Kids raised on low-carb protected from obesity for life?

wabmester

I pissed off a low-carb blogger.

Me: you really believe obesity is 100% about insulin?
She: yes, read this study:

Suppression of hyperinsulinaemia in growing female mice provides long-term protection against obesity

OK, kind of interesting. Keep insulin levels low when they're young, and they're protected from obesity when they grow up.

But they're MICE!

She: somebody needs to do a study like that on humans, long-term tracking of keto kids
Me: It's been done!

High-Fat Ketogenic Diet to Control Seizures Is Safe Over Long Term

Most patients older than 18 at the time of the study had normal body mass index of 22 on average (25 and below is considered normal). And most of them were within a few inches of their expected heights, based on their parents’ heights. Patients 18 years and younger at the time of the study were, on average, in the 25th percentile for height and in the 36th percentile for weight for their age. While this is below average, the investigators say, it is also much higher than the usual 5th–to-10th percentile while on the diet.

So, what do you think? Did a blogger just come up with a radical new theory of obesity? You heard it here first!

Raise your kids on a low-carb diet, and they will grow up to be obesity resistant!

erinseattle

I've been obese and it sucks. It would be lovely if we could protect our children from that, but I believe that some folks are obese because they have an unhealthy relationship with food. That was my reason.

wabmester

That was the gist of my argument -- that there are many factors.

But it's an interesting theory. We all know people who can eat all they want and not gain weight. So it is with these mice that didn't have high insulin levels as pups. And so it may be with kids who were raised on a keto diet.

Me? I ate tons of sugar as a kid. I didn't become obese, but I got pretty close as I got older.

Foamroller

Lowcarb kids start on the Maillard reaction from glucose and insulin rollercoaster later than average people. Meaning, if they were to adopt a typical high carb, western diet....the clock to insulin resistance would start counting down for them too. So you and the lady were both kinda right

I do agree with you @wabmester that insulin is just the last keychain in a complex feedback loop the body does when dealing with food. Sure it's the fat storage hormone...but there are lots of stuff you can do to mitigate that blow!

My understanding is that the pancreas can only deal with so much starches. The higher volume and frequency...the faster the beta cells burn out. Which could explain why we now see an epidemic of obesity and insulin resistance. Last fall there was a toddler in Texas who got diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Maybe he/she got exposed a lot during pregnancy combined with a very starchy diet and vulnerable genes?

Rollercoasting the blood sugar a lot is probably a highly epigenetic factor. It's not fair, some of us are more affected than others. But then again, nature is not "fair". We got a deck of cards and we have to deal with that.

There's NO one size fits all in nutrition and exercise. Sadly people are often down on what they don't experience themselves, mistaking that as a universal truth...

macchiatto

That is interesting. I want to wean my boys to lower carb (and I cringe at what DH feeds them when he's the one ... e.g. on a Saturday morning breakfast if I get to sleep in, I wake up to find out they each had like 4 pieces of toast, a bowl of oatmeal, 2 pieces of bacon, and a banana).

Both my parents and my sister have Type 2 diabetes, and there's a fair amount of obesity in the family, too. Our kid (7) who inherited the super-low HDL also has very low energy and hypotonia so he doesn't move nearly as much as the average kid (though we try!). He's on the skinny side now but I do worry about him. He's going to a pediatric endocrinologist on Tuesday though; some test findings might help us unlock the mystery of his low energy so hopefully that will change.

wabmester

@formroller, her argument is pretty interesting. Might not even be epigenetic. Might be the fat cells themselves and how they grow during our early developmental stages. The study she cited is pretty cool.

Dragonwolf

I wouldn't say it's a "radical new theory." After all, the insulin thing is the basis for most of the big low carb names. However, it is interesting to see longer term effects on those who were low carb from the start finally, that debunks the old ideas that childhood keto = malnourished (finally! Studied keto diets that aren't fortified soybean oil!).

GaleHawkins

Our kids (now 18) were not raised low carb but the wife worked to make sure they were never overweight to help protect them from being overweight later as adults. They were active kids however. Time will tell.

erinseattle

I find the medical information absolutely fascinating, but poor habits can override anything. I will turn 50 this year and one thing that is common to women my age: the ones who are the most fit/healthy are not that way by accident. My quest for health has been just for me, yet I am continually surprised that my teenagers comment on my dedication regularly.

wabmester

The radical new theory of obesity is now a very good blog post (by a third-party blogger who was just watching the show on twitter):
Constitutional Obesity Resistance Vs. Constitutional Obesity Propensity

To reiterate, the hypothesis is that these kids will remain lean into and throughout adulthood, even after returning to a more typical, Western-style, obesity-inducing diet.

GaleHawkins

erinseattle wrote: »

I find the medical information absolutely fascinating, but poor habits can override anything. I will turn 50 this year and one thing that is common to women my age: the ones who are the most fit/healthy are not that way by accident. My quest for health has been just for me, yet I am continually surprised that my teenagers comment on my dedication regularly.

I walk a 1/4 mile+ daily by going down a steep hill and back to the house even if it is midnight and the temperature is 13F at the age of 65 as part of my fight for life since 2014. The kids are now 18 and they know where I am at if they see me pull into the drive. Our 8 year old dog is even doing better since she is waiting to go walking with me. I do live on a small county road with little traffic however.

Setting an example for the kids is important too.

Lillith32

@wabmester interesting even though I am not completely on board with a lot of Woo's stuff. I tend to attribute my weight problems, and my gluten issues, to a hit of radiation right to the thyroid when I was 2, but who knows. I went paleo in 2013. Lost 30 lb. Re-gained about 20, because cherries are delicious. Went keto in 2014, lost 30. Then life happened, regained about 20. Got back on the wagon, and now I am almost back where I started (3lb away from my last low). One thing I am noticing though - my re-gains are less dramatic and take longer every time. I don't know if it's because I am keeping an overall better diet, or because my body is slowly repairing whatever damage, but I'd like to believe that the damage from insulin issues is reversible in some small degree. Maybe not to the point of me stuffing my face with doughnuts and not gaining a pound (not that I like doughnuts all that much, yuck), but to the point of at least being able to have an off-plan meal once a month or so without significant re-gain. Will I be tracking and counting for the rest of my life? I plan on it. But I am hoping that some of the damage will go away, and while I won't be 'cured' I'll be in a good place health-wise for a long time.