How Crucial Is Getting Enough Calories? How Destructive Is Inadequate Calories?

[thisoldtown1978]

Even if the components of the diet were ideal - digestibility, vitamins, minerals, ratios etc. - how destructive is, say, getting 2000 calories when your body needs 3000?

Could you expect the rest of your health to slowly falter, or would it simply result in weight loss?

 

[Jsaute21]

That is a great question, and though there are people far more knowledgeble than me on this forum, I would give the answer that it simply depends. It depends on your current metabolic health. Think about when you were a little kid, and would eat a ton of food, but were not reliant on food. That to me, is the nature of a high metabolism and healthy hormones. You eat when you are hungry, but can survive a prolonged period without food. Everyone is born with different hormones and in different health. I try and eat micronutrient rich and 3,000 calories plus every day. (I am a 6'1 197 LB male.) But there are simply days where this is not attainable due to a busy work schedule, etc. I also am not regimented on weekends because i find it to be less enjoyable. If you are eating well (PUFA free, adequate good carbs) 5-6 days a week for a prolonged period, i think your health will improve considerably over the long term.

 

[Tarmander]

That is a great question, and though there are people far more knowledgeble than me on this forum, I would give the answer that it simply depends. It depends on your current metabolic health. Think about when you were a little kid, and would eat a ton of food, but were not reliant on food. That to me, is the nature of a high metabolism and healthy hormones. You eat when you are hungry, but can survive a prolonged period without food. Everyone is born with different hormones and in different health. I try and eat micronutrient rich and 3,000 calories plus every day. (I am a 6'1 197 LB male.) But there are simply days where this is not attainable due to a busy work schedule, etc. I also am not regimented on weekends because i find it to be less enjoyable. If you are eating well (PUFA free, adequate good carbs) 5-6 days a week for a prolonged period, i think your health will improve considerably over the long term.

This is accurate. All depends on thyroid. The more hypo you are, the more often you have to eat to avoid stress.

 

[thisoldtown1978]

That is a great question, and though there are people far more knowledgeble than me on this forum, I would give the answer that it simply depends. It depends on your current metabolic health. Think about when you were a little kid, and would eat a ton of food, but were not reliant on food. That to me, is the nature of a high metabolism and healthy hormones. You eat when you are hungry, but can survive a prolonged period without food. Everyone is born with different hormones and in different health. I try and eat micronutrient rich and 3,000 calories plus every day. (I am a 6'1 197 LB male.) But there are simply days where this is not attainable due to a busy work schedule, etc. I also am not regimented on weekends because i find it to be less enjoyable. If you are eating well (PUFA free, adequate good carbs) 5-6 days a week for a prolonged period, i think your health will improve considerably over the long term.

Reaching 3000 is something I continually struggle with. I've read posts by members saying they reach this by drinking skimmed milk with oranges and melon or whatever. I seem to be eating all day long and never get near 3000. Milk exacerbates my geographic tongue, so my only healthy/Peat options are fruit and potatoes, but starch gives me digestive problems and fruit quality is atrocious. Between a rock and a hard place.

 

[Jsaute21]

Reaching 3000 is something I continually struggle with. I've read posts by members saying they reach this by drinking skimmed milk with oranges and melon or whatever. I seem to be eating all day long and never get near 3000. Milk exacerbates my geographic tongue, so my only healthy/Peat options are fruit and potatoes, but starch gives me digestive problems and fruit quality is atrocious. Between a rock and a hard place.

I don't count calories at all. I am sure there are days that i am under 3,000. I just eat to appetite. Orange Juice, Cheese, Eggs, Potatoes, mexican cokes, coffee with sugar, fairlife milk, white rice, steaks usually get me feeling pretty good. I do notice a difference when i include the raw carrot salad as well. I try and eat it 4x a month at least, and notice when i have neglected it for too long. I have zero issues with starch, and actually feel as if i need it.

 

[Andman]

No point in force feeding or starving yourself unless for a specific goal (iE weight loss or muscle gain etc.)

Good starting point for calories is bodyweight in pounds x 15

 

[Arnold Grape]

Great question, which is oft-answered around here by people who are starch-lite by saying they add sugar to liquids and milk. No clue how the guy who ingests mushroom broth and 5 grams of sat fat a day is getting enough calories, but apparently there are ways? I think that eating a lot of ice cream helps to near 3000, but I'm @ high fat.

 

[EIRE24]

Great question, which is oft-answered around here by people who are starch-lite by saying they add sugar to liquids and milk. No clue how the guy who ingests mushroom broth and 5 grams of sat fat a day is getting enough calories, but apparently there are ways? I think that eating a lot of ice cream helps to near 3000, but I'm @ high fat.

You are pro high fat?

 

[johnwester130]

but peat wrote that a tropical climate reduces metabolism (need less food to stay warm)

Then wrote coconut oil boosts metabolism.........

