How Much Carbohydrate, Protein and Fat You Need To Stay Lean, Stay Sexy and Perform Like A Beast.

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Welcome to Part 2 of the calorie counting chapter from Beyond Training: Mastering Endurance, Health & Life. If you missed Part 1, in which you learn the 5 best ways to track your diet, 4 steps to logging your diet the right way and whether it's OK to be hungry, just click here.

Today, you're going to learn 3 reasons why calories don't really matter, and find out how much carbohydrates, proteins and fats you should need to stay lean, stay sexy and perform like a beast – and also get a sample week of eating to support ideal levels of performance, endurance and exercise.

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3 Reasons Why Calories Don't Really Matter

Earlier, you learned how to count your calories and log your diet the right way. But it's important to realize that it's the nutrient density and quality of your food that truly matters – not the calorie content.

But wait – a calorie is a calorie, right? 

Not really.

In the most recent such study to date, two groups were compared (26). One group ate slow sugar release, low glycemic index foods (think raw nuts or beef jerky) and another group ate faster release, high glycemic index foods (think white rice or wheat bread).

But both groups ate identical amounts of calories.

Researchers then monitored blood sugar levels and appetite of the subjects, and found that those consuming the high glycemic index foods had a blood sugar level crash just a few hours after eating, and were hungrier sooner compared to the group that ate the slower release foods. In other words, an identical amount of calories consumed from a sweeter food triggered food addiction symptoms and appetite cravings.

Entire books have been written on the subject of why calories matter much less than we think. A good place to begin is Gary Taubes “Good Calories, Bad Calories“.

But just in case you don't have time to read an entire book on why calories don't matter, I'll give you 3 quick reasons why your primary focus should not be on counting calories:

good-calories-bad-calories-cover1. Humans Don't “Burn Calories”.

Calories technically don't even exist. A calorie is just a unit of measurement used to describe the amount of heat produced when a nutrient is burned in a metal oven called a calorimeter. And your body is much, much different than a simple metal oven.  The process of burning fat or turning nutrients into energy or stored matter is way more complex than counting fictitious calories – and as you've learned from the study above, something as simple as a slight speed of sugar release difference results can result in massively different hormonal and metabolic reactions to a food.

2. Calories Aren't Our Fuel For Exercise.

Human motion is not fueled by calories. It's fueled by the nutrient derived chemical adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The problem with simple reliance on counting calories – besides the non-existence of a calorie – is that this somehow makes us believe that our bodies are using exactly what we ate before the workout for fuel. In reality, your own storage fat provides the most concentrated source of energy – and there are athletes out there (find them on sites like RunKeto.com or Jack Kruse's forum) who are exercising at a steady state for entire days with zero actual calorie intake. Their body is simply produced it's own ATP from fat.

3. Nutrients Are What Really Matter.

In reality, nutrients matter far more than calories, and nowhere is this more true than in exercising individuals. When the focus is on calories, everything becomes about the numbers rather than the nutrition – and you can easily end up missing key vitamins and minerals.

For example, a highly processed (but relatively nutrient empty) Tacquitos snack pack advertised as just 100 calories seems like a real deal if you're counting calories. But in choosing the snack pack, you might pass on a calorically equivalent large apple that rings in at roughly the same amount of calories. Compared to the Tacquitos, the apple  delivers Vitamin C, folate, fiber, potassium, Vitamin B6, thiamin, and riboflavin.

So the apple beats the Tacquitos. And incidentally, 100 calories of wild salmon beats the apple. And (although you may not like  to hear this), 100 calories of organic, grass-fed liver beats the wild salmon.

Go back and read Chapter 11. That's where you'll find nutrient dense foods that allow you to quit counting calories.

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Where To Start

Great Ben, I've got a bunch of nutrient dense meals now.

I'm following the rules.

I'm not incessantly counting calories.

I'm paying attention to the way I look, feel and perform more than scales and numbers.

I'm paying more attention to nutrients than calories. 

But how do I know how many carbohydrates, proteins and fats I should actually be eating to fuel my active lifestyle, without destroying my body in the process?

I've got news for you: definitely don't start with the typical food pyramid.

Since 1974, when the first food pyramid was appeared in Sweden, triangular or pyramid-shaped nutrition guides have been used by 25 other countries and organizations. There is a great graphic on Huffington Post that depicts some of the more popular food pyramids from around the world, and although America now uses the new MyPlate design (see http://www.choosemyplate.gov/) many countries around the world still use a food pyramid to dole out nutrition advice.

In 2011, the USDA Food Pyramid (pictured right) was with replaced with MyPlate, which is very similar to the old food pyramid in terms of nutrient percentages.

Interestingly, a consistent pattern in food pyramids around the globe, from China’s Food Pagoda to Greece’s Food Pyramid, is the appearance of cereals, grains, bread, pasta and other starchy carbohydrates as the base of the diet – and fats near the top of the pyramid, as a “use sparingly” category.

But this type of pyramid can lead to some serious health problems. After all, dietary fat from healthy sources has been shown in many studies to actually help to increase weight loss, reduce heart disease risk, lower blood sugars, lower cholesterols and maintain proper brain function (especially in kids)(34).

And if you listened to the interview on my website with Dr. William Davis, “The Shocking Truth About Wheat”, or my interview with Paul Jaminet about his Perfect Health Diet, you learned that consumption of carbohydrates can cause serious issues with everything from weight gain to fuzzy thinking to heart disease.

But the issues don’t stop with the predominantly “high carb, low fat” recommendations of most food pyramids. Frequent consumption of featured and recommended foods such as commercialized modern whole milk and hamburger has been linked to heart disease…

…dairy is extremely overemphasized – although calcium is important, many vegetable and meat sources contain plenty of calcium with a lower number of calories….

…there is no differentiation between “good proteins” and “bad proteins”, “good carbs” and “bad carbs” or “good fats” and “bad fats”…

…and the minimum serving of fruits is 2-4, which is a great way to send your blood sugar levels on a roller coaster ride all day long if you’re not careful.

Furthermore, at least when it comes to the American food recommendations, we’ve barely scratched the surface of how food and agricultural institutions can exert lobbying and political power on the USDA to feature and prioritize subsidized industries such as dairy, corn and wheat as heavily featured or highlighted recommendations (a great book to read more about these shenanigans is “Food Politics“).

So what should a good food pyramid actually look like for an athlete?

Although I have yet to be convinced that a food pyramid is the best, most functional way to dynamically depict dietary recommendations, a couple years ago I acted on hundreds of requests from readers and listeners and created a “Ben Greenfield Endorsed” food pyramid that is rich in the best nutrient dense foods that support an active lifestyle

Superhuman_Food_Pyramid_by_Ben_GreenfieldI call this design the Superhuman Food Pyramid, and this new food pyramid address all the issues above, ties in my personal nutritional philosophies that I’ve expressed many times in blog posts and podcasts, and also gives you a spectrum of choices from “Eat” to “Moderate” to “Avoid” for each food group, so that you don’t have to deal, for example, with “Fats” lumped into just one category, or “Proteins” just lumped into another category.

To make it easier to practically apply my Superhuman Food Pyramid to your diet, I’ve also included in the pyramid several pages listing each food category and the Eat, Moderate, and Avoid foods within that category, so you can simply print, grab and go to the grocery store or farmer’s market with your Superhuman Food list (the print version of this book will include that same grocery list for you).

You can get the Food Pyramid for free (and listen to a more expansive epitome from me about why Fat Is Good) by clicking here.

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How Many Carbohydrates Should An Active Person Eat?

Now that you're equipped with a list of meals, a good way to choose which foods are nutrient dense, and a handy grocery shopping list from the Superhuman Food Pyramid, it's time to dig into how many carbohydrates you should actually eat.

After all, isn't the answer to the “how much carbohydrate” question the holy grail of proper athlete fueling?

First, I'll readily admit it: I'm known as the “low carb, high intensity” guy. Based on what you've learned so far in this book, there are probably no surprises there – train hard, eat healthy, don't stuff your face with too much sugar.

After living on a high carbohydrate junk food diet and then switching to the high-protein, low-fat, low-carb diet you read about in Chapter 1, I've put myself through months of the Paleo diet, a vegan diet, an Atkins diet, and even a ketogenic diet, and the one prevailing characteristic that defines how good or how bad I feel is the amount of sugar and refined carbohydrates present in any variation of diets I've tried.

My own personal experience with a low carbohydrate diet began with an attempt to lose holiday fat pounds, followed by the stark realization that contrary to my expectations and what I had been taught in traditional sports nutrition classes, my performance, focus and energy levels actually improved despite a lower carbohydrate intake. That was when I personally started digging into this stuff.

Turns out, it's not just me.

Every month, I gaze at dozens of lab results from clients and athletes who I consult, and the same pattern pops up over and over again – the higher the sugar and starch intake, the higher the blood triglycerides, the greater the inflammation, the worse the sleep, the most difficulty controlling body fat levels, and so on. Once the relatively nutrient-void carbohydrate sources such as energy bars, whole wheat bread, granola, cereal, meusli and pasta are replaced with more nutrient-dense and healthy fats, proteins and vegetables, then biomarkers and performance begin to take a turn for the good quickly. Of course, there are other nutrient void foods that we also cut, like vegetable oils, egg whites, industrialized beef and chicken and commercial dairy –  but, especially for athletes, the carbohydrates are the biggie.

This is because what I've discovered, and what you're about to learn, is that maintaining high blood sugar and constantly “topping off” storage carbohydrate levels to fuel your body for optimum performance may not actually be worth the health trade-off especially if you can get the same results by eating lower amounts of starches and sugars. There are proven health and longevity advantages of controlling high blood sugar, and I don't know about you, but if I can get those advantages and still maintain performance – I'm all in.

