Low carb high protein

lounpaul
lounpaul Posts: 11 Member
How many grams of each is recommended when reducing carbs and having higher protein?

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    It's a range really. You can set a protein goal based on body weight using a variety of factors and end up with say 80g of protein. How many carbs do you want to eat ? If you're just restricting a bit it might be 200g, keto would be 20g. Fats make up the rest.
  • lounpaul
    lounpaul Posts: 11 Member
    I'm wanting to restrict the carbs quite a bit. Mainly eating them after exercise.
    How do you work out the protein calculation related to your body weight ?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    There are several methods, some of which are erroneous.

    0.8 - 2.4 grams per day per kg of ideal body weight is one. So if 60 kg would be a BMI around 22 then 48 - 144g is the range. You can see this is quite wide, as it's meant to cover all body types and activities.

    0.8 grams per day per lb of body weight is another, not my favourite as it allocates more protein if you're fatter.

    The RDI for most of the population to get enough is about 50 grams or 0.7 g/day per kg body weight ( http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Activity Files/Nutrition/DRIs/1_ EARs.pdf )

    Weightlifters and bodybuilders have various other brotein ratios.

    100 grams a day would be a reasonable reduction to start at for "quite a bit" :-)
  • BradW99
    BradW99 Posts: 103 Member
    1g Protein per lb body weight. Start carbs higher (toward maintenance) and decrease weekly as you see results. Reduce by 10-20. You won't be hungry all the time like you would if you just drop carbs.
  • path7975
    path7975 Posts: 25 Member
    10% carb 20% protein 70% fat is the usual macro when doing keto LCHF diet in each meal and you can set this in MFP.
  • BradW99
    BradW99 Posts: 103 Member
    Keto isn't based on % Keto is no carb.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited April 2016
    BradW99 wrote: »
    Keto isn't based on % Keto is no carb.

    No it's not! The majority of ketoers set their carb percentage to 5%. Unless youre a 100% carnivore it is near impossible to eat 0% carbs..
  • BradW99
    BradW99 Posts: 103 Member
    I obviously don't mean absolute zero, but as close to it as possible. That's the whole premise of Keto.
  • aeb09
    aeb09 Posts: 424 Member
    BradW99 wrote: »
    I obviously don't mean absolute zero, but as close to it as possible. That's the whole premise of Keto.

    Actually path7975 is correct. Most keto-ers try to keep their carbs below 20g per day (that may be total grams or net grams, people do it both ways). Some keto-ers can eat more than that and keep it under 50g per day and still stay in ketosis. Typically this equates to 5-10% of total calories consumed. The remainder of calories is split 20-30% protein and 65-75% fat.

    OP make sure you're getting enough healthy fats, too, in your diet if you restrict carbs.
  • no_day_but_2day
    no_day_but_2day Posts: 222 Member
    lounpaul wrote: »
    How many grams of each is recommended when reducing carbs and having higher protein?

    How many carbs are you trying to reduce to? Are you weightlifting?
    I have mine set at 15% carbs, 45% fat, and 40% protein. At 1500ish calories that's 58grams of carbs, 77 grams of fat, and 154 grams of protein but I weight lift 5 days a week and do cardio 4-6 days a week. I'm always playing around with my macros though to see what fits. This has been working since I switched over from Keto (5/20/75). The carbs I eat 90% of the time are non-starchy veggies/peanut butter/protein powder. Once a week I have a "cheat" meal but I try to make sure I get a super good workout in that day so the carbs from that meal are used to help with the strength training. This is just what's working for me, but I recommend just playing around with it until you find something that works for you.
  • lounpaul
    lounpaul Posts: 11 Member
    I'm a big carb lover so trying to cut right down.
    I'm having PT and think my goal for carbs will be between 50-150g per day.
    I'm not necessarily wanting to go keto though.
  • no_day_but_2day
    no_day_but_2day Posts: 222 Member
    lounpaul wrote: »
    I'm a big carb lover so trying to cut right down.
    I'm having PT and think my goal for carbs will be between 50-150g per day.
    I'm not necessarily wanting to go keto though.

    How many calories are you eating?
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited April 2016
    BradW99 wrote: »
    I obviously don't mean absolute zero, but as close to it as possible. That's the whole premise of Keto.

    Most keto folks are not aiming for "as close to zero as possible".
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    lounpaul wrote: »
    How many grams of each is recommended when reducing carbs and having higher protein?

    Low carb is usually considered to be less than 100g (or even 150g) of carbs per day; that's usually somewhere in between 5% and 30% of your total calories depending on your needs.

    It seems moderate protein is usually 15-25% of your total calories so high protein would be more than that; the actual grams will vary according to your needs.

    Many people find it satisfying and effective to stay with moderate protein levels when they are cutting carbs unless they are very active and high very high protein needs. If you do not have a need for high protein, you could consider moderate protein and higher fat.

    I eat a very LCHF ketogenic diet, and my macros are typically about 5% carbs (20g), 20% protein (~90g), and 70% fat (~120g) for about 1500kcal per day when trying to lose weight. I typically eat 2000-2500kcal now to maintain, and I still keep carbs at about 10-30g, protein is aroud 75-100g, and fat fills in the rest.

    Here's a couple of macro calculators that are geared towards low carb:
    http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
    http://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/
    BradW99 wrote: »
    I obviously don't mean absolute zero, but as close to it as possible. That's the whole premise of Keto.

    I would disagree with this too. The whole premise behind ketosis is to keep carbs low enough (usualy below 50g per day, although some people like me (sedentary and has insulin resistance) will have a target about half of this) and thus rely on fat oxidation as their primary source of energy rather than glucose. There is no need to get dietary carbs to zero since the liver will produce the remaining needed glucose that is needed by the body daily (~80-150g of glucose).

    10g of carbs, or 45g or 100+g of carbs in a very active person, will still lead to a state of nutritional ketosis.