I’m sorry if I’m almost on repeat here. Again, I received some messages about an obvious ‘advertisement-article’ that is, well, just plain wrong on almost all accounts, so it needed to be addressed. And it’s a good opportunity to cover and untangle the subject of protein and dieting as well. If you already know my background, feel free to jump to the main part of the article.
I worked in the Gym-, Fitness-, Health-, Sports-, Supplement-, and Pharmaceutical Industry as both a Coach/Trainer, Scientist, Educator, Writer/Author, and Editor in Chief for more than 28 years combined. I began coaching in the early 90’s, and I still do. However, I left the industries all together in 2017 when I faced death from tumors and failing organs, and then learned that everything I thought I knew about nutrition, supplements, and diseases was mostly lies. And our species-appropriate, species-specific diet and the new found knowledge of the terrain theory helped me recover in record time, and dry fasting sped-up the healing process manifold.
During my time in the Fitness Industry, I worked with and closely coached competing bodybuilders and fitness athletes for about 20 years, from around 1995 to 2016. About 90 % of that work was “contest prep,” as in constructing personalized diets and training programs for an upcoming competition, as in extreme ‘fat-cutting’ to get the client as lean, ripped and dry as possible for the stage. It also included travelling to the contests and helping the clients from the weigh-ins the day before and during competition day to make sure everything went according to plan, and to keep them calm, cool, and collected.
Depending on their ‘off-season’ physique, some started 24 weeks out, while most started at around 16 to 12 weeks out. So, anywhere from 6 to 3 months of extreme dieting was often needed, and none of my clients lost any muscle mass, which is usually the case for every single bodybuilder doing a competition diet. And this takes me to today’s subject of ‘protein-based’ diet strategies.
Protein-Based Diet Strategies
The messages I received was concerning a new article from the “Chief Content Officer” Chris Shugart over at T-Nation. You know, the fella who’s been recommending different version of his original protein-powder shake diet, a.k.a., the Velocity Diet, as something borrowed from the 90’s crazy and extremely unhealthy liquid diets. Fortunately, as of late he’s been recommending real solid meals, as in real food and even meat, the only real food for humans.
Now, the article in question is about the typical bodybuilding diets, which always has been high in protein, the anabolic and muscle-building macronutrient. And while it has been a staple in bodybuilding, strength sports, and body transformations for over 100 years, fairly recent science also support the importance of protein when trying to lose body fat, as in ‘dieting.’
However, a multitude of problems arises when coaches and people dieting focus on the macronutrients, as in protein, fats, and carbohydrates, instead of all nutrients needed to sustain and promote life; as in micronutrients and other compounds that we probably don’t even know about. However, every single nutrient that is needed will be present in all living animals similar to ourselves, as we are all built of cells, muscles, bones, organs, blood, skin, and so on. All nutrients that are needed for life is present within all these living beings and fully bioavailable; as the compounds from what they’ve eaten has been converted into nutrients that cells can use. This should be extremely obvious and logical, unless you’re brainwashed to the level of a full-blown retard (as the typical vegan.) In other words, by eating meat, animal fats, and eggs and/or the occasional organ meat, you get everything your body need, and that is the only thing that can save a badly constructed diet, which we will get to.
As you might have guessed, Shugart begins his article with plugging their chemical-shitstorm of a protein-powder to boost protein intake. We’ve covered this many times before. A protein powder will only provide protein and some naturally occurring minerals that was not removed during the several filtration processes. Any other “nutrient” that might be added are man-made, and simply bleak and very toxic copies of what might be found in nature, as in added “vitamins,” which is a scam, as not one single man-made vitamin found in any vitamin supplement is even close to what is found in nature. They are extremely toxic and should never be consumed, same as “vitamin enriched” foods. Total scam, and very toxic.
So, again, the problem with relying on a protein powder is obvious – you miss out on every single important micronutrient. The more real food, as in meat, that you replace with these powders, the less essential nutrients you will get – and that will quickly add up and cause problems.
Shugart then continues with quite the statement as he claims that, “Protein is the enemy of love handles, belly fat, and even full-blown obesity. It’s the jet fuel for building muscle, the driver of healthy metabolisms, and the nemesis of aging poorly. Also, protein makes you look better naked.”
Actually, the “enemy,” as in the real and healthy solution to reduce excessive body fat is ‘fasting.’ Protein will simply help in supplying building blocks for tissues, promoting anabolism and temporarily shutting down catabolism.
And it’s not the “fuel” for building muscle or the “driver” of our metabolism. Animal fats is our ‘fuel source’ and all essential nutrients are needed for a healthy metabolism, especially animal fats and micronutrients. If any single nutrient is lacking, metabolism and other bodily functions will be hampered, as in being slowed down.
He then mentions that protein is the most satiating macronutrient. Actually, any animal-based food that is rich in fat, as in all nutrients that are stored in that fat and meat, is the absolutely most satiating thing you can consume. Eggs, fatty cuts of meat, fatty fish, raw milk, butter or ghee, and of course organ meats that are the true kings of micronutrients. And guess what, most protein-rich foods, if they are from the animal-based kingdom, are also the most nutritious, hence the level of satiety. Remember, hunger and cravings are nothing more than signals from your body that you are lacking essential nutrients, that your diet is lacking, as in being bad. Again, when following our species-appropriate diet of animal foods you are never hungry and you never have cravings, not even when fasting for a week or longer – because you are fully nourished, because you eat according to your physiology. It’s that simple!
