Keto and protein
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TiffanyLoveG
Posts: 76 Member
I started keto with the help of Dr. Eric Berg on YouTube. I’m giving it a 1-2 month trial to see if I’m going to like it. But anyways, I keep seeing “moderate protein” but how much Protein is too much??? I’ve been eating 1 meal a day but with working out it hasn’t been enough and I’m increasing 2. HOWEVER since keto is a lot of meat, I’m getting like 20/25 grams of protein from just 1 meal, so I’m scared to eat more. Apparently too much will mess with your glucose levels and throw you out if keto. Thoughts???
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Replies
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If you're following a way of eating that requires you to limit your protein to 25 g/day, do something different. That's way too low for your health. You need protein to repair your muscles (this is a process that goes on every day, even if you're not lifting or engaging in other strenuous exercise), and your heart is a muscle.8
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You've only been eating 20-25 grams of protein a day?
You need much more than that. It takes a LOT of protein before you have to worry about being thrown out of ketosis.
Your body has minimal protein requirements. Dieters should get at least .6 - .8 grams of protein per pound of ideal body weight. This amount will fit in perfectly fine with keto. I worry that you're even meeting minimal calorie requirements. How many calories are you eating?8 -
My macro percentage split is 5% carb/30% protein/65% fat. stayed in ketosis on that split.4
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GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »You've only been eating 20-25 grams of protein a day?
You need much more than that. It takes a LOT of protein before you have to worry about being thrown out of ketosis.
Your body has minimal protein requirements. Dieters should get at least .6 - .8 grams of protein per pound of ideal body weight. This amount will fit in perfectly fine with keto. I worry that you're even meeting minimal calorie requirements. How many calories are you eating?
With the one meal a day, I’ve been getting about 600/700 calories.. but I haven’t been hungry either except late at night5 -
DisneyDude85 wrote: »My macro percentage split is 5 carb/30 protein/65 fat. stayed in ketosis on that split.
Just to be clear for OP and lurkers, that's 30% of calories from protein, not 30 g of protein.6 -
TiffanyLoveG wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »You've only been eating 20-25 grams of protein a day?
You need much more than that. It takes a LOT of protein before you have to worry about being thrown out of ketosis.
Your body has minimal protein requirements. Dieters should get at least .6 - .8 grams of protein per pound of ideal body weight. This amount will fit in perfectly fine with keto. I worry that you're even meeting minimal calorie requirements. How many calories are you eating?
With the one meal a day, I’ve been getting about 600/700 calories.. but I haven’t been hungry either except late at night
You are seriously and dangerously undereating.10 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »DisneyDude85 wrote: »My macro percentage split is 5 carb/30 protein/65 fat. stayed in ketosis on that split.
Just to be clear for OP and lurkers, that's 30% of calories from protein, not 30 g of protein.
Thanks for clearing that up, I definitely would’ve taken that the wrong way0 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »DisneyDude85 wrote: »My macro percentage split is 5 carb/30 protein/65 fat. stayed in ketosis on that split.
Just to be clear for OP and lurkers, that's 30% of calories from protein, not 30 g of protein.
Thanks. I went back and updated it, too
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TiffanyLoveG wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »You've only been eating 20-25 grams of protein a day?
You need much more than that. It takes a LOT of protein before you have to worry about being thrown out of ketosis.
Your body has minimal protein requirements. Dieters should get at least .6 - .8 grams of protein per pound of ideal body weight. This amount will fit in perfectly fine with keto. I worry that you're even meeting minimal calorie requirements. How many calories are you eating?
With the one meal a day, I’ve been getting about 600/700 calories.. but I haven’t been hungry either except late at night
The concept of OMAD (One Meal A Day) is to eat ALL of your daily calories in one meal. That means if MFP says to eat 1500 cals in a day, you eat a meal of 1500 cals. You still need to meet your minimum calorie goals. If you are unable to do that on OMAD, perhaps it isn't a way of eating for you.6 -
DisneyDude85 wrote: »My macro percentage split is 5% carb/30% protein/65% fat. stayed in ketosis on that split.
But are you eating a lot of grams? Because my macros are 25% protein but still only consists of a small amount of grams0 -
TiffanyLoveG wrote: »DisneyDude85 wrote: »My macro percentage split is 5% carb/30% protein/65% fat. stayed in ketosis on that split.
But are you eating a lot of grams?
For me, that 135g of protein in a day.4 -
I would say 25% or more is best for protein if you are eating at a moderate caloric deficit. IMO, most women should not go below 60-70g of protein a day, with closer to 100g (or more) being ideal.
There are 4 kcal in every gram of protein, so 100g of protein is 400kcal. If you are eating 1200kcal in one meal (1200 kcal being the minimum recommended intake) then protein would be 33% of that.
You should try to get more protein and more calories. What you are doing is too low.
When people say too much protein will affect ketosis, they usually mean well over 200+ g of protein (800 kcal worth). That level will lower your ketones, but that is only an issue if you need ketones for a medical reason. You do not need high ketones in order to lose weight - just a calorie deficit.6 -
It's going to be VERY hard to overeat protein. It's possible and has happened, but its caused unnecessary fear. It's uncommon.
You need protein. Even more so when you work out, it helps preserving muscle. Even if you somehow ate too much, glucose conversion would be minimal.
.6-.8g/lb of ideal weight is generally what's suggested. In terms of your macros, keto and low carb eaters tend to treat protein as a minimum, carbs as a max, and fat as a filler to eat until you're satiated. For most, a minimum protein percentage is ~30%. I think personally mine is 35% (110g).
You also need to eat far more calories than you are now. 1200 is the minimum for a sedentary woman.4 -
Protein isn't a bad thing and it helps to protect your lean mass. I'm a diabetic that test twice per day and if anything my glucose readings went way down since making protein a priority. I've found long term it helped me to feel more full than fats. I take in around 240 grams of protein a day with my lifting. I'm at 10% carbs/45% fat/45% protein now for a while since becoming fat adapted. The Keto board here on MFP is a great resource.4
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Protein is not the enemy of keto. The only reason you see “moderate protein” is that in ketosis, your energy comes from dietary fat. You need to get enough protein for your body, but beyond that there’s no real upside to eating more. There IS, however, a reason to use those calories for fat, instead: because then you have more energy.
That doesn’t mean more protein will magically ruin things. It just means you’re not maximizing your macros and could be getting more advantage from what you eat. Which is not nearly enough and holy mayonnaise, woman: EAT. Enter your stats accurately into MFP and aim for the number of calories it tells you, which I’m gonna guess is nearly triple what you’re eating right now.2
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