Is it healthy to completely cut out carbs from my diet?

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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    Lara_z wrote: »
    I eat a lot of carbs. Like white bread, potatoes, white rice, pasta.

    Would it be a problem to completely cut out carbs from my diet for 1-2 weeks?
    With the exception of having ready break in the morning for breakfast. And just have a diet of fruit, veg and protein?

    I've read here that starchy food can contribute to weight gain and I want to cut it out together with high sugar foods (like cakes and biscuits) for a couple of weeks.

    Would this be a good idea?
    Has anyone tried cutting down on carbs?

    OP, I would like to add, that starchy foods can, for some, increase satiety. For me it's true. I have a lot of starch in my diet... bread almost daily or even multiple times daily and I am down over 50 lbs and working to get into single digits for body fat (about 15% right now).
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    lcrivas4jc wrote: »
    It's impossible to completely cut out carbs. That said, there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate, unlike protein and fat. Check out the ketogenic lifestyle. Don't believe conventional medical advice about what a healthy diet consists of. Most doctors have less than eight hours of nutritional instruction! Also check out Ancel Keys and his completely flawed study (he blatantly lied and skewed the data) back in the 50s, which our government bought hook and sinker and has been shoving down our throats ever since (https://authoritynutrition.com/modern-nutrition-policy-lies-bad-science/). There used to be a really good video about Ancel Keys on Youtube but I have been unable to find it for several months. Ever since his "findings" were published, we've been told to cut the fat and up our consumption of whole grains.

    The current American food pyramid should be turned upside down with the grains section deleted. Of course you can lose weight on a lowfat diet but it won't last long and it definitely won't make you healthy. The other thing about the keto lifestyle is that food cravings are dramatically diminished!

    I've been eating 25-30 carbs per day for a while and my blood sugars (previously in the low 200s almost immediately went to an average of 80-90.

    Totally agree with you on the Ancel keys thing! There are SO many people that are uneducated about this fact. I teach this to my clients (I am a personal trainer). Question, do you exercise regularly? I have thought about trying the ketogenesis diet just to see if it could work for me to help cut body fat but I exercise alot and sweat alot so Im afraid to go that low with carbs.

    If you went into it knowing that those lost electrolytes will need to be replaced with 3000-5000mg of sodium per day, you would probably be fine. :)
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    hughiepie wrote: »
    Pretty much the vast majority of people "trying" to lose weight are still back in the seventies and reading questionable research. All one needs to read is "The Obesity Code" by Dr. Jason Fung. It is not about calories in vs calories out. This has been proven to be a complete falsehood.
    Care to post the studies proving this?


  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited February 2017
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    hughiepie wrote: »
    Pretty much the vast majority of people "trying" to lose weight are still back in the seventies and reading questionable research. All one needs to read is "The Obesity Code" by Dr. Jason Fung. It is not about calories in vs calories out. This has been proven to be a complete falsehood. If you eat more, your body boosts its metabolic rate to burn those extra calories. Ever notice how you sometimes feel really warm/hot after a big meal? That is your metabolism at work. As for carbohydrates, your body doesn't need them, it can manufacture all the sugar it needs. I challenge anyone here to name me one essential carbohydrate. The body requires essential amino acids (that's protein) and it requires essential fatty acids (that's fat), but there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. We also eat too often. 3 meals and 3 snacks per day is overkill and unnecessary. Try cutting out the least important meal of the day and the 3 snacks.
    hughiepie wrote: »
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    So @EbonyDahlia you don't agree that having vegetables everyday is essential? Strange when that should be close to 50% of our diet. That astounds me, unless you are not knowledgeable enough to realise that vegetables have carbs.

    Carbs are not an essential nutrient, therefore vegetables are not essential. Vegetables can certainly contribute to a healthy diet but they are by no means needed. There are actually quite a few carnivores and almost zero carbers on MFP who are thriving without plant matter in their diets. As long as you eat quality animal products, it is not difficult to maintain excellent health without plants in one's diet.

    Terrible advice and one to avoid.

    Vitamins
    Minerals
    Phytonutrients
    Fiber

    What do you suggest?
    Supplements?
    C'mon!

