Nutrition thoughts I wrote up a while ago

[flexagon]

I've been thinking a lot lately about calorie deficits and weight loss.

I was thinking how there's a total contradiction between these two statements:

1) you get 9 calories from a gram of fat, 4 from a gram of protein and 4 from a gram of carbohydrates

2) the body uses protein and lipids to build structural elements (unsaturated fatty acids make great cell walls, doncha know).

So unless I'm reading something wrong, carbs are actually the only thing that's always converted to energy or stored as fat! (By energy, I mean ATP and CP, the stuff that moves muscles). So what's correct is that the body can get that many calories out of the stuff you put in your mouth, IF that stuff is used for energy, which not all of it is. Increase exercise level and I bet you anything the amount of material needed for structural repairs/building goes up... and I bet that's a lot of what "base metabolism" is.

Thoughts?

Comments

[savage-rose.livejournal.com]

Fat cannot be added to your body without the insulin released during carb digestion. But unfortunately, anything eaten with a lot of carbs basically gets pulled into the insulin trap, so anything can be made into fat when eaten with the right quantities of carbs.

I think you're right...and even when you're not exercising, your body has a constant need for protein. Muscle needs a lot of upkeep.