Does Protein Make You Fat? The Shocking Truth

Does Protein Make You Fat? The Shocking Truth

Hi everybody. This is Kiefer with
with another quick tip today. And this one is about eating too much protein.
I’ve seen this plenty of times about eating too much protein and the thought that if you
overeat protein, it gets turned directly into fat. And this is absolute nonsense. Even NASM
puts this in their training materials for new trainers, and it’s complete bullcrap. Essentially, the pathways for protein that
turn into fat, fatty acids, are so rate-limited, which means there’s just such a tiny, tiny
capacity. It just doesn’t happen. And of all the amino acids, there are only two that
really have a carbon backbone that are capable of forming a fatty acid. And those happen
to be leucine and lysine. It’s very rare and almost impossible. And the metabolic pathways
to make it happen actually caused more energy than the fat that results. So no matter what – eating too much protein
will not make you fat. It’s just not possible. Now, that doesn’t mean that eating too much
protein without any other nutrient won’t cause an increase in insulin levels which
might stop you from burning fat. But it still won’t cause you to put fat on, in those
scenarios where you’ve eaten just protein. That’s one reason that high protein diets
with very low, any other macro nutrient works so well for weight loss. The body really just
can’t store it other than its muscle tissue. So that’s another tip from
and we’ll see you later.

100 Replies to “Does Protein Make You Fat? The Shocking Truth”

  1. I think you need to read and produce some research. And nowhere did I say that over eating protein would exclusively cause muscle growth. Plus, they actually have studies demonstrating exactly what you say is impossible.

  2. i'm not backing up the guy in the video but u sound a bit dumb "maintenance calories" is not something set in stone. if you think 3,000 calories of sugar and 3,000 calories of protein will end up with the same fat results then you need to go do some research before trying to correct people

  3. This whole video is pointless, because protein intake above 1g per pound of body weight does NOT give you any benefit whatsoever. According to Eric helms, Alan Aragon, Layne Norton and others. You want to keep your carb in take as high as possible while cutting or bulking. This is because Carbs DO have a beneficial effect in higher numbers(you can lift more, you gain weight ect) protein does not unless you're on steroids. Please get off youtube before you fuck up peoples metabolism thx

  4. well i dont know what happend to ur comment replying to me so i'll answer here. see the problem is what makes you think that you will need 2,500 calories of food? it's not just magic that you put a calorie in ur body and then it goes straight for energy or is stored as fat, it has to go through many processes, if you eat 3,500 calories of protein already about 15% of the calories(if i remember correctly) is used just to digest it, thats already 500 calories gone.

  5. and as the dude in the video explained after that there is a whole lot of things that the protein needs to go through to be able to actually become fat, and according to him(i may or may not agree) will leave you with so little that you cant really gain significant fat. ur overlooking that there is a difference between LOSING fat and NOT GAINING fat. obviously there is no such thing as excess calories going nowhere but whats actually excess is determined after the food is consumed, not before

  6. (By what your stating) If there is no possible way for me to gain fat from protein.. say I'm at a 2000 calorie diet which has me at maintenance, if I have 3000 calories from protein I won't gain any fat?

  7. ^^ Person is retarded. He never states in the video to eat that much protein. He actually has people eat a ton of carbs so yet again you're an ignorant fool.

  8. He said "this is why high protein diets work so well with weight lose". This is a incredibly dumb statement. Protein is useless beyond the 1g per pound of bodyweight. Carbs are muscle sparing and they let you keep your strength when you're in a caloric deficit. Low carb diet's are dogshit and anyone promoting them should be ridiculed.

  9. I have the Carb Back-Loading ebook it's great but it's full of research and science that people just can't be bothered to read into (i can't anyway). The hardest part about back-loading is actually getting started, people have so many takes on it, the information is overwhelming and definitely not basic enough.

    DH forums and insider CBL forums information is scattered aswell it's pretty horrifying to say the least.

  10. Dude, ignorant comments like that are ridiculous. 3000 calories from protein equals 750g. If you are a 180 lb. individual, you will have approximately 4.16g per pound of body weight. Double the high end recommendation for protein intake of weight training people. Think before you type and ask ridiculous questions.

  11. One thing to keep in mind, especially for overweight people, is that protein is the most satiating macro-nutrient, so it can also help with hunger while making it difficult to gain fat

  12. When the protein intake has been high and the energy surplus consists of amino acids, the various amino acids' deaminated carbon skeleton form glycerol and fatty acids via pyruvate and acetyl-CoA. This will generate triglycerides. The body does have a lot of "defence mechanisms", for instance: If your diet consits of a lot of carbs then the carb oxidation will be higher than usual, same with protein. Fats however doesn't work the same way.