To illustrate these advantages, I scanned and pasted here a compelling image from Life Extension Magazine (I don’t know about you, but I want to be around to see my grandkids, and considering my 23andme.com genetic testing has revealed higher risk for Type II Diabetes, I doubt that shoving any more gooey gels and sugar sports drinks into my gaping maw is going to do me any favors).

highbloodsugar

 

But (shocker!), despite the information above, I still do not recommend a low carbohydrate diet for everyone, and I usually do not recommend it blindly for:

1. Athletes in the heat of competition, such as during an Ironman triathlon, need a higher carbohydrate intake than they would on a typical easy training day. Duh. If you're going to go destroy yourself for 9-17 hours, you may need some added glucose on board. Interestingly, research suggests this may be more due to a need to stave of neural fatigue then a direct carbohydrate need for the actual muscles (19). But more on that in the upcoming chapter on a healthy race day nutrition plan. For now, just realize that sometimes you need some extra carbohydrates if you're going deep into the pain cave.

2. Athletes going through an extremely heavy block of training that is a higher load to which they are accustomed, such as a triathlon camp that involves 25-40 hours of training per week. In this case, you usually also need a higher carbohydrate intake. I'm not saying this volume of training and carbohydrate intake is not healthy, but in some cases, it can a necessary sacrifice for injecting large doses of endurance into the body. In other words, if you're going to go put a crap-ton of unnaturally heavy work into your body, at least eat some sweet potato fries or an extra helping of white rice, for cryin' out loud.

3. Individuals with diseases or conditions that disable the ability to properly metabolize fats and proteins. For example, if you've had your gallbladder removed, a high fat diet full of Kerrygold butter, coconut oil and bacon may not sit so pretty in your gut.  

However, if you're the average athlete putting in an average amount of training (e.g. following the Ancestral Athlete rules you learned about earlier), you need far fewer carbohydrates than the amount that is widely recommended. There are three primary reasons for this.

1. Eating fewer carbohydrates can help you get lean or stay lean.

A key component of weight loss is tapping into storage fat (adipose tissue) for energy. This fat access simply cannot happen if the body is constantly drawing on carbohydrate reserves and blood glucose for energy (20). In a moderate to high carbohydrate diet, not only does the utilization of fat for energy become far less crucial, but the body never becomes ideally efficient at using fat.

There is a growing body of evidence that a high fat, low carbohydrate diet causes faster and more permanent weight loss than a low fat diet. Furthermore, appetite satiety and dietary satisfaction are significantly improved with a high fat, low carbohydrate diet that includes moderate protein intake.

2. Eating fewer carbohydrates can increase health and lifespan.

When glucose is used to create energy, a high number of free radicals are produced. Free radicals are dangerous molecules that can damage normal cellular processes (9). The burning of fat for energy does not create this same cellular damage. In an athlete who is already creating a high number of damaging free radicals from exercise, further damage from high blood glucose levels becomes a nasty one-two combo.

In addition, the constantly elevated levels of circulating blood sugars that can be caused by a moderate to high carbohydrate diet are associated with nerve damage, small dense cholesterol particles (the culprits for heart disease), high morbidity, bacterial infection, cancer progression and Alzheimer’s.

As you will learn later in this chapter, simply getting these your energy levels from non-blood glucose based energy sources can directly improve your quality of life, and allow you to ensure that you live longer and healthier.

3. Eating fewer carbohydrates can increase energy stability and eliminate gastrointestinal distress while training or racing.

Because of genetic predispositions, some athletes are much more sensitive to the fluctuations in blood sugar caused by carbohydrate intake (13). Often, the result of this sensitivity is a short-lived initial increase in energy levels after consumption of a sports bar, sports drink, gel or other carbohydrate source, following by a sharp and drastic drop in energy levels. But the calories from fats and proteins are utilized at a far more stable rate than carbohydrate sugar, resulting in more stabilized energy levels.

In addition, uncomfortable amounts of gas and bloating in athletes can be due to the high rate of bacterial activity caused by carbohydrate fermentation in the digestive tract. Many athletes experience an even greater degree of gastrointestinal distress from food allergies or intolerances to common carbohydrate sources, particularly wheat.

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But Wait! Don't I Need Carbohydrates to Fuel Endurance?

Ah…the million dollar question.

Here's the thing.

If you eat mostly carbs, your body will run on mostly carbs.

If you eat mostly fat, your body will run on mostly fat.

But despite this very cool ability to change the fuel you burn depending on what you eat, carbohydrates are consistently the darling of most modern sports nutrition advice. The standard recommendation to athletes engaging in regular training and racing, especially in endurance sports or extremely physical demanding exercise, is to consume a daily diet of 7-10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight for optimal performance and during prolonged activity to consume large amounts of sugary drinks, gels and bars to keep blood glucose elevated. And many carbohydrate loading protocols call for up to 85% carbohydrate intake in those last few days leading up to a big workout or event. Talk about keeping cereal companies in business!

plateofspaghettiIn other words, the holy grail seems to be to protect carbohydrate stores at all times. These recommendations can be readily found on sites such as the Australian Institute of Sport and the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (no surprises that the latter would steadfastly promote high carbohydrate consumption, preferably in neon colored solutions).

The general argument for carbohydrate consumption goes something like this:

-Fatigue during training and racing is thought to coincide with the carbohydrate fuel tank approaching empty (the infamous bonk, as is humorously demonstrated in the best cartoon I've ever seen on running).

-Because it is thought that you can't burn fat as a primary fuel at training and racing intensities, all focus is on looking for ways to increase the size of the carbohydrate fuel tank (despite even the leanest of athletes having tens of thousands of calories of readily accessible storage fat).

-This entire process is partially driven by the inexpensiveness of carbohydrate sources, government subsidization of grains and carbs, and a mistaken belief that eating high amount so fat, no matter how healthy, may have deleterious health effects.

So based on this advice, you roll out of bed and glance at your watch. You’ve got a 12 mile run or some other big workout on-tap for the day, and limited time to get it in. Do you lace up and head out without grabbing a banana, bagel or handful of sports gels, or…

…do you make sure you have some valuable sugar to consume before and during the effort, so you don't “bonk”?

If you’re a good little athlete who heeds popular nutrition advice, you probably raised your hand and said “Eat!”.

Now don’t get me wrong: there is absolutely no argument against the fact that high-carbohydrate intake before an endurance exercise session can postpone fatigue and improve performance. So it’s no surprise that the “gold-standard” recommendation from most sports nutritionists is to consume a diet that provides high carbohydrate availability before and during exercise.

But when it comes to finding the ideal combination of both performance and health, I have another question for you: how superior is a high-carbohydrate intake to the polar opposite – a high-fat, low-carbohydrate intake?

Turns out, this stuff has been looked at scientifically.

-A study in the 2010 Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise Journal suggested the answer to this question when it coined the term “train low, compete high” in response to results that showed untrained individuals achieving better training adaptations and aerobic capacity after 10 weeks of training with low carbohydrate availability, compared to subjects who had high carbohydrate intake before and during exercise (21).

-Another study in the Journal of Applied Physiology showed that trained individuals who performed twice a day training sessions without eating for 2 hours after the first session (thus depleting carbohydrate stores with the first session) experienced a better ability to store carbohydrate, use carbohydrate as energy, and burn fat – with no loss in performance compared to a group that only trained once per day and ate carbohydrates afterwards.

-Yet another follow-up study in trained cyclists performed high intensity interval training with no carbohydrate intake showed improved fat utilization and an increase in the enzymes involved in energy metabolism, again, with no loss of performance.

-Additional research shows that when carbohydrate stores are depleted by almost 50%, there is evidence that there is actually increased stimulus for enhanced enzyme activity in skeletal muscle, which is a good thing, since it means you can more efficiently produce energy from fuel.

Want more?

I could fill an entire book. Literally. I actually have written the book “Low Carbohydrate Diet For Athletes” – which was not just written for triathletes, but for any person who leads an extremely active lifestyle and wants to dig into the science, value and practical hands-on application of a low carbohydrate diet.

You can also read: Jeff Volek and Steve Phinney's book “Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance“.

The second resource really digs quite thoroughly into how your fitness is enhanced when you train with low levels of storage carbohydrate or low levels of carbohydrate intake during the exercise session. And because I just can't hold back from giving you just a little extra lower carbohydrate ammo, here's the cliff notes for you:

-In trained individuals, a large amount of fat oxidation takes place at intensities well above 80% VO2max – giving an athlete the ability to get up to even very higher intensity efforts without having drained their carbohydrate stores getting up to that point, and also allowing athletes engaging in steady stage exercise (e.g. Ironman triathlon) to be able to tap into fat fuel stores even when going at a relatively fast pace. This also means that you have more carbohydrate stores available when you really need to access them, such as for an all-out effort.

-There have been incredible gains demonstrated in metabolic efficiency and economy when using fat as a primary source of fuel and also doing high intensity interval training, with this one-two combo causing potent decreases in the oxygen cost of cycling of up to 3-5%, which is extremely significant.  Translated into real world numbers, this increased fat utilization from carbohydrate restriction and high intensity interval training would allow you to pedal a bicycle at your lactic acid threshold at 315 watts, versus a high carbohydrate-based, aerobic-only program (e.g. the way most people train) would only allow for 300 watts. And 15 watts is huge in a sport like cycling. 

-A high fat diet trains your body to burn even more fat during exercise, even at high intensities. Fat gets released faster and in greater amounts from your storage adipose tissue, and transported more quickly into your muscles and the mitochondria. In a fat adapted individual, the muscles also store more energy as fat and use this fat-based fuel more efficiently and quickly. Even more interestingly, a high fat diet can cause a shift in the gene expression that code for specific proteins which increase fat metabolism and cause very similar adaptions to exercise itself. So the mere act of shifting primary fuel intake from carbohydrates to fat begins to make you more “fit” even in the absence of exercise. 

-Most studies that compare carbohydrate utilization to fat utilization fail to take into account the fact that full adaptation to gaining all the benefits of using fat as a fuel takes time – often more than 4 weeks. And since most studies comparing fat and carbohydrate utilization are short term studies, we rarely see the benefits of fat adaptation fleshed out in research – and exercise intensity/fat oxidation graphs such as the one below only rely upon data from athletes eating a typical high carbohydrate diet.

fatoxidation

Figures such as this do not rely upon data from fat adapted athletes, for whom the fat burning zone continues at higher intensities.

