Low to zero carb users, please help

Diyamommy
Diyamommy Posts: 56
edited October 30 in Food and Nutrition
Hi all, my hubby is a candidate for liver issue and as per docs he should be in a low to zero carb diet. I am excited about it (not his liver health part) but the low carb diet part. Can all you low carb users help me with how we can live with just eating 3-5 gms of carb.

Thank you for all your helps

Replies

  • challenger9509
    challenger9509 Posts: 286 Member
    I try to stay low carb but just about everything has carbs. That is a drastically low number. To achieve those numbers I think there will be alot of proteins and fats to compensate. A nutritionist may be beneficial in setting up a specific plan and diet. Good luck and I hope everything goes well and that you can get some great advice!
  • benchenryce
    benchenryce Posts: 9
    Low carb diet's a joke in my opinion. They tend to lose the water weight in the beginning, and a lot of them go " this is working " then it stalls. then your leptin level goes down with no refeed. Everything is good in moderations. 3 - 5 grams of carbs... thats a little hard even for a nutritionist. fruits, veggies have carbs. Beef is a good choice. meat all day isnt a healthy diet. in the end its all about balance. I cant think of a nutritious veggy with low carbs ... celery ? 1.5 carbs a stalk of celery. you eat 2 stalks at it already reaches your 3. only way i can think of is eating meat only.
  • shadus
    shadus Posts: 424 Member
    Low carb diet's a joke in my opinion. They tend to lose the water weight in the beginning, and a lot of them go " this is working " then it stalls. then your leptin level goes down with no refeed. Everything is good in moderations. 3 - 5 grams of carbs... thats a little hard even for a nutritionist. fruits, veggies have carbs. Beef is a good choice. meat all day isnt a healthy diet. in the end its all about balance. I cant think of a nutritious veggy with low carbs ... celery ? 1.5 carbs a stalk of celery. you eat 2 stalks at it already reaches your 3. only way i can think of is eating meat only.

    So what you're saying, just to be clear is you're a doctor who knows more than her doctor about her husbands liver condition and that he should avoid a low carb diet? Or did you just not read the post?

    @Diya- Contact a nutritionist. Most "low carb" diets are in the 25-35g range or higher on maintenance not in the 3-5g range. It would be... very very difficult to hit 3-5g of carbs, he may be able to have some kinds of carbs, fiber, sugar alcohols, or such though that would broaden his choices a bit, but at face value 3-5g/day would exclude pretty much everything but pure meat and fats; all nuts, all fruits, all veggies, almost all cheeses and milks... etc. Be very very difficult and boring (and I'm a certified meat lover.) Good luck!
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    Did the doctor tell you that the carbs have to be that low? I've lived, and thrived, on 20-30 carbs before, which is very low. But that was with fats, proteins, and a minimum amount of carbs from vegetables like spinach, cauliflower, and broccoli.

    The only way to get only 3-5 is to have a diet comprised of mainly fat and meat. And even meat has very trace amounts of carbohydrate. Did the doctor recommend you supplement this kind of program?

    I'd do a search though for "zero carb". There ARE people who do live this way, and some of them live this way as a lifestyle. I know of a middle aged, petite woman who lost all her weight eating nothing but one large steak, cooked in butter or oil, every single day. She maintained that for years eating the exact same thing every day and her labs were incredible. There are also raw, low carb paleo eaters who swear by a pure raw meat diet. So while I don't practice it, there are people who do apparently sustain on a diet this low.

    But that's radical and likely very rare. Is there anyway your husband can severely restrict carbs during the week and be allowed one day to indulge? Will that too adversely affect his liver?
  • darjeelingexpress
    darjeelingexpress Posts: 22 Member
    Wow, that's low. I guess the doctor wants your husband to be in ketosis all the time?

    I can keep to 20 or so easily, and I could go lower if I needed to I suppose. I'm comfy at about 30-40 net carbs, but I whoop it up once a week and go about 75-100.