    Any good cut of meat (especially eating a varied diet of meats) along with healthy fats from things like eggs and butter will provide all of the vitamins and minerals that the body needs to thrive.

    Phytonutrients - a catch-phrase used by the health food gurus backed by lots of correlation studies that do not offer direct cause/results to justify needing them.

    Fiber - needed only to clean out the residue of higher carb diets

    Again, as has been posted before, carbs are not a required macro and the body can and does manufacture any glycogen that it needs from both protein and fat.

    Still not advised.
    You'll be hard pressed to find an RD or RN who'd agree with the above statement.

    I'm an RN and I do agree that carbs are not required, as do my two cardiologist friends and colleagues.

    As someone in the medical profession you would seriously think we are at optimum health by eliminating all fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and pretty much all dairy living purely on animal products and you claim that your cardiologist and colleagues agree? I highly doubt that. Carbs are not required so I guess in that aspect you are correct. We can live without them but there is a vast difference between living and living to optimum health. I get a LOW carb diet but a ZERO carb diet is nothing we should be striving for.
    You can be on anyndiet imaginable but if you consume more calories than you burn you will gain weight and if you burn more than you consume you will l9se weight. This isn't bad advise from the 70's but fact.

    You. I like you.

    Most of the people who come to MFP inquiring about giving up all carbs are speaking erroneously about "grains" or "junk food" or "starches" and they were ignorant to begin with that carbohydrates are a part of many nutrient dense foods like fruits and vegetables, dairy, etc. The conversation gets off track in a very predictable way...

    A poster says" "I'm thinking of giving up all carbs, is it possible and can it be healthy?"
    Many posters: "Why do you think that is necessary? Do you have a medical reason to give up carbs? Do you really mean ZERO carbs or do you mean just giving up starchy foods, grains, sugary 'junk' foods? Do you realize that fruits and vegetables contain carbs as their primary macro nutrient"
    Other posters: "I feel great on LCHF! I've finally been able to lose weight and keep it off and it helped me with XYZ medical condition"
    Couple of posters "Carbs are ESSENTIAL for health! Of course it isn't healthy to eat nothing but meat and oil!"
    Hard core defenders of LC: "WELL.... technically they aren't necessary. Look at the Innuits! You can get all the nutrients you need from animal products (maybe not explicitly stating that it would involve eating rare/raw meat and organ meats"

    The conversation is the same, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Right down to the fact that the OP almost never makes another appearance, either put off by the fighting, or embarrassed that they didn't realize that carbs are part of fruits and veggies, or they are frightened by the concept of eating organ meat!

    The fact of the matter remains, that while it may be possible to achieve adequate levels of nutrition from nothing but animal products and supplements, it is just not necessary for anyone to eat that way, nor is it realistic for most people to commit that heavily to such an extreme diet. I don't understand, and this is a sincere question for those LCHF proponents who are stating that carbs are not required... do you eat a zero carb diet? Do you tell your doctor that you eat this way? What is their reaction? Is your lifestyle one that you really enjoy? When you go to dinner at a restaurant, or a friend's house - do you really eat nothing but meat? How do people in your life respond to that? Do you have children? Do you encourage them to eat carbs in the form of grains, dairy, fruits and veggies? If not, what do their pediatricians think?

    I do not eat zero carb although it seems to fall that way about one or two days per week if you exclude coconut oil. I have tried an all animal challenge (close to zero carb) but I did not find it enjoyable at the time.

    My doctor recommended a ketogenic diet. He joked he should put me up on a wall of fame for my success with it. He still thinks I should eat more liver though.

    I really enjoy my ketogenic lifestyle. I love how it makes me feel. As a celiac, I am used to avoiding foods that are not good for me so restricting a few filler foods was no big deal after dropping so many already.

    Yes. I will often eat nothing but meat when I go out because other foods are often not safe (celiac). Usually I will have a small side of veggies.