And guess what else? This one shocked me when I first realized it, but eating fewer carbohydrates during a workout can actually help you recover faster.

How is it that reducing carbohydrate availability during exercise might actually increase the fitness-boosting effectiveness of the actual exercise session?

Without delving too deeply into the nitty-gritty science, it all comes down to the fact that the repair and recovery of skeletal muscle tissue is dependent on the “transcription” of certain components of your RNA. And a bout of endurance exercise combined with low muscle carbohydrate stores can result in greater activation of this transcription. In other words, by training in a low-carbohydrate state, you train your body to recover faster.

So sorry, Wheaties, but it’s true: you don’t actually have to be a carbaholic to be a good athlete.

Despite the handy sports gel chamber enhanced water bottles on those fancy new bikes, and the tray for your sports gels on the gym’s treadmill, as long as the training session is not performed in a carbohydrate depleted state, and does not exceed about 2 hours, there is zero evidence to show that avoiding carbohydrate during the session will reduce performance, and there is research that actually shows quite the contrary – no loss of performance!

Whether these benefits are due to decreased carbohydrate utilization or increased fat utilization is unclear, but there are obvious benefits to going low carbohydrate before and during training. And if it isn't going to hurt your performance but is going to increase your quality of life, why not eat fewer carbohydrates?

So let's sum things up:

If you moderately restrict carbohydrates before, during or after training you may:

1. Increase activity of the biological mechanisms responsible for building and repairing lean muscle tissue.

2. Increase your ability to preserve and ration valuable carbohydrate stores.

3. Increase your fat utilization during exercise.

4. Increase the activity of the enzymes responsible for metabolizing carbohydrates during high intensity exercise, such as racing.

5. Increase your ability to recover fast.

6. Increase your health and your lifespan.

In just a moment, we're going to dig into some of the common objections you may get from your pasta-pushing, Gatorade-guzzling friends when they find out you're eating fewer carbohydrates, but first please allow me to emphasize…

...I am not endorsing a zero carbohydrate diet. I am not even encouraging the popular “fewer than 50 grams a day” carbohydrate diet. In most cases, when I say low carbohydrate diet, I'm referring to around 100-200 daily grams of carbohydrate, and I'll explain in a moment the reason why. There is the one special exception to this rule called ketosis that we'll get into in the next chapter, but for most active people (and especially for females) please do not go raging into your kitchen and mark an evil poison face on your potatoes unless you want to do some serious metabolic and hormonal damage.

In other words, just because fewer carbohydrates is good, that does not mean trace amounts to none is even better. Read this excellent article “Carbohydrates for Fertility and Health” by my friend Stefani Ruper if you want more details on this.

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Answering Objections

pastapartyOnce your training partners, family or other friends learn that you’re eating fewer carbohydrates – or once you begin skipping the obligatory pre-event pasta party – you’re guaranteed to hear several objections and see some raised eyebrows. Typically, the criticism of a low carbohydrate diet falls into three categories of questions:

Objection #1: Isn’t glucose and carbohydrate necessary for energy during exercise?

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, directly burning blood glucose for fuel causes a significant amount of free radical damage compared to burning storage carbohydrate, storage fats, or circulating fats in the bloodstream. This type of fuel utilization occurs in the athlete trained to eat a gel every 20 minutes during every single training session, or to constantly have sports drink on the edge of the pool and a bowl of pasta waiting at home to re-fuel after the workout.

While cells can certainly burn glucose for energy, fat is a preferred energy source in nearly every cell, and especially for the mitochondria, which are the energy-creating organelles within most cells. Until extremely high exercise intensities are achieved (rarely the case among endurance athletes) or until the human body has exercised for 2-3 hours continuously, fat is completely useable as an energy source. Specifically, natural saturated fats, omega-3 fatty acids, and medium chain triglycerides are extremely dense energy sources that produce very little damaging byproducts from their metabolic use for energy.

The specific parts of the body that do need glucose on daily basis are the brain, the nerves, special proteins called “glycoproteins” (which form compounds such as mucus), and cells within the immune system, the gastrointestinal tract and the kidneys. But the total daily amount of glucose calories required by these parts of the body is about 500-700 carbohydrate calories, and not the 1500-2000 carbohydrate calories consumed by most athletes.

Objection #2: Isn’t fat dangerous for cholesterol-related heart disease, as well as increased risk of weight gain?

No! Not only does a high fat, low carbohydrate diet perform better for weight loss compared to a low fat, high carbohydrate diet, but there is no evidence that the cholesterol particles derived from fat increase risk of heart disease – unless fat consumption is paired with a moderate to high intake of starchy, sugary carbohydrate sources. It is at that point that cholesterol can become oxidized and lead to risk of heart disease.

The entire idea that high cholesterol causes heart disease is a flawed hypothesis, and entire books have been written on it. A very good place to start your journey into learning about the positive and healthy properties of fats would be the website http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/ (which is in no manner affiliated with this book – it is simply a helpful resource).

Objection #3: Don’t you need to load with carbohydrate before a race?

We'll dig into this a little more in the chapter on racing, but once you begin eating a low carbohydrate diet, your body will, within about 10-14 days, begin to become more efficient at burning fat. Although it takes 1-2 years to fully adapt to a low carbohydrate diet to the extent that you will be a fat burning machine who can go out and ride a bicycle for hours on end with zero fuel (listen to my “How To Live Like A Polar Bear And Eat Like A Great White Shark” podcast episode with Jack Kruse to learn why), you get basic fat adaptations more quickly than that. This means that you will need relatively fewer carbohydrates during race week or the day before a race, since your body develops an enhanced ability to conserve storage carbohydrate and also an increased ability to utilize fat as a fuel, both during rest and on race day.

What this means is that an entire week of carbohydrate loading and high sugar intake will not be necessary, and if your goal is weight loss, health, or longevity, may actually end up doing more harm than good. Since I have personally shifted to a lower carbohydrate intake, I have found that the 85-90% carbohydrate diet I was eating during race week is no longer necessary, and actually leaves me sick to my stomach and full of blood sugar roller coaster rides all week long.

The only real nutrition changes that you need to make during race week are A) a slightly more carbohydrate dense breakfast the day before and the morning of the race; B) moderate amounts of healthy starches with dinner, such as sweet potato or white rice and C) carbohydrates during the actual race. This would still be considered “carbohydrate loading”, but not in the common tradition of loading, which typically includes 7-10 days of high carbohydrate intake before an event. The simple fact is that the advice you'll find in infographics such as the one below are all based on non-fat adapted, high-carb intake athletes. Sure, this loading protocol obviously boost performance – but what are the health implications of 8 cups of cooked pasta and 500ml sports drink for dinner alone?

carbohydrate loading

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More Low Carb Resources

Just in case that's not enough ammo for you to answer common objections coming from others or from own brain, and before I give you some actual carbohydrate, protein and fat ratios, I have even more articles I have written that I just don't have space to add to this increasingly long chapter.

Knock yourself out…

-Can You Build Muscle On A Low Carbohydrate Diet?

-Should You Eat Carbohydrates Before Exercise?

How I Ate A High Fat Diet, Pooped 8 Pounds, And Then Won A Sprint Triathlon.

The Hidden Dangers Of A Low Carbohydrate Diet

10 Ways To Do A Low Carbohydrate Diet The Right Way

-5 Ways To Get A Big Carbohydrate Restricting Performance Enhancing Advantage

-4 Reasons To Think Twice About Eating Carbohydrates Before Your Workout

7 Supplements That Help You Perform Better On A Low Carbohydrate Diet

How To Turn Yourself Into A Fat Burning Machine By Fasting For 24 Hours Then Going Out And Do Monster Workouts Without Bonking.

Is It Possible To Be Extremely Active and Eat A Low Carbohydrate Diet?

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Give Me Some Numbers, Ben!

Yes, if you've been reading closely, you may have noticed that I haven't actually thrown any exact carbohydrate, protein or fat percentages and ratios at you. Based on the way I feel about incessant counting of calories, and also the fact that these percentages tend to vary widely across daily activity levels, it probably will come as no surprise to you that I do not recommend fretting too much about your macronutrient ratios.

But having a ballpark idea of what is healthy and optimal can be useful. So here we go.

I've got a secret for you. When it comes to the ideal ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats for the average human machine, the book has already been written.

The particular book to which I'm referring has been featured on my blog multiple times, particularly in the podcast episode “Is There One Single Diet That Is Best?” and “If You Could Eat Fat All Day, Would You?“.

It's called “Perfect Health Diet“. Written by an astrophysicist and a molecular biologist, it bridges the gap between a natural ancestral eating approach and actual hard data based on scientific evidence.

In a nutshell, the diet is based on the nutrient-rich foods you've already learned about, such as whole eggs, liver and other organ meats, bone broths, seafood, seaweed, dark, green leafy vegetables and fermented foods. It also includes a number of other meats, natural fats, healthy oils, and safe starches such as rice and potato to provide adequate protein and calories for the average person.

And yes, it has actual numbers.

perfect-health-diet-book-218x300The Perfect Health Diet is composed of 20% carbs, 65% fat, and 15% protein.

To many people who eat or want to eat low carb, 20% carbs may seem high. And to the person eating the average recommended athlete diet of 55-65% carbohydrate intake, 20% may seem low. But the reason that 20% is used for carbohydrates intake is because of what you've already learned about the body’s need for glucose as a structural molecule, a brain and muscle fuel, and an immune booster. So in a 3000 calorie-a-day diet, 600 of those calories, or 150 grams, would come from carbohydrate – and that would be enough to satisfy the body's basic energy needs (although there are specific instructions in the book about how to implement a very low carb, ketogenic diet safely, and get carbohydrates as low as 50 grams per day).

