There hardly is a week a member comes along asking about diet and gets "served" high-fat, low-carb diet. Like everything, the extremes are always dangerous and even though such a diet might have helped some, there is also ample room for mishap and problems.
Why not simply let everyone "google" for it? Well, to give an innocuous example, query for trip to the moon and you might find anything and everything, from the site selling you a ticket (just leave you credit card number.......) to the sites claiming that the trips to the moon were a hoax conspired by NASA, CIA and the ghost of JFK, that the pictures and movies were shot in some hangar somewhere in the Midwest....
So, High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet. What is it?
Check A Low Carb Diet Meal Plan and Menu That Can Save Your Life ( authoritynutrition.com/low-... ) for an introduction and basic advice as well as an example one week diet.
The site The Beginners Guide To Low Carb High Fat Diets ( naturalstacks.com/blogs/new... ) provides some "theoretical" background and explain a few fundamental things about body, nutrition, insulin aso.
Finally, last but not least Eight Common but Dangerous Mistakes of A High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet ( healthunlocked.com/api/redi... ). Maybe a must read for everyone....
i am NOT encouraging high-fat, low-carb diet in any way - having a BMI of 21 i have no need to lose weight. Even so, i would advice any and every person who gets confronted with diabetes, insulin resistance, overweight or the like to consult a medical team which will be able to advice the best path to address the issue(s).
Feel free to post your own thoughts, experiences, favourite site and what not.
Or ask any questions, there'll certainly be some answer
Cheers,
nbr.8
Written by
nbreight
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
The low carb high fat diet I have been following has served me well so far. One thing,though. I found out that my cholesterol count was higher than it should be,recently,so common sense has to be used. E.G I don't eat full fat yogurt or have full fat milk. I have the low fat options instead. I like butter,but use it sparingly.
If you are not taking full fat yogurt or full fat milk you are taking sugar and that is bad for us. Carbs are the culprits for bad lipid profile and not fats. Yes. Sounds crazy buy true. I have been on grain free diet and taking good fats liberally, off statins and i'm able to keep my lipid profile in a better range. And i'm very clear in what i'm doing. It's not a great science to understand that since we can't metabolise carbs effectively we can't take carbs more than we can dispose them off and can keep bs under control.
In fact prescribing insulin to someone who has insulin resistance «is like treating an alcoholic with martinis» as someone put it on another site. Reducing insulin resistance with exercise should improve glucose metabolism and allow to have a normal diet - with a measured part of carbs, proteins and some fat, indeed.
I'm not saying to prescribe insulin. But unless one decreases ir only exercise won't help. IDM is the first step. What is "measured part of carbs, proteins and some fat" ? Please specify.
hi anjijag - do not assume that the LCHF is cause of hi cholesterol. In addition to diet your own body can and does make as much cholesterol as it needs. I am LCHF and my TC dropped on my last test. It had been 133 and is now 129.
Like everything, the extremes are always dangerous and even though such a diet might have helped some, there is also ample room for mishap and problems.
Yes...very true.. anything in excess leads to problems..and potentially dangerous.At the same time we must understand that due to Insulin resistance , T2 diabetic are facing problem to metabolize carbohydrates.
Therefore it is wise to restrict carbs.
When your body is not accepting certain food it is not at all advisable to force your body to accept same.
Therefore,It is more appropriate for a person to do some desk research with help of internet and then discuss the same with his medical team and do cost benefit analysis.
A Dietitian from Adventist Healthcare said that a person who is both Diabetic and Epileptic should ask the Endocrinologist and Neurologist before starting the diet.
As i mentioned in my reply to Ceejayblue, increased exercise is a very good way to improve insulin effectiveness. Also improves metabolism if one is exercising regularly. And it doesn't have to be some competition training, sustained walking on a regular basis is enough to attain those benefits.
Actually went back to that article in German and in fact the referred study is «Aerobic Center Longitudinal Study» which is the «The Cooper Center Longitudinal Study (CCLS)». Unfortunately it is not available freely.