    People in my life are happy for my improved health and supportive of the choices I made to improve my health. People who are not close to me are impressed that I improved my health while eating bacon, cheese and nuts everyday. ;)

    I have three children. I do not encourage them to eat sugar or grains. I limit those, although my middle son, who coincidentally looks the least healthy and complains of fatigue frequently, eats more starches and rice than I'd like. I encourage vegetable consumption. I don't mind fruits, although I do not buy the higher GI ones, very often. I can't afford to feed them all just meat, cheese, dairy and nuts but I don't limit that either. My kids are all athletic and lean. They are also taller than most and quite smart (winning academic awards and contests).

    Their doctor has never asked much about their diet. My oldest has food allergies and all kids are gluten free. The doctor knows that.

  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    Here's the thing though...for all of you that think its only about calories serious question... Why is it that you can take one person on a 1500 calorie diet (hypothetically speaking) eating say 30% calories from carbs and another person on 1500 calories (same calories) and eating say 60% calories from carbs and the person eating 1500 calories eating 30% carbs loses more fat/weight than the person eating calories with 60% carbs. Something has to be said about this....What in your opinion is the answer if it is only about calories? Would you agree that every person is different? Thoughts?

    There's a thread on a 4000 kcal ketogenic overfeeding 21 day challenge here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10515890/ketogenic-overfeeding-n-1-experiment-by-wittrock#latest He's done today, and so far he's down about 2 lbs.

    I'd say there is a lot of variation between how people react to diet.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    Sunna_W wrote: »
    If you are going "super low / no carb" for 2 weeks cold turkey (ketosis) side effects that I haven't seen mentioned here are constipation; "carb crash / dehydration" (need to make sure your electrolytes stay balanced) and “ketosis flu” or the “induction flu” in the first few days while the body is adapting to burning ketones instead of glucose.

    The basic symptoms are:
    – Headaches
    – Nausea
    – Upset stomach
    – Lack of mental clarity (brain fog)
    – Sleepiness
    – Fatigue

    See this website: https://thefastdiet.co.uk/forums/topic/do-you-have-the-ketosis-flu/

    You need to plan how you are going to navigate these two weeks so that you are not too miserable.

    Alternatively, go slowly into no carb land, and see how well you manage that and keep your calories in a healthy range.

    Most of the symptoms are caused by unbalanced electrolytes. Carbs raise insulin. Insulin causes water and electrolyte retention. When carbs are lowered, insulin goes down and electrolytes are flushed from the body. Unless you increase your sodium you may experience the symptoms you listed. If you are proactive and supplement with 3000-5000+ mg of sodium per day (2300mg sodium = 1 tsp salt) then you can avoid those symptoms entirely.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    Options
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Here's the thing though...for all of you that think its only about calories serious question... Why is it that you can take one person on a 1500 calorie diet (hypothetically speaking) eating say 30% calories from carbs and another person on 1500 calories (same calories) and eating say 60% calories from carbs and the person eating 1500 calories eating 30% carbs loses more fat/weight than the person eating calories with 60% carbs. Something has to be said about this....What in your opinion is the answer if it is only about calories? Would you agree that every person is different? Thoughts?

    There's a thread on a 4000 kcal ketogenic overfeeding 21 day challenge here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10515890/ketogenic-overfeeding-n-1-experiment-by-wittrock#latest He's done today, and so far he's down about 2 lbs.

    I'd say there is a lot of variation between how people react to diet.

    That is too short to measure isn't it?

    Let's guesstimate that he has lost around 7lbs of water weight in that time due to not processing carbs, then that would mean he has gained around 5lb of fat.

    What am I missing?
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    nvmomketo wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    hughiepie wrote: »
    Pretty much the vast majority of people "trying" to lose weight are still back in the seventies and reading questionable research. All one needs to read is "The Obesity Code" by Dr. Jason Fung. It is not about calories in vs calories out. This has been proven to be a complete falsehood. If you eat more, your body boosts its metabolic rate to burn those extra calories. Ever notice how you sometimes feel really warm/hot after a big meal? That is your metabolism at work. As for carbohydrates, your body doesn't need them, it can manufacture all the sugar it needs. I challenge anyone here to name me one essential carbohydrate. The body requires essential amino acids (that's protein) and it requires essential fatty acids (that's fat), but there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. We also eat too often. 3 meals and 3 snacks per day is overkill and unnecessary. Try cutting out the least important meal of the day and the 3 snacks.
    hughiepie wrote: »
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    So @EbonyDahlia you don't agree that having vegetables everyday is essential? Strange when that should be close to 50% of our diet. That astounds me, unless you are not knowledgeable enough to realise that vegetables have carbs.

