Ok, I've seen a number of comments on the Internet suggesting that it's bad to eat a meal that's (relatively) high in both fat and carbs ( = relatively low in protein). I've never seen a coherent explanation for this though. Assuming the meal as a whole contained about the target number of calories for a single meal, and over the course of the day the macronutrient percentages and total calories ended up on target, what are the effects of this temporary deviation?

Philph

I dont eat carbs + fat only meals...why? I dont know I just dont. I have not come across any reason why the 2 cant be together so I'll say as long as you meet your daily need, and continue to see progress...go for it just make sure its the good fats/carbs.

Supa

I'm not a nutritionist so I can't give you the technical explanation for this. In my personal opinion, consuming carb and fat together in large amount causes the fat to be stored more rapidly because of insulin level and the energy used is coming from it's prefered source, carb. I'm sure other who have more knowledge can give you more detailed information. But in the real world, combining carb and fat in large amount makes you lethargetic or in other word lazy. I'm not so sure why, but I try to avoid it. :nod:

Why not just use moderation? It's a lot simplier. Eating anything in large amounts is not good for. But, don't tell me that eating a peanut butter sandwich with 2 slices of whole grain bread is going to automatically make me store fat. :lol:

If you're trying to get down to single digits, it would make more sense to consider this as an option. My two cents.

Yup, you're absolutely right, moderation is the key. And yes it's kinda controversial and even some member of this forum actually considered PB and whole wheat bread as a cheat meal. Trust me, I've read it somewhere :nod: But it all depends on your definition on cheat, right?

As you said, eating 2 whole wheat bread with 2 tablespoons of PB (roughly 350 kcal) won't make you store fat (I think.. :lol: ) But if you doubled that amount (700 kcal) you'll have more chances storing those extra calories as fat compared to eating the same amount of calories (700 kcal) coming from the combination of carb and protein. Because a certain amount of protein is burned due to thermogenic and it slows the release of carb into the blood thus, making your insulin more stable.

So I think eating carb and protein is advicable because it gives you steady energy and longer feeling of satiety. Plus it doesn't raise the blood sugar too much (so that you don't get the up and down mood swing) unlike the fat and carb would :nod: But for further information, why don't we ask the expert, like Jeremmy or Rtestes, I'm sure they'll be able to give more explanation :D

That's why in my original post I wrote "relatively" high in fat and carbs, and then added in brackets "= low protein". I was talking about a meal with the expected number of calories at that time of day (say, 300 - 400, whatever it may be for me), but in which, for this meal, a high _proportion_ of the calories came from carbs and fats, and not much from protein. For example: if I ate a 350 calorie meal, and 150 of those calories came from fat, 150 from carbs, and only 50 from protein.

I also mentioned that over the course of the day, the totals fell on the target.

So I'm not asking about eating excessive amounts (in grams) of anything overall - it's more a question about what happens if there's a certain combination of foodstuffs eaten together, and the lack of another.

Philph

My understanding is that simple carbs and fat together is a bad idea for reasons to do with insulin spikes. Slow-digesting complex carbs and fat together is less of a problem because the absorption is smoother and less likely to encourage fat storage. In the latter case, if the rest of your calories balance out over the day, I shouldn't be too worried.

If you look at most of the "bad" foods out there such as: pizza, donuts, cake, pasteries, french fries, etc., they are all composed primarily of fat and carbs. People use this as an example of why it is bad to mix the two, along with the arguement regarding the effect on one's insulin. However, as hubladon explained, both of these relate to hi glyemic carbs. If you are paying attention to your total calories and macro-nutrient breakdown, there is no reason to seperate carbs and fats. Of course, everyone has their own preferences and it certainly won't hurt you to seperate them any more than it would to combine them, so whatever makes you happy.

Thanks for your thoughts, everybody. As I'm a sufferer of Type II Diabetes, it is especially urgent for me to form the best understanding of nutrition. I suspect this business of fats and carbs will turn out to be an important piece in the puzzle for me.

Philph

I've been eating many egg sandwiches the past few days and I've been cutting quite well. this is what mine contained:

2 slice ww bread = 110 calories 20g carbs 8g protein or so
1 egg = 5g fat / 6g protein = 70ish calories
and some ketchup.. like 4 carbs, so like 15 calories

200 calories


thats it!


But I eat also 9 times a day.

So the deal really is, don't eat alot, eat like 200-300 calories per meal and your good to go! .. well for me that is.

So the deal really is, don't eat alot, eat like 200-300 calories per meal and your good to go! .. well for me that is.
Yup, me too... I rarely eat over 400 kcal. Usually 250-300 per meal. I eat every 2-2.5 hours. It gives me the psycological advantage because I can always eat whenever I'm hungry. And it really doesn;t feels like you're cutting or reducing calories.