Balancing carbs and protien

I try to balance the amount of carbs and protien i eat per day. Is this effective?

i try and eat as few carbs as possible and that is effective for me.

whats your daily ratio of carbs to protien?

i dont really count.  i just dont eat carbs except for vegetables and a treat here or there.  it really has made me less hungry and i have a lot of energy.

however, i am insulin resistant so you may not react the same way i do to eating less carbs.  everyones different remember.

I eat 50 to 60% carbs. I excersise a lot so it important to have carbs for energy.

30% protein, the rest fats.

Personally, I lift 2 out of every 3 days, and cardio 2x per day.  My carbs usually stay around 20-30g per day, while my protein intake is about 175g per day.  That works for me, I've been loosing around 1-2lbs per day!  Down 71lbs. now!  Woo Hoo!

Effective in what respect?  If you mean for weight loss, then no, it only depends on burning more calories than you eat.  If you mean for good health, then yes - you need a balanced diet to be healthy.

The healthy range of percentages of fats carbs and protein are pretty wide

Fat: 20 - 35% of total calories (average 30%)
Protein: 10 – 35% (average 15%)
Carbohydrates: 45 – 65% (average 55%)

I think it is effective in the sense that it keeps your energy on an even keel and your hunger minimal. You still have to watch calories, because that's the bottom line. But this makes it easier to eat less.

Also, realize that the balance needs to occur at every meal and snack. It won't be effective if you, say, have all your protein for the day at breakfast, then nothing but carbs and fat for lunch and dinner.

I think the Zone plan is the best. The simplest way is to fill your plate with 1/3 lean protein and 2/3 healthy carbs (fruits, veggies and small amounts of WHOLE grains), then add a tiny bit of healthy fat (olive oil, nuts, etc). You can do this on a smaller scale for snacks.

But this is just a ratio... you still have to take in fewer calories than you burn to lose weight.

There was a study at te University of Sydney here in Australia, which suggests we keep eating until we hit a "protein target" as opposed to a "calorie target".  Their particular research effort was on locusts, but they and others have shown that the same mechanism also works in other animals, including mammals, so in theory should also apply to humans, ourselves...  well okay, yourselves :-)

In other words, the more protein you eat, the less fats and carbs you will eat, simply because you won't want/need to eat them.  Effectively, you can diet without realising you're dieting.

I notice myself, the days I eat more protein, the following day, I tend not to eat anywhere near as much.

Nonetheless, the upshot I think then, is any of the existing ratios of carbs:protein:fat describing how much of each you should eat, and what we regard as healthy/unhealthy could actually be quite wrong.

Rgds,

Jason.