more protein, less carbs!!!!

ok so i know protein comes from beans, soy products...etc, but whenever i try and eat extra protein rich foods, my carbohydrates go way up. how can i eat more protein with out eating all the extra carbs?

  Fat - 17.5% (27 grams)
Protein - 10.6% (36 grams)
Carbohydrates - 71.9% (245 grams)
Alcohol - 0.0%
Other - 0.0%

Daily Sodium Intake - 2,481 mg
Daily Fiber Intake - 36 grams
Nutrition Grade

 

 here is what i ate today...maybe that will help:

 

  Breakfast Peanut Butter Cookie - LUNA BAR A 48 180   Lunch Mandarin Oranges - Fruit Bowls B 113 70 Apples A 138 72 Beans, Kidney, Red, Mature Seeds, Canned A- 192 163 Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans, Bengal Gram), Mature Seeds, Canned A- 120 143 Wish-Bone Italian C+ 30 80   Dinner Kashi Black Bean Mango C+ 283 340 Spring Mix - Baby Blends A 85 15 Celery - Raw A 120 17 Wish-Bone Deluxe French A- 30 50 Pineapple Orange Banana - 100% Juice B+ 354 200 Total Calories Consumed 1,330

Oops, I think you forgot to say you want to go vegan!

Maybe nuts.  Skipping meat and dairy makes it tough to find protein rich foods!  A lot of protein supplements have whey (dairy!), and so you wouldn't be completely vegan if you ate that.  Soy dogs don't have too many carbs, do they?  And a lot of beans don't have sooooo many carbs.  

I'm taking a soy supplement for more protein...for some reason red meat isn't doing it's usual thing for me, and neither are chicken nor turkey.  But it's comprised of 21g carbs, 1g fat, 13g protein per serving.  Is that still too many carbs for you?

 I actually think your problem might stem from the fruit juice.  Kick that, and your sugars should total way less.  And stick with less sweet fruit: green apples, blueberries, actually, any sort of berry.  Not grapes, bananas, oranges!  You could probably look up the glycemic index for the lower-carb end of the fruits to help grow this list for variety.

Happy eating! 

so less sugar=less carbs? ok got it. lol problem is i LOVE fruit and it typically makes up my lunch along with either beans or nuts. i will google low sugar fruits low so i can subsitute :) thanks!

i looove fruits too, so it's tough.  but i love me some granny smiths!

Fruits lowest in sugar:

• Rhubarb
• Strawberries
• Cranberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Grapefruit
• Melons
• Apricots
• Plums
• Peaches
• Pears
• Guava
• Cherries
• Apples
• Papaya

These are fairly high in sugar:

• Grapes
• Tangerine
• Oranges
• Pineapple
• Kiwi

The following fruits are very high in sugar and generally going to be very infrequent visitors to the low carb diet:

• Bananas
• Dried Fruit
• Mango

ahhhhhhh rhubarb. sooooo good.

wow, this is really helpful for me too!! I apperantly eat way tom much carbs, I love mangoes and bananas, I guess I should cut them off. I work out quite a lot though, often two hours of tough training a day, and at least an hour a day, so I can handle it, but I wanna eat less.

 

I should stop eating grapes too then I guess, I knew that they were high in sugars but I still continued, no more grapes for me.

Carbs aren't bad, as long as they come from good sources (whole grains and vegetables). You're eating the perfect amount.

i know carbs arent bad, but i feel like some of my carbs could be better used as protein.

http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutriti on/protein.php

 

Protein amounts in different vegetables.   And you're right, your carb:protein ratio is WAAAAY off.  Especially if you're athletic. 

ok so i did better today. 81 grams of protein!!! i think i ate too much tho. 1600 calories, but ill just stay a little longer at the gym tomorrow! 

Fat - 26.7% (52 grams)
Protein - 18.7% (81 grams)
Carbohydrates - 54.7% (238 grams)

 any other changes you could suggest?

Golean cereal A 104 280 Milk, Lowfat, Fluid, 1% Milkfat - With Added Vitamin A A- 244 103   Lunch Nutz Over Chocolate - LUNA BAR A 48 180 Peaches in Strawberry Gel - Fruit Bowls B- 123 90 Apples A 138 72 PLANTERS PEANUTS DRY ROASTED UNSALTED C- 28 160   Dinner Spinach tortellini     462   Snacks Guacamole B+ 84 114 TOSTITOS Bite Size Rounds Tortilla Chips C 28 140 Total Calories Consumed 1,600

 

I agree with akakibbles.  As long as you eat a variety of healthy whole foods (vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds) you'll get plenty of protein from a vegan diet. 

