Carbs and Fat

[Catrin]

In my conversation yesterday with my sports dietician, she made a comment that surprised me. Perhaps my surprise is based on a misunderstanding - or trying to simplify/overthink a complex relationship.

We were discussing my concern about the BodPod results, and I asked her if I could be getting too many carbs. She has recommended 50% carbs in my diet and I've been doing that - focusing on high quality complex carbs that are spread throughout the day. She said that she would never recommend a lower percentage than that for someone as active as I, and that it was more important that the body get enough calories.

We do have proof that my body has been recently using muscle as energy even though my calorie intake hasn't been much below her targets (say 150-200 calories low on exercise days) - and there has been ample protein in my diet.

I've been thinking that perhaps I need to lower carbs a bit and raise fat a bit - but she said that this doesn't matter in the long term. This isn't intuitive to me and am curious to hear if anyone has experimented with this and what their results were. Of course every "body" is different.

[westtexas]

I couldn't imagine my diet being 50% carbs. I would gain 5 pounds a week. I eat less than 50g of carbs per day most days and generally stay under 80-100 regularly. Even on days I ride. I have not noticed a difference in my performance or recovery from my high carb days versus my low carb days. And I don't gain weight, other than muscle. I've really leaned out on low carb. Instead of stuffing my face with carb products after riding, I usually sleep. If I actually am hungry (rare for me now for usually 6 hours after a ride) I eat en egg or something that protein/fat only. Haven't died from it yet!

[GLC1968]

Catrin - I think your question is a valid one. As you know, I eat paleo and that means that my diet is naturally lower in carbs and higher in fat. I'm not really 'low' carb, as my typical day ends up 30% c, 30% p, and 40% fat. Most paleo people are even lower carb and higher fat/protein, but I allow myself more potatoes and fruit to fuel endurance workouts (all of this was before my injury, of course!).

Here are a couple of interesting blog posts about it from Mark Sisson (former world class endurance athlete turned 'primal'):
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-t...#axzz1tL8jwAps
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/organ...#axzz1tL8y4W1y
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/high-...#axzz1tL9NdSWf (this is an example of how high fat can still make you lean but bear in mind, it's easier for men than for women, of course).

[Catrin]

Interesting West Texas, and I suspect part of this is going to different from body to body. Of course she wasn't talking about 50% grains, but all carb sources including vegetable and and fruits. I am certainly not gaining weight, but the loss of muscle and gain of fat indicates one of the following (I am certainly not exercising too little) and I am unsure which:

1. My body still isn't getting enough calories (or at the right time) to properly fuel my activities and is using muscle for energy, or

2. My body needs more time to adjust to the increased calories, or

3. The timing of my meals needs to change, or

4. A small decrease in carbs and a small increase in fat is needed, or...

5. I am over-thinking (very likely).

I am only concerned because of the loss of so much muscle...but I feel better and feel stronger than before so it is confusing.

There IS a test that shows how our bodies metabolize both fat and carbs, and at what point we tend to move from one energy source to the other. Apparently this differs from person to person. It is a $100 test however, and the only way I could justify it would be if I were intending to race. I don't see that happening

[goldfinch]

I think there are individual differences, maybe dependent on your own degree of insulin sensitivity, on whether higher or lower carb diets work best for a person. But that aside, maybe you do need to up the calories to the level that she recommends on your exercise days. Then at least you will know whether you have an overtraining issue (too much exercise and not enough calories leading to burning of muscle). What seems odd to me is that you feel better and stronger but the data shows muscle loss. Weird.

There are so many variables as well as individual differences that I wonder how anyone can give good advice. All you can do is play at it, paying attention and giving enough time for each experiment to work.

I have substantially increased my calories, both carbs and protein, but not fat, and suddenly I am getting strength gains from the weight training that I do. My issue is getting the sweet spot in calories. My weight is trending up just a hair so I have cut it back a bit. I think I have been running a 100 to 200 excess. But the excess sure has helped me get stronger. Now it is time for me to back off a bit. I don't have a good way to measure my body fat accurately, but increase in strength has to mean something.