    Carbs are not an essential nutrient, therefore vegetables are not essential. Vegetables can certainly contribute to a healthy diet but they are by no means needed. There are actually quite a few carnivores and almost zero carbers on MFP who are thriving without plant matter in their diets. As long as you eat quality animal products, it is not difficult to maintain excellent health without plants in one's diet.

    Terrible advice and one to avoid.

    Vitamins
    Minerals
    Phytonutrients
    Fiber

    What do you suggest?
    Supplements?
    C'mon!

    Any good cut of meat (especially eating a varied diet of meats) along with healthy fats from things like eggs and butter will provide all of the vitamins and minerals that the body needs to thrive.

    Phytonutrients - a catch-phrase used by the health food gurus backed by lots of correlation studies that do not offer direct cause/results to justify needing them.

    Fiber - needed only to clean out the residue of higher carb diets

    Again, as has been posted before, carbs are not a required macro and the body can and does manufacture any glycogen that it needs from both protein and fat.

    Still not advised.
    You'll be hard pressed to find an RD or RN who'd agree with the above statement.

    I'm an RN and I do agree that carbs are not required, as do my two cardiologist friends and colleagues.

    As someone in the medical profession you would seriously think we are at optimum health by eliminating all fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and pretty much all dairy living purely on animal products and you claim that your cardiologist and colleagues agree? I highly doubt that. Carbs are not required so I guess in that aspect you are correct. We can live without them but there is a vast difference between living and living to optimum health. I get a LOW carb diet but a ZERO carb diet is nothing we should be striving for.
    You can be on anyndiet imaginable but if you consume more calories than you burn you will gain weight and if you burn more than you consume you will l9se weight. This isn't bad advise from the 70's but fact.

    You. I like you.

    Most of the people who come to MFP inquiring about giving up all carbs are speaking erroneously about "grains" or "junk food" or "starches" and they were ignorant to begin with that carbohydrates are a part of many nutrient dense foods like fruits and vegetables, dairy, etc. The conversation gets off track in a very predictable way...

    A poster says" "I'm thinking of giving up all carbs, is it possible and can it be healthy?"
    Many posters: "Why do you think that is necessary? Do you have a medical reason to give up carbs? Do you really mean ZERO carbs or do you mean just giving up starchy foods, grains, sugary 'junk' foods? Do you realize that fruits and vegetables contain carbs as their primary macro nutrient"
    Other posters: "I feel great on LCHF! I've finally been able to lose weight and keep it off and it helped me with XYZ medical condition"
    Couple of posters "Carbs are ESSENTIAL for health! Of course it isn't healthy to eat nothing but meat and oil!"
    Hard core defenders of LC: "WELL.... technically they aren't necessary. Look at the Innuits! You can get all the nutrients you need from animal products (maybe not explicitly stating that it would involve eating rare/raw meat and organ meats"

    The conversation is the same, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Right down to the fact that the OP almost never makes another appearance, either put off by the fighting, or embarrassed that they didn't realize that carbs are part of fruits and veggies, or they are frightened by the concept of eating organ meat!

    The fact of the matter remains, that while it may be possible to achieve adequate levels of nutrition from nothing but animal products and supplements, it is just not necessary for anyone to eat that way, nor is it realistic for most people to commit that heavily to such an extreme diet. I don't understand, and this is a sincere question for those LCHF proponents who are stating that carbs are not required... do you eat a zero carb diet? Do you tell your doctor that you eat this way? What is their reaction? Is your lifestyle one that you really enjoy? When you go to dinner at a restaurant, or a friend's house - do you really eat nothing but meat? How do people in your life respond to that? Do you have children? Do you encourage them to eat carbs in the form of grains, dairy, fruits and veggies? If not, what do their pediatricians think?