    You'll have to figure out which veggies sneak carbs in there (like onions - who knew?). I would imagine there'll be no fruit or dairy on this plan, except some hard cheese are zero carb and all fat.

    It can be done. I'd actually recommend reddit's keto subreddit: recipes galore, information, and lots of very low carbers. Google "reddit keto" and it'll come right up. I'm not sure about the rules with linking from here.

    HTH and good luck!
  • carlos13th
    carlos13th Posts: 40 Member
    I tend to eat between 20 and 30 carbs a day. This involves eating high amounts of fat and protein. No sugar or starches such as bread, pasta or potatoes.

    I eat lots of vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and cauliflower along with lots meats and cheeses (Harder cheeses tend to have less carbs than soft ones as a general rule)

    5 Carbs seems drastically low though, are you sure it wasn't 50? Even some low carb foods have one or two carbs in them.
  • clobercow
    clobercow Posts: 337 Member
    Low carb diet's a joke in my opinion. They tend to lose the water weight in the beginning, and a lot of them go " this is working " then it stalls. then your leptin level goes down with no refeed. Everything is good in moderations. 3 - 5 grams of carbs... thats a little hard even for a nutritionist. fruits, veggies have carbs. Beef is a good choice. meat all day isnt a healthy diet. in the end its all about balance. I cant think of a nutritious veggy with low carbs ... celery ? 1.5 carbs a stalk of celery. you eat 2 stalks at it already reaches your 3. only way i can think of is eating meat only.

    This person wrong about everything expect about the trace carbs.

    You'll pick up a few from veggies, but that unavoidable. My best suggestion is to base your diet around fat, moderate to low protein, and avoid anything but the highest fiber veggies that have minimal sugars.

    Many people do no carb all the time. I've done it. After the withdraw, life gets much better and arguably better than before with carbs. Just stick to it!
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    3-5 grams per day or per meal, including or excluding fiber ?

    None of them are easy, there are a few green low carb low GI vegetables with less than 5% carbs. Eggs, fish, vegetable oil and meat are carb free so omelettes are one option.
  • eazy_
    eazy_ Posts: 516 Member
    Here is a link to an entire community of people who go zero carbs

    http://www.reddit.com/r/zerocarb
  • JisatsuHoshi
    JisatsuHoshi Posts: 421 Member
    dont see how it's possible to just eat 3~5 Carbs a day... 1 egg has trace Carbs in it... Veggies have Carbs... Zero to me is just impossible...

    I do a cyclical ketogenic diet (keto diet but for one day weekly/bi-weekly massive carb refeed day)

    Just the standard ketogenic diet days I eat 20~30 net Carbs (fiber dont count).

    My macros for these days are 65% fats, 30% proteins, 5% Carbs. Im not a doctor so you'll have to see if such macros will be ok.

    If doctor didn't provide a nutrition plan or refer him to a nutritionist he should have his license revoked...
  • Binkie1955
    Binkie1955 Posts: 329 Member
    Sounds pretty low to me but will assume you have not misheard your doctor.
    Milk - you switch to Almond Milk from Dairy
    Yogurt - you switch to cottage cheese
    Sugars - you lose them. you might squeeze in some Truvia or an artificial sweetener.
    Meat, Fish, chicken - you're going to eat a lot of that.
    Eggs are ok.
    Flour, Rice, Grains, Fruit is all out.
    tune your MFP to custom and count the carbohydrates.

    The initial plunge from whatever level of carbs he's on now may hit him like a ton of bricks as Ketosis kicks in.

    good luck, keep us posted. I've heard they are experimenting with low carb diets in cancer treatments but you haven't advised us what is wrong with his liver.

    good luck.
  • JisatsuHoshi
    JisatsuHoshi Posts: 421 Member

    The initial plunge from whatever level of carbs he's on now may hit him like a ton of bricks as Ketosis kicks in.

    good luck, keep us posted. I've heard they are experimenting with low carb diets in cancer treatments but you haven't advised us what is wrong with his liver.

    good luck.

