Fasting and Protein
- Dr. Thomas J. Lewis
- 2 hours ago
- 9 min read
What is the best MACROnutrient for weight loss? And, what is the best macronutrient to take in to support a fasting program? That is, what is the under-appreciated macronutrient that you should most likely increase in your post-fast meals?
Read the blog I wrote on protein requirements at the end of this new blog (see the yellow-highlighted text).
First, let's understand the 3 macronutrients and how they impact metabolic health.
The three primary macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats, and protein, essential nutrients the body needs in large amounts for energy, structural building, and vital functions. Carbs provide immediate fuel, and fats provide a cleaner, long-lasting fuel. Fats also support brain health, cell membrane synthesis, overall tissue flexibility, and insulation, and protein supports tissue building and enzyme function. While water and fiber are sometimes mentioned, carbs, fats, and proteins are the core energy-providing macronutrients, each supplying calories (4 per gram for carbs/protein, 9 for fat).
How does your body metabolize each of these for fuel?
Carbohydrates:
The body metabolizes carbohydrates by breaking them down into glucose, which is absorbed into the bloodstream and transported to cells for energy or stored as glycogen. Insulin, released by the pancreas, enables cells to take in this glucose. Inside cells, glucose is broken down through glycolysis and mitochondria to produce Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), the body’s primary energy source.
Fats:
The body metabolizes stored fat (triglycerides) for energy through a multi-step process initiated by lipolysis, which breaks fat down into free fatty acids and glycerol. These fatty acids are transported to tissues, where they undergo beta-oxidation in the mitochondria to produce Acetyl-CoA, which enters the Krebs cycle to generate large amounts of ATP.
Protein:
The body metabolizes protein for fuel by breaking it down into amino acids, which are then deaminated in the liver to remove nitrogen. These amino acids are converted into glucose (via gluconeogenesis) or into citric acid cycle intermediates (for ATP production), especially during low-calorie or low-carbohydrate intake.
Conclusion:
Carbs and fats are both PRIMARY fuels. However, in our "high carb" world, many of us have lost the ability to efficiently use the "fat-burning" pathway. Thus, those who are NOT metabolically flexible (conditioned to burning fats) are more accommodated to burning protein (muscle) than to burning fats. FASTING CAN CHANGE THAT DYNAMIC BACK TO WHERE IT SHOULD BE PRIOR TO THE HIGH CARB/PROCESSED FOOD PARADIGM.
POINT TO PONDER!
When you fast, you improve your body's efficiency to burn fats. Does it make sense to follow a fast with a high (higher) protein intake, or should you make sure you are consuming plenty of fats?
I've looked at many traditional and functional sites to see what they recommend as the best post-fast meal. Almost all of them recommend high protein. This makes no sense unless you are breaking your fast with weight training. Otherwise, why would your protein needs suddenly explode post-fast? It does a little, but the fasting program we run provides daily protein through eggs, bone broth, and fulvic/humic liquid.
Bone broth is an excellent source of protein and amino acids, providing collagen, gelatin, and key amino acids such as glycine, proline, and arginine. A single cup typically contains about 10g of protein.
Liquid fulvic and humic substances contain amino acids, peptides, and other nitrogenous compounds. Here is a link to an overview of plant-derived fulvic/humic liquids.
Post-fast, focus on increasing fat intake (compared to a normal diet), lower carbs to 20g of net carbs per day, and consume protein at about the amount you need on a daily basis, and NO MORE - so you don't convert the excess to sugar.
Healthy fats like avocado, nuts, seeds, fatty fish, and meat, beef talo, butter, castor oil, coconut oil, and olive oil are excellent for breaking a fast as they aid digestion, provide essential nutrients, and prevent rapid blood sugar spikes. They should be introduced in moderate amounts, alongside "normal" levels of protein and cooked vegetables that are low on the glycemic index.
Do the Japanese consume some fish for breakfast?
Do you want to live as long as the Japanese, who outlive Americans by 8-10 years? Here is their breakfast. Keep in mind, their portions are small. They abide by the 80% rule.
Yes, eating fish for breakfast is a common, traditional practice in Japan, often featuring grilled, salted fish like salmon (shake), mackerel (saba), or horse mackerel (aji). It is part of a balanced, savory meal typically served with rice, miso soup, pickles, and seaweed.
