Nutritional ratios

Hi everybody.

I'm following the paleo's guidelines, but I would like to make it more accurate.

so my question is, what should be the nutritional ratios?

30% carbs (from vegs and fruits), 40% proteins, 30% fats?

20% carbs, 40% proteins, 40% fats? or even less protein and more fat? etc.

My goal is to become leaner ang gain weight up to around 60kg(6-8% bf, and more muscular).

I weigh 56kg (123.5lb) and my height is 1.65m (5'4").

Good day.

Hi powersnake,

To get the ball rolling I would say that percentages aren't really that great a way of looking at it. I would instead recommend:

Carbs: less than 40g/day (<10g per meal, <5g per snack). This is effective carb content of food, so total carbs minus fibre. These are maximums ...so the most veg you can get for the least carb content would be ideal. You will replenish glycogen and obtain energy from other sources, just like our ancestors.

Protein: around 1g protein per pound lean bodyweight. The opposite of a high carb diet is not high protein, it is high fat. Eating massive amounts of protein may lead to other health issues, so more is not necessarily better.

Fat: Once the above is taken care of, make up your calories with fats. How many more calories? ...trial and error. I believe that the X,000kcal/day benchmark isn't much better than Body Mass Indexing. It's too general, and I severely doubt that the 'tests' were done on fat-adapted athletes.

Cheers,

George.

NB - for those trying to burn stored fat, you will probably still need to be in calorie deficit even on a low-carb/paleo nutritional plan. There was a recent post about this here:

> http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/weight-loss/low-carb-and-calories-2/

Thank you for your answer, George.

What will be a good fat source except olive oil and nuts?

Snir.

Peanuts, flax seeds, and fish oil could be make a great start. However, read up on flax seeds before consuming them because they contain toxic substances. The general advice is not to start with bigger amounts as flax seeds can act as laxatives. Keep intake under 20 grams per day because of toxic substances.

Hey George,

I read ur post and u advocated no more than 40g of carbs per day. I'm no nutritional expert but i like to eat well and i was thinking that seems a little low for someone who's training. I had a look at what i eat and on average i think i put away at least 60g of carbs for breakfast, let alone what i must eat over the entire day! Just thought i'd add my thoughts

Demus said:

Hey George,

I read ur post and u advocated no more than 40g of carbs per day. I'm no nutritional expert but i like to eat well and i was thinking that seems a little low for someone who's training. I had a look at what i eat and on average i think i put away at least 60g of carbs for breakfast, let alone what i must eat over the entire day! Just thought i'd add my thoughts

There is no such thing as essential carbs. You don't need them once you are fat-adapted. Sorry for the brief reply, but this has been done to death, and there is plenty of discussion around the forum.

Paleo = low-carb. Carbs = high insulin = inflammation = lots of bad things...

George.

powersnake said:

Thank you for your answer, George.

What will be a good fat source except olive oil and nuts?

Snir.

No worries,

Whatever it is try and make sure it's undamaged fat, and of good quality. Don't have too much Omega6 (vegetable oil), and try and get most of your Omega3 from animal sources (grass-fed meat, fish) bearing in mind that all Omega3 is not equal ...don't rely on flaxseed, etc. Omega9 (saturated fat) is neutral regards inflammation, but should be from the best sources possible (so not supermarket value pork lard).

Saturated fats are very stable for cooking with, unlike mono and polyunsaturated fats which break down. Coconut is also very good for cooking with, and has some great health properties. It does taste of coconut ,though ...which is not to everyone's taste.

Sorry a bit rambly ...nose against the grindstone at work today.

Hope that helps?

George.

Are we Missing the Point of Paleo?

I am quite new to paleo style nutrition. But from what I've read shouldn't paleo style eating be about cutting out (or at least down) on grains, legumes, potatoes, etc? Of course granted these are probably the main sources of carbs for people, so this would incidently cut carb consumption greatly, but isn't the main point of cutting these things out to control insulin levels and stop toxins (which the aforementioned foods contain) entering the body?

This is just my opinion,

Ed

Since I think that the foods recommended in the Paleo diet closely match those of the Zone i'll give you the ratios recommended in the zone...

40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein

and following the paleo and zone diet, those carbs should mainly consist of low glycemic-index fruits and veggies, and minimize carbs from things such as grains, legumes, pastas, potatoes, etc.

the zone diet recommends against it becauses of the resultant insulin spike, bad eicosanoid production, etc.. while paleo recommends against it simply because it wasn't in the diet of man during the paleo era.

George,

According to what you wrote I will have to eat about 100gr of fat per day(according to BMR calculation), isn't it too much? (60% f, 10% c, 30% p)

Jared, Thank you.

I guess I'll just have to try and see what's best for me.

Thank you guys for your answers.