake is absorbed from raw milk. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.