Anyway comparable studies such as Chronic weight dissatisfaction predicts type 2 diabetes risk:
I agree. I am doing this diet under the supervision of my doctor and the fact that the one I am following currently has been written by a doctor who had type 2 and reversed it .This low carb High fat diet is all based on careful research and it gave me the confidence to try it. So far it has worked,but I still have a way to go. As I said in another post, I don't really follow the high fat option aspect. You have to make changes that suit your circumstances, coupled with the right professional advice.
Yes, having a doctor be supervising any type of diet would be best for anyone-- especially when you start something new. What did your doctor tell you, Anjijag when you first said you wanted to go on a LCHF diet?
She was supportive. After I went to see her after 2 months on the LCHF diet,she was pleased and surprised that I had managed to work towards my goal. Now I feel I have her full support in what I am trying to achieve. She had already advised me to lose some weight and told me about foot clinics etc and to follow an active lifestyle. I am already active,anyway, but I hadn't realised how many carbs and sugars I was consuming. I feel so much better and much livelier than I was. She said to me that she doesn't usually have that conversation with diabetic patients and I could see that she usually has to reach for the prescription pad to prescribe Metformin and such like. I feel optimistic,now.
great to read about a physician supporting your effort against the medical "wisdom" - it certainly helps improve the relationship.
About losing weight, i think i already mentioned it but this post has grown so long, it may be useful to repost things. The important factor is not losing weight per se but the fact that you are exercising regularly respectively have an active life style. Even without losing (lot's of) weight the activity in itself brings most of the improvements to the metabolism like reducing insulin resistance. Of course, losing weight might still be advisable but isn't be the only way to go
She was very encouraging and very pleased when I had some positive results. She said she didn't expect to have that conversation with me, as most of her patients with this problem go straight onto medication.
What is extreme for us. Hypocarb diet ? Think of the days when we the humans didn't know the carbs and didn't cultivate. We were taking no or very little carbs. Our food was animals and birds. Even we learnt roasting and cooking very late. So if we take carb in small quantity it can't be called extreme diet.
i think our ancestors were called hunters gatherers. As a matter of fact, meat and animal food in general was probably just as much a luxury back then then it is today 'cuz... no fridge, so basically, when you get up in the morning, 1st you have to get off your behind and go look for something to eat and fruits and roots were much easier to pick up then having to hunt down some animal. Hunting was dangerous because it wasn't simply picking up your rifle to get a few hundred meters from some animal and shot it dead. One had to get very close to throw something at the animals and obviously, the animals weren't just sitting around waiting for humans to come hunt them. Humans were predators just as sabre tooth tigers or wolves.
Well. We don't know the exact situation then so this is an endless debate. I don't know if enough fruits which humans identified worth or safe to eat were available then. But i'm talking of the era before humans learn to till. Even at present the adivasis - tribal communities live on hunting. They eat proteins mainly and fats from animals they kill.
Now we very well know what is carbs etc and so we can live on carb counting and less carbs. For us high carb food is injurious. Not a low carb.
«The diet is comprised mainly of meats and fish that could have been hunted by prehistoric man, and plant matter that would have been gathered, including nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits. [...]
But critics claim that the Paleo diet dramatically oversimplifies what prehistoric man ate. While the Paleo diet emphasizes meat and fish, it’s not clear that proteins formed the majority of actual prehistoric diets.»
Nota bene, there is no mention at all about fat.
However...
«Groups living in colder areas had little access to fresh vegetables or fruits. Their diet would have been almost exclusively meat-based, and they would eat all parts of the animal to make up for dietary deficiencies»
Chances are, the prehistoric (wild) animals weren't overfed stable beasts but were roaming freely and very active, so the actual fat content (not exactly the healthy fat advised, by the way) weren't that many. And, obviously NONE of those healthy fats....
O, article is from 2014 - hope it's not too... archaic?
I'm confused by this post, you say let everyone Google then you give out loads of links?!
The problem with consulting a medical team if you have Type 1 and are a UK resident is that they'll tell you you need carbs and won't ever suggest a Low Carb Healthy/High Fat diet is a good idea. It's different for Type 2, they might tell you to cut down on carbs but they quite probably won't.
Sorry if the post confused you, but as i alluded to ggl can be both your best friend if you know to sort out the garbage it tends to return nowadays beside useful informations and - due to that very garbage VERY dangerous. And sites selling you snake oil are maybe the least dangerous, health wise.
