Can you get fat by eating too much protein or meat?

Continuing from the last post, let’s dive a little deeper into eating too much protein before I give you my views on how much we actually need.  So protein from our food essentially takes 3 very different paths.  Our body breaks it down and then combines the various amino acids for tasks to be carried out at the time, it converts it to glucose to be burned as energy or it converts it to urea to be processed in the liver and flushed out by the kidneys in the urine.

 

Humans aren't built to hibernate, therefore have no incentive to eat a high protein diet and convert it to glucose and then to fat.

 

A lot of the research that I’ve done has found an opinion that excess protein which results in glucose conversion will make you fat because that glucose is then converted and stored as body fat.  Well I am not so sure about that.  Why would our bodies convert the protein to glucose to store it as fat?  I understand why it would be converted to glucose to be burned as energy–BECAUSE humans are designed to run on carbohydrates!  Often overlooked is that meat can have a fairly high insulin response (you may be familiar with the term glycemic index).  Some meats don’t.  There is varying information out there, but my point is that people sometimes assume that the high insulin response is because the protein is being converted to glucose and therefore needs insulin to escort the blood sugars into your cells.

I’m not convinced that this is the case.  I’m roaming into personal theory territory here, but let’s discuss and then you can comment at the end what your opinions are.  Why would our body take the time to convert protein to glucose if we don’t really need it?  Chances are if you are consuming meat, you’re getting more saturated fat than you need anyway.  So if you are getting more fat than you need, why would your body go to the trouble of converting protein to glucose and then storing the extra as fat?  Yea, maybe some people’s internal processes are so screwed up that the body doesn’t know what to think anymore, but if that’s the case you need more extreme intervention than simply reading this blog.  Our bodies are VERY good at storing fat so if you’re getting saturated fat by eating the meat, then your body is already storing that extra fat.  Why would it want to make more fat to store?

 

Our current food system is causing us to "de-volve" where our bodies are less and less able to adapt to high calorie, low nutrient foods. We are a resilient species, but what this really means is that we don't die instantly from eating bad food, but we develop "conditions" (obesity, diabetes, skin abnormalities etc...) What are we letting happen to us?

 

So here is what I think is important.  FAT AND CHOLESTEROL.  Yes, I am writing about protein, but this is not only relevant to the point, but relevant to your overall health.  If you eat meat, you are getting fat and cholesterol, even if you buy the “low fat and lean” meats.  Don’t get sucked into the confusion, you’re still getting saturated fat and cholesterol which are significant contributors to heart disease.

Humans run on carbohydrates.  Fat is used in building and re-building cells and protein is needed to be the building block.  Protein, specifically amino acids are needed to regulate body processes, BUT protein is not designed to be an energy source and neither is fat.  All these stupid diets out there that propagate cutting out carbs and burning fat for energy, or burning protein for energy are just setting our nation’s health back.  Just like a car that runs on high octane fuel, if you put in the wrong type of gas consistently, it will develop problems, inefficiencies and eventually break down.

 

As humans we are a finely tuned machine just like a sports car. Obesity, skin conditions, sickness and disease are examples of the check engine light coming on. If we don't practice preventive maintenance then we will end up breaking down and needing a tow to the hospital.

 

You will be healthier and gravitate towards a healthier weight if you focus on getting micro-nutrients over getting macro-nutrients.  It sounds counter-intuitive right?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to focus on getting the proper fat, protein and carbs and then as a result we would get the proper amount of fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins and minerals?  Yes, it would!  BUT with our modern food system being what it is, refined foods, fried foods and pesticide laden foods we can’t take that approach.

I recommend that you take the last couple paragraphs to heart.  To summarize, we don’t benefit from eating extra protein (from meat) as a substitute for fruits, vegetables and grains.  The extra fat and cholesterol are bad.  The extra urea that is produced is harder on our liver and kidneys.  The increased acidic load this places on our blood has to be rectified by releasing valuable stores of minerals to re-alkalize.  In addition, for some reason, animal proteins tend to cause the blood to clump together which results in decreased circulation and oxygenation that causes our cells to age quicker and die sooner.  Plant based proteins and amino acids do not seem to have this same effect.  At this point in science research, it would be purely speculative as to why, but I guess that’s why you read the blog right?  I’ll include my thoughts at the conclusion of this series.  In the meantime enjoy a little food for thought:

High protein foods (as a percentage of protein calories related to total calories):

seaweed and spirulina: 91%, watercress: 83%, many beans can be 50-60% protein, spinach 50%, many squashes 50%, mushrooms and lettuces 40-50%, soy beans 30%, standard hamburger 42%

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