The Primal Blueprint Carbohydrate Curve
Yesterday, low-carb blogger Dr. Michael Eades (he of Protein Power) posted a message from his friend and fellow low-carb guru Richard Feinman as sort of a call-to-action in public policy-making for upcoming 2010 USDA guidelines. Dr. Eades and Dr. Feinman have suggested that we ought to quickly find a way to help the USDA arrive at a sensible recommendation for carbohydrate consumption. Feinman asked:
“how can the benefits of carbohydrate restriction that you have experienced personally or in your immediate environment be translated into reasonable recommendations that the USDA could put out?”
In conjunction with my forthcoming book “The Primal Blueprint”, I have been working on an easy-to-understand explanation of how carbohydrates impact the human body and the degree to which we need them (or not) in our diet. I have also developed a chart (not the one above) that is intended to assist those who want to go “Primal” in visualizing the impact of carbs consumed within certain ranges. I was going to hold off on releasing this information until my book is published, but decided to introduce it here in response to Dr. Eades’ post. Since the choice of how many and what types of carbs in one’s diet depends on the context of one’s life (current weight, disease condition, activity levels, etc), I see carb intake as a “curve” ranging from “allowable” to “desirable” to “unhealthy”.
The following descriptions illustrate how carbohydrates impact the human body and the degree to which we need them, or not, in our diet. The ranges represent daily averages and are subject to variables like age, current height and weight and particularly training volume. For example, a heavy, active person can be successful at a higher number than a light, moderately active person. In particular, hard training endurance athletes will experience a greater need for carbs and can adjust their personal curve accordingly. This is a topic I address further in the book (e.g. – experimenting with adding 100g of carbs per hour of training per day), on MarksDailyApple.com and in a future “primal” book dedicated to endurance athletes. Here then is my “Primal Blueprint Carbohydrate Curve.”
300 or more grams/day - Danger Zone!
Easy to reach with the “normal” American diet (cereals, pasta, rice, bread, waffles, pancakes, muffins, soft drinks, packaged snacks, sweets, desserts). High risk of excess fat storage, inflammation, increased disease markers including Metabolic Syndrome or diabetes. Sharp reduction of grains and other processed carbs is critical unless you are on the “chronic cardio” treadmill (which has its own major drawbacks).
150-300 grams/day – Steady, Insidious Weight Gain
Continued higher insulin-stimulating effect prevents efficient fat burning and contributes to widespread chronic disease conditions. This range – irresponsibly recommended by the USDA and other diet authorities – can lead to the statistical US average gain of 1.5 pounds of fat per year for forty years.
100-150 grams/day – Primal Blueprint Maintenance Range
This range based on body weight and activity level. When combined with Primal exercises, allows for genetically optimal fat burning and muscle development. Range derived from Grok’s (ancestors’) example of enjoying abundant vegetables and fruits and avoiding grains and sugars.
50-100 grams/day – Primal Sweet Spot for Effortless Weight Loss
Minimizes insulin production and ramps up fat metabolism. By meeting average daily protein requirements (.7 – 1 gram per pound of lean bodyweight formula), eating nutritious vegetables and fruits (easy to stay in 50-100 gram range, even with generous servings), and staying satisfied with delicious high fat foods (meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds), you can lose one to two pounds of body fat per week and then keep it off forever by eating in the maintenance range.
0-50 grams/day – Ketosis and Accelerated Fat Burning
Acceptable for a day or two of Intermittent Fasting towards aggressive weight loss efforts, provided adequate protein, fat and supplements are consumed otherwise. May be ideal for many diabetics. Not necessarily recommended as a long-term practice for otherwise healthy people due to resultant deprivation of high nutrient value vegetables and fruits.
Drop me a line in the comment boards. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Further Reading:
The Definitive Guide to the Primal Eating Plan
The Definitive Guide to Insulin, Blood Sugar and Type 2 Diabetes (and You’ll Understand It)
Subscribe to Mark’s Daily Apple feeds
Posted By: Mark Sisson
I would say your take on this is spot on… my only complaint is that your carb ranges seem to assume a young, fit, active male.
Few people who needed to lose weight in the first place are going to maintain weight loss eating 100-150 carbs per day (unless the cals are rigidly controlled).
Few people who need to lose weight are going to see “effortless” loss at 50-100 per day (that is without cal / hunger restricting)
I imagine a man in his 20s or 30s who has no significant obesity might find that true, however.
