Why prioritize protein > fat> carbs?

Nedra19455 · May 2014

I learned from others here that I should prioritize hitting my protein goal, then my fat goal, and then fill in with carbs while staying under my calorie goal.

Can anyone explain the reason for prioritizing fat over carbs? I was trying to explain it to my mom and realized I didn't know. I hypothesized that it was because it is easy to fill up on carbs and miss out on fats, but harder to fill up on fats and miss out on carbs? Or maybe because carbs don't provide anything except fuel, whereas fats are necessary for other vital functions?

SezxyStef · May 2014

based on my understanding (feel free to correct me if I am wrong)

Fats help keep you satiated and you need fat in your diet to help absorb certian nutrients found in other foods.

You fill up on protien and it keeps you feeling fuller longer...carbs are good too for energy and shouldn't be dismissed.

Now keep in mind depending on the type of carb you can get the quick energy or slow release energy.

I eat carbs but not a fan of starchy carbs...they leave me feeling icky...mind you if I just eat just complex carbs with no protien or fats I feel "empty"...

RodaRose · May 2014

Google "Dr. Andrew Weil: Fat or Carbs. Which is worse?" He explains that fat is not a problem. Also google Gary Taubes to see how he explains that fats are not the problem but carbs and sugars are.

scubasuenc · May 2014

Also, fats are essential for metabolizing some nutrients and they do not impact blood glucose. As a Type 2 diabetic I'd rather have fat than carbs to keep my blood glucose levels steady.

Carbs are not essential to your body. They provide energy, but protein can also be metabolized for energy.

martyqueen52 · May 2014

Fats provide your body with energy and provide storage spots for energy in the body. Fat also helps move the vitamins A, D, E and K through your bloodstream and absorb them into your body. Fat also provides insulation for body temperature regulation by filling up your body's adipose tissue. The essential fatty acids in fats also play a role in brain development, blood clotting and managing inflammation.

Because your body can't make certain essential fatty acids, including linoleic and linolenic acid, it relies on your diet to provide them. Fat is the most powerful food energy source, with 9 calories of energy in every gram of fat---more than twice as much energy as proteins or carbohydrates provide. Because calories from carbohydrates are quickly burned---usually within the first 20 minutes of exercise---your body relies on its fat stores for energy.

tennisdude2004 · May 2014

Because protein and fat are essential macro nutrients and carbs are an optimal macro nutrient.

shapefitter · May 2014

This should answer the various opinions.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_diet

darkangel45422 · May 2014

It's because protein and fat are actually essential for your body to function properly while carbs simply provide fuel, and are not strictly necessary (though obviously your body will probably function better with at least some carbs rather than 0). Protein and fat are good for you as well as more filling, so make sure you hit those numbers. There's no real minimum amount of necessary carbs so getting them in doesn't matter.

SezxyStef · May 2014

actually they are essential or they wouldn't be a Macro...

carbs help with brain function (based on what I have read)

MityMax96 · May 2014

Protein and Fat are essential.

Carbs are non-essential....so if you are looking to gain or lose or maintain....Carbs can be your variable marco/calories

zeala · May 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/opinion/sunday/always-hungry-heres-why.html?_r=0

new article. Fat actually keeps you from being hungry. Carbs mess up your insulin levels.

MagnumBurrito · May 2014

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20329590

Essential fatty acids and human brain

"The human brain is nearly 60 percent fat. We've learned in recent years that fatty acids are among the most crucial molecules that determine your brain's integrity and ability to perform. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are required for maintenance of optimal health but they can not synthesized by the body and must be obtained from dietary sources."

KseRz · May 2014

IN for depriving your brain of glucose

ETA: Your body can use protein for energy, but then your sweat also smells like ammonia. Have fun with that.

Unknown · May 2014

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neandermagnon · May 2014

protein is the building blocks your body uses to make new cells. That's why it's the most important.

fat is also used to build new cells, in particular cell membranes, so it's important, but not as much as protein.

carbohydrate just gives you energy. The above two can give you energy too - a small amount of fat gives you a lot of energy - but all carbohydrate does is give you energy... as your body needs the protein and fat for growth and repair (i.e. growing new cells to replace the ones that wear out) you need to be sure you're getting enough of those first, then the amount of carbohydrate you need depends on your activity levels.... it's the most readily available form of energy for your body, so the best one for fuelling physical activity. But as it's *only* giving you energy, that's why it's less important than the other two.

ETA: this doesn't mean you can just cut all carbs out of your diet and not have any bad effects from it.... there's a difference between bare survival and optimal health. Carbs are necessary to fuel your daily activities, your body can't burn fat fast enough for high levels of activity. When you work out or do any fairly vigorous physical activity, you burn both fat and carbs to fuel it, and your body balances the two. Fat alone can't sustain that level of workout, so if you have no carbs in your system, the quality of your workout will suffer and the total amount of calories you'll burn will be quite a lot less... with carbs in your system you burn more energy (calories) overall and get a much better workout. Also your brain functions better with carbs in your system.

tennisdude2004 · May 2014

Carbs are most definitely optimal (no argument there) and I enjoy them in my diet, as does everyone else in differing levels.

However the body can produce its own supply of glucose (glycogen) to fuel the brain and other vital organs..

I would never advocate a no carb diet (because that would be very hard to accomplish completely and you would probably need to supplement micros nutrients), but the body can survive very well on a zero dietary intake of carbs - which is why they are optimal and not essential.

The body cannot replicate certain nutrients and fatty acids we get from dietary protein and fat, which is why they are essential.

jcranston13 · May 2014

Dietary fat also plays a role in hormone production and regulation.

tennisdude2004 · May 2014

On a LCHF or even no carb diet (although I am not advocating one) the brain only requires about 30g of glucose as opposed to the 120g on a medium to high carb diet, as it fuels mostly from ketones.