So it depends on where you live, and if you take things like coconut oil

"G. W. Crile and his wife found that the metabolic rate of people in Yucatan, where coconut is a staple food, averaged 25% higher than that of people in the United States. In a hot climate, the adaptive tendency is to have a lower metabolic rate, so it is clear that some factor is more than offsetting this expected effect of high environmental temperatures. "

 

[theLaw]

Even if the components of the diet were ideal - digestibility, vitamins, minerals, ratios etc. - how destructive is, say, getting 2000 calories when your body needs 3000?

Could you expect the rest of your health to slowly falter, or would it simply result in weight loss?

Personally, I tried dozens of different sups and protocols here, but none of them helped significantly until I started eating over 3000 calories per day including moderate fat; it was a night and day difference.

I think that liver health plays a huge role in how well you assimilate nutrients.

Also, constant hunger is a stress. It sounds simplistic, but some people try to blame other issues for their hunger instead of eating more fat/carb/protein.

 

[thisoldtown1978]

Personally, I tried dozens of different sups and protocols here, but none of them helped significantly until I started eating over 3000 calories per day including moderate fat; it was a night and day difference.

I think that liver health plays a huge role in how well you assimilate nutrients.

Also, constant hunger is a stress. It sounds simplistic, but some people try to blame other issues for their hunger instead of eating more fat/carb/protein.

Your posts are actually what indirectly inspired this thread haha. Always appreciated your straightforward advice, and always known that insufficient calories is a stress, but never considered the implications of perhaps meeting nutrient/mineral requirements without reaching calories.

 

[nbznj]

you don't need to overthink this. High produce intake = high potassium, magnesium, some calcium. Cheese = sodium, potassium, high calcium. Eggs, liver = everything. Eat to satiation, 3 to 5 times a day, whatever suits your appetite. I'm 6'3 215-220lbs and it's quite difficult to reach 3500kcal, 3000 however is very easy. Basically 3 fruits a day, 1 liter of juice. Per week: 18 eggs, 1 pound of chicken liver, 2 pounds of muscle meat, 2 pounds of beets, 3 of carrots, 5 of yams, goat cheese. Some MCT oil when I workout, vegan protein powder, dark chocolate, garlic butter. Gets me 3000kcal per day without even thinking. It's higher in fats than what Peat recommends, but feeling good is more important than sticking to what feels unnatural. We are all different and have to gauge according to the body's response

 

[damngoodcoffee]

you don't need to overthink this. High produce intake = high potassium, magnesium, some calcium. Cheese = sodium, potassium, high calcium. Eggs, liver = everything. Eat to satiation, 3 to 5 times a day, whatever suits your appetite. I'm 6'3 215-220lbs and it's quite difficult to reach 3500kcal, 3000 however is very easy. Basically 3 fruits a day, 1 liter of juice, 18 eggs, 1 pound of chicken liver, 2 pounds of muscle meat, 2 pounds of beets, 3 of carrots, 5 of yams, goat cheese. Some MCT oil when I workout, vegan protein powder, dark chocolate, garlic butter. Gets me 3000kcal per day without even thinking. It's higher in fats than what Peat recommends, but feeling good is more important than sticking to what feels unnatural. We are all different and have to gauge according to the body's response

Are you joking? flippin pound of liver, 18 eggs, 2 pounds of meat????

 

[EIRE24]

Are you joking? flippin pound of liver, 18 eggs, 2 pounds of meat????

This is what I was thinking lol. Like Dwayne Johnson diet for hercules.

 

[nbznj]

per week, not per day. My bad; I edited.

 

[Arnold Grape]

You are pro high fat?

It appears that way, but I'm 6'4 and two hundo- people ask me if I'm sick

 

[nbznj]

^note that this would be a very healthy weight in Europe, some people would even call you a monster.

Back in my football days in Europe I was 6'3 180lbs and extremely lean, a midfielder, running pretty fast everywhere. I was called "beast" by many teammates simply because I'd be a touch slimmer than Cristiano Ronaldo. Then I moved to the US, people were baffled "oh you're so skinny!" "bro eat a sandwich tho!". North American standards!

 

[CarbAppreciator]

I like Peat's advice... Breakfast: High carb high protein, high fats for dinner.

I have lately been having a whey+dextrose shake upon waking in the morning, its extremely insulinogenic, I find it really sets the tone of my endocrine system into an anabolic mode, ie getting hungry every 2h or so.

 

[lampofred]

adequate calories are by far by far the most important thing for me. i'm a totally different person if i don't get enough food. i need around 4000 to function normally and dropping even to 2500 (which is more than what many people get, which makes me wonder how most people even function) makes me stressed out, sluggish, tired, etc all day

 

[Arnold Grape]

Cool, but *how* do you get that much, specifically if you are low or no starch?