The reason 65% fat intake is recommended is due to the body's inherent need for fatty acids as a primary fuel source for the majority of our natural activity levels, and also the need for fatty acids as core structural components of the human body, especially the brain and nervous system. If you care to get into the nitty-gritty, the diet delves into actual percentage recommendations for omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids, saturated fats, monounsatured fats, etc.

Finally, the 15% protein recommendations are based on the idea that the body needs enough amino acids for repair and recovery, but that excessive protein intake can cause ammonia waste from protein metabolism and toxins produced by gut bacteria that ferment protein.

Anyways, that's just a basic overview. If you want more details, go buy the book (I highly recommend it as a companion to this book). And if you really want to immerse yourself in the diet, check out the 30 day Perfect Health Diet retreats in Austin, Texas – where myself and a bunch of other nutrition experts teach you the Perfect Health Diet and train you on how to tweak the the diet to your specific needs.

But there is the one problem with the Perfect Health Diet. The book wasn't written by a hard-charging athlete. It was written by the brilliant, yet very mild-mannered astrophysicist Paul Jaminet, and his molecular biologist wife Shou-Ching Jaminet. These are not people who are powerlifting, Crossfitting and doing Ironman triathlons. So there can be some adjustments that need to be made to the diet if you're exposing your body to extreme levels of physical activity – specifically:

1. Some athletes need more than 15% protein intake on difficult “eccentric” muscle breakdown days, such as a day with hard weight training or running intervals. The same goes for athletes who want to put on lots of muscle quickly.

2. 20% carbohydrate intake sometimes needs to be “cycled” with higher carbohydrate intake of up to 30-40% on longer, higher volume training days, especially if your goal is not ketosis, or 24-7  fat burning, which can have some health risks if you're not careful.

Once these two variables are taken into account, daily carbohydrate, protein and fat intake tends to fluctuate quite a bit based on the day's activity levels. So an easy training day might follow the Perfect Health Diet's 20:65:15 ratio exactly. But a long weekend workout, such as a 100 mile bike ride, may incorporate a slightly higher carbohydrate and protein intake, and a 30:50:20 ratio. A harder day of weight training or running may require more amino acids for repair and recovery, and might be a 20:50:30 ratio. In the sample meal plan at the end of this chapter, you'll see how the ratios can slightly vary from day to day based on activity levels.

So I'd be lying to you if I gave you an exact percentage of carbohydrates, proteins and fats that is “perfect” for the extremely high and variable activity levels of a very physically active individual. I personally don't pay much attention to my ratios at all. I just base every meal around fats and oils, add moderate amounts of healthy protein, and pay close attention to not overeat carbs. 

Conveniently, any of the 40 easy meals for athletes you'll find in Chapter 11 will fit well into a Perfect Health Diet model, and there are some great websites that post Perfect Health Diet-compatible recipes, including:

Finally, if you don't have time to read the Perfect Health Diet book, you can absorb in well under one hour via the Underground Wellness audio podcast a fascinating interview with the late Dr. Barry Groves, in which Barry delves into ancestral, biblical, mythological and biological reasons to eat something very close to that 65:20:15 ratio. It is well worth a listen and will give you a really fantastic foundational understanding of why humans are so much different than many other animals when it comes to our ideal nutritional ratios.

Now, before we get into a sample week of eating, there's one more important question to tackle…

——————————————

Are You Sure I'm Getting Enough Protein?

So you now understand the health importance of limiting carbohydrate intake.

You know how important fat is for human cells, brain and nervous system.

But when it comes to protein for athletes, you simply hear the same mantra over and over again:

“Athletes and exercising individuals need more protein.”

“Protein is crucial for muscle repair and recovery.”

“Eat more lean protein.”

Phrases such as this quite frequently get thrown around in sports and exercise nutrition geek-speak. The problem is that while you certainly do need amino acids from protein for repair and recovery, neurotransmitter formation, avoidance of self-cannibalization, etc., the importance of protein is usually blown way out of proportion.

To determine how much protein you actually should be getting, you need to be familiar with a term called “nitrogen balance”.

Here’s how nitrogen balance works:

Nitrogen enters your body when you consume protein from food or amino acid supplements, and nitrogen exits your body in your urine as ammonia, urea, and uric acid (all the breakdown products of protein) When the amount of protein you eat matches the amount of you use, you’re in nitrogen balance (3).

As you can probably deduce, if you don’t eat enough protein, you’ll be in negative nitrogen balance and quite unlikely to be able to repair muscle after a workout (a “catabolic” state). If you consume too much protein, you’ll be in positive nitrogen balance, and while you’ll definitely have what you need for muscle repair (an “anabolic” state), there can be some health issues that arise when you achieve too positive a state of nitrogen balance. This is because your body gets overfilled with ammonia, urea and uric acid, which have some nasty side-effects we’ll get into that in just a bit (32).

The current US recommended dietary allowance (RDA) is 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day (0.8g/kg), and was designed for most people to be in nitrogen balance – without protein deficits or protein excess. While athletes and frequently exercising individuals need more protein than this, you’ll frequently see bodybuilders, football players, weightlifters and other big strength and power athletes taking this to the extreme and consuming far in excess of this protein RDA (in some cases up to 2 grams per pound!)

But studies suggest that even for athletes, there really isn’t much additional benefit of exceeding 0.55 grams per pound of protein (1.2g/kg) if you want to maintain nitrogen balance (23). If you’re trying to exceed nitrogen balance for the purpose of putting on muscle or recovering from more extreme exercise sessions, studies also indicate that you don’t need to eat more than 25% above that 0.55 g/lb, which would be 0.55×1.25, which is 0.68 g/lb, or 1.5g/kg. For simplicity, I prefer to just round that up to 0.7 g/lb (35).

Sardine Salad

So let’s put those numbers into context. I weigh 175 pounds. If I don’t want to gain muscle, and I just want to make sure I’m getting enough protein for muscle recovery and body repair, I should eat a minimum of 0.55×175, or 96 grams of protein.

Rounded up to a nice even number of 100 grams, that means I could have a couple scoops of protein powder with my morning breakfast (which I do), a can of sardines over my salad at lunch, and 4-6oz of grass-fed beef with dinner. That’s easily 100 grams, and doesn’t even count the other protein I get from seeds, nuts, grains, legumes, etc. If I'm eating about 3200 calories a day, which is a typical calorie intake for me, that puts my protein intake at about 13%.

Frankly, this is about exactly what I would eat on an easy exercise day, and the rest of my diet is healthy fat (which keeps me smart, keeps my joints healthy, feeds my brain and maintains high levels of hormones), along with large amounts of vegetables and light amounts of fruits.

And if I wanted to gain muscle or I have a day for which I'm doing a large amount of muscle damaging exercise such as a long, hard run, I would eat 0.7×175, or about 125 grams. So I would basically just add in a couple handfuls of raw almonds and a dollop of full fat yogurt, or a couple extra scoops of protein powder and I’d be good to go. And this would come closer to about 16% of my daily calorie intake.

I've worked with some athletes who have difficult putting on muscle or recovering properly if unless they eat 0.8-1.0 grams per pound of protein, which often puts them in the 15-25% protein range. While this does allow for optimum repair and recovery, these athletes are also at risk of ammonia toxicity (5). This is why I personally rarely exceed 150 grams per day of protein, unless I happen to stumble upon a really, really good Korean BBQ joint.

 

This brings me to my next point. What are the actual risks of eating excess protein, or having your nitrogen balance too great?

First, consider that ammonia is a toxic compound to the body. Once you get close to about 1000 calories a day of protein (that’s about 250 grams), you can no longer convert ammonia to urea, and you begin to build up this toxin within your body. This is extremely stressful on your internal organs, especially your kidneys.

Next, excess protein can cause dehydration if you do not drink enough water. This is because your kidneys need more water to convert ammonia into urea.

Finally, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a gene in your body that is directly correlated to accelerated aging. Decreased activity in this gene can be caused by moderate caloric restrictions and slightly lower amino acid intake (14). So excessive protein intake and a constantly positive nitrogen balance could actually shorten your life!

So the take-away message is this: eat as much protein as your body needs for repair and recovery (about 0.55g/lb) eat a little more if you want to put on muscle (up to 0.7g/lb), and then take in the rest of your calories from healthy fats and vegetables, with limited amounts of fruits and safe starches for fueling intense bouts of physical activity.

——————————————

A Sample Week of Eating For Endurance

So now you know that if you want the ideal combination of performance and health, the ballpark values you're shooting for on most days are 20% carbohydrates, 65% fat, and 15% protein.

Remember the sample Ironman training week from Chapter 3?

Let's revisit that training week, and take a look at how the nutrition concepts you've just learned apply.  The eating plan outlined below is designed for a higher healthy fat intake, carbohydrate “cycling” with slightly greater carbohydrate intake on more active days, and and avoidance of excessive protein. And of course, it conveniently relies upon many of the nutrient dense quick and easy meals from Chapter 11.

-Monday: 30 minutes easy bicycling skills & drills, 20 minutes easy swim drills.

Breakfast – Green Smoothie 

Lunch – Sardine Salad

Snack – Chia Slurry

Dinner – Steak & Roasted Vegetables with Grass-Fed Butter

-Tuesday: 20 minutes heavy barbell lifts, 30 minutes run HIIT workout.

Breakfast – Green Smoothie

Lunch – Leftovers wrapped in bok choy, swiss chard or kale

Snack – Protein Powder in Coconut Milk or Raw Dairy

Dinner – Scrambled Eggs

-Wednesday: 30 minutes bicycling HIIT workout, 30 minutes swim HIIT workout.

Breakfast – Green Smoothie

Lunch – Sardine Salad

Snack – Pemmican or Jerky

Dinner – Cobb Salad

-Thursday: 20 minutes heavy barbells lifts, 30 minutes easy run drills.

Breakfast – Green Smoothie

Lunch – Leftovers wrapped in bok choy, swiss chard or kale

Snack – Protein Powder in Coconut Milk or Raw Dairy

Dinner – Steak & Salad

-Friday: 60 minutes injury prevention and core training, yoga, or an easy swim.

