Finding your ideal protein intake on keto depends on many of the factors:
- Genetics. Genetic expression can impact the degree of insulin resistance and sensitivity throughout your body as well as your ability to burn ketones for fuel. Both will affect your hormonal response to protein consumption.
- Gender. As we discovered earlier, women may have a different response to protein depending on what phase of their cycle they are in.
- Current macronutrient and calorie intake. In general, eating fewer carbs and/or calories can keep higher protein intake from reducing your ketone levels.
- Insulin sensitivity. People who have type 2 diabetes may struggle with ketone production because of their higher insulin levels, and protein consumption can cause their insulin to get even higher. On the other hand, healthier and more fit individuals can get away with consuming more protein without it impairing ketone production
- How long you have been on keto. Restricting carbs will help decrease insulin levels and increase your ability to produce and burn ketones. The longer you are on the keto diet, the less likely a higher protein intake will disrupt ketosis.
- Activity levels. If you are more active (especially if you lift weights), you will need more protein to restore your glycogen levels and build muscle. You will also require less insulin to make use of that protein. This means that ketone production will continue to be stimulated, even after high protein meals.
- Current body composition. The heavier you are, the more protein you will need to eat. If you have a higher body fat %, higher protein intakes may cause enough of an increase in insulin levels to decrease ketone production.
- Body composition goals. Ideally, you want to eat enough protein so that you maintain/gain muscle mass without it decreasing ketone levels.
Each one of these variables will affect how much insulin and glucagon you secrete in response to protein consumption. This will then determine how much that protein affects your ketone production and other processes in the body (e.g., muscle protein synthesis).
With that being said, you don’t have to plug all of these factors into a complex algorithm to figure out how much protein can get away with eating. Most keto dieters have no problem at all when they follow these general protein recommendations:
- If you are sedentary — consume 0.6 – 0.8g of protein per pound of lean body mass.
- If you are regularly active — have 0.8 – 1.0g of protein per pound of lean body mass.
- If you lift weights — eat 1.0 – 1.2g of protein per pound of lean body mass.
Alternatively, if you want to have this calculation (and all other macro calculations) done for you, use any keto calculator.