    I do not eat zero carb although it seems to fall that way about one or two days per week if you exclude coconut oil. I have tried an all animal challenge (close to zero carb) but I did not find it enjoyable at the time.

    My doctor recommended a ketogenic diet. He joked he should put me up on a wall of fame for my success with it. He still thinks I should eat more liver though.

    I really enjoy my ketogenic lifestyle. I love how it makes me feel. As a celiac, I am used to avoiding foods that are not good for me so restricting a few filler foods was no big deal after dropping so many already.

    Yes. I will often eat nothing but meat when I go out because other foods are often not safe (celiac). Usually I will have a small side of veggies.

    People in my life are happy for my improved health and supportive of the choices I made to improve my health. People who are not close to me are impressed that I improved my health while eating bacon, cheese and nuts everyday. ;)

    I have three children. I do not encourage them to eat sugar or grains. I limit those, although my middle son, who coincidentally looks the least healthy and complains of fatigue frequently, eats more starches and rice than I'd like. I encourage vegetable consumption. I don't mind fruits, although I do not buy the higher GI ones, very often. I can't afford to feed them all just meat, cheese, dairy and nuts but I don't limit that either. My kids are all athletic and lean. They are also taller than most and quite smart (winning academic awards and contests).

    Their doctor has never asked much about their diet. My oldest has food allergies and all kids are gluten free. The doctor knows that.

    Thank you. I appreciate the response. I am hoping that others who are saying that they don't think any carbs are necessary would also take the time to respond as I am respectfully curious. This is something so many LCHF people are so passionate about, I'm interested in hearing how the overall commitment to it impacts day to day life especially for those with children, and not just continuing to argue, and dissect words and studies on an internet forum.

    And again, I recognize there is a difference b/w LCHF, Ketogenic levels, and NO/NEGLIGIBLE Carbs and that those differences probably impact the range of tolerance for various social complexities as well.

  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    nvmomketo wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    hughiepie wrote: »
    Pretty much the vast majority of people "trying" to lose weight are still back in the seventies and reading questionable research. All one needs to read is "The Obesity Code" by Dr. Jason Fung. It is not about calories in vs calories out. This has been proven to be a complete falsehood. If you eat more, your body boosts its metabolic rate to burn those extra calories. Ever notice how you sometimes feel really warm/hot after a big meal? That is your metabolism at work. As for carbohydrates, your body doesn't need them, it can manufacture all the sugar it needs. I challenge anyone here to name me one essential carbohydrate. The body requires essential amino acids (that's protein) and it requires essential fatty acids (that's fat), but there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. We also eat too often. 3 meals and 3 snacks per day is overkill and unnecessary. Try cutting out the least important meal of the day and the 3 snacks.
    hughiepie wrote: »
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    So @EbonyDahlia you don't agree that having vegetables everyday is essential? Strange when that should be close to 50% of our diet. That astounds me, unless you are not knowledgeable enough to realise that vegetables have carbs.

    Carbs are not an essential nutrient, therefore vegetables are not essential. Vegetables can certainly contribute to a healthy diet but they are by no means needed. There are actually quite a few carnivores and almost zero carbers on MFP who are thriving without plant matter in their diets. As long as you eat quality animal products, it is not difficult to maintain excellent health without plants in one's diet.

    Terrible advice and one to avoid.

    Vitamins
    Minerals
    Phytonutrients
    Fiber

    What do you suggest?
    Supplements?
    C'mon!

    Any good cut of meat (especially eating a varied diet of meats) along with healthy fats from things like eggs and butter will provide all of the vitamins and minerals that the body needs to thrive.

    Phytonutrients - a catch-phrase used by the health food gurus backed by lots of correlation studies that do not offer direct cause/results to justify needing them.

    Fiber - needed only to clean out the residue of higher carb diets

    Again, as has been posted before, carbs are not a required macro and the body can and does manufacture any glycogen that it needs from both protein and fat.

    Still not advised.
    You'll be hard pressed to find an RD or RN who'd agree with the above statement.

    I'm an RN and I do agree that carbs are not required, as do my two cardiologist friends and colleagues.