Breakfast – Bulletproof® Coffee

Lunch – Nori Wraps

Snack – Liver Pate with Flax Seed Crackers

Dinner – Poached Salmon & Steamed Vegetables

-Saturday: 2.5 hours of 20 minutes on, 5 minutes off cycling intervals at race-pace, 3x1000m swim at race-pace

Breakfast – Hot Power Cereal

Long Workout Fueling – Raw Seeds & Nuts with Dried Fruit

Lunch – Grocery Store

Snack – Pemmican or Jerky

Dinner – Sushi restaurant with sashimi and seaweed salad

Dessert – Coconut Ice Cream

-Sunday: 60-90 minutes of 9 minutes on, 3 minutes off running intervals at race-pace.

Breakfast – Waffles or Pancakes

Long Workout Fueling – Chia Seed Slurry

Lunch – Eating Out – Mexican restaurant with guacomole and beef

Snack – Protein Powder in Coconut Milk or Raw Dairy

Dinner – Easy Chicken Dinner

Dessert – Dark Chocolate and Red Wine

Throughout the day, I recommend you supplement the sample plan above with several servings of the “liquid” snacks from Chapter 11, such as bone broth, green tea, kombucha, kvass, coconut water, etc.

Zukay-Raw-Beet-Ginger-KvassYou'll notice that meals – especially breakfasts and lunches – repeat quite frequently. This is a practice I recommend to allow you to stick to tried and true meals for which you know your body's exact response, to avoid excessive time spent in meal preparation, and to avoid dietary confusion of never really having a plan you can stick to. In most cases, especially for the busy athlete, the simpler the better.

 ——————————————

Summary

Now you have a basic idea of how many calories you need to eat, the best tools for tracking your diet, how to log your diet the right way, and why calories don't matter much anyways, why your diet should be skewed towards higher fat intake, how many carbohydrates you should be eating, how much protein is necessary, and if it's OK to be hungry, you know exactly what works for 99% of the endurance athletes and extreme exercisers I've worked with.

But some of us are special flowers. So in the next chapter, we're going to move in the next chapter to how to make important nutrition decisions when you fit into some unique scenarios, namely:

-Aging athletes

-Females

-Kids

-Vegans/vegetarians

-Ketosis

-Fasting

And of course, the final version of this book will include a comprehensive meal plan that lays out a full menu for you for every phase of your training year, along with a handy grocery shopping last based on my Superhuman Food Pyramid.

In the meantime, leave your questions, comments and feedback about how many calories, carbohydrates, proteins and fats you should be eating below!

——————————————

Links To Previous Chapters of “Beyond Training: Mastering Endurance, Health & Life”

Part 1 – Introduction

-Preface: Are Endurance Sports Unhealthy?

-Chapter 1: How I Went From Overtraining And Eating Bags Of 39 Cent Hamburgers To Detoxing My Body And Doing Sub-10 Hour Ironman Triathlons With Less Than 10 Hours Of Training Per Week.

-Chapter 2: A Tale Of Two Triathletes – Can Endurance Exercise Make You Age Faster?

Part 2 – Training

-Chapter 3: Everything You Need To Know About How Heart Rate Zones Work

Chapter 3The Two Best Ways To Build Endurance As Fast As Possible (Without Destroying Your Body) – Part 1

Chapter 3: The Two Best Ways To Build Endurance As Fast As Possible (Without Destroying Your Body) – Part 2

Chapter 4: Underground Training Tactics For Enhancing Endurance – Part 1

Chapter 4: Underground Training Tactics For Enhancing Endurance – Part 2

Chapter 5: The 5 Essential Elements of An Endurance Training Program That Most Athletes Neglect – Part 1: Strength

Chapter 5: The 5 Essential Elements of An Endurance Training Program That Most Athletes Neglect – Part 2: Power & Speed

Chapter 5: The 5 Essential Elements of An Endurance Training Program That Most Athletes Neglect – Part 3: Mobility 

Chapter 5The 5 Essential Elements of An Endurance Training Program That Most Athletes Neglect – Part 4: Balance 

Part 3 – Recovery

Chapter 6How The Under-Recovery Monster Is Completely Eating Up Your Precious Training Time

Chapter 7:  25 Ways To Know With Laser-Like Accuracy If Your Body Is Truly Recovered And Ready To Train

Chapter 826 Top Ways To Recover From Workouts and Injuries with Lightning Speed

-Chapter 9: The 7 Best Stress-Fighting Weapons That Will Make Your Mind-Body Connection 100% Bulletproof

-Chapter 10: The Last Resource You'll Ever Need To Get Better Sleep, Eliminate Insomnia, Conquer Jet Lag and Master The Nap: Part 1

-Chapter 10: The Last Resource You'll Ever Need To Get Better Sleep, Eliminate Insomnia, Conquer Jet Lag and Master The Nap: Part 2

Part 3 – Nutrition

-Chapter 11: 40 Easy Meals For Busy Athletes: How To Fuel Your Body With The Thousands Of Calories Necessary For Endurance and Extreme Exercise, Without Completely Destroying Your Metabolism. 

-Chapter 12: What A Half-Naked Ironman Kickboxing Superhero Can Teach You About How Many Calories, Carbs, Proteins And Fats You Should Be Eating

-Chapter 13: How Much Carbohydrate, Protein and Fat You Need To Stay Lean, Stay Sexy and Perform Like A Beast.

——————————————-

References

1. Ancestral chef. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ancestralchef.com/

2. Australian Sports Commission. (2011, October). Carbohydrate – the facts. Retrieved from http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/factsheets/basics/carbohydrate__how_much

3. Barbosa-Silva MC (May 2008). “Subjective and objective nutritional assessment methods: what do they really assess?”. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 11 (3): 248–54

4. Chowstalker. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://chowstalker.com/perfect-health-diet/

5. Connected Health Care Systems. (n.d.). How excess protein produces high ammonia levels. Retrieved from http://connectedhealthcaresystems.com/lit/elevated ammonia.pdf

6. Crandall, R. (n.d.). The domestic man. Retrieved from http://thedomesticman.com/

7. Croxton, S. (2013, July 18). In memory of barry groves (1936-2013). Retrieved from http://undergroundwellness.com/barrygroves/

8. Davis, W. (2011). Wheat belly: Lose the wheat, lose the weight, and find your path back to health. (1ST ed.). New York, NY: William Davis, MD.

9. Dobromylskyj, P. (2009, November 4). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/2009/11/hyperglycaemia-and-free-radicals.html

10. Food Republic. (2011, June 10). 10 food pyramids from around the world. The Huffington Post

11. Francesca eats. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://francescaeats.blogspot.com/

12. Gatorade Sports Science Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gssiweb.org/

13. Haldi, J. (1946). The effect of low and high carbohydrate meals on the blood sugar level and on work performance in strenuous exercise of short duration. Am J Physiol., Jan(145), 402-10.

14. Harrison, D. (2009). Rapamycin fed late in life extends lifespan in genetically heterogeneous mice. Nature, July(16), 392-395.

15. Hutler, H. (n.d.). Tummy rumblr. Retrieved from http://tummyrumblr.com/

16. Greenfield, B. (2011). Low carbohydrate diet for triathletes. (1st ed.). New York, NY: Price World Publishing.

17. Jåbekk, P. (2010, September 5). High Fat Diets and Endurance Exercise Performance. Retrieved from http://ramblingsofacarnivore.blogspot.com/2010/09/high-fat-diets-and-endurance-exercise.html

18. Jaminet, P. (2012). The perfect health diet. (1st ed.). New York, NY: Scribner.

19. Jeukendrup, A. (2013). Oral carbohydrate rinse: placebo or beneficial?. Curr Sports Med Rep., 12(4), 222-7.

20. Kreider, R. (2011). A carbohydrate-restricted diet during resistance training promotes more favorable changes in body composition and markers of health in obese women with and without insulin resistance. Phys Sportsmed., 39(2), 27-40.

21. Levine, B. (2010). “living high-training low”: effect of moderate-altitude acclimatization with low-altitude training on performance. Journal of Applied Physiology, 83(1), 102-112.

22. Living in the ice age. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.livingintheiceage.co.uk/

23. Meredith, C. (1989). Dietary protein requirements and body protein metabolism in endurance-trained men. Journal of Applied Physiology, 66(6), 2850-6.

24. Nestle, M. (2013). Food politics. (2nd ed.). Berkley, CA: University Press of California.

25. Nutty kitchen. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://nuttykitchen.com/

26. O'Connor, A. (2013, June 27). How carbs can trigger food cravings. The New York Times

27. Ruper, S. (2012, May 31). Carbohydrates for Fertility and Health. Retrieved from http://www.paleoforwomen.com/carbohydrates-for-fertility-and-health/

28. Scott, J. (2010, September 15). High Fat Diets for Cyclists.

29. Stokel, K. (2011/2012). Are we all pre-diabetic?. Life Extension Magazine,

30. Taubes, G. (2007). Good calories, bad calories. (1st ed.). New York, NY: Random House Inc.

31. The 10 minute meal. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://10minutemeal.com/

32. Voet D, Voet JG. (2004). Biochemistry Vol 1 3rd ed. Wiley: Hoboken, NJ

33. Volek, J. (2012). The art and science of low carbohydrate performance. (1st ed.). Beyond Obesity LLC.

34. Weston A. Price Foundation. (n.d.). Know your fats. Retrieved from http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats

35. Wilson, J. (2006). Contemporary issues in protein requirements and consumption for resistance trained athletes. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 3(1), 7-27.

Ask Ben a Podcast Question

71 thoughts on “How Much Carbohydrate, Protein and Fat You Need To Stay Lean, Stay Sexy and Perform Like A Beast.

  1. Aaron Coalson says:

    I’m having trouble with the link – is there a new one for the pyramid?