Thus yes i provided a couple links to sites advertising LCHF diet as well as the link to a site listing some very bad mistakes one might do with LCHF diet.
Beside this, it can be a place for ppl to post ideas or experiences as well as questions specific to LCHF diet.
It was brought to my attention that there is a LCHF forum on HU even though not very active... healthunlocked.com/lchf-dia...
As to the usefulness / appropriation of LCHF diet for Type 1 diabetic, well, yes, maybe it is simply not useful for that. i'll leave it to other Type 1 patients to share their experience if they feel like it.
I think many with T1 have proven that LCHF is very beneficial for them, so it's a shame HCPs in the UK are generally not so welcoming of it. Then again 40 years of carbs carbs carbs in so ingrained (ha, inGRAINed, ha) in most of us it's perhaps not surprising.
(nearly) 50 years of type 1 diabetes lead me to be a strong believer that the best way to help keep your diabetes in order, whether type 1 or 2, doesn't matter, is exercise, exercise, exercise and again exercise.
It makes things a tad more difficult to manage as with increased exercise the insulin's effectiveness increases as well, the more, the stronger. Which, for type 2 is even a good thing, the best thing, in fact.
And yes, my diet is about 60 to 70% carbs, 10 to 15% proteins and well, the rest as fat but as opposed to the former two i don't count fat, thus i have no clue how much fat i actually consume. But with a BMI of about 21 i'm obviously not too concerned about fat my cholesterol values being in range.
"whether type 1 or 2, doesn't matter, is exercise, exercise, exercise and again exercise". What about those who can't do exercise since t2d is a disease / metabolic disorder affecting aged people and many have complications which can inhibit exercise. We should have a solution that is feasible for all.
Exercise doesn't have to be winning a marathon. Walking briskly every day at least 5 days per week for ½ an hour is enough. In fact, increasing the heart pulse is all that's needed and is achieved by everyone according to their condition. People who never exercised before will feel walking slowly as an effort whereas someone who runs regularly simply aims at maintaining their condition. And progressively those who didn't exercise before will lose weight, tone up their muscles and improve their condition as well.
Sir. We should provide a solution that works 365 days a year. An all time solution. Telling from my personal experience that exercise though good isn't the first measure. Because
1) walking and brisk walking is not possible for all. There are many who suffer from age related illnesses and debility.
2) in winter and monsoon one may have to suspend that exercise.
3) about 8-10 years back soon after i got diagnosed having D i bought home an indoor bicycle and started peddling it to reduce my weight and control D but continued to eat the same high carb food as before and avoiding fats as per usual teaching and preaching. For three years i continued to peddle like a mad man taking peddle counts from 50-70 initially to about 1000 per day at the end of 3 years labouring for 45 -60 minutes in the morning and sometimes in the evening even. But that didn't reduce my weight one kg even because my diet was not good. Then gradually i found that job boring rightly so because i was not getting the desired results. It happens with everybody that a task started with great enthusiasm becomes boring if you don't get the desired results. Then i stopped cycling and cut carbs but still dreaded fats. I could control my ppbs to a great extent so much so that i stopped all the medicines and perhaps started taking a little more carbs. But after some time i found that my sugar control has again gone. I came in contact with this forum, fathomed the literature, understood the implications of lchf diet and for last 5 months or so i'm grain free and before that i was taking wheat roti. I have lost >10 kg weight and reduced my waist circumference by at least 2 inches ( 36" at present ) and taking good fats - co, evoo, ghee etc. liberally And doing no exercise. I have controlled my bs and other parameters to a great extent. You will see my lab reports if Activity2004 can tag them here. I can assure you that idm is the best and first solution. Good if you do exercise but it comes next to diet management. I also advocate intermittent fasting. The idm is an all time solution.
Also i'd warn all my friends against doing a strenuous exercise that you are not used to because that can bring serious complications. No. I'm not scaring you but warning you. We are all aged people and our bodies can't tolerate a big physical strain.