The Japanese 80% full rule, known as Hara Hachi Bu (腹八分目), is a 300-year-old Okinawan practice of stopping eating when 80% satisfied rather than completely full. Originating from Confucian teachings, this mindful eating habit prevents overeating, aids digestion, reduces calorie intake, and supports longevity.
Protein Requirements (read my past blog below, but here is an update):
This is a protein calculator. In general, I believe the recommendations are higher than you actually need. It's hard to tell, but I often consult with athletes who have abnormal metabolic profiles. That is, their A1C, fasting insulin, triglycerides, and fasting glucose are unexpectedly high and well out of the "optimal" range. When I have a client like this, I always ask about their diet. They claim to eat clean, no junk or fast food, and only eat high-quality, low-glycemic vegetables.
Here is a snapshot from my previous blog post in which Dr. Mercola agrees that most Americans consume too much protein. The full blog is reproduced at the bottom of this one.
Read below to find out how you might be able to tell if you are taking in too much protein. The recommendation is to get a continuous glucose monitor. If your sugars are elevated, it MAY be excess protein, but your diet should be evaluated by a health coach. Jodi Laird, who most of you know, is excellent at reviewing your diet and making recommendations. Contact her at jlaird@healthrevivalpartners.com.
What explains this conundrum?
When I dig deeper, they often have 1 or more protein shakes in the morning. This creates an excess that leads to gluconeogenesis - a spike in blood sugar. So, having a protein shake in the morning is similar to having cereal in terms of rapidly raising blood sugar.
If you are having a hard time losing weight, consider getting a continuous glucose monitor to see how your meals affect your blood sugar levels.
Do you need food in the morning, or is it a marketing ploy by Kelloggs?
The idea that breakfast is the "most important meal of the day" was largely a marketing strategy popularized by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in the early 20th century to boost cereal sales, rather than a strictly necessary scientific requirement. While eating breakfast provides energy, it is not required for a healthy metabolism, and skipping it does not cause harm.
Here are the key details regarding breakfast:
Marketing Origin: The phrase "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" was popularized by Kellogg's to sell more cereal and promote a healthier lifestyle as he saw it. It was designed to move people away from heavy, high-fat breakfasts.
Scientific Perspective: There is no evidence that eating breakfast boosts metabolism more than eating at any other time, and it is not required for daily energy for everyone.
Individual Needs: Whether you need breakfast depends on your hunger levels, activity, and lifestyle. For some, it helps manage hunger later in the day, while for others, skipping it is fine.
What You Eat Matters: A nutrient-dense, high-fat, and modest protein breakfast is better for health than high-sugar, refined-carb cereals, which are often marketed as "healthy" breakfast options.
In summary, the urgent need for a daily breakfast is largely a myth created to sell food, though it can be a beneficial habit for many individuals.
The ideal breakfast is:
skip it. You ate last night, and your metabolism was lower overnight. In the morning, your cortisol levels rise, releasing fuel into your system. Cortisol levels rise sharply in the early morning—a phenomenon known as the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR)—typically peaking about 30–45 minutes after waking. This natural surge increases alertness and drives metabolism by releasing glucose and breaking down fat, providing the body and brain with necessary fuel to start the day.
A couple of eggs, electrolytes, bone broth, fulvic/humic acid, and a small amount of cooked vegetables that are low on the glycemic index. Cook them in butter or beef talo and drizzle with a little (teaspoon) of castor oil for digestive support.
What are optimal metabolic blood marker levels?
Fasting Insulin (most important) 1.5 - 3 uIU/mL
HbA1C: 4.5 - 5.2 %
Fasting Glucose: 70 - 82 mg/dL
Triglycerides: 40 - 60 mg/dL
Here is the blog I wrote in 2019 on protein intake requirements.
The urban legend is that protein has a direct correlation with muscle gain — that the more protein you eat, the more muscle you build.
But as it turns out, that’s not entirely true. In fact, it’s not true at all. There’s a protein threshold, a level of dietary protein intake beyond which you don’t receive any of the muscle-building benefits. You can actually experience some adverse side effects by overdoing it, including indigestion, hormone disruption, kidney and liver problems, and even weight gain.
