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By
Charles Staley, B.Sc, MSS
Director, Staley Training Systems |
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A few weeks ago I was having
dinner at our local Outback, when I overheard the following
in the booth behind me:
"My trainer says that if
you eat too much protein, it'll turn to fat."
Did you catch that? And if someone
posed that suggestion to you, how would you respond? This
is a great exercise in logic, so let's look at it for a second:
First, is it possible to get
fat by eating too much protein?
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Sure, in
much the same way it's possible to die by getting hit by lightning
while you're being eaten alive by a shark.
Second, is it likely that you'll get
too fat from eating too much protein? Well again, it's about as
likely as getting hit by lightning while you're being eaten alive
by a shark.
To be slightly more serious, let's
do a bit of thermodynamic mathematics:
If your caloric needs are say, 2500
calories per day, and you eat a high-protein diet consisting of
7500 calories per day, you'll definitely get fat- that's my educated
guess. However, let's examine the improbable mechanics of eating
this much protein for a moment. If we say that your 7500-calorie
diet is 80 percent protein, this means that you're getting 6000
calories from protein per day, which equates to 1500 grams of protein.
Further, if a 6-ounce chicken breast contains 40 grams of protein,
you'll need to eat 37 chicken breasts a day to hit that number.
Or to use another food source, you'd need to consume about 37 protein
shakes per day (assuming each shake contained 40 grams of protein)
OK that's obviously absurd so let's
modify the original example to a somewhat more likely scenario:
Using strict thermodynamics, you'd
have to consume about 3600 calories per week (or about 500 per day)
above and beyond your normal caloric requirements, to gain a pound
of excess bodyfat in that same period of time. So if your caloric
requirements are 2500 per day, we're now assuming you're eating
3000 calories per day, where 80 per cent of those calories come
from protein. Now you're eating 600 grams of protein per day, or
15 chicken breasts or shakes per day.
Unlikely? Well OK, not as unlikely
as getting hit by lightning while you're being eaten alive by a
shark, but have you ever eaten 15 chicken breasts in one day (or
the equivalent of it)? I never have, not even once.
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Now I have eaten the same
caloric equivalent in fats and/or carbs - in fact many times.
And I bet you have too. In fact, 3000 calories in non-protein
form is amazingly easy to consume. Here are a few possible
options you might consider:
-
2 &
½ pints of Haagen Daz ice cream (this would be
my first choice!)
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A 14-inch
All Natural Pepperoni Pan Pizza
-
(6) Starbucks
Venti Caramel Frappuccino's with whole milk
Or you could mix & match.
For example:
In any event, it should be
clear that it's FAR more likely to get fat eating fats and/or
carbs than it is to get from eating too much protein. So
with that in mind, what's the rationale for statements like
the one I overheard at Outback? What motivates people to
say things like this, given how preposterously unlikely
they are? Is it simple ignorance? Or perhaps many people
have some type of PETA-inspired hatred of protein? I'd love
your thoughts on this, so please click the comments link
below and share your experiences and insights!
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About
The Author
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His colleagues call him
an iconoclast, a visionary, a rule-breaker. His clients
call him “The Secret Weapon” for his ability
to see what other coaches miss. Charles calls himself
a “geek” who struggled in Phys Ed throughout
school. Whatever you call him, Charles’ methods are
ahead of their time and quickly produce serious results.
His counter-intuitive approach and self-effacing demeanor
have lead to appearances on NBC’s The TODAY Show
and The CBS Early Show.
Currently, Charles competes
in Olympic-style weightlifting on the master’s circuit,
with a 3-year goal of qualifying for the 2009 Master’s
World Championships.
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