Dr Chalmers Path to Pro - Can Protein Make You Fat
Can eating too much protein really make you gain fat? This breaks down some common confusion around how the body uses protein, especially when carbs are limited. It looks at what actually happens during gluconeogenesis and why turning protein into fat isn’t as straightforward as it might sound.
It also touches on how things like fruit juice in your protein shake can affect your progress more than the protein itself. If you're trying to figure out the best way to fuel your body without adding unnecessary fat, this offers a helpful, down-to-earth breakdown.
Highlights of the Podcast
00:00 – Protein vs. Sugar Misconception
01:40 – How the Body Actually Uses Protein
03:33 – Insulin vs. Glucagon Regulation
05:15 – The Cori Cycle & Energy Efficiency
07:00 – What Actually Makes You Fat
10:24 – Keto Diet Use Cases
11:24 – Critique of Medical Establishment
12:15 – Closing Remarks
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:00:04] All right. So, uh, I got a question the other day about, um, my irritation with Gary Brekka. Uh, and this isn't necessarily with Gary. This is with the line that he supports, uh. What is it pure protein or pure amino? So the argument is that you should use pure amino and not whey protein. And the argument they make is that protein turns to sugar, sugar makes you fat and the implication is that whey, protein with baking fat. Um, that's not how it works. Uh, and the irritation I have is like, Gary knows this, um, or you should at least. So I know I wasn't, I'm, I decided I wasn' going to be really deep in the chemistry, but I got to get deep in chemistry for this one. Um, what happens in the body? Um, when, so like a high protein diet, still a sugar-based diet. I, we've talked about this before about the difference between keto and a high-protein diet, even if you have zero carbs. When you allow the diet side right, I'll have people do zero carbs, you know, and high protein and moderate fat. And that's silly sugar based diet. And the reason I say that is because your body will take those proteins in, go through gluconeogenesis, create sugar, and your whole body runs on the sugar your body makes your brain your muscles, all of it. So the idea that your body's going to take protein and break it down to sugar and create so much sugar that your body then gets fat off of it is stupid. So let me walk you through what would have to happen.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:01:41] So unless just assume that the majority 70% or more of these people who are taking whey protein are working out because let's face it, the target market for pure amino and for whey, protein or people who were working out. So we're taking that as a So let's say you work out. And then you go and you take your whey protein, what's going to happen is your body is depleted in sugar and so you've used all the glycogen in your muscles or you've used a lot of the glycation in your muscle, your blood is starting to become deficient in glucose itself and your body goes we need to refill the stores, we need to create some more sugar for the muscles, make more glycogene, bring this in, you know get the blood going again. So your body looks for protein to tear apart and make sugar out of, if you're not going to eat any carbohydrates. And so your body will take this sugar and take these proteins, break it apart, and it will make sugar. Now here's the thing. As it drops it into the blood, it will then be sucked up by the musculature and by the liver. So what ends up happening is that the The body is tearing down protein, making sure the sugar goes in the blood. And it's, it's being sucked into the muscles. It's being suck from the liver and it's turning back into glycogen and restoring all those stores we have now as the blood, as the sugar in the blood starts to rise, it creates what we call glycolytic ATP or ATP that is created from the breakdown and utilization of glucose. So as your glycolytic ATP starts to rise, what ends up happening is that the receptors that are in your body recognize that the glucose or the sugar substrate function is starting to come up. What happens then is your body starts to produce more insulin. As the insulin comes up, it shuts off gluconeogenesis.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:03:33] So because in the pancreas, It's either going to produce insulin or some produced glucagon. And so what ends up happening is that as it starts to produce more insulin, it stops producing the glucagon. And now we have insulin over glucagone, and that will shut off gluconeogenesis. So the idea that your body is going to take protein, turn it into sugar. To the point where it not only fills the muscles with glycogen, it fills the liver with glycogein, puts the blood back where it's supposed to be, but then continues to convert protein to sugar to the points where your body goes, we have nothing else to do with the sugar, we now have to convert it into fat, would mean that your body was producing so much sugar that the insulin then had to react in a manner that would push it into the fat storage. So. That would be a massive pathological problem. Because what would end up happening is that your body would just eat all the muscle tissue and turn it all into fat. And that's not how the body works. Even diabetics have enough regulation of that function so that it doesn't happen. So the idea that taking protein in, and that if you eat too much protein at the wrong time it's gonna turn into fat, isn't accurate. Now, here's the thing on that. If you're eating a ton of protein and your body's like, hey, we're totally good on sugar. Then you eat sugar, whatever's in your blood is then going to move into fat. So theoretically, if you're eating a giant amount of protein and you're getting some high glycemic carbohydrates, even if it's low, even if you like 10% of your diet is high glycymic carbohydrates say instant oatmeal, you're still gonna start maintaining fat creation, fat storage.