Livin La Vida Low Carb

LauraDotts

By day 5 you will feel fantastic. Drink lots of water. Keep your sodium intake up. If you feel dizzy, drink broth. Keep your fat macro high.

cfranklin6353

So I'm recently doomed to eat low carb. I, along with the team of doctors I work with, have done a lot of research on the effects of carbohydrates on the body, and how they relate to insulin levels and fat storage.

Care to enlighten us on your research?

Absolutely...

More and more studies are showing that the "Food Pyramid" that was implemented in the 60's and 70's was completely wrong. The body uses carbohydrates much differently that originally thought. The science sounded good on paper: Fat increases cholesterol, and cholesterol causes plaque, plaque leads to atherosclerosis, and that causes heart disease. So naturally, companies began shipping out "low fat" and "nonfat" varieties of their products. When you take the fat out, you also take the flavor. So you have to put the flavor back in! And when you take the fat out of something, you can still call it low-fat if you add.....SUGAR! So, automatically, the low-fat diet becomes a high-carb diet.

We're now seeing that that is outdated science. The more carbs we eat, the higher the insulin level goes. In turn, you begin storing fat, and you are unable to burn it off. You begin to feel more hungry, because your blood sugar level has dropped off due to the increased insulin. You begin to go into protect mode, retain water (and salt), and to compensate, you liver begins to produce large amounts of cholesterol.

We have seen this firsthand in our office. We have seen our patients reverse diabetes, high cholesterol, and lose massive amounts of weight. We have found that the Total Cholesterol itself doesn't really give us the information that we need. The HDL and LDL are not so much cholesterol, but they are lipoproteins, and they transport cholesterol from the liver to the places in the body that are needed to form cell membranes and hormones. Obviously, the higher the HDL, the lower the LDL (or at least, that's how it should be). We know now that there are 2 types of LDL, soft and hard, and Triglycerides (the artery-hardening fats) actually come from carbohydrates. They are packaged in the liver, and are actually more predictive of cardiovascular disease than the Total Cholesterol or LDL alone.

Then there is saturated fat. We've been told forever that it's bad. News flash: There is not one single study that has ever proved any link beteween saturated fat intake and heart disease. We started to believe it back with the food pyramid, and we've believed it ever since! The truth is, Saturated fat may increase the cholesterol slightly, but it also helps to raise the HDL and if it happens to raise the LDL-C (soft, fluffy LDL), it will lower the LDL-P (hard, pellet-like LDL). You can get it in grassfed beef, coconut oil, avacados, etc.

There's a lot of great reading on the subject. I would recommend "Living Low Carb" by Johnny Bowdens or "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" by Phinney and Volek.

Acg67

We're now seeing that that is outdated science. The more carbs we eat, the higher the insulin level goes. In turn, you begin storing fat, and you are unable to burn it off. You begin to feel more hungry, because your blood sugar level has dropped off due to the increased insulin. You begin to go into protect mode, retain water (and salt), and to compensate, you liver begins to produce large amounts of cholesterol.

So by that logic, the Kitvans should all be obese, yes? Also don't forget protein is highly insulinogenic, yet you don't see low carbers fear monger over protein and insulin

We have seen this firsthand in our office. We have seen our patients reverse diabetes, high cholesterol, and lose massive amounts of weight. We have found that the Total Cholesterol itself doesn't really give us the information that we need.

Did they lose weight and improve blood and metabolic markers, due to a caloric deficit or just simply eliminating carbs?

There's a lot of great reading on the subject. I would recommend "Living Low Carb" by Johnny Bowdens or "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" by Phinney and Volek.

I have not read Bowdens but have read volek and phinney. If you read the actual studies they've done and pay attention to methodology and results, you might notice something

lisamarie2181

OP, you need to do what is right for you and what you can sustain.

I thrive on a low carb diet more than a regular one. I have PCOS and have to stay low carb because that is the only way I lose. Believe me, I have tried to eat in moderation, eat just healthy carbs, no matter what I either stalled or gained. I gained 20lbs back from what I lost last year trying to not have to be low carb, and now I have come to the realization that carbs are just not my friend lol In situations when people have medical issues, calories are not the only thing that matters.

And all I hear is that is has nothing to do with the carbs, it is that you are eating at a deficit is not true, at least not for me. I am at the same amount of cals I was when I was eating carbs, wasn't losing then, but now since dropping the carbs, the weight is coming off again. There are a lot of people out there with metabolic conditions, and these do make a difference in this equation.

I follow a Keto approach, the majority of my days I stay 25 net or lower, I still eat a lot of veggies, just green ones with a good amount of fiber - I don't get cravings and have no problem staying on track eating this way. I find I fall off track when I have to be away from home and not able to control my environment. You go to family parties and sometimes there really isn't anything you can eat, so sometimes being prepared can make a huge difference from falling off the wagon.


Add me if you would like more support! I do alot of cooking, eat the majority of my diet whole foods and cook as much as I can, so if you need some ideas!! Good luck to you!!

annette_15

I'm carb cycling, 3:1 if u wanna look at my diary, ignore the weekend, that was out of the norm lol