I'd still be interested to know your approximate daily caloric intake, and how it is divided between protein and fat. Ballpark, of course.
1800-2000 if I don't eat out. I don't generally count calories, only macros. Protein >1g/lb of body weight can kick you out of keto due to gluconeogenesis. My carbs are so low that my macros approach 60/40 (fat).
You're a big guy, so at only 2,000 calories you must be on a serious diet. If so, how long do you figure you will remain on it, and then what do you think your caloric and macro breakdown will be afterwards?
And, yes, I was wondering about that, which is why I asked, although I didn't know the approximate cutoff point. Also, in another article I posted recently on protein, the assertion is that far less than 1g/lb of bodyweight is required, and that consuming more than required turns to fat. But, more specifically, "...instead of going straight to adipose tissue like fat typically does, extra protein goes through the liver, where it’s converted to fat through a process called de novo lipogenesis. This type of fat typically pads the organs, he says, and has been linked to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome and heart disease." https://www.elitetrader.com/et/thre...-america-became-obsessed-with-protein.379414/ Thoughts? EDIT: I will admit that I have consumed about 1g/lb for years in the past without any apparent negative effects.
Keto diet study shows increased LDL cholesterol, higher apolipoprotein B and reduced gut bacteria https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-keto-diet-ldl-cholesterol-higher.html A team of health and nutrition specialists at the University of Bath, working with colleagues from the University of Bristol, the Oxford University Hospital Trusts, Maastricht University, and the Teagasc Food Research Center, has found that people on a ketogenic diet may experience an increase in LDL cholesterol levels, higher apolipoprotein B levels and reductions in certain gut bacteria. In their study, published on the open-access site Cell Reports Medicine, volunteers went on a ketogenic diet for a month so the researchers could study its impact on their bodies. A ketogenic diet consists of a drastic reduction in consumption of carbohydrates, replacing them with fats from meat, dairy, cheese, eggs and other foods such as avocados. Prior research has shown that those adhering to the rules do lose weight, but also that the diet may cause other health problems such as nutrition deficiencies, digestive problems, kidney stones and, over the long term, bone problems. In this new effort, the research team suspected that the diet may also lead to increases in LDL cholesterol levels and possibly other problems. To find out if that might be the case, they conducted a randomized controlled trial by recruiting volunteers to go on the diet for a month and then to undergo a medical evaluation to determine changes. The trial involved 53 non-obese adults. A third of them went on a ketogenic diet, another third went on a low-sugar diet and the remaining third ate what the researchers describe as a moderate diet to serve as a control. After one month, all the volunteers were tested. The research team found that those volunteers on the ketogenic diet had lost on average 1.6 kg of fat. They also had 16% higher levels of LDL cholesterol in their blood than the control group and 26% higher levels of apolipoprotein B, a protein known to clog arteries. Those on the low-sugar diet lost on average of 1 kg of fat and had 10% lower levels of LDL cholesterol in their blood samples and no change in apolipoprotein B levels. The researchers noted that those volunteers who had been on the ketogenic diet also had reduced levels of a type of gut bacteria known to be involved in promoting a strong immune system and also in the production of vitamin B.
Well known heart surgeon Dr. Philip Ovadia has discussed LDL cholesterol many times, and has noted that with the extensive use of statins over the past decades LDL numbers have come way down but heart disease numbers have continued to go up. Here's a few comments by him regarding LDL and its important relation to other factors (metabolic health, insulin resistance, quality of lipid particles) which are often overlooked by those focusing on LDL levels alone. "The reality of the situation is that for most people with elevated LDL cholesterol that's going to be combined with metabolic disease... 90% of adults essentially are metabolically unhealthy, so for most of the people with high LDL they have that very dangerous combination of metabolic disease and high LDL. "People that have a high LDL but they are metabolically healthy... they're not insulin resistant... their [cholesterol] particles look good... and so those people there's really no reason, there's no data that we have, that shows that lowering their LDL is of any benefit."
That may well be, but it is far above my pay grade. And so I will stick with the mainstream until the mainstream comes around.
Unfortunately most mainstream doctors are trained to focus on LDL numbers at the exclusion of other relevant factors (the more important HDL and triglyceride numbers, insulin resistance/sensitivity, quality of lipid particle, metabolic health, and inflammation levels in the body). As a result, if the LDL number looks "elevated" they immediately turn to statins, not being particularly concerned with the long-term effects. Which is why, by a huge magnitude, statins are the most prescribed drug in the world.
Fortunately, I don't need a statin. If I were ever prescribed one, then I would look more closely at all this stuff. In the meantime, I'll wait for the mainstream to catch up. P.S. I think we've had a similar exchange not too long ago.