Six common beliefs addressed, Part 117

1. You should eat as close to "zero carbs" as possible. 

No. That's not necessary. You eat up to your carb tolerance, which is solely measured by their affects on blood glucose. 

2. High ketones mean you are more "insulin sensitive". 

No. Ketones are the byproduct of fatty acid metabolism. When you mainly burn fat, you produce ketones, at least for a short while. Soon, the ketones become undetectable as the body better utilizes fat and less byproduct is produced. So, technically, if you are measuring ketones it's because you are less insulin sensitive. This is why diabetics can produce ketones very easily. Their insulin function is just not good enough to control ketone production very well. 

For this reason ketone measurement is useless as a marker for metabolic health or the treatment of obesity. 

3. Lean proteins "become sugar" in the body and block fat burning.

When you consume proteins, lean or not, it raises insulin and the body compensates by releasing blood glucose. Glucagon is the hormone responsible for this. In a healthy person this process is well regulated. In a person with metabolic syndrome/diabetes, they do not release enough first phase insulin to halt the overproduction of glucose by glucagon and this is referred to as hyperglucagonemia. 

This glucose is not coming solely from dietary protein. The dietary protein is not "becoming sugar in the body". That's silly. The glucose is coming primarily from the breakdown of your own lean body mass. If carbs are added to proteins, hyperglucagonemia is somewhat "hidden" because carbs cause a higher spike in insulin from the added glucose load. 

So, basically, the problem is not protein, it's metabolic syndrome. Lean protein has nothing to do with this. The halt in fat burning caused by hyperglucagonemia is temporary, unlike with carbs. It can be easily controlled by dividing your daily protein intake into three meals.

4. Is the yolk the best part of the egg?

The best part of the egg is the whole egg. 

5. You should select food with the highest fat content.

Yes, if you wish to remain fat. But, if you want to have a chance at being slim, you should select food by its protein content. 

6. You should "fat fortify" your food. 

Yes. If you want to join the person above, who wants to choose foods with the highest fat content, and remain fat or possibly get fatter, then go ahead and fortify at will.