We burn protein instead of fat in our sleep - eating a high

stacicali

Hi cysters - I'm a former pharma rep and sometimes dig up interesting PCOS news. I've always tested low on protein in blood tests and was puzzled because I'm a huge carnivore. Here's something I just found:
"This underlying metabolic dysfunction is at work even in women of a healthy weight, according to Daniel Dumesic, a reproductive endocrinologist at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

“Research shows that unlike most women, lean women with PCOS tend to burn protein instead of fat while they’re sleeping. This might explain one of the reasons why despite their best efforts, it’s much harder for women with PCOS to lose weight,” he said.

stacicali

Ah, crud. I hit post too soon. I wanted to add that a high protein diet appears to not only help satiety but a also weight loss in PCOS patients. Read the link below if you've been looking for inspiration for your nutrient goal percentages for MFP.
40% protein
30% fat
30% carb

http://www.emaxhealth.com/11306/high-protein-diet-benefits-women-pcos-new-study-shows

KnitOrMiss

If I ate that high on protein, I'd gain weight like a balloon being filled with lead. I can't even go over 100 grams without gains... I'll read the article shortly.

KnitOrMiss

Considering that they didn't do an alternative low carb HIGH FAT moderate protein consideration, this basically just says that protein works better for us than carbs, which I think we ALL know pretty well from our own experiences, so this really didn't say much new to me....

And my last bloodwork in October showed middle of the road total protein, low albumin (has been low for years), no references on the globulin or ratio... I don't know what that translates to...

stacicali

And that's an excellent point - through talking with you @KnitOrMiss and researching how too much protein can lead to insulin spikes (but typically only over 1 g per lean muscle mass), it appears that only fat cannot be converted by the body into insulin. I wonder why scientists haven't studied a low carb/high fat diet in PCOS, but this isn't the first study I've seen talking about the positive effects of high protein intake for satiety and weight loss for PCOS. I also found it interesting that lean PCOS women compared with similar BMI non-PCOS women had higher body fat and lower lean muscle mass. To me, this finding underscores that weight training should benefit the metobolic profiles of those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to work out.

Dragonwolf

stacicali wrote: »

And that's an excellent point - through talking with you @KnitOrMiss and researching how too much protein can lead to insulin spikes (but typically only over 1 g per lean muscle mass), it appears that only fat cannot be converted by the body into insulin. I wonder why scientists haven't studied a low carb/high fat diet in PCOS, but this isn't the first study I've seen talking about the positive effects of high protein intake for satiety and weight loss for PCOS. I also found it interesting that lean PCOS women compared with similar BMI non-PCOS women had higher body fat and lower lean muscle mass. To me, this finding underscores that weight training should benefit the metobolic profiles of those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to work out.

My running theory is that people still fear fat, so it's always "low carb, high protein," instead of LCHF. Very rarely will you find a true LCHF diet being studied, which is annoying.

Also, I suspect that the low lean mass in women with PCOS stems in part from the fact that it's commonly accepted (even if not really true) that the "only" way to lose weight with PCOS is to practically starve oneself. It's astounding the number of women I've seen who say they can only lose weight (on a conventional diet) by exercising intensely for no less than an hour a day, every day, and eating only about 800 calories. With that kind of environment, it's no wonder the body is catabolizing lean mass instead of fat.