As for me, 50 carbs is where I do best all the time. To control blood sugar, insanity, and weight, that’s where I should be. I often creep up to higher levels but anything more than 100 is intolerable.
Then again I’ve numerous issues carb related (pcos/hypoglycemia/obesity/mental health). I’m controlling these pretty well by following the diet (no longer PCOS, stable sugar, thin, brain doing pretty well most of the time) but my carb restriction must be a lot more extreme than it has to be for others.
I came here from Michael Eades blog and have to say my metabolism pretty much agrees with your numbers.
I have suffered from Reactive Hypoglycemia for about 50 years and what was obviously “diabetic dyslipidemia” for 30, and was only progressing gradually and insidiously towards diabetes UNTIL the dietician got a hold of me and pushed my carb input up from 150 – 300 range. Also the reduction in fat seems to have been key in causing me to put on weight for the first time ever in my skinny life.
50 – 100g carbs is my “sweet spot” where my blood glucose and lipids have pretty much normalised, the weight went away again and many of my “mental” and physical symptoms resolved. Below that and I don’t have the latitude to adjust my BG manually when required.
The most curious thing (or is it?) is that in the absence of the high BG and high trigs (and high insulin resistance and insulin levels) I convert those naughty saturated fats into HDL rather than LDL.
IMNSHO all those “Healthy Whole Grains” had turned me into a heart attack on legs, I should have been eating lard instead. The rest of my diet hasn’t changed much, plenty of protein especially fish and hordes of vegetables and salad but in the presence of too many carbs and insufficient fat they weren’t helping very much.
The Harvard Pyramid
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/index.html
would be a major step forward over the official one
ItsTheWooo, I know your site and have seen your posts here and on other like-mided sites, so I am aware of your situation. You probably have a better handle on this (and the information) than 99% of people. I see where you are coming from on the assumptions. Maybe we’ll add a caveat regarding that. Keep up your own good work.
Trinkwasser, not curious at all regarding sat fat and HDL. Several studies bear that out. Looks like you have it dialed in pretty well. From here you can choose where you want to be at any time and know what the effects will be. That’s true personal power!
“I second Patrick’s request for several samples of what a 100 gram carb day would look like.”
Patrick and Heather work it out yourself. All you need is a food scale. Its best you did it yourself with the foods you like to eat.
Trinkwasser, not curious at all regarding sat fat and HDL. Several studies bear that out. Looks like you have it dialed in pretty well. From here you can choose where you want to be at any time and know what the effects will be. That’s true personal power!
Would have been good if The Authorities had told me this instead of the opposite.
Been looking round your blog (so many blogs, so little time) and will probably point a cousin here. She is slim and exceedingly fit (marathons, triathlons, swimming, running etc.) yet already in her thirties she is showing distinct symptoms of the familial insulin resistance. I’m trying to persuade her to reduce her carbs but as a vegetarian conditioned into the benefits of Healthy Whole Grains I’m in need of allies to get through to her! (Her skinny fit and active father is only now starting to go down the same path in his sixties which I have been travelling since childhood.)
We need to find ways to NOT express these genes and so far carb control/reduction is the winning strategy
What’s familial insulin resistance?
Well, i personaly just found out that I have a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome. When i first found out I thought it just has something to do with my female things, but as my doctor was explaining it affects my whole body. Basically my insulin does not work correctly, kind of like a diabetic. So i’ve been instruction to go on a special meal plan consisted of low glycemic foods. I immediately went home and cleaned out the cupboards and four grocery bags later I realized how carbogydrate-layden my cupboards were!! Along with my diet and medication hopefully i can get back to normal, but I am not understanding that even things that you think might be ok to eat aren’t really. Whole wheat is always better and as my doctor says, you can’t go wrong with food that spoils!
Brandy,
if you removed all grain for a while that will definitely help with your PCOS. I feel low glycemic doesn’t go far enough. What meds are you on – metformin?
Hi Mark and thanks for a good site!
On the “how many carbs do you need”, I see no real problem in staying at 30-50 carbs even while eating a fair amount of veggies. (Provided you avoid the carb-heavy stuff) Assuming an average of 5g / 100g of carb content, there is no problem squeezing in 500 grammes or so of veggies into your diet without leaving ketosis, a sizeable amount.
As for fruits, what micronutrients are we really talking here? They are rich in vitamin C, but apart from that their energy/weight composition is about the same as Coke (of course, it’s harder to ingest the same amount of fruit, but still…).
