Thanks, David, for your valuable comments.

As far as fat gain is concerned: when you compare veggies and fruits to the other carb sources that I mentioned (bread, pasta, rice) the energy density of the latter is far greater than that of the former.

That is, 100 grams of veggies deliver (on average) about 30 Kcal, fruits deliver 1.5-2 times that. Bread and pasta, on the other hand, are between, at least, 150-300 kcal/100 grams.

Hence, to overeat, that is eating in excess of calories burnt, is almost impossible with veggies and fruits (the sheer volume gets in the way of overeating), but very easy on bread, pasta, and, to a lesser extent, rice.

As you correctly mentioned, the butter on the bread will add to the excess calories.

Now, here is what happens with those calories: When the body’s glucose stores (muscle and liver) are full, excess glucose (from carbs) can be converted into fat in the adipose tissue. While this process (de novo lipogenesis) is not very efficient, it does happen, and it will add to body weight.

The weight change that we see on a daily basis (I’ll soon write a post on how to utilize observing these changes for weight management), is strongly related to the way we store carbs. Carbs are broken down into their individual monosaccharides (simple sugars). That’s the only way they can get absorbed through the intestinal barrier and, further down the line, through the cellular walls of their storage tissues. Once they have arrived at their destination, these simple sugars are re-assembled into long glycogen chains. That process adds water to the glycogen molecule in a weight ratio of roughly 4:1.

That’s what makes a big proportion of the day-to-day weight fluctuations that we see on the scale.

Now to methionine: You are absolutely right, methionine is another essential AA the restriction of which has been shown to reduce oxidative stress, specifically in the mitochondria of cells, but also through other pathways. The net effect is a slowing down of the aging process. But methionine has also been described as a double-edged sword. Both, its restriction and its supplementation can be beneficial as well as deleterious. I don’t believe we are yet in a position to individualize methionine intake to maximize its benefits and avoid its drawbacks.