#1

This is a shock.

Here, we discover that dietary protein, rather than carbohydrates or fat, is the primary nutritional risk factor for MASLD in humans.

Highlights

• High dietary protein intake increases the risk of MASLD/MASH

• Amino acid-derived carbons readily fuel the TCA cycle and fatty acid synthesis in liver

• Reducing protein intake or rerouting amino acid catabolism improves hepatic steatosis

“Human studies also showed that most excess carbohydrates are stored as glycogen, with only 1%–2% of a carbohydrate meal converted to lipids.

https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(24)00397-8

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#2

Good find, Joseph! I wonder if Peter Attia will address this at some point.

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#3

No worries: " These associations were seen only in participants with obesity, especially in the subpopulation aged 60 years and older."

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#4

@cl-user My conclusion is that over eating protein is worse than I thought. There is no free lunch. I’m definitely sticking with my cut back toward 100g/day (cycled appropriately).

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#5

Interesting, I thought it is caused by fructose.

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#6

@Christoph Yes. I was “certain” that fructose was the cause. I’m amazed to be so wrong.

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#7

Well fructose is one way. Proteins are not. Again that paper did not see any issues with protein intake for non obese people.

#8

ok, but fatty liver is typically a consequence of obesity, and obese people often try to lose weight with high-protein diets since they’re all the rage. Just because you or I may not be obese doesn’t mean it’s not important.

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#9

Sure, but I was replying specifically to @Joseph_Lavelle who talks about cutting back his proteins.

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#10

Ok, but when you say that “fructose is one way, protein is not”, does that mean fructose causes fatty liver in an otherwise lean healthy person? Seems like overnutrition is a prerequisite for the vast majority of cases, but that one can potentially get away with overnutrition (to an extent) if one steers away from high fructose (and potentially high protein as well).

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#11

I haven’t looked into this much, so I have no idea about the answer, but aren’t we pretty much all engaged in “over nutrition” if we’re not doing CRON (Caloric restriction with optimal nutrition)? I wonder what the risk curves look like as you go up from a CRON baseline - in terms of NAFLD/MASLD?

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#12

What level of physical activity is assumed in this calculation? If it is based on actual physical activity and related calorie burn, less x%. Then I’d have to argue that proof of enough calories is complex. RED-S can be stable weight with high physical activity on low calorie intake (with “optimal nutrition” whatever that means). Bone loss. Low immune function. Low sex hormones. Low thyroid.

Dexa lean plus 10-15% body fat. Plus good blood markers and hormones (thyroid, sex, etc).

How’s it done with athletes?

#13

Its been 20 years since I looked at depth into CRON as defined by Roy Walford. I just found this on a site, not sure how accurate it is, but it seems about right from what I remember when I was into it. I don’t think exercise is factored in generally, but perhaps a logical assumption would be calories burned off in exercise over and above the base CRON diet calories could be added back to the total (?).

Proponents of the CRON-diet believe that everyone has an ideal weight, called a set-point, specific to that individual, at which each naturally stays when they eat their usual daily diet. They claim that the set-point is determined through heredity and childhood eating habits. Adherents to the diet must remain 10–25% under their set-point in order for the diet to be maximally effective.

The guideline used to determine an individual’s set-point is to measure that person’s body fat content. This figure should be 10–15% for females and 6–10% for males. Current weight and body fat content is then used to determine the goal weight (below the set point), and plan and follow a preliminary diet until the goal weight is reached.

Next, the level of caloric restriction for the person’s regular eating pattern is determined. Typically, a goal of restricting intake by 20% is recommended. The actual daily amount eaten will depend on the personl’s basal metabolic rate (BMR). A common daily calotic intake on the CRON-diet is 1,800.

Supplements and high-nutrition foods that calorie-lean are the mainstay of the CRFON-diet. Examples of nutrient dense food used on the diet include kombu, brewers yeast, wheat bran, wheat germ, shiitake mushrooms, non-fat dry milk, soybeans, and tofu.

Dieters generally eat three meals per day. The Walfords propose that adherents cook eight meals all at once and then freeze the meals for use during the rest of the week. There is computer software available to plan meals, including the official Dr. Walfords Interactive Diet Planner and the unofficial CRON-o-Meter.

Books on the CRON-diet include the following. To order the book on Amazon, click on the title below.

Beyond the 120 Year Diet: How to Double Your Vital Years by Roy Walford, New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2000.

Source: Heres

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#14

I was always skeptical of High Protein diets for several reasons:

  1. Protein restriction extended lifespan in rats.
  2. Protein esp. leucine is a big activator of M-tor ( you know that complex we all are try to inhibit to a degree)
  3. Mediterranean diet which has been associated with best health outcomes in multiple studies is not very high in protein
  4. Blue zones studies do not reveal a very high protein diet

My definition of high protein diet is probably over 2 gm/kg/day, being very active (10-12 hours of mixed exercise a week) I shoot for about 1.4 -1.6 gm/kg/day.

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#15

@RapAdmin Thanks. Amazing. My first reaction was to recall a childhood memory of reading about religious ascetics who wore hair shirts to be so uncomfortable that they could be certain they were not being tempted by the devil.

Ascetic — a person who practices severe self-discipline and abstention

The lifelong severe caloric restriction would certainly do the same trick.

I am interested in reducing my caloric annd protein intake somewhat while maintaining my exercise just to see if I can down regulate some immune function and hypergrowth function while continuing to stimulate adaptation to a vigorous lifestyle.

Maybe it’s a baby-CR

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