KseRz · May 2014

You just said LC. Low. Meaning NOT zero.

Dont take 1g of carbs for a week and run a 5k a day, then check back in here and let us know how that works out for ya.

Saying you dont need carbs is like saying you dont need vitamin C. Have fun getting scurvy.

neandermagnon · May 2014

^^^ that too, and various other functions in the body.

neandermagnon · May 2014

just because the brain *can* do this, it doesn't mean it's what's best for optimal brain function. People are not always very good at judging whether their brain is functioning well or not. It's kind of like when someone's drunk and think they're sober and fine to drive home... if their friends are complete arseholes and actually let them drive home, their chances of causing an accident are much greater than usual (as should be totally obvious) - yet they may feel that they're fine to drive, because they haven't notice that their reaction times are slower and they're a bit less co-ordinated than usual.

While the effect of lack of glucose on the brain due to a low carb diet isn't as pronounced as this (but in insulin dependent diabetes, the person can appear completely drunk and actually go into a coma due to the brain being completely deprived of glucose) it's still likely to have a greater effect on cognitive functioning than the owner of the brain will realise. Additionally, if you add in observer bias (because they believe that a very low carb diet is good for them) then the result is someone who insists that they function *just fine* on a very low carb diet, and they truly believe that they do...... but are likely to be not noticing that actually they're not functioning as well as they do when eating more carbohydrates.

tennisdude2004 · May 2014

Which bit of carbs are optimal are you not understanding.

I am not advocating no carbs, I am just explaining why they are an optimal macro nutrient as opposed to an essential macro nutrient.

And actually on your analogy of running 5k a day on no carbs is very possible. Now throw in some anaerobic exercise and you may have some issues, but on low level aerobic exercise carbs are not needed.

The body has a knack for tapping into the abundance of non dietary energy we all carry with us.

I regularly on a Sunday morning can do a 9 mile hike or sometimes a bike ride in a fasted state (a mug of coffee doesn't have carbs does it?).

tennisdude2004 · May 2014

I have yet to see any study which proves it is not optimal or less optimal than being fuel mainly by glucose. If you know of any I would be very interested to read them.

Alehmer · May 2014

Taking a different tact, Fat and Protein are more deliberate calories, IE much harder to eat mindlessly. You generally have to cook or at least heat up food made primarily with these nutrients, and that makes you think more about what you are doing.

It's so easy to fill up on carbs as they are very calorie dense, delicious, and shelf-stable (IE bread, crackers, chips). They are sitting right there, begging to be eaten when you are feeling peckish with little to no prep required. Picture yourself with in your kitchen and wanting to snack, what's the absolute easiest things to reach for? How much more likely are you to consider cooking up some chicken and veggies vs. grabbing a bagel or a double handful of chips?

Unknown · May 2014

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KseRz · May 2014

Because a 9 mile hike in a fasted state is the same as not eating 1g of carbs for a week and running a 5k a day every day.

I have fasted for 15 minutes and my brain is working great . Thanks for saving me.

Acg67 · May 2014

Well that is a misunderstanding of the current literature

mnashp · May 2014

green leafies and the less sugary fruits are carbs packed with essentials. Stay away from the refined carbs but don't neglect your veggies. That would be insane.

msf74 · May 2014

Protein: essential nutrient and necessary to help preserve existing lean mass in a calorie deficit
Fat: a small number of fatty acids are essential (so it could be argued that dietary fat is not strictly essential in the same way as protein) and helps with hormonal regulation
Carbs: non essential (but may be optimal depending on the circumstances)

How you choose to distribute the above really depends on your goals but given the majority of people's goals centre around looking good (especially naked) the above order is sensible.

NB: when I say essential I mean that the nutrient must be obtained from diet as the body cannot produce it sufficiently in the necessary amounts from its own resources.

neandermagnon · May 2014

look up "hitting the wall" in any first year university physiology textbook... basically hitting the wall (sudden feeling of exhaustion while running or doing other long duration cardio) is caused by your body running out of carbohydrate... the blood is depleted of glucose, and the glycogen stores are empty.... suddenly the body doesn't function so well, *because you've run out of glucose*....... yep your body burning fat will keep you *alive* but you won't function *optimally* on it... your performance in sport will be way below optimal, also your performance in exams and cognitive tests will be too (yes there are lots of studies showing that kind of thing, again look in university textbooks for references to the actual studies.

also look up the effects of low blood sugar in a medical textbook - lots of the effects are how it affects the brain. Because the brain too has glucose as fuel.... look up "diabetic coma" too, because that's the effect on brain cells of getting no glucose at all (although in the case of diabetes, the glucose is in the blood, the cells can't use it... but it is same as the effect that having no glucose at all would have on your brain)

NextPage · May 2014

I don't think there is a simple answer to this and it is more likely that you need to look at what you eat and then decide what you need to prioritize. Depending on what you tend to like/choose you may need to to put more effort into adding fat or protein. Logging is really helpful this way. Once you decide the ratio of carbs, protein and fat that makes sense for you it is about finding good quality, nutrition dense options that allow you to keep within the calorie limit that leads to the weight loss rate you want. (Of course, the occasional treat doesn't hurt). On this site people tend to concentrate on macronutrients but micronutrients are also important so variety is key. Carbs are essential and where people go wrong is picking high calorie, low nutrition processed carbs (white bread, pastries etc.) rather than vegetables, fruit, legumes etc.

Why prioritize protein > fat> carbs?

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