Personally, I’ve never been hungry or felt cravings since I went fully and mostly raw carnivore in early 2018. I don’t even think about food, not even during or after 9+ days of fasting, or dry fasting for a week. And all of my clients and other carnivores I’ve spoken with have had the exact same experiences.
Shugart then cites some studies that we already covered in the earlier article review called “Getting Enough Protein for Building Muscle is Simple.” In short, people always do better when dieting if their protein intake is increased to at least 2.2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight, as in 1 gram per pound. And to get to that amount, even if you supplement some with a protein powder, most people actually consume some meat, which is the only reason to why they do better.
Sure, you can do a short diet (4 to 8 weeks or so) on protein powders and other sources that lack essential nutrients, as protein is muscle-sparing due to its anabolic and anti-catabolic effects, but your body will be consuming itself to get the missing nutrients it needs and you will start to develop nutrition deficiencies, which will hurt your progress and your health. Those who consumed some meat previous to the diet will do better, as they have more stored nutrients to live off, while those who followed a shitty diet low in animal-based foods and then went on a “protein-based” diet will suffer and do very badly, as their nutrient deficiencies will worsen to the level that their bodies start to shut down. The same pattern is observed with any kind of modern weight-loss diet.
Again, the only thing that can save you with a “protein-based” diet is if you entered it fully nourished and/or if you actually rely a lot on animal-foods, as in meat. And we will get to that crucial point in a bit.
Now, Shugart presents his “Metabolic Eating Solution” which is quite unhealthy, so do not follow this.
First, he recommends 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight from whole-food sources and protein powder. And yes, that is a good target, but it should all be preferable from meat, or at least mostly from meat, and fatty cuts of meat – or meat with butter and tallow.
In his second point, he recommends their protein powder again, as in two shakes a day or around 88 grams of protein from a man-made chemical food replacement. If someone work outs and is into fitness or bodybuilding, then sure, one protein shake a day of about half that can be acceptable before and/or during the training session. However, for most people only looking to lose some body fat, as in an average male at 200 lb., that would only leave 112 grams of protein from meat, as in 400 to 500 grams of meat, as in 14 to 17 oz, which might work if it’s fatty red meat and not chicken or tuna. However, consuming toxic shakes instead of real food is not very clever. And eating to satiation on animal foods most days of the week and then use some fasting to lose body fat is still a superior and much healthier approach.
In his last point he recommends to get the remaining amount of protein from “chicken, eggs, beef, turkey, fish, etc.” Well, at least that will help a little, but most people will go with the “low fat” alternatives as they are brainwashed; as in chicken, turkey, and white fish, such as cod and tuna. In other words, the animal-based foods that are lowest in nutrients. You should always focus on fatty meat from ruminant animals and wild game and then make sure to get some eggs, which is a perfect food.
Then he spurts out, “choose smart carb sources like rice, potatoes, and oats, and throw in whatever vegetables or berries you prefer.”
No, you should not consume garbage that is contraindicated our physiology, to our natural species-appropriate and species-specific diet. Food containing carbohydrates are emergency survival foods. Carbohydrates are very dirty to our metabolism and toxic to our physiology. And vegetables are simply toxic man-made Frankenstein foods void of nutrition. Totally worthless and very unhealthy.
And to add insult to injury, Shugart ends with, “stick to healthy fat sources like avocado, fish oil, raw nuts, and olive oil.”
Heck no! That is not fat. The only source of fat is animal fats, as in the fat from animals and their produce, such as the fat found in meat, eggs and milk. What Shugart think is fat is actually oils, something completely different. That he does not understand the difference is shocking. While “fish oil” is actually processed fish fat, it should come from fatty fish and not a supplement. Actually, those fatty acids are present in any fatty cut of meat and that will be more than enough for most people. As for the vegetable/seed oils, they are extremely toxic and unhealthy, and I’ve covered them in depth in many previous articles. Anyone recommending vegetable/seed oils and/or nuts or seed is totally clueless and does a lot of harm.
Again, this advertisement-article was simply about pushing the sales for their protein powder by trying to use the “science” of a higher protein intake among those desperately trying to lose weight, as in body fat.
However, the solution to losing body fat in a quick and healthy manner is extremely simple, and I covered in in numerous articles. Check them out below.
- What Makes You Fat?
- Fat Loss Made Simple – Forget About Calories and Cardio
- Alleged “Experts” Still 100% Wrong About Food and Weight Loss
- Non-Linear Diet for ‘Lifters’ (What We Actually Did in the Past)
- Review: The 90/90 Fasting Diet
- Protein for Body Composition
- Stupid misconceptions about “Ketosis” and ‘Ketogenic Diets’
- Dieter’s Phobia: Catabolism Explained
Also, if you need help with adapting our natural way of eating or with fat loss or any other health issue, please read more about my coaching and consulting services here.