Conflicting nutritional goals

Ruger2506

I was wondering if you all could offer some advice. I've been reading a lot of literature that indicates a person should get their calories form three basic areas. Carbs (30%), Protein (30%) and Fat (40%) [preferably 20% + coming from saturated fat].

However I see on the daily diet log that the recommended protein is significantly lower than that.

As someone who used to be healthy and allowed that to slip away I want to make sure I'm getting back into shape in a healthy manner. At least I don't want to do harm physiologically just to look good. I'm currently putting 45 minutes on the treadmill at 3.6 MPH / 7.0% incline and strength training. Does that change my protein/nutritional needs compared to what the daily log on here is assuming?

Thanks for the help.

athensguy

A lot of people advocate low carb, high fat diets like that for some reason, but I can't find any legitimate research backing it up. In fact, research tends to disagree with that kind of diet judging from the journal entries I've read.

Current guidelines indicate that 10-35% of calories should come from protein, <35% should come from fat, <10% from saturated fat, and the rest from carbs. Also, <2300mg sodium for many and <1500mg sodium for the rest.

http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/DietaryGuidelines2010.pdf

Page 15, Table 2-4 lists their recommendations.

I would personally limit fat to less than 30%.

I get more carbs, but I exercise a lot and carbs are fuel.

Ruger2506

Thanks for the link. I'll give it a read.

It was counter intuitive to me as well. I've always thought it was Protein, Carbs, Fat in that order of % of diet.

Ruger2506

Do you know, is there a concern with getting more protein than 35%?

Rae6503

The diary settings were based on FDA information which is pretty outdated.

1 gram protein per pound of lean body mass is generally the level recommended not a percentage.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/diet-percentages-part-1.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/protein-intake-while-dieting-qa.html

Ruger2506

I should also note I'm less interested in weight loss and more interested in gaining muscle mass and slimming my body. Judging based solely on weight loss may not give me the results I'm interested in.

meshashesha2012

if you want more muscle then lift heavy and eat more protein. im sure someone will come in with an exact formula that's perfect for muscle growth.

generally speaking i dont eat too many carbs but that's because i have gluten allergies. most of my carbs now come from fruits, vegetables, and sweet potatoes