Comment by nlh | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nlh | Hacker News Reader

Even if this article were 100% true (which I doubt), I wouldn't follow the advice.

Switching from a low-protein to high-protein diet has had the most dramatic positive effect on my health and fitness I've seen in my short 35 years on this earth.

For most of my life I basically got no real protein in my diet -- cereal for breakfast, pasta for dinner, etc. I was always just a bit out of shape, and no matter how much time I spent at the gym I saw minimal improvements.

A few years ago I was inspired by a weightloss thread on reddit and "rebooted" my eating and fitness. Started running, dumped my carb-heavy diet and moved to a high-protein diet -- Greek yogurt, lots of chicken, cheese, etc.

I've lost 30 lbs and am seriously in better shape than I've ever been. My exercise level went up, sure, but the dramatic change came from my diet reboot.

So frankly, even if this were true, I'd rather live the life I've got now than go back to the low-protein lethargy of my 20s.

You're talking about the difference in how you feel in the short term, in an uncontrolled "experiment", where you started exercising at the same time, versus an increase in long term disease. Of course you're going to feel better if you lose 30 pounds and start exercising. What's to say you wouldn't feel even better than that if you dropped all of those carbs and started eating far more vegetables and other vitamin rich non-proteins instead of all that yogurt? No offense, but do a line of cocaine and you'll feel better for a short period of time, too. It doesn't mean you're healthier or increasing your life expectancy.

You are right. There are researches that show that fats like bacon are kind of nootropics.

http://www.naturalmedicineconsultations.com/45-your-brain-ne...

The fats are so important and good to your body and brain, that when you eat a lots of healthy fats (and I mean lots) your body and your brain are "high", feeling well, thinking better and increasing your physical performance.

Eating lots of fats and vegetables, medium to high in proteins, and low on carbs (or zero if possible) its the best and healthiest way to live.

In my experience/opinion (of my own short 35 years), exercise is what really makes a difference.

An healthy diet is of course as important, but really can't say I experienced that much of a difference between low-carbs/low-fats/low-calories diets, in terms of effectiveness (they all work, if you exercise and stick to them) and general well-being.

Exercise is and will be always only the 20% of your effort looking for a perfect mind and body. The other 80% is what you put in your mouth. Your eyes, your skin, your hair, your organs, every bite you do does something on each and every part of your body.

>For most of my life I basically got no real protein in my diet -- cereal for breakfast, pasta for dinner, etc

You know both of your examples contain protein right? Pasta contains plenty of protein. Potatoes contain plenty of protein. This bizarre notion that the only way to get protein is from meat is complete nonsense.

Chicken = Around 26g protein per 100g (219 calories)

Pasta = Around 13g protein per 100g (371 calories)

Potatoes = Around 2g protein per 100g (77 calories)

The chicken contains twice as much, for not far off 50% less calories. Add in the fact that the chicken will probably also make you feel fuller for longer - chicken is near enough 0% carbs, versus the pastas 25% carbs, makes eating a chicken breast seem like a more logical choice than a bowl full of pasta to me.

You'd need to eat a hell of a lot of potatoes to get a decent quantity of protein and don't even start me on the modern monstrosity that is cereal.

Most of the protein in the pasta comes from animals anyway...a key ingredient being egg, after all.

I'm confused as to what point you are trying to make. You demonstrated that my statement was accurate, then made a non-sequitur statement about satiety that is incorrect. You would need to eat an adequate amount of calories in potato to get an adequate amount of protein from potato. 26x77=2000 kcal. 26x2=52g protein. Pasta gets most of its protein from wheat. It typically does not contain eggs at all. Pasta made with eggs is specifically called "egg noodles" for a reason.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com