  13. Still, if you maintain a surplus for an extended period of time, a week or a few weeks, it does not matter where the energy comes from, the body just has to use more or less energy to store the extra kcal. (and as already mentioned it regulates what substrates to use more of depending on the intake).

  14. Really i wont find 3000 calories of pure protein?? A trip to the local markets dairy section and some egg whites should do the trick! 🙂

  15. If only that were possible it would make for a rather interesting experiment. But really, try calculating the amount of fat and carbs that tags along with 3000 calories of protein, even with the skimmest of the skim you will find yourself consuming a lot of extra calories from non-protein.

  16. I eat them whole, but that's beside the point. Do you have any idea how nutritional labels work? Hint: they are approximated.

  17. Your liver can only process so much protein at a time, whatever your body doesn't use gets secreted out, which can put a heavy work load on your liver.

  18. Uhm, when you eat whey protein, that protein gets into your body within a 20 min rush, spiking your insulin levels. Plus it depends on when you consume protein as well. Post workout will make your body turn into an engine for any protein you give it. Protein from meats, like you said tries to give 24 hour protein synthesis. However, if you over load your body with too much protein, your liver takes in whatever your body cant. So I will say it again. :-p

  19. insulin secretion does not stop fat burning.. you can't stop any metabolic process and lol your very wrong.. please stop posting garbage.. anything can make you fat if you overeat like a slob

  20. Yeh I feel that way now, I've done more research since that time. The only minor complication is that our kidneys get taxed which can excrete nitogen from the kidneys, but the solution for that is to drink lots of water. The confusion comes from sources that says your body can't absorb more than 50 grams and wasted through the urine, but there have been evidence with people that disproves that.

  21. I have heard that to much protin can damage kidny, but if the protin cames from protin shake it as suger (gulcose) and carbs

  22. Hi Kiefer, so I have decided to give this CBL/CNS a try 🙂
    just a few questions if you have time 🙂 :
    1. -so if I eat more protein /above my TDEE/ it is likely not to be stored as fat, but what about fat ? what if I eat more fat calories than I need ? will it be stored as fat ?

    2.on my ULC days I should be consuming 1:1 ratio and 1g/lb for prot and fats . but what about CBL day ?? if I consume that much + carbs I will end up way above maintaince.. or I don't have to count calories ??

  23. It's in correlation with the SECOND law of thermodynamics. He actually wrote an article on this exact topic. Look it up.

  24. Kiefer, i was all my life skinny and everytime i started to eat more protein to gain muscle mass … i got a POTBELLY. :-/

    i learned that my LIVER starts to fill my belly with WATER. so here is my question: even if its not fat in my belly but water, how can i GAIN MUSLCE MASS without IRRITATING MY LIVER?
    (i started to eat cruciferous vegies on top of eating strict paleo already)

    any ideas? 🙂

  25. it is possible to overeat any one macro nutrient and get fat; even protein. It is not as easy as say eating carbohydrates, it is possible- just very difficult. However eating tons of junkfood and over abundant amounts of refined carbohydrates more than your muscles can use will result in fat gain. There is a reason why people are failing at carb backloading. The first page of google is "unbiased" reviews paid for by Kiefer- but read the forums and see peoples true story

  26. if youre using protien to supply the muscle with energy so your body doesnt have to burn the calories for energy, doesnt that in a sense create fat indirectly because of using protein?

  27. That was excellent! It's nice to see somebody who understands a bit of biochem posting to youtube instead of the "common sense" people who have no clue.

  28. i know this might be too strong but what if you get 5000 calories for a person that need 2000 to maintain his weight from protein, would it be stored as fat since you are passed your calorie limit?

  29. Thanks for this post, DH Kiefer.   Out of several videos I've viewed on this topic, yours is the only one that is supported with any information about biochemistry; very helpful.

  30. if i eat steak for dinner for 3 to 4 days in a row… i will lose 2 to 4 lbs that week… of course im having eggs and bacon for breakfast and some small salad with some kinda meat for lunch… low carb has melted 40 lbs off me in 6 mos.

  31. Source of research? You know the thing that doesn't make you a bro-scientist?
    How do you expect me to believe this if you're just another "expert" who posts "The shocking truth :O :O OMG EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS A LIE" vids.

    What makes you right and NASA wrong???