    1. Ben Greenfield says:

      Try this: https://bengreenfieldlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Ben-Greenfield-Fitness-Superhuman-Food-Pyramid.pdf

  2. James says:

    Ben, I absolutely love your podcasts, posts, videos, and you’re a life inspiration of mine. Thank you so much for everything you do, learn, teach, and share. :)

    Regarding this post, I have a question… I’ve just turned 20, 5ft 10 and about 42kg. I’m a hard-gainer, have been for years lol. My goal is to build muscle, seriously, and I currently train 3x full body per week (low-med reps), try to walk plenty, and include trigger sessions on off days. I’m used to eating carbs with each meal (oats, potatoes, legumes, etc.), keeping everything pretty balanced.

    However, for a low-carb diet to allow for muscle gain and the appropriate insulin sensitivity and fat-burning benefits (amongst the other health benefits), is it first necessary to go completely low-carb for at least a few weeks as some sources would suggest in order to enter “fat adapted” state, and only then start the daily cycling? And would this derail my muscle-building progress?

    In other words, would I be better off “clean bulking” as I am and then transitioning to experimenting with low-carb for when I want to cut a little?

    I’ve read all of your posts I can find on this subject, including on your brother’s amazing results, but am still unsure on whether “fat adaptation” is a necessary prerequisite for a daily carb-cycling protocol to work?

    Example plan: 30% carbs on training days, 20% on non-training days, mostly post-workout (lunch) or in the evening (dinner).

    Your help on this matter would mean so much to me! Thank you again, and God bless you and the Greenfield family and legacy.

    Best Regards,
    James

  3. Conor Eusterman says:

    Hi Ben,

    I absolutely love Boundless! I was reading this and was wondering if there is an app you recommend for tracking your macros and food intake every day? The ones I have found want me to set the total number of calories which doesn’t seem correct now that I’ve read this. Should I just set it to 3,000 and go with what’s closest to the 20%,65%15% breakdown?

  4. Jesse Leitzel says:

    So the old “you need to eat high glycemic carbs after weight training ” doesn’t hold true? For years people were pushing candy , cookies and now their special post workout supps. And thank for all the cutting edge info you give. Its awesome much appreciated.

  5. Kyrie says:

    Hi Ben,

    Love your work. Extremely interesting and super complex for my feeble brain – clearly I need more FATS!

    I wonder if you could clear something up for me please. My sister (body building champ) has had me a low calorie diet *1350c* for fat loss – i’m 157cm & 62kg. She says that carbs between 50g – 120g is a grey zone of yo-yo weight gain/loss so has me at 35C/35%P/25%F. Now I’ve definitely shed ‘fat’ however, I’ve been feeling fatigued and brain foggy. I’ve since added in nuts as I believed I wasn’t getting enough fats which has helped.

    I’m now feeling overwhelmed as you’re saying no less than 100g of carbs but if I did 20% that would be me at 68g. Would a split of 30%C/25%P/45%F be sufficient? I am quite active; BJJ, heavy weights, CrossFit and am concerned too lower carbs will have me burned out and too low protein isn’t enough to grow muscle?

    Aghhhhh plz help.

    Thanks for all you do.

    Kez

    1. Kyrie says:

      Ah my current protein consumption is 120g, fat is 38g and cabs 120g

    2. If you prefer a more direct, customized approach, I'd be happy to help you via a personal one-on-one consult. Just go to BenGreenfieldFitness.com/coaching and then choose a 20 or 60-minute consult, whichever you'd prefer. I can schedule ASAP after you get that.

  6. EEProf says:

    Good gawd…so complicated when it is actually is quite simple. Frankly, I abhor the whole idea of the ‘Paleo Diet’ and prefer to call my eating habits Neolithic, which makes far more sense–but I digress. The first key is exercise, very aggressive (like an Ironman) functional exercise. After that, natural foods, as unprocessed as possible. Then comes gender, age and genetics(GAG). The last is the most complicated part and you almost have to just go with the flow. GAG will determine when you eat, how you sleep and how you work out.

    I personally am a hunter/warrior, so I do best with sprints and HIIT style workouts. I also don’t need much sleep, but it has to be good sleep (I have to trust my tribe mates to keep me safe while asleep, but I will spring to action at the hint of an alarm). I prefer to eat my kill rather than the berries and grains that are gathered, but kills don’t happen without a lot of effort and the time between kills is long. My body is adapted to that–yours may not be, so go with your flow.

  7. Weldon says:

    Hi Ben,

    I’m confused. In regards to ketosis, you mention the optimal method to avoid its’ dangers is to supplement ketones and limit carbs to fuel nerves, brain, and avoid immune compromise. You said you need about 500 carbs a day to fuel those. However, your diet outlined here puts you way under that limit. In fact, this looks like a regular ketosis diet with a miniscule carb load on sunday. Personally, I’m very ketosis sensitive, so that meal plan would have me in permanent ketosis. I’m a little worried since I’ve shared your negative experience with a bad ketosis run.

    1. I must emphasize that it totally depends on your level of physical activity, but I still recommend cyclic ketosis 50 g up to 200 g carbohydrate re-feeds in the evening. This stands in stark contrast to a traditional ketogenic diet, which endorses 40 g of carbohydrates or less.

      1. Weldon says:

        Thanks for clearing that up for me, Ben.

      2. Igor Correia says:

        When talking grams of carbs, I’m assuming net carbs, correct? Fiber doesn’t coun’t?

        Thanks Ben!

  8. bryan says:

    Hi Ben,

    Thanks for all the great information.

    I’m curious, if the World Health Organization found that meat and processed meats increase colorectal cancer

    http://www.emro.who.int/noncommunicable-diseases/…

    why would you recommend these foods?

    Kind regards,

  9. Simon Darras says:

    Hi Ben , that’s a very instructive article but one question comes to my mind . As a calisthenics athlete my goal is to stay lean to lift my bodyweight easier , but I also want to put on a few pounds if I can. I’m willing to try a new diet based on a 25ch/50fats/25protein ratio. Do you think I can make gains or at least preserve my lean mass being on a calorie deficit as long as my nutrients are on point? Thank you.

    1. Yes. You need far less protein than you think… No more than about 0.8 g per pound of muscle

  10. Susan George says:

    1 gram of protein per kg of your body weight is essential. Also, do not cut off your carbs intake completely.
    https://astra-hc.com/

  11. Karrie says:

    “3. Individuals with diseases or conditions that disable the ability to properly metabolize fats and proteins. For example, if you’ve had your gallbladder removed, a high fat diet full of Kerrygold butter, coconut oil and bacon may not sit so pretty in your gut.”

    Actually I went from keto to keto before and after my GB was removed (it was infected, there was no other choice other than dying or having it removed). Anyway, as long as I stayed keto I was fine, but I took a break over Christmas that year and bam, ouch when I tried to go back. The trouble was, the fiber increased and it took away the bile salts.

    My solution was to use bile salts in supplement form for a few days (I only needed it for a day or two), and restart the recycling process. Also stay far away from the bile salt binding fibers like psyllium. As long as your liver has the salts and they are recycled from your ileum back to your liver, you’re probably going to be ok. YMMV but for me this was a myth because I understood what my body needed to process the fats.

    By the way, it’s probably a mistake in the article to say that coconut oil is going to cause issues. The liquid coconut oil, or even purified MCT oil doesn’t need bile to enter your body, so if you have issues with that, it’s about absorption, not bile or GB loss. You can ALWAYS find a way to be keto, even if it’s MCT style.

    That said, you should use the diet that works for you. I mention this because there are people who need keto for health reasons (epilepsy particularly, but lately I’ve seen friends with MS or cancer taking on the diet too). Having faith that your diet is helping you is much more important than what’s in it. So if you want to try keto and you don’t have a GB, and you’re doing it for a reason other than simple weight loss, keep in mind there are many ways to do it. Look at the medical books on the subject, not popular websites and you’ll find out how to calculate it for yourself. If a book tells you how to weigh your food in grams, and calculate from that the ratio of fat to protein/carbs, it’s a good book, the rest are popular books not meant for medical problems. Keep that difference in mind. People who do keto for medical reasons make a few days of meals ahead because of the weighing requirement.

    My current diet has now morphed into a low carb paleo diet now. I do not any longer add a tablespoon of fat to every meal, but I know I can start again if I need to, if my condition relapses. That confidence gives me real freedom to make my diet the best it can be.

  12. Cindy says:

    Hi Ben,

    I have adrenal and thyroid problems. I need a diet that keeps me warm, revs me during the day and knocks me out at night,any suggestions?

    1. It's hard to say without actually know what your thyroid problems are. If you go to <a href="https://greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/ben” target=”_blank”>www.greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/ben and choose 20 or 60 minutes we can get you scheduled for a consult and we will go into detail there.

  13. Dan says:

    Hi Ben,

    Love your site and all the info on it!

    I weight train fasted around 6am, 3 x per week and am trying to implement your strategies around nutrition. I don’t eat until about 11am and take BCCAs before, during and after training.

    Ever since I adopted a lower carb approach (around 20% down from about 35%) my performance in the gym has noticeably decreased both in strength and being able to perform over and above the lactic acid threshold.

    Furthermore, Its been almost 4 weeks with hardly any weight loss which is very hard to accept. Calories are set at 11 x pounds per of goal body weight with a macro ratio of P/F/C 30/40/20

    Are you able to give some insight/ strategies I could use to tweak this? Many thanks in advance and appreciate your time.

    1. Sure can. Book an insight at <a href="https://greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/ben” target=”_blank”>www.greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/ben and choose 20 or 60 minutes and we'll get you scheduled to go over everything.

    2. Karrie says:

      IMO a “low carb” diet is below 100g of carbs per day, including fiber. Since I can only assume your diet is 2000 calories from what you said, that would put it at exactly 100g. Low carb is really only low if it’s absolute amount of carbs because the body has to have a deficit to bother with making ketones. A normal body always makes some ketones at night and other times during intermittent fasting anyway, whether the body is “acclimated” to use ketones or not.

