Julie,
In the Gundry "Matrix" FB group, a couple of his patients have reported Gundry suggested 20g protein for them. One wondered about gluconeogenesis.
I wrote the following post, which includes support for the ~20g/day number, my take is you better be well keto adapted 'cause if your body is using protein to support glucose for your brain (assuming you are also LC) you'll be consuming a lot of your muscle protein. In this debate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJYlXmfb08M T Colin Cambell makes the argument for very low protein.
Here is my post to the Gundry Matrix group:
From a fuel perspective, the brain is the crucial element. The brain requires something like the equivalent of 120 grams of glucose a day to function. This can be supplied by stored glycogen from the liver, carbs you consume, protein you eat or from your muscles or from ketones, if your body is keto-adapted (also called fat adapted or metabolically flexible). Keeping the brain fed is a high priority for the body. If you are well keto-adapted, then ketones can supply a very significant portion of this requirement. What you want to watch out for is eating enough protein during the several week adaptation process so your body can use protein you consume rather than your muscle protein for fuel. Once well adapted, your protein requirement drops significantly. Here is more thoughts on gluconeogenesis on a ketogenic low carb diet. In this paper,
http://www.coconutketones.com/pdfs/Cahi ... n_1967.pdf They fasted 3 obese non-diabetic subjects for 4-6 weeks. During the last week, the subjects excreted an average of 3.3 and 3.9 g/24hr of urinary nitrogen. If you convert nitrogen to protein at a rate of 6.25 g protein/ gm nitrogen you get a range of protein catabolization of 20.6 to 24.4 grams of protein/day. So a keto-adapted person would not need to consume a huge amount of protein to cover this loss. Secondly, in this paper:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article ... 7-0253.pdf they fasted obese non-diabetic subjects for 60 days. Then gave them a bolus of insulin and measured their glucose & etc. They also noted their mental state. The lowest level of serum glucose was 9 mg/dL. Because their beta-OHB (ketone) levels were so high, though they decreased somewhat with the insulin, the subjects maintained normal mental functioning (this should be important to someone who is hypoglycemic). In this podcast
http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/show ... interview/ Dr. Runyan, an MD and T1, talks about the above two papers and how he is able to complete in Ironman Triathalons without glucose fueling. He also mentions he's reduced his "low" episodes to 4/year from several/week with a ketogenic diet. Jimmy Moore's Keto Clarity podcasts with various experts (Runyan is one) expound more on this #847
http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/archive/ Knowing what your serum ketone level is can be useful. Levels above 0.5 mmol are considered "thereaputic" (a person fasting for a long time would get to a level of 6-8 mmol). You can measure with a Precision Xtra meter. Strips in the US are around $6/each, but from Canada they can be had for around $3 from
http://www.universaldrugstore.com/medic ... ne%20strip Moore's book, Keto Clarity, is a good reference.