  32. I believe protein will make you fat, i mean ever since i started taking protein ive been having a hard time keeping the extra calories off, i feel bulky and hate it. I only take one scoop which is about 25 grams of p. I work hard i even try reducing it to half a scoop i still feel the same and it feels like it stays inside me and wont leave

  33. I believe protein does make you fat as protein can be digested into glucose via glucogenesis and excess glucose gets stored as fat.

  34. I heard that eating only protein and working out will cause you to lose massive amounts of weight and gain muscle… But the downside is is that is makes your liver fail.

  35. fucking lies, also even if it was true NO WAY TO EAT NOTHING BUT PURE PROTEIN and it would still be unhealthy if you could. VEGAN

  36. I eat about 200-300 grams of protein every day (for many years), I lift (heavy) weights 4-6 days per week…………..its only when my carb intake exceeds 150 grams per day that my waist size increases, body fat starts hitting 24% or higher…….when the carbs are reduced below the 150 mark………the fat begins to reduce…..also drink a gallon + of water per day……there should be no reason to explain how sugar makes you fat (I hope!)….

  37. I think it's important to add that many protein bars and powders have a LOT of sugar for taste, which WILL make you fat.

  38. This is the dumbest shit I've ever heard. The reason why you're able to consume more protein than other nutrients is because it's more nutrient dense than fats and you can fill up more on them than you would with anything else. Eating too much of anything will make you fat, just like eating too much sugar will make you fat, like eating too many carbs will make you fat and consuming too many fats will make you fat. As long as you're in a caloric surplus without metabolizing it properly, you will get fat.

  39. ok maybe TOO MUCH can be harmful, but i do eat a lot of meat. mostly every lunch consists of chicken or cow meat. and surprisingly, i am becomming a bit thinner by eating meat and protein. i am eating a lot of cheese (yes, cheese is a source of protein) so, it all adds up. and it actually is helping me get thinner, so i dont really think it's bullshit. everybody is different. whatever works for you, works for you.

  40. This doesn't make any sense. Based on this argument, eating 5000kcal consisting purely of Protein wont make you fat, but eating 5000kcal consisting of carbs will make you fat? Does that mean that the whole idea of a Kcal surplus being absolutely necessary in order to build any muscle was false all along? Should people who wanna build muscle forget about a Kcal surplus and make sure they have a carbs surplus instead if they wanna be able to gain weight and build muscle? This whole story contradicts itself and it gives me a headache. Good bye.

  41. How is it that you can make a comment about getting fat, when you aren't in the best shape, wear clothes in all your video, and the shirts look like you have a spare tire. Sorry to be honest. When I start getting a lot of protein, especially Whey, I blow up like a balloon. Whey protein is bad and meant for anyone who can eat like a horse and not gain weight.

  42. please explain to me the difference between mass protein and whey protein,,,my objective to gain fat because im skinny guy

  43. First off, thank you for assuming that I eat a bunch of "junk food". As you can see, there are way too many people out there claiming to have all the answers and just regurgitating the same BS that has been fed to us all along. When I started adding Whey, after a workout ONLY, and yes I workout to the point that I slowly walk out of the gym and my towel is soaking wet from sweat, I take my 40g of Whey as a power workout shake. This is when I started to blow up. People do not need as much protein as the companies want us to believe. (I apologize for being so blunt in my last comment…I do like most of your videos) I went to India this past Thanksgiving and saw that it was primarily A vegetarian cultural. When I came back, I start d trying to not consume so much protein (Whey and meat), what I found out was that I lost a ton of fat and got stronger. Do research and find out for yourself that you don't need to eat a ton of protein. It isn't necessary.

  44. When caloric intake is maximized, excess caloric intake preferentially gets stored as fat. Thus carbohydrates and sugars are often ‘blamed’ as being fattening in any diet with protein excess, aka the typical “American Diet”.

    Carbohydrates and sugars won’t be converted to fat if caloric excess is not consumed. It is also a ‘waste’ of energy….but notably, energy IS wasted when there is energy to spare, and so we store the left over energies in the form of fat(s).

  45. Iv been loosing weight every week with diet and working out but weak in the gym and not much gains, started taking protein shakes lots of strength energy and gains but I gained 3 pounds in one week??, can you explain that?

  46. You can't get fat on protein, but you WILL get fat on so-called "high-protein foods": Eggs/ 63% fat, Cheese/70% fat, Chicken 22% fat, Whole Milk, (3.5% fat by weight, but), 49% of the calories! are fat. So the question is: Where are you getting your "protein"?

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