Anyone Doing Low-Carb High-Fat?

toyb0_x

I have type 1 diabetes and a few weeks ago I thought I'd try out a ketogenic diet, where you eat no more than 50g of carbs and about 75% of energy from fat. I complicated matters by also switching to a vegan diet at the same time... I thought if I'm going to do an overhaul, let's do it all in one go

I'm following mostly Drs. Volek and Phinney's "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance", which is mostly an add-on to their "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" but written specifically for endurance athletes. I like to run and would like to be able to do so without having to worry about carbs, insulin and hypoglycaemia during exercise. Also, now I can run at any time during the day not just when my insulin level is lowest. Before heading out for a run I don't need to consume the carbs I will be burning during the run, but I do take in protein before which does get converted to glucose somewhat.

Which brings me to a point they were making in the book: If you eat too much protein, it will get converted to glucose (or otherwise the kidneys will have to clean up after...) and you won't go into ketosis (fat-burning mode). So if you eat too much protein, instead of burning fat your body will use protein for fuel, which it might decide to get them from your muscles.

Dragonwolf

What are the benefits of adding it? Avoiding constipation?

coconut oil is composed of 65% medium chain triglycerides. Unlike long chain triglycerides, which make up the majority of the fat in common cooking oils, MCT's can be easily processed by the body for nutrition. Lots of evidence out there that coconut oil is good for you as a source of energy and good, healthy fats for your diet. I have a cup of coffee with butter and coconut oil every morning as my breakfast, as odd as that sounds.

Um--coffee with butter? Why not have coffee with cream? My husband is allergic to dairy and has full-fat coconut milk in his coffee every morning (he has lost 10 pounds without even trying since he started the coconut milk).

Butter has less lactose and whey than (dairy) cream (the whey is what keeps cream a liquid, because the fats in milk are semi-solid at room temperature). And clarified butter (aka ghee) has almost none at all. Generally speaking, the purpose of bulletproof coffee (coffee with butter and coconut oil) is to provide energy without causing an insulin response.

Dragonwolf

What works is the calorie deficit, and no for me if I did what your saying I'd die quite young...
Take another look at your food pyramid hunny I think deep down you know that's not reason your losing weight.. You prob feel it is which Is fine but try eating healthily and fats Snd treats in moderation and log away and I think you'll find doesn't really matter what the f you eat
:-) trust me

Not everyone does well on the high-carb diet that is the USDA food pyramid, or low fat/high carb in general. A large portion of the people who go LCHF do so for health reasons at least as much as for weight loss. For those that are doing is as a means to lose weight, no one's arguing that a calorie deficit is involved. However, it does make it a lot easier to stay within one's calorie goals when not riding the insulin roller coaster.

Also, most people who do LCHF find that they don't have to log every bite they take, because they self-regulate at the amount they need.

looseal

The biggest benefit is I'm not hungry/no cravings.
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This is my biggest benefit too. Ate dinner 4 hours ago and not hungry for a snack...more like a second dinner. That late night eating was killing my weight loss. I may actually go back to eating 3 meals a day like when I was younger. And I have a full feeling after eating a normal serving.

hookilau

The biggest benefit is I'm not hungry/no cravings.
.

This is my biggest benefit too. Ate dinner 4 hours ago and not hungry for a snack...more like a second dinner. That late night eating was killing my weight loss. I may actually go back to eating 3 meals a day like when I was younger. And I have a full feeling after eating a normal serving.

Indeed. Carbs. Blech.
That's the same reason we eat this way too.

MissKriss3

I've been LCHF (YUM) for 3 months I'm doing stronglifts 5x5 3 times a week and cardio twice a week.