QUOTE from Dr Fung (emphasis mine):
IN CONTRAST TO refined grains, protein cannot and should not be eliminated from your diet. (For more on protein, see chapter 17.) Instead, moderate the amount of protein in your diet to fall within 20 percent to 30 percent of your total calories.” [1]
NOTE (my commentary):
In the Fung five-step recipe for weight loss, protein is an essential macronutrient; unlike carbs, you cannot live without it.
Some diets, like the Atkins diet and the Keto approach, seem to allow unrestricted consumption of protein. This has been magnified and distorted by the press as if you could eat pounds of bacon daily and still lose weight. We only lose weight when there is a calorie deficit and hormonal changes in the body turn toward the use of body fat for energy rather than glucose.
… protein cannot and should not be eliminated from your diet.
The reason that I need to moderate my consumption of protein is that the body can also make glucose from protein by a process known as Gluconeogenesis. Metformin inhibits Gluconeogenesis in the liver.
Overeating protein is not a solution for obesity.
Wikipedia: Gluconeogenesis (GNG)is a metabolic pathway that results in the generation of glucose from certain non-carbohydrate carbon substrates. From breakdown of proteins, these substrates include glucogenic amino acids (although not ketogenic amino acids); from breakdown of lipids (such as triglycerides), they include glycerol, odd-chain fatty acids (although not even-chain fatty acids, see below); and from other steps in metabolism they include pyruvate and lactate.
In mammals, gluconeogenesis has been believed to be restricted to the liver, the kidney, the intestine, and muscle, but recent evidence indicates gluconeogenesis occurring in astrocytes of the brain. These organs use somewhat different gluconeogenic precursors. The liver preferentially uses lactate, glycerol, and glucogenic amino acids (especially alanine) while the kidney preferentially uses lactate, glutamine and glycerol. Lactate from the Cori cycle is quantitatively the largest source of substrate for gluconeogenesis, especially for the kidney. The liver uses both glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis to produce glucose, whereas the kidney only uses gluconeogenesis. After a meal, the liver shifts to glycogen synthesis, whereas the kidney increases gluconeogenesis.[12] The intestine uses mostly glutamine and glycerol.
The anti-diabetic drug metformin reduces blood glucose primarily through inhibition of gluconeogenesis, overcoming the failure of insulin to inhibit gluconeogenesis due to insulin resistance.
Imagine a plate divided into thirds – one-third carbohydrates, one-third protein, and one-third vegetables. Then improve the basic plate by leaving the third for carbs empty and replacing them with vegetables – 2/3 of the plate. Provide flavor to the vegetables with healthy fats such as butter or sour cream. Saute them in olive oil and garlic.
Instead, moderate the amount of protein in your diet to fall within 20 percent to 30 percent of your total calories.
STRATEGY: I will eat more vegetables and moderate my protein consumption.
I am not concerned about metformin inhibiting gluconeogenesis because this is not an issue until the body is completely emptied of glucose from other sources by fasting. If enough glucose was freed up from gluconeogenesis, it could turn off the hormonal process of using stored fat for energy.
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SOURCE – Footnotes:
[1] “The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss” by Dr. Jason Fung, Timothy Noakes, . (For more on protein, see chapter 17.) Page 230.
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Key: Fung01-16.54 Shipped: 05/04/2021. Review: 01/11/2022.