How can people stand being on low-carb diets?

WeekndOVOXO

I know that feel.

Currently eating no grains, flours, sugars or fruit for a week and on my 4th day I didn't have the energy to do anything, and felt really light headed. Just gutted it out.

After this weak I get my grains back. I need my steelcut oatmeal,my protein pancakes, and my shrimp chipotle quesadillas!!

I don't know how people doing paleo do it.

altacosturabeth

I tried low carb once, didn't go too well! Possibly because I'm a vegetarian and....well I quite like carbs! I tried 30g, 50g, 80g, 130g and now I leave myself up to around 170-200g.

I'd read so much about low carb diets and presumed it was the 'correct' way to eat but I struggled to hit over 800 calories a day and then I was eating foods I really didn't want to eat. I was a little scared that if I started eating.....normally.... again, I'd start gaining weight.

I eventually got over my fear of carbs and I can say that I feel much better! My stomach looks a little nicer as well

I can barely even look at eggs these days...

tuffytuffy1

I did a very low carb/high protein diet years and years ago and lost 20 pounds quickly. As soon as I added carbs back in, I gained all the weight back plus some. The second time I did the diet, I only lost about 12 pounds. Gained it all back plus some. The third time I did the diet, I lost 7 pounds. Gained it all back plus some. It just isn't sustainable for me, but that is just me.

klacount77

I honestly HATE low-carb diets. I am a carb addict. I love pasta, bread, rice, sweets, grains ... all the good stuff. But, I have done low carb before and am doing low carb now. It is not a sustainable diet for me, but it does help me lose weight. The first low carb diet I went on was last May, when I first joined MFP. I stayed on it for 3 months with as "cheat day" every other week. I lost over 20 pounds! I kept it off too. I am doing low carb again, this time probably only for a month, and have already lost 3.5 pounds.

I find that a low carb diet, just like a juicing diet for a short period of time can help jump start my metabolism. However, it doesn't work for everyone. My sister tried a juicing diet and ended up sick from lack of proteins. She tried low carb and felt depressed and lethargic. My sister can cut soda out of her diet and drop 10 to 15 pounds in two weeks! I cut soda and usually gain weight.

I think that everyone needs to find the diets that work for them. More importantly, just use them sparingly. No one wants to live on a diet for the rest of their lives. Changing habits and exercising more often is the key to long term weight loss. Diets are never the enemy or the solution. They just help people reach their goals or jump start a new life style.

morningmud

I tried a low-carb diet once and my feet and legs swelled up so much that it hurt to walk!

livaneah

Your body will crave carbs like it craves caffeine or nicotine when you try to quit or cut back... A super-low carb diet is not *usually* a permanent solution, as you would only maintain energy while your body has fat to burn in Ketosis. Protein is a great source of energy too!

My first week on Ideal Protein I had headaches, fatigue, you name it! But as soon as my carb reserves were burned up and my body began burning fat I felt like me again.

mermer45

There is now very good evidence thar high protein diets are potentially damaging for long term health.

It has been shown that high protein, particular from milk, is linked to certain cancers and neurological diseases.

The Recommended Daily amount is 0.8 grams per kilo of body weight.

glad you provided that evidence so we don't have to just take your word for it

This is part of another article which I wrote, which contains references to the evidence you seek.

If a goal, as part of doing IF, is to reduce your IGF-1 levels then current evidence suggests that a good strategy is not to exceed the recommended daily allowance of 0.8 grams of protein per kilo of body weight and/or limit the consumption of dairy foods, in particular milk.

Why reduce IGF-1 at all?

IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor) is a hormone which is very similar to insulin. Studies have shown that higher levels of IGF-1 stimulate growth of cancer cells.

In addition it is now widely postulated that signalling through the insulin/IGF-1-like receptor pathway is a significant contributor to the biological ageing process in many organisms.

Conversely, studies of humans with IGF-1 deficiency have shown exceptionally low levels of cancer and diabetes.

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3357623/)

However, it should be also be noted that IGF-1 is vitally important for growth and there is evidence to suggest that low IGF-1 levels have higher risks associated with osteoporosis and heart conditions.

Therefore, it may be advisable to only actively pursue a strategy to lower IGF-1 if it is on the high side and/or you are older ( as cancer is generally an age related disease ).

You may remember that Mike Moseley, in the Horizon programme, was particularly concerned about IGF-1 because he had a higher than normal count, he's in his 50s and his father had suffered from Prostate cancer.