When you digest protein, your kidneys go to work eliminating waste products from your system. So when you ingest a large amount of protein at one time, your kidneys can become stressed with the large task of filtering all that waste. Kidney strain, over a prolonged period of time, can lead to kidney disease; so it’s important to be mindful of your protein intake.
Any food with extremely high protein content is likely to cause indigestion — all the work your stomach has to do to break down protein releases gases as a by-product, which can cause bloating.
Protein requires insulin for metabolism. Since insulin is the hormone responsible for regulating your blood sugar, using an excess of it can disrupt your body’s natural blood glucose. According to a report on protein and diabetes, “large amounts of protein have the potential to contribute to glucose production [and] minimally increase blood glucose levels.” So if you don’t want to experience a mean mid-afternoon crash, it’s wise not to overdo it.
Low-carb, high-protein also means low-energy, high-effort for your body. It has to work much harder to digest that protein, and it has to work harder to use the energy from the protein’s calories. Your body goes to carbs first, and when it’s deprived of them it starts to metabolically slow down. This can result in a sluggish, fatigued feeling that can sometimes be so intense that it’s obstructive to daily life.
Understanding protein by Harvard Health:
Protein is a critical part of our diet. We need it to build and repair cells, and make healthy muscles, organs, glands, and skin. Everyone needs a minimum amount each day. The Institute of Medicine recommends 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. For someone who weighs 150 pounds, that means 54 grams of protein per day. Another guideline is to make sure at least 15% of your daily calories come from protein.
How might more protein and fewer carbs in the diet make a difference for weight loss or weight control? “Protein takes more energy for you to digest than refined carbohydrates, and also gives your body a feeling of satiety,” says Dr. Hauser. Low-carb diets have been shown to help some people lose weight.
But over the long term, too much protein and too few complex carbohydrates from vegetable sources may not be the healthiest plan. This kind of eating pattern has been linked to an increased risk of developing osteoporosis. That’s because digesting protein releases acids into the bloodstream. The body neutralizes these acids with calcium—which can be pulled from bone if necessary. Eating too much protein also makes the kidneys work harder. In healthy people, this usually doesn’t pose a problem. But those with kidney disease or diabetes (which is associated with kidney disease) need to watch their daily protein intake so they don’t overload their kidneys.
Many folks opt for a super-high protein diet because they want to lose weight and gain lean body mass. However, many nutritional experts agree that while you may see short-term weight loss, that weight always creeps back up and even exceeds what you started with.
According to this 2016 National Institutes of Health study, more than 90-percent (of the 7000) adult study participants reported becoming overweight due to a high protein diet compared to participants who maintained a more balanced diet or opted for a low-carb high fat approach or intermittent fasting
Mercola on High Protein
Dr. Mercola has a large team of researchers and he usually produces quality information. His article on "The Very Real Risks ofConsuming Too Much Protein" is solid. Here are some highlights and a reference to the article:
Excess Protein May Fuel Weight Gain, Yeast Overgrowth and Cancer
There are a number of reasons why I believe it's prudent to limit your protein intake. The first is that if you eat more protein than your body requires, it will simply convert most of those calories to sugar and then fat. Increased blood sugar levels can also feed pathogenic bacteria and yeast, such as Candida albicans (candidiasis), as well as fueling cancer cell growth.
Excessive protein can have a stimulating effect on an important biochemical pathway called the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). This pathway has an important and significant role in many cancers. When you reduce protein to just what your body needs, mTOR remains inhibited, which helps minimize your chances of cancer growth.
Additionally, when you consume too much protein, your body must remove more nitrogen waste products from your blood, which stresses your kidneys. Chronic dehydration can result, as was found in a study involving endurance athletes.
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/09/03/too-much-protein.aspx
Few super power lifters or body builder enjoy long lives despite their commitment to exercise. Sure, many were on PEDs. However, if you look way back in history at these outliers and find their cause of death, it's almost always kidney failure related.
Conclusion
Enjoy your proteins from ALL sources. We focus on marine sources and the fishes at the beginning of the food chain like sardines. However, reconsider "plate distribution." That means, eat a balance of natural foods with emphasis on making the protein portion of your plate a bit smaller than would be found at Texas Roadhouse or some other box store meat restaurant.
Think "repair and recovery" with (almost) every bite! It's the main purpose of food.
Be Well...