    As someone in the medical profession you would seriously think we are at optimum health by eliminating all fruit, vegetables, grains, nuts and pretty much all dairy living purely on animal products and you claim that your cardiologist and colleagues agree? I highly doubt that. Carbs are not required so I guess in that aspect you are correct. We can live without them but there is a vast difference between living and living to optimum health. I get a LOW carb diet but a ZERO carb diet is nothing we should be striving for.
    You can be on anyndiet imaginable but if you consume more calories than you burn you will gain weight and if you burn more than you consume you will l9se weight. This isn't bad advise from the 70's but fact.

    You. I like you.

    Most of the people who come to MFP inquiring about giving up all carbs are speaking erroneously about "grains" or "junk food" or "starches" and they were ignorant to begin with that carbohydrates are a part of many nutrient dense foods like fruits and vegetables, dairy, etc. The conversation gets off track in a very predictable way...

    A poster says" "I'm thinking of giving up all carbs, is it possible and can it be healthy?"
    Many posters: "Why do you think that is necessary? Do you have a medical reason to give up carbs? Do you really mean ZERO carbs or do you mean just giving up starchy foods, grains, sugary 'junk' foods? Do you realize that fruits and vegetables contain carbs as their primary macro nutrient"
    Other posters: "I feel great on LCHF! I've finally been able to lose weight and keep it off and it helped me with XYZ medical condition"
    Couple of posters "Carbs are ESSENTIAL for health! Of course it isn't healthy to eat nothing but meat and oil!"
    Hard core defenders of LC: "WELL.... technically they aren't necessary. Look at the Innuits! You can get all the nutrients you need from animal products (maybe not explicitly stating that it would involve eating rare/raw meat and organ meats"

    The conversation is the same, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Right down to the fact that the OP almost never makes another appearance, either put off by the fighting, or embarrassed that they didn't realize that carbs are part of fruits and veggies, or they are frightened by the concept of eating organ meat!

    The fact of the matter remains, that while it may be possible to achieve adequate levels of nutrition from nothing but animal products and supplements, it is just not necessary for anyone to eat that way, nor is it realistic for most people to commit that heavily to such an extreme diet. I don't understand, and this is a sincere question for those LCHF proponents who are stating that carbs are not required... do you eat a zero carb diet? Do you tell your doctor that you eat this way? What is their reaction? Is your lifestyle one that you really enjoy? When you go to dinner at a restaurant, or a friend's house - do you really eat nothing but meat? How do people in your life respond to that? Do you have children? Do you encourage them to eat carbs in the form of grains, dairy, fruits and veggies? If not, what do their pediatricians think?

    I do not eat zero carb although it seems to fall that way about one or two days per week if you exclude coconut oil. I have tried an all animal challenge (close to zero carb) but I did not find it enjoyable at the time.

    My doctor recommended a ketogenic diet. He joked he should put me up on a wall of fame for my success with it. He still thinks I should eat more liver though.

    I really enjoy my ketogenic lifestyle. I love how it makes me feel. As a celiac, I am used to avoiding foods that are not good for me so restricting a few filler foods was no big deal after dropping so many already.

    Yes. I will often eat nothing but meat when I go out because other foods are often not safe (celiac). Usually I will have a small side of veggies.

    People in my life are happy for my improved health and supportive of the choices I made to improve my health. People who are not close to me are impressed that I improved my health while eating bacon, cheese and nuts everyday. ;)

    I have three children. I do not encourage them to eat sugar or grains. I limit those, although my middle son, who coincidentally looks the least healthy and complains of fatigue frequently, eats more starches and rice than I'd like. I encourage vegetable consumption. I don't mind fruits, although I do not buy the higher GI ones, very often. I can't afford to feed them all just meat, cheese, dairy and nuts but I don't limit that either. My kids are all athletic and lean. They are also taller than most and quite smart (winning academic awards and contests).

    Their doctor has never asked much about their diet. My oldest has food allergies and all kids are gluten free. The doctor knows that.

    Are they gluten free because they're also intolerant or because it's just safer for you not to have it in the house? Do they eat wheat products elsewhere (school, out with friends etc)?

