When to Eat Low Fat and When Not to (and how to use carbohydrates correctly)

I am going to get a ton of blow back from this post, but oh well, it is the truth.

So one of the things that bugs me most now that I have been educated on nutrition is that the post-op diets our doctors prescribe very often instruct us to eat low fat as well as low carb. I guess from a very simplistic point of view that is the fastest way to lose weight if you want to lose a bunch of muscle too. Another thing that bugs me is when a doctor or nutritionist says a "carb is a carb". Hell we all know that right out of the gate there are simple carbs and complex carbs. If your nutritionist says this, please find another one. Better yet find and spend the money on a registered dietitian, they are essentially a doctor of food and will not only be able to tell the difference between a simple carb and a complex carb but can also explain to you how your body digests monosaccharides (fast and easily digested), disaccharides (fast and slightly more difficult to digest), and polysaccharides (slowest digesting).

You may also know that there are 3 major macro nutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrates). So when you eat food your body needs one of these to build muscle, grow hair, repair skin, grow bones, repair damage, heal, etc. and that is protein. Neither carbohydrates nor fat can be used for this function. Also when you eat your body needs a macro nutrient for energy. Your body is smart because it has evolved over a long time to be able to use two of the three macro nutrients for energy and those are fat and carbohydrates. The reason it is smart is that it knows it can easily convert carbs to energy and if it has to it can easily store fat for future use for when carbs might not be available. Now because it can do both when we eat a "balanced" diet if you eat enough carbs, it doesn't have to use fats and it stores it instead. If your body does not have enough carbs it will use fat to supplement the carbs it has or better yet (in our case anyway) when it doesn't have a sufficient supply of carbs for energy it will used fats for energy. Since dietary fats are mostly ready to store when it does use them it has to do some work to convert them to usable energy called ketones. When the body converts fat to a ketone, it takes 1/2 of a calorie to do this. Since your body can only use a whole calorie it essentially has to throw away the other half. This process is called ketosis. The great thing is your body is so inefficient at burning fat for fuel you get the added benefit of burning some extra calories just to survive. 

So what happens when you eat low carb AND low fat? Your body must use protein for fuel. When it does this it does not have enough for repair and muscle growth and when you rely on this, your body will on a regular basis use muscle as that protein. That is why many who have WLS and lose all their weight look emaciated when they are done, they lost all their fat and a lot of their muscle. So do not eat low fat if you want to have any muscle tone left when you are done.

Now how to use carbohydrates correctly. Eating carbohydrates spikes our insulin. If you have read anything I have posted in the past year you may have seen that said a time or two. What does this really mean. First what really happens is carbohydrates spike your blood sugar and when THAT happens your pancreas releases a bunch of insulin to deal with it. Now we know to keep our weight and cravings in check we need to keep our blood sugar stable and our insulin level. But the one thing that most people do not know is that insulin is an anabolic (read muscle building) hormone. Insulin is VERY good at carrying protein to our muscles for repair. What does that mean? If you are trying to gain muscle insulin can be your friend if you know how to treat him. The problem with an insulin spike is that they last a long time. Insulin also tells our bodies to store fat. SO...

Since we are good planners and we plan all of our meals and as good planners we know EXACTLY (well not really but I wanted to be dramatic here) how many carbs are in each of our meals. I would suggest that the meal with your highest carb count should be eaten within an hour AFTER a workout. Also we don't want a huge spike here, but a small increase will do just fine. So complex carbs (the better of the two types) are slower digesting and they do not actually spike your blood sugar but they do increase it and that increase is enough to carry the protein you also had with that meal to your muscles for repair and recovery (read growth). 

So when should you eat low fat? Right after a workout and with a meal that is high in protein and only with good complex carbs.

When should you eat your carbs? Right after a workout and with a meal that is high in protein and only with good complex carbs.

When should you eat high protein and high (moderate fat)? The rest of the time and with more healthy (unsaturated and polyunsaturated) fats and lower amounts of saturated fats (except coconut oil which is a medium chain triglyceride which is a fat that burns like a carb so eat as much as you want).

Hopefully that clarifies a lot of what you see floating around on here. If you find any of this confusing let me know and I will see if I can simplify it even further. If you would like more information let me know and I will point you to some other resources for validation.

There is sooooo much confusing information floating around on the interwebs that it is hard to sift through it all.  Thanks for putting it out there.  OK so I get the good carb/ bad carb and good fat /bad fat differences.  My struggle is trying to balance my macros.   I know we want "good" fats and "good carbs" but IN MAINTENANCE what do you think our ratios of Fat/Protein/Carbs be?  I am truly not afraid of carbs except I notice when my carb (of any type) intake goes up I have more issues with hunger.  I am a moderate exerciser 4 to 5 days a week.

Thanks

Anne

Honestly I would continue to keep it that way, especially if you are exercising. If you are gaining any kind of weight, let it be muscle. I think the more used to burning fat you are the better you will be in the long run. If/when you decide to increase your carb intake, make it brown or at least not white.

Lots of good info in here...but I think it's the pancreas that releases insulin, not the liver ;-)

You are absolutely correct. I wasn't paying attention to what I wrote there. Thank you for the correction. I have updated the post. 

Keith,

I am pre-op and have read a lot of your posts lately. I'd love to know more about your eating/training routine. I am planning to follow a mostly paleo/primal type diet after my surgery. I believe that healthy fats (avocado, coconut, olive) are all part of a healthy balanced diet. The dietician I met with agrees that if I'm working out I can shoot for higher macros and still have good weight loss. What is your typical protein/fat/carb ratio on workout and rest days? 

Be careful what you wish for.  He gave me an exercise routine that makes me say bad words every day!

I'm losing faster and feel better than I have in years, but I still say bad words during the workout... 

Thanks Keith :)

Up until a few months ago I was doing CrossFit. I'm down with whatever is thrown my way. :) 

In a couple of weeks you will be going "what's next!?"

I will say I do like the clean aspect of pale/primal but it is a very calorie dense diet, so except for a few recipes I have steered clear of it. Make sure you read everything I said here because even exercising I do not increase my macros. I eat low carb. The carbs I do eat (the 20-40 per day come after a workout, the rest of the time is either no or very low carb proteins and fats and the only time I eat low fat is after a workout. I don't do anything special on my rest days. I try to always eat low carb. I do have one day a week that is my "high carb" or cheat day, but even that is no more than 80g of carbs, so it not a go crazy free for all, but on a day like that if I want to eat something that I normally wouldn't I can eat a bite or two without losing my mind.