For those that are interested here's some of my notes/findings/observations on the relationship between IGF-1, protein, calorie restriction and IF:-

Long term CR (Calorie Restriction) is shown to decrease IGF-1 concentration by approximately 40% in rodents, and this reduction in IGF-1 levels is assumed to be a major reason why these animal live significantly longer than the control groups that are not on CR.

However, long term CR does NOT seem to impact levels of IGF-1 in healthy humans when protein intake is high according to some research:-

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673798/.

This research suggests that protein intake is a more powerful modifier than calorie intake in modulating circulating IGF-1 concentration in humans. The research also shows that when humans who practice CR drop their protein intake to around 0.8 grams per Kilogram of body weight ( the Recommended Daily Allowance ) their IGF-1 levels fall significantly.

Other research suggests that the type of protein, is more important than the quantity.

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/11/9/852.full

This research (on around 1000 women in the NHS) found the strongest correlation of higher IGF-1 was with milk consumption and there was little correlation with other animal proteins.

"In particular, we found that total energy and protein intake were positively associated with plasma IGF-I levels. The association with protein intake was largely attributable to higher IGF-I levels among women who consumed higher amounts of milk"

There is evidence that fasting acutely lowers IGF-1 in humans. However, the results of intermittent Fasting and its impact on IGF-1 in humans seems to be mixed. Some studies show a decrease and others an increase in IGF-1 levels and gender may also play a role. Therefore, one may assume when it comes to IF that variables such as protein intake may be more important in controlling IGF-1 levels than IF alone.

As an aside, this information may partly explain why a recent long term study of Rhesus Monkeys did not improve the longevity of a group of monkeys on CR versus a control group of monkeys on a healthy non-restricted diet

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature11432.html

There is speculation that this may be because the monkeys were on a relatively high-protein diet and therefore did not have low levels of IGF-1.

What does still seem clear is that CR on both humans and mice have shown health benefits regardless of lower IGF-1…such as significant improvement in insulin sensitivity, significant reductions in serum leptin (a circulating hormone that reflects the amount of energy stored in fat tissue), C-reactive protein (a marker of systemic inflammation), insulin and triiodothyronine levels ( though it is also worth pointing out that some of these health benefits vary or are partly dependant on gender).

bcattoes

So I guess the question for all the carb lovers is this - if you knew eatIng a carb heavy diet meant you'd have to eat a lot less calories to lose weight than if you ate low carb, would you change. If not, I respect that you'd take a harder road in exchange for continuing to eat a certain class of foods. But if you would eat low carb if it allowed you to eat more calories and still lose weIght, you owe it to yourself to do a little research and give it a try.

I'm a carb lover. And a fat lover. And a protein lover. I'm a food lover. I find that I can eat more than enough food to keep me satisfied without worrying about how many grams of each macronutrient I've had each day and still maintain a healthy weight and firm body, as well as getting healthy checkups, as long as I exercise regularly.

So I just try to eat a good variety of healthy foods that I like and to avoid eating too much of foods that have been linked to increased risk of disease. I really feel that if the majority of people not born diseased did this they'd be healthy.

morint1

I also need carbs. Like you i feel i have no energy, especially when exercising without them.

bcattoes

Insulin is the hormone that regulates storage of excess calories into fat, and it also prevents your fat stores from being used for energy. Insulin is elevated when you eat carbs. So, in order to access your fat deposits, you need to have a low level of insulin in your system. If you eat a so called conventional, balanced diet, fat burning will likely occur only at night (when your insulin levels drop sufficiently). If you go low carb, your body can use fat for energy all day long because your insulin will never spike very high. That's why low carb works so well. And it works especially well for people with so called "insulin sensitivity".

I'm not sure what you mean by "so called conventional balanced diet" But a diet containing a moderate amount of fiber rich carbs along with regular exercise will do the same thing.

munozrd

I have learned to adjust to this way of eating. At first, my body rebeled with it, but I now have adjusted quite nicely. I eat it in the morning to have the energy for the day but, avoid it after 5 so it isn't stored fat.

vytamindi

I have learned to adjust to this way of eating. At first, my body rebeled with it, but I now have adjusted quite nicely. I eat it in the morning to have the energy for the day but, avoid it after 5 so it isn't stored fat.