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:05:15] So in that frame, yes, but here's the problem on the other side of this. Let's say that you're like, oh, OK, I'm going to take these super special amino acids that don't go through gluconeogenesis. They don't turn into sugar. Fantastic. But what's going to happen? Your body still has to have the sugar, because your blood can't run on nothing but sugar. And so your body will go, all right, cool. Let's take some of the protein that we have for these muscles and tear it apart and turn it into glucose. So that's one option. Now, the really cool option, especially if you guys on a high protein diet. Um where you know high protein moderate fat not keto but like really low carbohydrates mild protein and your body gets really good at creating and normalizing its own sugar then what ends up happening is you can go through what's called the corey cycle corey cycles really really cool so when you break down glucose again i told you i was gonna get too deep in the chemistry for you guys when you breakdown glucose it breaks into two molecules of lactate. So here's the cool thing. So like when it goes in the red blood cell, that's actually because red blood cells have no mitochondria, that's why they have to have sugar. So as the glucose comes into the redblood cell, it splits into two molecules of lactate and releases an ATP, which is the chemical the body actually runs on. Again, this is like calories don't exist. That's that whole conversation. But produces an ATP splits into lactate. The Corey cycle. Takes all that lactate remember lactic acid from working out takes all that lactate puts it back together and let's it run through the system.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:06:47] So now you can use that lactates as a substrate to create ATP as well So now your body is because your body so designed so amazingly Well, what ends up happening is that all that? Lactate lactic Acid that you made working out now goes to the core recycle produces ATP on itself. So the idea that We, you're gonna become fat taking whey protein is absurd. Don't worry about getting fat from taking whay protein. Now, if your whey, protein has sugar in it, or if you're taking why protein and you're mixing in a bunch of fruit, fruit juices are the worst part of this. So, I look at people's diets and I'm like, man, this is pretty good. You have this protein shake. Like what's in your protein shake? They're like, Oh, pineapple, orange juice, you know, orange juice is one of the biggest ones I see. But like, oh, I like the way it tastes. And I'll put some orange juice in, I'll put some berries in because you said berries were okay. And I blended it up with my protein. It tastes amazing. Hey, the orange juice has, you're just, you just, you screwed the whole thing with your orange juice. The orange juice is the glycemic function. The orange is way too high. So that gets back into the conversation of, you know, look at your, look at your macro-functional intake. So let's say that you've got, you know, eggs in your smoothie, great option, coconut oil, fantastic medium chain triglyceride function, phenomenal choice. A good clean whey protein, like the proteins we have here, the chocolate, fantastic, knock it out. You know, good amino acid structure, clean protein, fantastic. So far, you're crushing it. Then you add, even if you want to throw some berries in there, like a mixed berry, like a blackberry, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, like stuff like that in there.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:08:34] All right, that's that's not terrible. You know, then you add the orange juice in it screws the entire thing. So what ends up happening is that you're going to bring in all of this good fats and these nutrients, everything near to throw this massive amount of sugar into it, which are going to create a massive insulin response, which is going to start storing any sugar you already have your blood instantly. So that's where the problem comes in for most people's they add one thing in that kind of screws the whole thing up. But at the end of the day, If you're worried about your protein turning into sugar and making you fat, that is not how the body is set up. That's not what's going to happen. And they don't explicitly say it, but putting a sentence that's true that says protein turns to sugar, and then the next one next to it says sugar makes you fat, both those statements are accurate. The problem is that putting them together like that implies that consuming protein is going to make you fat and that is not ever gonna be how it happens. Now, again, be cognizant of the idea that if you're eating a very high protein diet, even like a lot of carnivore diets, you're still running a sugar-based protocol. So, which can be amazingly beneficial, super awesome for insulin resistance, insulin sensitivity. We use it to fix diabetes all the time. It's a great diet. It's probably the diet that I recommend more than any other diet by far, it's 77%. Now the keto diets are great for epilepsy, they're great for PTSD, they are great for dementia, they work great for diabetes, there's a couple of different things that we use keto diets for, an actual real keto diet. I don't usually run them for a long period of time. But they do, they do great things.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:10:24] So if you guys are, have a specific issue, like a lot of times like people have epilepsy, this is where, so the keto diet's been researched heavily for over a hundred years, because we found out over a 100 years ago that the best way to treat neurologic issues like epilepsy is to change the fuel source through the ketones of the brain to regenerate and heal. And it will. So there's lots and lots and Lots of research on people who had horrible epilepsy, put them in a real keto diet for. Couple of years and then took them off the diet and never ended up with epilepsy again. So we've known about the diet for over a hundred years. The idea of people calling it a fad diet is hilarious to me. But again, that's part of the suppression of you have to understand the vast majority of the powers that be in America want you sick, want you miserable, want to fat and unhealthy because it makes them, it's profitable for them. So just kind of keep that in mind, which is, you know, everything, literally everything the medical community has told you the past 40 years has been wrong or a lie.
Dr. Matt Chalmers [00:11:24] Cholesterol is good for you, vaccines are dead, horribly, horribly dangerous and deadly, never been researched, so every medical doctor who's ever said, I've read the research, vaccines are safe, they flat lied to you. Usually they're lying to you for the giant kickbacks they get, but that's topic. Uh, cholesterol is great for you. Psychedelics are fantastic for you that one of the best things to heal addiction, which we've known since the sixties. Um, but opioid epidemic, opioid addiction was profitable. So we didn't tell anybody. Um, yeah, there's all sorts of, all sorts stuff. Um, pretty much, you know, fruit loops are not safer than healthier for you than steak, even though our, our medical community has pushed that one. Masks aren't going to help viruses. Pretty much everything you've been told. It's been a lie to keep you unhealthy and fat and going back to getting more drugs. So if you guys have any questions, drop them in the comments or hit us up questions at ChalmersWellness.com. See you guys next week. Have a great time.
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