Oh, I should add that sadly our veggies have also been “industrialized”. That’s why I pop a multivitamin/micronutrient pill each day together with the Omega-3 supplements. Sad, but true.
I have been keeping my carbs just under 150 grams per day, and calories at close to 2500 or less per day, since Jan 1st 2009 and I have lost 10lbs in the last 3 weeks, so you can lose weight, especially if you are as overweight as me, (6’5, 499 lbs). As I progress I will adjust it accordingly.
Something that is almost always overlooked in these stories and articles and is also overlooked in the above article, is the issue of the person’s size, for instance a 6’5″ guy wanting to maintain a 220 lb weight can eat more carbs than say someone who is 5’10″ and wants to maintain weighing 165.
Steve B, that’s why we give you a range. If you are way bigger or way smaller, you can also go outside that range a bit
Yeah, in a way I felt like I was being told I could not lose weight on 150 carbs or less per day above, but being how obese I am, I can lose this way for a long time. I am 33 yrs old by the way. A co-worker in his late 50s found out he had type 2 diabetes and he went on a plan of 150 carbs per day or less and he went from weighing about 260 to about 180 in about 8 months on his 5’10″ inch frame by eating that way. Inspired by his success I am now succeeding at it too. This is the longest I have succeeded on an restricted eating plan in years.
Congratulations on your success so far, Steve. Keep it up!
Mark,
I consume a lot of carbs- averaging 250-300 grams per day, about 150 grams of fat and about 70 grams of protein average day. Weight 68 Kilos at 6 feet.
Almost all my carbs comes from carrots ( i eat raw carrots about a kilo for lunch at times), bananas, sweet potatoes, oranges, apples. I do have digestion issues if i eat too much wheat or grains. a slice of bread sometimes is ok. my question is..are grains real issue or carbs in general?
Amit, Depends. How old are you? Do you exercise a lot? What is your body comp or body fat? Grains are definitely a big part of all this, but excess carbs from other sources are still a potential problem. If not now, then maybe iinto the future. OTOH, you may be a lucky one who lives comfortably on the higher end of the carb curve.
Mark,
is there a protein curve? or can we basically eat protein ad infinitum (slight exag. there, but provided we eat it with fat, fruits and veggies)
funny that fats are not good for you!
Your comment seems rather random. And many fats are not only healthy, but essential.
For the last 2 weeks I have not eaten refined sugar, white flour etc, but my carbs do creep up, the average is 130-180g per day.
is this OK? I hate attached todays nutrition here: http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm301/xanderd/nutrition07-05-09.jpg
I walk for 1-2 hours per day, sprint once per week and lift heavy weights for 1 hour 3x per week.
I am thinking that since the carbs come from lentils which i consider a ‘healthy’ food that this is ok…although wonder how absolute the ’100g per day of carbs’ rule is.
any thoughts?
ps. I want to gain at least 3kg of muscle and find it very difficult to gain weight in the past – easily lose it if my calories drop below 2500kcal/day
Alex, you are on the right plan. If you want to build muscle, your body has to “need” the extra muscle. The only way that happens is for you to work out more intensely (not more time) so signals arer sent to your genes to add strength and size to muscle. Your calories are probably OK now, even a little high. I would cut back on the lentils a bit. I don’t know your body fat, but I wouold suggest that to gain muscle from here, you might want to reduce your walking a bit for a few weeks and see what happens. Ultimately, you may find that the body you have now is the ideal one for the amount of work you do…unless you increase the load on it.
Mark,
I have lost 15 lbs since about mid-Feb going from 167 lbs to 152 lbs by doing fairly high intensity cardio, circuit weights 2-3xs weekly with some yoga and pilates thrown in. My plans are to lose another 10 lbs the same way. Since about mid-April, I have kept my carbs to 100-150g per day and try hard to eat 1200 -1500 calories a day. The trouble I’m having is getting enough protein because I am lactose an soy intolerant and I just can’t tolerate meat 3xs daily. I tend to compensate with nuts (good?), peanut butter and boiled eggs. I think this might be leading to high levels of selenium on my fitday chart. Can you recommend a few non-meat sources of protein excluding dairy and soy?
Thanks a bunch,
Tracy
Tracy, good work so far. All I can add for non-meat protein is chicken and fish (of course) and then find a good protein powder and have a soothie once a day. You should be fine getting 100-120 grams protein total each day.