Doesn't matter what time you stop eating, unless you are prone to heartburn before bedtime. Your body doesn't shut down when you sleep, it keeps on processing the stuff you ate.

Now, if you just prefer eating earlier, that's cool. Just wanted to clear up that there isn't a cut off time for your body to process.

strikerjb007

50-55% carbs for me. All good carbs though. I don't eat processed stuff. Well, I try to avoid it. If I need to cut though, I go 50% protein.. that taxes your body so I don't recommended. Usually a 40/40/20 will do to drop body fat. Everyone is different.

fishgutzy

Insulin is the hormone that regulates storage of excess calories into fat, and it also prevents your fat stores from being used for energy. Insulin is elevated when you eat carbs. So, in order to access your fat deposits, you need to have a low level of insulin in your system. If you eat a so called conventional, balanced diet, fat burning will likely occur only at night (when your insulin levels drop sufficiently). If you go low carb, your body can use fat for energy all day long because your insulin will never spike very high. That's why low carb works so well. And it works especially well for people with so called "insulin sensitivity".

I'm not sure what you mean by "so called conventional balanced diet" But a diet containing a moderate amount of fiber rich carbs along with regular exercise will do the same thing.

There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all answer. The degree to which insulin blocks using carbs for energy varies widely. Not all marathoners are skinny. But the most elite marathoners are because their systems are more efficient at converting carbs to usable energy. Yet other people who eat moderately and exercise a lot still can't lose the fat without cutting carb intake. It is not just the quantity of calories.
Low carb high fat is also what endocrinologists recommend for type 2 diabetics. T2's produce plenty of insulin but they have become insulin resistant. I know of many who are no longer clinically diabetic because they follow a low carb high fat food plan. I was pre-diabetic before starting the low carb high fat. I also had high cholesterol and triglycerides. But not any longer. A1C is normal as is blood glucose. Cholesterol and triglycerides are well below the max as well, a 30% drop in 8 months without pharmaceuticals. But plenty of eggs, cheese and sausage. :bigsmile:
Adjusting to low carb high fat was pretty easy for me. And seeing the health benefits just motivates me to stay on it.

bcattoes

Low carb high fat is also what endocrinologists recommend for type 2 diabetics. T2's produce plenty of insulin but they have become insulin resistant. I know of many who are no longer clinically diabetic because they follow a low carb high fat food plan. I was pre-diabetic before starting the low carb high fat. I also had high cholesterol and triglycerides. But not any longer. A1C is normal as is blood glucose. Cholesterol and triglycerides are well below the max as well, a 30% drop in 8 months without pharmaceuticals. But plenty of eggs, cheese and sausage. :bigsmile:

Not all endorcrinologists recommend low carb high fat for type 2 diabetics. In fact, any good endocrinologist is unlikely to make the same recommendation for all of their patients. Though they will naturally recommend reducing carbohydrates, especially overly processed ("white") carbs and added sugar. But disease changes things. What a person with disease should do is not always the best plan for those without.

gddrdld

Some of the side effects of low carb, such as fatigue are due to loss of electrolytes. As you deplete your glycogen stores in your muscles and liver, you will lose a lot of water. With water, there go the electrolytes, so you need to step up your potassium and sodium. This is for ketogenic (50 g or below) diets. Low carb is by far the quickest and least painful way to lose weight, IMO.

This is true...along with magnesium.

sonny368

I do strongly believe that with no carbs there's not drop, when I have to loose weight I stay on 150 gr complex carbs that's pasta and corn flakes plu the various fruits or fruit juice and yoghurt, on maintainance level until 250 gr per day, people who really knows what's healthy for your body will never tell you to eliminate carbs, they help the serotonin production main substance for our good mood and good sleeping, so ...must not stay without...

fishgutzy

I can stay on low carb because I don't ever want to get back to prediabetic blood glucose levels. I don't feel deprived.
Whenever I have bread, pasta, or any sort of potato I get what I call carb induced narcolepsy which tells me I should not be eating those foods.
Everyone is different. We share what works for us. If what someone else does helps, do it. Share it with someone else. But because one thing doesn't work, does that mean one should upset at those for whom something does work?
Some people can lose weight eating pizza everyday. I can't. So what?

cutiepieinchi

I tried the 17 day diet(low carb) 3 times and it did not work for me

shanae727

To each it's own but yeh no thanks for me! I have to make sure I eat enough carbs sometimes more than I need when running longer distances.