From Weight Loss to Research: How One Student’s Life Revolves Around Protein

As a pre-med student, Trevor Melkonian wouldn’t recommend his new diet consisting of only protein and fat to just anyone. The so-called “Ketogenic” diet caught his attention after seeing a Reddit thread about this latest trend that promised rapid weight loss.

Reddit is a website that functions like an online bulletin board. Registered members can submit content of any kind which are then placed into over 50 categories such as self-improvement which includes fitness and diet plans. At 5’11 and 200 pounds Melkonian was browsing the site for useful diet tips.

His explanation for this extreme change was simple, “I’m graduating in May and am hopefully going to medical school in the fall, it feels like a turning point, so I want to get in better shape.”

Skeptical of the benefits of eating only proteins and fats he didn’t start this diet based only on the testimonials of Reddit users. As with most areas in his life Melkonian approached this diet scientifically and did his own research to understand exactly how it worked.

“Essentially it has you cut out all carbohydrates, Melkonian said, “which forces your body to use energy from fat cells instead of burning the excess sugar made from the carbs you’d normally be consuming.”

The change in how the body gets it’s energy is called ketosis and is essential to losing weight through this plan.

This diet was historically used for difficult-to-treat epilepsy in children before medications were available because it reproduced the effects of fasting, which was known to help treat epilepsy, but without its limitations. However, that didn’t stop this 21-year-old college student from giving it a try.

The Keto diet requires the individual to constantly be aware of what is in the food they’re consuming rather than what is generally considered healthy. Melkonian wouldn’t recommend it to people who are not willing to do the proper research beforehand and those unable to stick to a strict regimen. Going over the maximum intake of 20g of carbs a day can take the body out of ketosis, which results in the body using that for energy rather than stored fat.

When a person maintains an extremely low carb diet such as this one the body is unable to retain water in the same way therefore sodium and electrolytes get flushed out quickly. Because of this, a person on the Keto diet must monitor their sodium intake, which needs to be significantly higher than those maintaining a normal 2,000kcal diet.

Melkonian consumes less than 20g of carbs a day in comparison to a healthy moderate-carb diet that usually involves consuming between 150-200g of carbs per day.

His daily food intake typically consists of two fried eggs and bacon for breakfast, deli meat, cheese, and a non-starchy vegetable for lunch, and ground beef with vegetables for dinner. For snacks he will normally reach for string cheese or chicken broth to help boost his sodium intake.

The foods he avoids completely since they are high in carbs and sugar are grains, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, milk, and high-carb fruits.

Three months into this plan and Melkonian was surprised to lose his goal of 20 pounds without changing anything other than his diet.

Shedding this weight has sparked changes in his overall lifestyle as well. Melkonian notes that he is now more conscious about the portioning of his meals and has even opted for riding a bike instead of driving to get around.

Aside from drastically changing his diet, Melkonian keeps busy with 12-hour days Monday through Friday. As a senior at UW-Milwaukee he splits his time between completing his Biochemistry degree, working in a research lab, and volunteering in the oncology department at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital. There he prepares charts for doctors and stocks the nurse’s station.

In addition to taking 15 credits towards his degree this semester, he continues his work in a chemistry research lab on campus. There he works to discover the structures and functions of specific proteins that could lead to the discovery and creation new antibiotics to help fight superbugs.

Melkonian hopes that his involvement in the lab and time spent at the hospital will give him an advantage as he waits for responses from his medical school applications.

Between the hours spent studying, researching, and building up his résumé there is little time to think about much else. It’s clear that for right now whether it’s consuming them or researching them Trevor Melkonian’s life revolves around proteins.