Mark,
I appreciate the time you take to reply us
I am currently around 18% body fat – according to a cheap electronic device. I am 185cm tall and weight 72.5 kg. I aim to reduce body fat a few points and also to bring my overall body weight up to at least 75kg.
It’s interesting that you say my calories are maybe slightly too high – on fitday it says I burn about 3100 per day just through my metabolism, walking and lifting 3x per week.
Regarding intensity – I always used to work chest/triceps, back/biceps and legs/shoulders with 3×10 reps. Now I have changed my plan since 2 weeks ago:
I now do the whole body and use a 5 second up / 5 second down cadence for much higher time under tension, and I usually do 5 sets of 5. This means I do about 20% less weight than before, 5 less reps in total, but double the total time under tension. If you have any thoughts on how effective this is at stimulatng muscle mass gain I’d love to know
i found a product called ‘Just carbs’ (http://tinyurl.com/ppn2ba).
It lists ‘Insulin Spike’ under product information!!!
I have been losing weight after reading (my age 50)the “Protien Powder” I started in Nov-08 and now in May have lost 55 lb (280-225) I keep between 0-30 grams of carbs a day and i work two jobs 16 hour days. I take a host of supplements and protien powder drinks along with meat protien and low carb wraps (3-grams-per wrap) and have salad at least once a day. I work out on average 3 days two- three hour workouts. I feel great and dont miss the carbs. i will congtinue this way for at least 30 more lbs (loss) and will bring up carb intake to 50-carbs to loose additional 15-25 lb to bring my weight down to a healthy 175 LB. My question is i read in a nutriontion book for dummies that a healthy carb intake level is 130 carbs for brain and heart function and anthing lower will be harmful. Can i maintain a helthy lifestyle at 175 lbs on 100 carbs a day with an increasae of power- lifting? Thanks i enjoyed your blog and the added responces were very informative.
You lost weight after reading “protein powder”?
Harry, congrats on your great progress. There is no nutritional requirement for carbs in the human diet. The body makes up to 200 grams a day from the protein and fat you consume. So, yes, you can maintain a totally healthy lifestyle and even increase powerlifting on 100 grams carbs/day. There’s no reason to do two-to- three-hour workouts, though.
Hi mark
what’s your view on a south beach type diet? Is the induction phase a good kick off?
South beach has it’s good points. Induction phase is best. I think they allow way too many carbs, grains, etc later on.
The South Beach Diet would be good if they didn’t have so many artificial, strange foods in the plan.
Low fat foods, fake eggs. why not just eat real food?
The one really good thing about it is the recipes from South Beach Florida. The seviche is particularly good and illustrates the point that food that is healthy can be extremely delicious and satisfying which I think is the key to success with any diet plan.
I lost weight in the Induction phase of SBD, but as soon as I re-introduced whole grains, all the “healthy” ones – brown rice, whole wheat, barley etc. – I started gaining weight, so I’m back to Phase 1 + fruits + a small amount of grains. I would ultimately like to go fully Primal.
Hi Mark. First of all .. What a fantastic site you have. I’ve cut my carbs right back from way over 300g a day to between 50-120g a day for three weeks now. My weight started at 292 pounds and now just after three weeks i am down to 267, a loss of 25 pounds !! The first two weeks the weight just fell of due probably to water loss. This last week i have not lost much at all, just a few ounces. Will this be a slow process to lose weight Mark ?
Paul, great work so far. Off to a good start. Understand that after the initial shock to your body, most people can settle into a comfortable 1-2 pounds per week of FAT lost indefinitely – or until you hit a desirable body composition. For you, staying well under 100 grams total carbs per day will be key for a while. Walk as much as you can and do a few weight sessions each week. The concept of “slow process” mean nothing if you can change your body composition for the rest of your life in a way that is basically painless and requires little in the way of sacrifice (other than eliminating sugars). Keep us posted!!
I don’t think Mark ever answered the question regarding “net” carbs, but I’ve taken a look at his fitday and the way he writes about it, and he’s *including* fiber in the total number.
Which, of course, makes it a LOT harder to hit that 100 mark. I can easily hit 150g total with about 100 net by eating normal healthy primal-like foods, but to get the total number below 100 I actually have to make decisions like, “tomatoes or cucumbers?” or “eggs or avocado?”. OR, I must strike out the little “add-ups” like a Viactiv calcium chew or that “2 bites of sandwich” that I would normally, being a foodie with friends who let me taste… despite the fact that those are very enjoyable on a day to day basis.
Sorry, long comment to deliver a short answer.