Vegetarians - especially vegans - stress out needlessly over getting enough protein.  If you need convincing that you don't need to supplement a vegan diet with extra protein just look at the large mammals.  They eat a vegan diet yet seem to get plenty of protein to build and maintain their huge frames.   (And while we're at it, they also seem to get plenty of calcium too, don't they?)

So we're not giraffes you say?  Our requirements are different because we're humans?   Well then look at our great ape cousins.  It's estimated that their diet is 95% vegan, 5% "meat" - mostly in the form of insects or small mammals.  Yet gorillas and chimps don't seem to have protein deficiencies, do they?  And they don't even drink cows milk... how on EARTH do they get their protein?

Stop stressing out over protein people.  If you're eating a vegan or near vegan diet just eat HEALTHY vegan and you'll get plenty.

Let me say this again, YOU ARE GETTING PERFECT AMOUNTS OF PROTIEN.

The "reccomended" ratio for a diet is 10% protien, under 30% fat and 60+% carbs. So stop worrying.

Funny that the percentages you started out with matched the recommended percentages of fat, carbs, and protein.  From the World Health Organization:

• Total fat - 15 to 30%
  • Saturated fatty acids - <10%
  • Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) - 6 to 10%
    • Omega-6 Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) - 5 to 8%
    • Omega-3 Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) - 1 to 2%
  • Trans fatty acids - <1%
  • Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) - By difference
• Total carbohydrate - 55 to 75%
  • Free sugars - <10%
• Protein - 10 to 15%
• Cholesterol - <300 mg per day
• Sodium chloride (sodium) - <5 g per day
• Fruits and vegetables - 5400 g per day
• Total dietary fibre - From foods
• Non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) - From foods

My suggestion to you would be to go back to how you were eating before you started to get more protein and fewer carbs.

 

Not to beat a wounded horse ("wounded" only, this beast will NEVER die as long as the meat and dairy advertisers are around) but here's another factoid for the protein fanatics to consider...

Take a look at mother's milk - nature's perfect food for babies at a time in their lives when they surely need plenty of protein since they're growing at such a rapid rate.

You can look up the numbers right here on Calorie Count.  Just type in "human milk" in the search box.

What you'll find is that 1 cup of human breast milk contains 172 calories, 2.5 grams of which come from protein.  So here's the math:

2.5 grams x 4 calories per gram = 10 calories from protein

10 / 172 = 6%

Only six percent of the calorie content of mother's milk is protein.  OMG, let's lock up the breast feeders 'cause they're killing their babies with protein deficiency!!!

The fact is that we just simply don't need 25% of our calories to come from protein.  In fact, getting too much protein is unhealthy.  The problem is that the meat and dairy industry have us all convinced (along with our mamas) that if we don't consume vast quantities of their products - for the protein and calcium - then we're all gonna shrivel up and die.  It just ain't true folks.

Original Post by bbnomo:

Not to beat a wounded horse ("wounded" only, this beast will NEVER die as long as the meat and dairy advertisers are around) but here's another factoid for the protein fanatics to consider...

Take a look at mother's milk - nature's perfect food for babies at a time in their lives when they surely need plenty of protein since they're growing at such a rapid rate.

You can look up the numbers right here on Calorie Count. Just type in "human milk" in the search box.

What you'll find is that 1 cup of human breast milk contains 172 calories, 2.5 grams of which come from protein. So here's the math:

2.5 grams x 4 calories per gram = 10 calories from protein

10 / 172 = 6%

Only six percent of the calorie content of mother's milk is protein. OMG, let's lock up the breast feeders 'cause they're killing their babies with protein deficiency!!!

The fact is that we just simply don't need 25% of our calories to come from protein. In fact, getting too much protein is unhealthy. The problem is that the meat and dairy industry have us all convinced (along with our mamas) that if we don't consume vast quantities of their products - for the protein and calcium - then we're all gonna shrivel up and die. It just ain't true folks.

