Carbs, Fats, Proteins, What’s the difference

As we get closer to a relaunch of three completely redesigned formulas, I want to take a step back and write a pure information piece. People keep asking when I will have something to sell them, but a fair number of you have written in just wanting the science. This is for you.

I want to walk through the three major food groups, carbs, fats, and proteins, with an anti aging frame on top. Fasten your seatbelt.

The carb argument

I have written a lot about ketogenic, high fat, and calorie restricted approaches over the past five years. So it does not surprise me that someone is now selling supplements to “support ketogenesis.” I am not going there, at least not yet. Real ketogenic adaptation is a food and behavior project, not a pill project.

I have also written a lot about carbohydrate restriction, and I have caught plenty of grief for it from dietitians. The usual complaint is “How can you recommend avoiding an essential food group?” The answer, in the mood I am usually in, is “Who taught you carbs are essential?” Carbohydrate is not an essential macronutrient. The body can synthesize all the glucose it needs from protein and fat. The essential amino acids are essential. The essential fatty acids are essential. Carbohydrate is optional.

In modern Western society, total carbohydrate avoidance is nearly impossible. Below 50 grams a day, however, is achievable for most people who decide to do it. The metabolic, body composition, and inflammatory marker effects show up within four to eight weeks for most.

The protein piece

Protein is essential, but only nine of the twenty one amino acids cannot be made from others. Protein also drives gluconeogenesis, the production of new glucose, especially during the overnight fast. If you are trying to maintain ketosis, keep protein calories below 25% of total intake. Excess protein will keep your fasting glucose up.

In medical school we called the morning rise in blood sugar in diabetics the Somogyi phenomenon. Medicine has tried to scrub doctor names off conditions, so Somogyi has been renamed the “dawn phenomenon.” The mechanism is the same. A nocturnal blood sugar dip drives a counterregulatory protein-fueled rise in the morning. In modern diabetics on modern insulin regimens it is less dramatic than it used to be. In a non diabetic in ketosis it should not happen at all. If you see fasting glucose drift up on a ketogenic diet, look at protein intake first.

The fat piece

Fat, including saturated fat, is not the villain it was made out to be in the 1970s and 1980s. The dietary fat to heart disease story has been substantially revised. What matters most for cardiovascular and metabolic health is not total fat. It is the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fats in the diet and in tissue, and the avoidance of industrial seed oils that drive that ratio in the wrong direction.

The anti aging diet, in one paragraph

Exceptional nutrient density. Relative calorie moderation, with long daily food absences (time restricted eating). Insulin management. A diet that fits your activity level, supports your goals, and that you can actually stay on. If you have to fill nutrient gaps with supplements, fill them.

About the “longevity diet” debates

Veganism, paleo, Mediterranean, blue zones, you name it. I have looked. The genetic studies for longevity in humans have come up largely empty. Whatever drives the long lived populations in Sardinia or Okinawa is not a simple shared gene. It is most likely epigenetic, plus lifestyle, plus social structure, plus what was eaten in childhood. The average reader of mine does not have access to those variables.

So skip the diet wars. Pick a diet that limits insulin spikes, supports your activity, and delivers superior nutrient density. Some people thrive on paleo. Some on Mediterranean. Some on something with a name nobody has agreed on yet. The only way to know is to measure your own response.

What to do tomorrow morning

• Keep a food log for two weeks and add up the grams of carbohydrate, protein, and fat.
• Run baseline labs. Fasting glucose, A1c, fasting insulin, ApoB, hs CRP, omega 3 index.
• Pick a diet pattern and run it for 90 days. Recheck.
• Adjust based on numbers, not on internet arguments.

Doc