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Comment by fouc | Hacker News Reader

80 grams of protein is 320 calories. 220lbs male needs to eat at least 2000 calories (basal metabolic rate), likely closer to 3000-4000 after all the exercise.

So protein only constitutes 12% or less of their caloric source. Just about all food have some proportion of protein. Cooked oatmeal is 16% protein by calories.

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I've seen a reference in another quote that suggests 78% if diet from carb sources... that leaves 12% from meat. That is emphatically NOT vegetarian by any modern definition.

edit: could include fish, depending on the location.

Your math is off by 10%. And saying 78% carbs in no way implies the rest is meat. The remaining 22% could be non animal sources of fats and protein. I’ve done vegitarian keto where about 70% of my daily intake is non animal fat, 15-20% non animal protein and 10-15% carbs.

Could you suggest some vegetable sources of protein that might have been used at the time, that would not be considered a carb, practically speaking? I mean, it's not like they had a lot of canola oil and tofu.

Beans, grains for example? They provide carbohydrates and protein.

Given the reference to Barley as specifically a significant portion of the diet as part of that 78%, why do you think that Beans/grains would be excluded in that number?

I don't. I was listing vegetarian protein sources they might have used. Foods are not just carbohydrates or protein or fat, they're a mix. Saying 78% of their calories came from carbohydrates just describes the macronutrients their diet provided. If you were to eat just beans (not recommended!), you might arrive at a ratio of about 80-90% carbs.

Not a vegetable source, but eggs are generally considered vegetarian.

For vegetable sources, they were referred to as barley-eaters and barley is 12% protein.

Barley is not a complete protein iirc.

Also, why are people fighting so hard to insist that memebers of a pre-industrial society got 12% of their calories from animal sources (including meat)?

I could have sworn that was your position. Hang on, are you three kids in a trenchcoat?

I meant s/insist/resist/

>Could you suggest some vegetable sources of protein that might have been used at the time, that would not be considered a carb

It’s doesnt matter if a vegetable is considered a carb, that can still have a significant amount of protein.

Some that fall in that category include: broccoli, spinach, asparagus, peas, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, (as others has said legumes).

In my own regimen when I was trying to maintain ketosis while eating vegitarian I ate a lot of seeds and nuts, they of course have carbs but significant amounts of fat/protein. Also I had tons of coconut oil and coconut butter (about the best fat you can get from an energy perspective medium chain triglyceride).

They may not have had canola, but olive oil was a big staple, and that’s an example of a non-meat that packs significant calories and fat.

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