I am still struggling to understand why carbs are actually needed. If protein is very high (let’s assume greater than 1.5g/lb), can’t we use fat as a lever to meet our calorie needs?
I am asking because I have always had poor digestion and a lower carb intake makes me feel much better. In fact, I was finally able to gain weight when adopting a very low carb diet (not keto because I ate a ton of protein).
Weight training does not deplete much glycogen and from what I have read, glycogen replenishment will happen after 24 hours even with little to no glucose (assuming protein is fairly high and one is not in an extreme deficit).
Again, I am not at all arguing for high fat diets. I think carbs are perfectly fine, but for those who don’t feel well with them, would you be okay with high protein and fat to meet needs?
Thanks!
I would be okay with high protein/fat diets if it does not produce abnormal health metrics and the person tolerates them well.
You don’t need carbohydrates from a life or death standpoint, but people generally do better with them in anaerobic sport.
Are there any particular health metrics you would be concerned with on this type of diet? Anything I should keep an eye on if I do continue on with this approach?
I am quite underweight from having poor digestion so my goal is to gain weight. I am getting close to 300grams of protein and about 180-200 fat. My carbs are quite low. I eat a few servings of veggies per day (I can only tolerate certain ones).
I think you are eating too much protein and too much fat, but that needs to be balanced with how you respond and you being underweight (though I can’t tell from here). I don’t think this is a great approach long term, but the issues you’ve had previously with carbs, I suppose, kind of force our hand here.
I do not even know how old you are, your family history, your height and weight, etc. so it would be difficult to say if you require specific management at all with respect to monitoring health metrics.
You said you’re eating 300g of protein and 180-200g of fat. Are you 400lbs?