 I'm totally with you, on your side, in your corner, yadda yadda.  However, excess protein is only bad if it comes from animal sources.  That's the caveat.  Animal protein is linked to the big three chronic diseases, vegetable protein is not.

i am trying to gain muscle in my arms.....i want to be able to do 3 push ups by dec 10th. so wouldn't i need more protein then normal? i know i dont need to obsess over protein, i just felt like 72% carbs was too much. but i guess its better then too much fat. perhaps just run the carbs off?

Sorry mikelane, but you're wrong about the animal versus plant protien.  Protien is all the same.
And any type of protien in access amounts is bad for us, BELIEVE ME. Don't make animal protien sound evil. The protien itself is the same, but the added baggage (all sorts of fats, lack of fiber etc) compound the unhealthiness of it. Ew.. meat.

The only reason studies show animal protien is bad is because... THERE ARE NO VEGETABLE PROTIEN STUDIES!

:]

Original Post by denne11:

i am trying to gain muscle in my arms.....i want to be able to do 3 push ups by dec 10th. so wouldn't i need more protein then normal? i know i dont need to obsess over protein, i just felt like 72% carbs was too much. but i guess its better then too much fat. perhaps just run the carbs off?

 If you're working out a lot you need more of everything, protein included.  Just maintain those proper ratios from a wide variety of plant-based sources, get at least 1hr of working out in a day, and don't worry about it too much.

Original Post by akakibbles:

Sorry mikelane, but you're wrong about the animal versus plant protien. Protien is all the same.
And any type of protien in access amounts is bad for us, BELIEVE ME. Don't make animal protien sound evil. The protien itself is the same, but the added baggage (all sorts of fats, lack of fiber etc) compound the unhealthiness of it. Ew.. meat.

The only reason studies show animal protien is bad is because... THERE ARE NO VEGETABLE PROTIEN STUDIES!

:]

Sorry, you don't know what you're talking about.  Read The China Study and then we'll chat ;) 

Original Post by mikelane:

Original Post by akakibbles:

Sorry mikelane, but you're wrong about the animal versus plant protien. Protien is all the same.
And any type of protien in access amounts is bad for us, BELIEVE ME. Don't make animal protien sound evil. The protien itself is the same, but the added baggage (all sorts of fats, lack of fiber etc) compound the unhealthiness of it. Ew.. meat.

The only reason studies show animal protien is bad is because... THERE ARE NO VEGETABLE PROTIEN STUDIES!

:]

Sorry, you don't know what you're talking about.  Read The China Study and then we'll chat ;) 

Akakibbles,

Mike Lane is absolutely right that there have been studies comparing the effects of various types of protein.  T. Colin Campbell (Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Bio-Chemistry at Cornell, and author of 'The China Study'), conducted some studies on this.  Aflatoxin (sp?) is a powerful carcinogen which predictably causes liver cancer in rats and causes them to die rather quickly.  Experiments were done where groups of lab rats were exposed to aflatoxin, and then fed differing diets to see whether survival time would be effected.  Without going into all the details (which I can't remember off the top of my head), of all the diets tried, the most powerful cancer promoter which the study was able to isolate was casein, which is the protein that comes from dairy products.  T. Colin Campbell describes casein as the most powerful cancer promoter known to man.  He also discovered that at very low levels of dietary protein (I think below 5%), cancer remained dormant, and tumors didn't grow, such that the rats unexpectedly were still alive at the end of the study.  During the study, T. Colin Campbell had initially assumed that all proteins were the same, and that it was high levels of protein, that were somehow promoting cancer growth.  However, what he finally discovered was that the protein from plant sources did not promote the tumor growth.  It was the animal protein that did. 

Meanwhile, in the Harvard Nurses Study, they found that women drinking fat free milk and using lowfat dairy products, actually had higher rates of breast cancer than women drinking whole milk, and eating full fat dairy products.  This came as quite a surprise, because it had been suspected that it was the fat in these products that was linked to breast cancer, and the women using the reduced fat versions had believed that they were using the healthier products.  According to T. Colin Campbell, it is the higher protein concentration (from casein) of the low fat products which caused the nurses using the lower fat (and higher protein) dairy products to experience higher levels of breast cancer.  So, it would seem that the fat in this case is not actually the 'extra baggage' that is causing the problem, rather it is specifically the animal protein in the form of casein which is the culprit.  It is true that saturated fat has been linked to heart disease, however, in terms of cancer promotion, the culprit appears to specifically be the protein component.     

I would like to chime in on the recommendation that you read 'The China Study'.  It is a truly fascinating book, and is very well written.