      How I would tweak this (I also use weight training and have done it while totally keto and now more of a low carb paleo diet, but I don’t care about weight loss, I care about fat %. Not sure why you focus on weight loss with a weight training program, but hey it’s your body)… so, I’d tweak by: taking a weekend for IF-ing. No eating between 6pm Friday and 6PM Saturday, all water, only water (or if you need caffeine, just take a pill that day, no coffee, no tea, nothing but water). Eat a largeish meal Saturday and no eating again until 7PM Sunday. Then, reduce carbs to a total, including fiber of 75g. Readjust the fats to match the loss. Be sure it’s quality fats, not crap canola, and do not attempt to fit 30g of fiber into it. 10g of fiber will be fine if it is also high quality, from fruits/veg and oatmeal or rice bran if necessary. Attempt to reduce dairy and wheat where it is easy… GF bread is really pretty good for sandwiches, you won’t even notice. Limiting dairy to whey powder, yogurt, and cheese toppings is pretty easy.

      The goal of this plan is to force your body to make a few more enzymes of the right kind for efficient fat burning. It’s nowhere near the level you’d want for keto, that’s when your fat % is above 75% of your calories. Don’t overload yourself with protein either, go for the fat after you’ve got 125g or thereabout of protein per day. It’s not only hard to digest more protein but it’s wasteful and uses up a lot of enzymes to go from protein to glucose for fuel. That will make you more tired and weak than if you add more fat.

      Were you weight lifting while fasted even before you changed your diet? Because I’m not in agreement with those who think you should lift while fasted. Fasting is for growth hormone, not for high performance. That GH will still work if you eat before you lift. The fasting made it increase, not the lifting.

      Try to keep the % PFC the same in all meals, maybe a bit more fresh fruit/veg in the morning, maybe a green smoothie with yogurt in the AM, 30 min before workout. You can set it all up in the blender container and put the whole mass in the fridge overnight, then blend and swig first thing. Get a boost of GH with one day of IF over the weekend, rinse/repeat.

      Hope that helps. :) Weight training is what helped me overcome a lot of health issues, it’s better than any other form of exercise, IMO. I hope it works out for you.

  14. I feel sorry for anybody reading this and taking it serious.

    You’re recomending a 65% fat diet?

    80% Carbs

    10% Fat

    10% Protein

    has been PROVEN as the best diet. You NEED Carbs!? WTF

  15. Cherish says:

    Hi Ben,

    Great article. I recently read Taubes book “Why We Get Fat” and so cut down on my carb intake. I already didn’t eat breads, pastas, potatoes, etc, but found the amount of fruit, sweet potatoes, and other carby veggies was putting me at around 25-30% carbs/day. I’ve been limiting fruit and higher carb veggies so that I’m ending up with about 50-80g of net carbs per day. My fat intake comes mostly from animal and fish fats, olive oil, nuts, and avocado. I’ve been getting around 25-30% protein/day and fats 50-60%, so I’ve been very close to the 65/20/15 except that my protein is maybe too high. I work out 4-5 days/week and do a mix of weights, Bodyweight, hiit, and cardio (mostly jogging).

    My question is as follows. I was feeling like I was making progress and starting to lean out a bit, but after reading Taubes’ book and switching to a lower carb intake, I actually look and feel much puffier, I’ve gained 2-3 lbs, and look less defined, esp around my middle. My abs were starting to make an appearance and now they’re pretty much gone again. In the article you allude to there being exceptions for females but did not elaborate. Any idea why this would happen? I’ve not increased my overall caloric intake and have actually been more careful lately to get enough sleep, not snack late at night, and etc. It is very frustrating and demoralizing to watch one’s hard work start to backslide especially after making a change that is supposed to do the opposite. If it matters, I’m 32 and have a 2 year old child (I know that shouldn’t have much of an impact but I’ve noticed I have to work much harder and be more vigilant about my diet ever since being pregnant). Thanks!!

    1. Hey Cherish, there could be a bunch of reasons for this and not a lot we can go over here. If you want to go into detail feel free to book a consult at bengreenfieldfitness.com/coaching and choose 20 or 60 mins and we'll get you scheduled to go over everything

    2. Igor says:

      Hey Cherish,

      The same happens to me – I’m a 132 lb male and my carb intake sits at around 140g net. As soon as I start cutting carbs down and adding more fats, I start feeling puffier and definition starts to go away.

  16. geeta sharma says:

    hello,this is good but it is very long.

  17. Science says:

    So the first scientific source you cited comes to the conclusion that “a high-GI meal decreased plasma glucose, increased hunger, and selectively stimulated brain regions associated with reward and craving”

    Basically, it still comes down to counting calories. You’re wrong when you said “But both groups ate identical amounts of calories”; I couldn’t find that anywhere in the paper.

    Yes, choosing healthier foods will help decrease your appetite among other benefits, but 1500 calories of bad food will give you the same weight loss as 1500 calories of good food. There hasn’t been a study showing otherwise that I’m aware of.

  18. gert says:

    Aha yes so you do take these with meals. I maybe also misunderstood the word “salad” as i thought it was just some sort of lettuce with fish or chicken or something, but it probably also contains your carbs. Thats why i didnt see a lot of carbs in the mondays-friday meals.

    Thanks! Gert

  19. gert says:

    Heey Ben,

    What are the sources of carbs in the mealplan example mentioned above and how many carbs does this meals exist of? I can hardly believe this will get you the 100-150gr of carbs? (In most of the meals).

    I found that im probably lower on carbs than i want/thought but in most of this meals i dont see a lot of it either?

    Can you explain? Thanks!

    1. You'd be surprised at how fast things add up with rice, sweet potato, yam, etc. at dinner, especially with dark chocolate / red wine added in. Easily.

  20. ForecasterJason says:

    I'm 21 and only 5'8" 124-126 lbs. My diet is generally around 50% carbs, 30-35% fat, and 15% protein. I'm considered active and I'm also trying to build muscle. Most of my carbs are from non-refined foods. I will admit, my blood sugar is a bit elevated according to an A1c test, but my fasting blood sugar was normal at 83. My cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and liver tests all came back excellent. But lately I found that I dropped a couple pounds (as evidenced not just by the scale but how my pants fit) after I increased my activity level. I don't need to lose any more fat at all (my waist is only 27 inches right now). So, I would say I need to increase calories.

    I'm concerned about the satiety aspect of fat if I were to significantly lower my carb percentage. Do you think it's really that harmful in my case if I'm getting in 300g of carbs a day (which is just under 50% for a 2500 calorie diet)? I think it's worth noting that in addition to my size, I also have a fairly low body fat percentage, so my muscle to fat ratio is actually high. A lot of body fat calculators suggest that I may be around 8% body fat, and even that may be generous. I understand that muscle can be built with a low carb diet, but I think getting in a lot more fat would be very hard for me due to the satiety aspect, as I've found higher fat foods/meals to keep me fuller.

    1. It all depends on the timing of said carbs. If you're getting the majority of those in post-workout then you'll get lots of glycogen distribution and a lower insulin release. At the same time, I'd consider having at 2-3 days of lower carb intake (a carb cycling approach) rather than doing 300g every day. You could do 100-150g on the lower days, then 200-300g on the very active, higher days.

  21. goldfilm says:

    Hello Ben,

    you just opened my eyes, but I have a lot of questions! I'm 42, 5"9, 155 lbs., pretty good shape. I've been working out intensely since I turned 40 (Insanity, P90X, Crossfit, etc)

    My current nutrition plan is based on 2,800 calories a day:
    – Carbohydrates: 315.0g (45%)
    – Protein: 175.0g (25%)
    – Fat: 93.0g (30%)

    My plan is to bulk and gain muscle, and I read a lot about ratios with more carbs than protein to gain muscle. Now I'm confused (this is one example: http://www.nowloss.com/carbs-proteins-fats-needed…

    My current plan has 45-60 min workouts with one day of Crossfit, two days of Powerblocks weightlifting, one day of kettle bells only abs, one day of kettle bells full body, one day of yoga, one day of rest —every day I warm up with jump rope—.

    I have high cholesterol since I’m a teenager, so I have to keep an eye on fats even if they are healthy. I eats lots of fish, nuts, avocado, etc, but 50-60% of fat seems a lot to me. And why is that the U.S. Dept of Health recommends no more than 35% fat, no less than 45% carbs?

    You forbid food like bread, cereal, soy beans, that I always thought as fundamental… why is that? Also how important is to replace non-organic with organic, or not eating farmed salmon? The difference in $$$ is huge.

    My breakfasts include whole wheat bread, reduce fat cheese, turkey, rice cakes, organic peanut butter, low fat cottage cheese, fruits. Lunches, some lean meat or fish, brown rice or quinoa, lots of veggies, avocado, another fruit. Third meal greek yogurt 2%, whey powder, Kashi cereal, nuts, raisins, flaxseed. Dinner chicken or another meat or fish, rice, beans, salads. Post workout more nuts, a chocolate milk, a protein cereal bar.

    I feel I want to try your plan, but I’m concerned with the amount of fat and the small amount of protein. I also worry about being as healthy as possible so I’m willing to take the chance… do you have some words? Any suggestions? I thought I was doing the right thing, but now I feel I have to rethink my diet.

    Thanks a lot!

      1. goldfilm says:

        Thanks! I'll read the recommended material. Still concerned about amount of fat for my high cholesterol…

  22. Roi18 says:

    Great article, nice follow up to the post about your jacked brother :)
    So after some research I did and the things you say in your site, my plan for the upcoming bulk is the following: I'm 1.61m, I weight 60kg, 11% body fat, lifting weights and aiming towards muscle gains. I'm going to keep counting calories simply because otherwise I lose track. otherwise I eat too much or too little.

    120g protein (2g/kg), 100g net carbs, 180g fats. (Total 2500 kcal)
    Nice amount of green veggies, carbs will come from potatoes, and all of the meal plan is based on your food pyramid.