    I'm always kind of curious about parents who almost entirely share their way of eating with their kids. I've seen both sides of the coin. I guess i'm actually more interested in the kids' point of view once they're grown up, if they've sustained that way of eating or moved away from it.
  • Chadxx
    Chadxx Posts: 1,199 Member
    edited February 2017
    Options
    Outside of losing weight, i think education is probably a very high priority on a journey..
    While counting calories i think its important to do a lot of reading and learning.
    Its things like "carbs contribute to weight gain" and other myths that make weight loss more difficult and why a lot of people fail.. the more you read and realize just how much we are drowning in *kitten* lol.. the more easier it will be to be successful and do the things that actually help you lose weight... which is counting calories and staying under goal.

    *applause*
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Options
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Here's the thing though...for all of you that think its only about calories serious question... Why is it that you can take one person on a 1500 calorie diet (hypothetically speaking) eating say 30% calories from carbs and another person on 1500 calories (same calories) and eating say 60% calories from carbs and the person eating 1500 calories eating 30% carbs loses more fat/weight than the person eating calories with 60% carbs. Something has to be said about this....What in your opinion is the answer if it is only about calories? Would you agree that every person is different? Thoughts?

    There's a thread on a 4000 kcal ketogenic overfeeding 21 day challenge here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10515890/ketogenic-overfeeding-n-1-experiment-by-wittrock#latest He's done today, and so far he's down about 2 lbs.

    I'd say there is a lot of variation between how people react to diet.

    That is too short to measure isn't it?

    Let's guesstimate that he has lost around 7lbs of water weight in that time due to not processing carbs, then that would mean he has gained around 5lb of fat.

    What am I missing?

    He was already keto. It's also a completely uncontrolled experiment. He didn't track prior, doesn't really know truly what his TDEE is and doesn't appear to use a food scale. I'm not really taking the results seriously.

    so basically it will prove nothing...

    not a fan of n=1 studies anyway ..
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Options
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    You understand veg and fruit are carbs? So in that context it's fine. BUT carbs don't make you gain weight, excess calories do, same for sugar.

    I reduce starchy carbs when losing just because they're the easiest thing to reduce and still feel satisfied but they're still part of nearly every meal, just in smaller quantities.

    This is debatable... if you subscribe to the Ketogenic Way of Eating... Carbs cause insulin spikes which cause your body to store unused energy as fat.. just sayin.

    Lol...if you have unused energy, you are eating in a surplus...just sayin'. This is also a vast oversimplification...and really a complete lack of understanding of how your body works. Guess what...insulin isn't a scary or bad thing...if you are having an insulin response to the food you are eating, congratulations...you are in good health and your body is working as it should...

    it is funny how everyone ignores that protein provides a similar insulin spike but the carb insulin spike is bad and the protein spike is fine...
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Are Insulin spikes similar with both protein and carbs, ie do carbs cause higher spikes, or are they both much of a muchness?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    Are Insulin spikes similar with both protein and carbs, ie do carbs cause higher spikes, or are they both much of a muchness?

    Just like with different carbs, different proteins have different spikes and mixing macros changes the absorption of nutrients. So pro + fat or fiber = slower absorption. But there is a small insulin index somewhere online.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    psuLemon wrote: »
    Are Insulin spikes similar with both protein and carbs, ie do carbs cause higher spikes, or are they both much of a muchness?

    Just like with different carbs, different proteins have different spikes and mixing macros changes the absorption of nutrients. So pro + fat or fiber = slower absorption. But there is a small insulin index somewhere online.

    I have an article around here somewhere about it
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    Are Insulin spikes similar with both protein and carbs, ie do carbs cause higher spikes, or are they both much of a muchness?

    In this research review, see the text and graphs under the heading "MYTH: Carbohydrate is Singularly Responsible for Driving Insulin". Good information there with multiple studies linked.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Thanks guys :+1:@AnvilHead that review is a gold mine of info!
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Are Insulin spikes similar with both protein and carbs, ie do carbs cause higher spikes, or are they both much of a muchness?

    In this research review, see the text and graphs under the heading "MYTH: Carbohydrate is Singularly Responsible for Driving Insulin". Good information there with multiple studies linked.
    That is the one I was referring too