question for all diet wizes

[stevey_6t9]

Can i still gain fat during a calorie deficit if im consuming excess protein then my body needs?

[Swifto]

I'd say, yes.

Fat accumulation is a lot to do with insulin levels aswell. On a calorie deficit, if your insulin levels are high enough thats going to stimulate your fat cells to store more fat.

[Swifto]

Hhmm....

Good question.

[Swifto]

I was wrong...


"Which means that the odds of protein being converted to fat in any quantitatively meaningful fashion is simply not going to happen. Certain amino acids are processed to a great degree in the liver (as I discuss in The Protein Book) and this can produce glucose, ketones and a few other things. But triglycerides (the storage form of ‘fat’) isn’t one of them.

I imagine that if protein were going to be converted to fat, it would first have to be converted to glucose and only if the amount produced were then in excess of daily maintenance requirements would there be conversion to fat. But as noted above, this simply isn’t going to happen under any even reasonably normal circumstances. No human could eat enough protein on a daily basis for it to occur.

What will happen, as discussed in Nutrient Intake, Nutrient Storage and Nutrient Oxidation. is that amino acid oxidation (burning for energy) will go up somewhat although, as discussed in that article, it’s a slow process and isn’t complete.

So, as noted above, while the pathway exists for protein to be stored as fat, and folks will continue to claim that ‘excess protein just turns to fat’, it’s really just not going to happen under any sort of real-world situation. Certainly we can dream up odd theoretical situations where it might but those won’t apply to 99.9% of real-world situations." - Lyle McDonald

[Swifto]

"But, protein oxidation rates do change in response to intake. So, when protein intake goes up, oxidation will increase; when protein intake goes down, oxidation rates decrease. This change isn’t immediate (as it more or less is for carbohydrates) and takes 3-9 days to occur but mis-understanding of this process has led to some goofy ideas such as protein cycling."

"Since the body doesn’t have anywhere to store the rapidly incoming amino acids, it simply burns off more for energy" - Lyle

So to answer your question.

No, energy expenditure will increase following excess protein, not far storage.

[stevey_6t9]

very interesting...

so your saying that that my body will adjust and 'prefer' to oxidize the excess protein?

and the bottom line is calorie deficit will result in loss of weight regardless of the calorie source?

[gbrice75]

very interesting...

and the bottom line is calorie deficit will result in loss of weight regardless of the calorie source?

Not necessarily. Even in a caloric deficit, improper macro timing (consuming high carbs and high fats in the same meal for instance) could still result in fat storage. You may still lose WEIGHT in a caloric deficit, but the quality of that lost weight will depend greatly on meal timing, macro breakdown, etc.

[Swifto]

Not necessarily. Even in a caloric deficit, improper macro timing (consuming high carbs and high fats in the same meal for instance) could still result in fat storage. You may still lose WEIGHT in a caloric deficit, but the quality of that lost weight will depend greatly on meal timing, macro breakdown, etc.

Agreed.

Just because your in a calore deficit it doesnt mean you can gain fat at any cost.