[Catrin]

Thank you for your comments Goldfinch. It is uncertain how the bod pod treats water in the body, it could be that part of the decreased lean mass is no more than my retaining less water yesterday morning than the day I had the first test...

That being said, I did break down and purchase a food scale. I am pretty good at judging portion sizes by sight, but it could be that I've not been eating as much as I thought.

Anyway, I appreciate the patience and advice. Being able to come here and talk it out means I don't get so obsessive over it - amazing how that works.

[ny biker]

Well it certainly sounds like you're working hard enough to stay strong (or get stronger).

I've been thinking that perhaps I need to lower carbs a bit and raise fat a bit - but she said that this doesn't matter in the long term. This isn't intuitive to me and am curious to hear if anyone has experimented with this and what their results were. Of course every "body" is different.

Two more thoughts --

- why do you think it would help to lower carbs and increase fat? To get more calories when you need them?

- if her advice doesn't seem to make sense, can you ask her to explain her thinking in more detail? Perhaps you could call or send an email, rather than having to make (and pay for) another appointment?

[Catrin]

Well it certainly sounds like you're working hard enough to stay strong (or get stronger).



Two more thoughts --

- why do you think it would help to lower carbs and increase fat? To get more calories when you need them?

- if her advice doesn't seem to make sense, can you ask her to explain her thinking in more detail? Perhaps you could call or send an email, rather than having to make (and pay for) another appointment?

I do wonder if switching it up between the two would provide me more immediate fuel - I have the idea that fat becomes available more quickly than carbs - but I could be incorrect. I will email her and see what she thinks. I've been keeping a eye on my blood glucose and it is stable so the current mix isn't affecting my insulin resistance that I can tell (the next A1C will tell).

Of course, I haven't been quite hitting her calorie goals for me, so that is my first task. Thank you for helping me think this through!

[OakLeaf]

Just curious why more protein isn't on the table (ha ha)? That would be my first inexpert guess.

[Catrin]

Just curious why more protein isn't on the table (ha ha)? That would be my first inexpert guess.

Because I am already getting between 90-130 grams a day... She wanted me to pull it back to 90 and that is also proving to be a challenge but have an easier time getting to this mark. I do understand that too much protein is hard on our kidneys...

This is, however, one of the reasons I finally got the $8 food scale. I eat quite a few chicken breasts in one week and they all differ so much in size. I want to make that I know what 4 ounces of chicken actually looks like

[Owlie]

First, how's your protein intake?
biochemistry nerd:
Carbs (especially simple ones) are rapidly burned off; there are a lot more steps needed to convert fat into usable fuel. There's a reason all those gels and things are essentially sugar and flavoring. If you don't have enough when you need them, you start converting amino acids (from muscle) to glucose--muscle and many other tissues can use fat and its breakdown products for fuel, but your brain and red blood cells are pretty much dependent on glucose.

/biochem nerd

[Catrin]

First, how's your protein intake?
biochemistry nerd:
Carbs (especially simple ones) are rapidly burned off; there are a lot more steps needed to convert fat into usable fuel. There's a reason all those gels and things are essentially sugar and flavoring. If you don't have enough when you need them, you start converting amino acids (from muscle) to glucose--muscle and many other tissues can use fat and its breakdown products for fuel, but your brain and red blood cells are pretty much dependent on glucose.

/biochem nerd

I get 90-130 grams a day between chicken breasts, eggs, non-fat dairy, and nuts (for the most part). I do try to spread this out through the day so I am not getting all of it all at once. Now, lunch does tend to be my smallest meal, but I do have a snack with protein (either a bar or something like nuts and raisins) before working out to help my blood sugar levels. It may be that I am eating too close to the workout and it isn't really available until too late...I hadn't thought of that before.

My dinners have become larger since trying to hit those calorie targets, it might be better to have a much larger lunch and have dinner be the small meal of the day as long as it has a reasonable amount of protein...

This may well be more related to timing...

[OakLeaf]

90 to 130 is a big range. 90 wouldn't be enough for me on the training schedule you're keeping. My understanding is it's only hard on your kidneys if you're not using the amino acids to build or repair muscle. But I'll defer to those with more knowledge of the subject.