    ^ this... A diet high in proteins itself can cause liver and kidney issues...
  • carlos13th
    carlos13th Posts: 40 Member
    As a warning to many people the first week of going low carb tends to such as Binkie said. Some people tend to get whats known as the Keto Flu. Which just makes you feel a little ill while your body switches over to fat as a fuel source instead of carbs. It will pass.

    My macros are the same as JisatsuHoshi but I dont do CKD. I just stick to keto at all times.
  • darjeelingexpress
    darjeelingexpress Posts: 22 Member
    > A diet high in proteins itself can cause liver and kidney issues...

    But keto/VLC diets aren't inherently high protein; they are high fat. 65F/30P/5C is a common macro ratio. I don't eat an excessive amount of protein, but I do eat a good amount of healthy fats.

    OP, there's a calculator for keto diets where you can set your carbs or your protein or whatever, and also tell it if you are trying to maintain or lose or gain. It's here: http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/
  • JisatsuHoshi
    JisatsuHoshi Posts: 421 Member
    > A diet high in proteins itself can cause liver and kidney issues...

    But keto/VLC diets aren't inherently high protein; they are high fat. 65F/30P/5C is a common macro ratio. I don't eat an excessive amount of protein, but I do eat a good amount of healthy fats.

    OP, there's a calculator for keto diets where you can set your carbs or your protein or whatever, and also tell it if you are trying to maintain or lose or gain. It's here: http://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/


    Thing is we just have to be careful here since we don't know what the liver issue is. I know keto isnt high in proteins, but if done incorrectly proteins can be too high which will affect keto or causd more liver issues.
  • carlos13th
    carlos13th Posts: 40 Member
    Thats a fair point. I think the important thing is to make sure they clear everything up with the doctor so that the OP's partner is not putting himself in any undue risk.
  • JisatsuHoshi
    JisatsuHoshi Posts: 421 Member
    Not only that... Ketones are produced in the liver so how much more stress will be put on the liver? Is ketogenic dieting the best option right now. op partner should go back and see the doc.
  • moorednorham
    moorednorham Posts: 18
    Can all you low carb users help me with how we can live with just eating 3-5 gms of carb.

    Hi,

    I've never gone quite that low (I had 18 grams today and feel great) but I know people who go that low regularly if not constantly. You can live just fine on that limit, or zero intake of carbs...it's mostly an issue of mental toughness to see it through for the first few days, which WILL be tough for someone who has never done it before.

    Physically, the trick will be to make sure he replaces the carbs with a VERY high saturated fat diet backed with moderate protein (moderate because if you eat more protein than your body needs for tissue replacement, it turns some of it to glucose which sets off insulin and kicking you out of ketosis, defeating the whole point of limiting the carbs). Keep in mind one modest sized lettuce salad - with no dressing or tomato - could put him over that limit for the day, so the trick will be to keep his saturated fats high to adequately fuel him. But after 3-4 days he'll get in the groove and may feel better than before.

    Anyway, the doc will have a dietician draw up a meal plan for you. If he sticks to it he'll do fine, you watch. I hope he likes coconut oil, that's probably one thing they'll prescribe.
  • darjeelingexpress
    darjeelingexpress Posts: 22 Member
    > Not only that... Ketones are produced in the liver so how much more stress will be put on the liver? Is ketogenic dieting the best option right now. op partner should go back and see the doc.


    Agree, you guys are both right. Such low carbs are a pretty tall order without detailed instructions - hopefully the doctor will provide those or send the OP and her husband to a specialist to design a plan.
  • ConanSonja
    ConanSonja Posts: 32 Member
    Try this myzerocarblife.jamesdhogan.com :)
  • Chrysalid2014
    Chrysalid2014 Posts: 1,038 Member
    MFP has a low carb group and a keto group. You will get lots of support and advice there. But as others have said do check that your doctor actually meant 3-5g of carbs and not 30-50g. The latter sounds more likely.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1143-keto
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