Does eating protein elevate insulin levels?

[informer]

I have a question, i know that insulin levels increase when we eat a meal with carbohydrates. But does a meal with only protein and some fat elevate our insulin-levels? or a meal of protein without carbohydrates have no effect on insulin like fats?

I am asking this because i read in the website http//www.bodyrecomposition.com by expert Lyle Mcdonald that protein does have an effect on insulin

informer

[maxlharris]

Yes. However, glucagon levels are also raised with protein consumption. The blood sugar effect is not the same as carbs. But there is an effect.

[informer]

Thanks for your answer. So fat is the only macro-nutrient which has zero effect on our insulin levels I suspect. That's why the Dr. Atkins diet and most low carb diets are higher in fat.

Thanks

informer



Yes. However, glucagon levels are also raised with protein consumption. The blood sugar effect is not the same as carbs. But there is an effect.

[informer]

By the way brocoli is so great, i just calculated that a whole 5 lbs. of frozen wal-mart brocoli has only 400 calories, and 100 grams of good carbs. I make my green vegetables with a whole 5 lb. bag of brocoli, and 2 whole green cabbage. It lasts me for about 6 days.

informer



Yes. However, glucagon levels are also raised with protein consumption. The blood sugar effect is not the same as carbs. But there is an effect.

[Gabriel Guzman]

If this helps, the graph shown in the attached image shows that although there is an insulin response to protein, in the long-run that response is significantly lower than the response to carbohydrate.

Let's not forget that one-meal, one-day, or even short-term responses to macronutrients may not mean much because adaptation plays a role in the actual effect of a particular macronutrient. Even if it occurs, having a postprandial spike of insulin in response to a protein-rich meal doesn't necessarily mean hyperinsulinemia (which is understood more as a chronic effect rather than an immediate) and it doesn't mean that a chronic condition of fat synthesis will ensue.

The graph is from the paper "Low carbohydrate diets improve atherogenic dyslipidemia even in the absence of weight loss (http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/3/1/24)" published in 2006 by Richard Feinman and Jeff Volek in Nutrition and Metabolism.