    The carbs are going to be eaten around lunch, as a pre and post workout meals with some fatty beef or whey, to create an insulin spike that will help take the protein to the muscle as well as the glycogen after the workout.

    Do you think that it's a solid plan?
    Thank you!

    1. Sounds solid to me. Careful with the protein. That sounds like a good amount but you could use a glucometer to make sure you aren't spiking your blood sugar too much. Check out my advice to Archie on this page https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/11/episo…

  23. azurekca says:

    In the article you state "if you eat mostly fat, your body will run on mostly fat." Can you please provide a citation for this? Thanks!

    1. Start with every reference listed in Volek And Phinney's "art and science of low carbohydrate performance". Jam packed with studies.

      1. azurekca says:

        Thanks!

  24. Collin says:

    Uhh, your article is blowing my mind!!!!

    I’ve been a protein monster for a while. 1.5-2g per # of body weight no problem.

    I have a very clean paleo diet, but Interestingly enough, about a year ago I developed red skin blotching around my eye (not itchy or puffy).

    I never have been able to figure out what it is from. I assumed it was some type of gut distress and worked to remedy that, but have had no positive results.

    This article has me thinking that it’s possibly a liver issue from my overly high protein diet?

    Who knows for sure, but I am going to give the ratios described for an athlete a try.

    That said, I am quite scurrred to lose muscle eating less protein!

    Thanks you so much for your work.

  25. jennymdoss says:

    I would like to begin lowering my carb intake based on this chapter. Is there usually a transition period in which I may not feel great? How long until I get used to the new diet?

  26. thomascz says:

    Hi Ben!

    it is amazing how much informations you give in one post, and you send many post by week!! A goldmine. thanks a lot! how you do it by yourself?

    Concerning the ration of 65% of fat.
    Imagine you get it only by oil. 3000Kcal a day and 65% fat induce 1950Kcal in fat (le's say we agree to use the calory even it's thermodynamic and no nutrtion nor biology/ATP)
    This is 217 gr of olive oil
    this is 236 ml of olive oil

    This is almost a redbull can of pure oil :-)

    Does it sound a lot or not? Are you currently eating so much oil? I think i must be around 100 ml of olive oil in fat equivalent volume

    Concerning the carbs. Let's speak with "equivalent-rice" 150 gr/day carbs this is 600gr of cooked white rice or 200 gr of uncooked rice. this is 2 huge bowl of rice.

    Concerning the protein, 100gr of protein is often 500gr of meat. Which i almost get each day.

    I don't know if those maths are useful for anyone but i can say that i probably eat a quarter or a third of the required amound of fat and because i eat vegetables that take volume but bring few carbs it is possible that i eat the 2/3 or 3/4 of required amount of carbs.
    Meaning that i could be under 3000Kcal, nearby 2000 or 2500 kcal :-/

    According to all this, someone eating only meat, rice and olive oil and eating 4 meal a day should eat for each meal:
    1/2 glass of meat
    1/4 glass of olive oil
    3/5 glass of rice
    (with a 250ml glass)

    1. If you were to only get your fat from oil it would be too concentrated and empty gastrically too quickly. You'd get fatty stool and diarrhea. I definitely don't use oil only!

  27. totobest86 says:

    Hi Ben, a quick question regarding Ironman fueling and Superstarch. Do you have a technique to avoid the powder to stick to the bottom of the drinking bottle ? I think nearly 50% of the powder sticks to the bottom. I may seem like a detail but it makes the difference between drinking water or superstarch mix… Thks ! Anthony

    1. I shake it a ton and stir it with a butter knife when I'm mixing it and then shake it a bunch whenever I use it. I am going to experiment also with "BLENDING" IT in a blender then drinking it from a Floe bottle.

  28. N.DeMoe says:

    LOVING the information you are putting out! Can’t wait for the book to be complete! This may have already been asked, but I was wondering about what kinds of nuts are best? I personally like walnuts, almonds, cashews and brazil nuts. Is that a good variety?

    1. Anything raw. And only in moderation due to the amount omega 6's. Keep them in freezer preferably. Some of the best are almond, walnut, macadamia nut, cashew, brazil nut…so you're on the right track!

  29. AmirAkiva says:

    Amazing, detailed article! Thanks Ben.
    Probably a question that I am sure you have covered before…I get extremely anal with fat consumption when it comes to meats. The typical good fats I consume a fair quantity of such as nuts..
    Should I be less concerned with cutting every single bit of fat on a chicken breast or a lamb shank for example. Are these types of fats going to help me continue sustaining my fat loss.

    Secondly, what is too much fruit per day?…I sometimes consume 3/4 apples and 1 banana a day. Is this generally too much? If so can you recommend any other snack alternatives?

    1. Considering you asked that question a guy who pushes aside the chicken breast to eat the skin, and peels the fatty layering off a fish to sautee in bacon grease, I suspect you may know the answer. ;) I average about 1 piece of fresh raw fruit every 4-5 days…mostly veg for me.

  30. Mark says:

    Hi Ben,

    Good chapter. I’m looking forward to see what you have to say about aging athletes. I’m going on 57 and must say I’ve had to change the way I do things as I get older.

    I’ve been experimenting with a lower carb diet (I long ago eschewed the pasta loading for a more sensibly rounded meal the day before and normal eating during the week) and have been doing my long training rides and runs either with UCAN or nothing if it’s 2 hours or less. Last weekend I did a half ironman with 2 scoops of UCAN before the bike and 2 during the bike. I ate 1/2 of a powerbar at mile 54 to get ready for the run and then just ate Cytomax drops during the run (less than one pack) and had a PR. I’m still working at tweaking that and I don’t think it will work totally for an ironman distance, but I’ll keep working on it. Any tips?

    And now for something completely different. Some possible typos, omissions, etc.

    1. Because of genetic predispositions, some athletes are much more sensitive to the fluctuations in blood sugar caused by carbohydrate intake (Haldi). Often, the result of this sensitivity is a short-lived initial increase in energy levels after consumption of a sports bar, sports drink, gel or other carbohydrate source, following by a sharp and drastic drop in energy levels. But the calories from fats and proteins are utilized at far more stable rate than carbohydrate sugar, resulting in more stabilized energy levels. I think there should be an “a” between at and far or rate should be “rates”.

    2. First, consider that ammonia is a toxic compound to the body. Once you get close to about 1000 calories a day of protein (that’s about 250 grams), you can longer convert ammonia to urea, and you begin to build up this toxin within your body. This is extremely stressful on your internal organs, especially your kidneys.- I think there should be a “no” between can and longer, as in “you can no longer convert”

    1. Looks like a double comment here Mark! Anyways, I'd avoid cytomax, powerbars, etc. I've been using X2Performance for those purposes, because it allows you to stay in fatty acid mode!

      Ben

  31. Mark says:

    First, consider that ammonia is a toxic compound to the body. Once you get close to about 1000 calories a day of protein (that’s about 250 grams), you can longer convert ammonia to urea, and you begin to build up thi – Ben, I think there should be a “no” between can and longer in the sentence above.

    Good chapter Ben. I’ve been experimenting with this all year and I’m doing 3+ hour rides with Z4 and Z3 intervals just taking in UCAN before and some during the workout. I did a half ironman last weekend using that strategy but I did use Cytomax drops on the run and had a PR

    1. Thanks for heads up Mark. I'll fix that typo ASAP. Glad it's working out for you!

  32. Brionman says:

    What ingredints would you include for your "Green smoothies"?

    1. Chapter 11 has the recipe!

  33. Simon_M says:

    Hi Ben…

    Do you have a reference for this: "When glucose is used to create energy, a high number of free radicals are produced. Free radicals are dangerous molecules that can damage normal cellular processes. The burning of fat for energy does not create this same cellular damage."

    My understanding is that fat-burning aerobic exercise uses ATP produced in the mitochondria, which is where most free radicals are produced. If you're exercising at sufficient intensity that you are glucose/carb "burning", you have probably gone *mostly* anaerobic…so largeky bypassing the mitochondria, so not producing as many free radicals…
    Any thoughts?

    Thanks fpr all this free stuff!
    Simon.

      1. Simon Martin says:

        That link’s gone bad…

  34. Michael Davis says:

    Ben, if following a weight lifting protocol for building muscle mass (as I am doing now after my fairly dramatic weight loss), what are your thoughts/recommendations in regards to intentionally spiking insulin with carbs in a post workout/lift shake in that 30 minute to 1 hour window after? Listening to the "gurus" out there, this is done to blunt cortisol and raise insulin. Other than this intentional carb spike, I am pretty low carb the rest of the time with a high protein (higher than you recommend here) and high fat consumption guy. Thoughts on this whole protocol for muscle mass building? BTW…can't wait until later in the year when you shift to muscle building. Just wish I had all of that info right now! LOL! Thanks my friend!

    1. Yes, I talk about this in https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/248 – the IGF release you get from that can REALLY help with muscle building – so absolutely!

      1. rsassoon says:

        Hei, taking the chance. I started following those concepts recently to get rid of some fat after the holidays, before going back to building muscle. It has worked really well! Faster results than ever before :)
        But I wonder now to more efficiently build musce. Should I increase the calories mainly on the fats and protein and keeping carbs at about 150g? I'm 68 kg by the way and 1.77m.. at the moment still counting calories just to have an idea where I am. I aim to go with a 2500 cal protocol for a 'clean bulk'… and yes, I'm skinny and until last year was a skinny-fat actually.

        Thanks Ben!
        keep up your amazing work with those articles and this book :)

        1. If you want to build muscle as fast as possible, it's definitely MUCH less of an uphill battle to give yourself 150-(a max of) 200g carbs per day. Remember that carbs "fill out" the muscle too. I will be putting on more muscle at the end of the year and will definitely make a jump from my current 10% "ketogenic" carb intake to at least 20%…

          1. rsassoon says:

            Great, thanks!
            another thing, besides that window of opportunity, do you have any thoughts on nutrient timing?
            or that is mostly nonsense for building muscle?

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