Thank you for taking the time to put the links on this e-mail. i am very grateful for all the help and wisdom on this forum,
i went for a diabetic eye test and there was a large poster from the dietitians who are still pushing the plate with about 40% of it with carbs and encouraging low fat,so no wonder there is confusion,there was one sentence that reducing carbs might help some but that was buried among a lot of information
i have been on the low carb high fat diet for four weeks and going through the module on this forum, i do think a blood monitor is essential as what individuals can tolerate varies.
I am a Type 2 diabetic. LCHF diet has worked for me - my last 2 HbA1c results were 35 and 38. This has dropped from mostly around 48, and anything under 42 is the normal range. So, hurrah! The diabetic nurse doesn't discuss my diet with me other than to ask if I'm getting my "5 a day". I have informed her I am doing the LCHF diet and there is a slight pursing of lips as the NHS are still tied to the "food plate" which has far too much carb on it encouraging people to eat rice, potatoes and pasta some of which metabolise faster than granulated sugar causing blood sugar spikes as the base for every meal. The food plate is far too closely tied to the Food Industry who push for profits not health.
nbreight is correct that it is very important to do your research on any changes you make to your diet, to discuss this with your medical team and to try to find the most reasonable path to tread. I certainly advocate dietdoctor.com as a good source of information, and will look with interest at the other sources nbreight recommends. Thanks.
Well done for getting your results to such a good level. I have been trying alternatives to rice,pasta and potatoes,such as bulgur wheat,cous cous and cauliflower 'rice' cooked with cumin seeds.
Curd kept for some time so that it gets little sour. Hang it in a piece of cotton cloth so that the liquid in the curd gets drained. That is hung curd.
Whenever anyone suggests the LCHF diet to people, I always tell them to make sure that the person has no other health issues that may contra-indicate high fat. I know that high fat keeps you fuller longer and when I was young we all had a high fat and a high carb diet (I'm 65) and everyone appeared to be healthy, but there were still obese people and people with diabetes and other associated illnesses, its not an ideal diet for everyone.
I have gallstones and a hiatus hernia and when I eat something that is high in fat I get a very dodgy tummy and need a dose of immodium instants! I do still have the odd high fat meal but I have to watch it.
As a type 2 diabetic and currently in control (next HbA1c on Monday!) I do try to eat lowish carbs and again, I do have the odd treat, but my aim is to have 150g of carbs a day and low/med fat. Its not necessarily helping with the weightloss (I am overweight) but its keeping my BGs in check - although I may do another re-think if my levels rise above what they were last time.
Whenever we look at changing our diet we need to check with our doctor and make sure that it will not cause us any other problems. There are too many weird and wonderful diets out their that suggest some really crazy things that could harm more than help. We all need to realise that one size doesn't fit all with diets, in general eat healthy food, eat less rubbish and move more works for most people.
A few months ago i read an article (alas in German) about research that indicated that the life expectancy of overweight people doesn't directly depend on their (over-)weight but rather on how active thus how much exercise they were (having). Regular exercise greatly improves things even if you don't lose dramatically weight.
I do a lot of walking around at my job each day I'm suppose to be scheduled. I have to get a counter to see how many "laps" I actually have ended up doing every 4 hours (not counting to stop for a mini lunch break).
in ggl search returns a couple apps in iTunes. Entering step counter in the app store app might return some more maybe. In ggl play there are about a dozen.
So you are counting carbs but not following lchf diet. By the way as per ayurvedic principles curd / yogurt not good after afternoon. Just for your knowledge. There is an adage : mulo ( raddish ) mogari ( mallet ) and curd, no to them after evening. Our evening is the time after 5-6 oclock.
"I have gallstones and a hiatus hernia and when I eat something that is high in fat I get a very dodgy tummy and need a dose of immodium instants!".
Firstly if you are diabetic and have gall stones get you gall bladder removed before it gets infected. Infection can lead to serious complications.
Secondly gall bladder and bile is not important for digestion of good fats that are high amount of sct and mct.
The gastric problems that you have may be because of some other problem constipation is one of them. Make sure that your bowel are evacuated properly. I think ayurvedic has a greater role to play.
Also get hiatus hernia corrected or it may cause food pipe - oesophageal problems.
I have had no symptoms of gallstones since they were found when I had an ultrasound for something else over 15 years ago and my hiatus hernia hasn't given me any trouble for about the same time. Happy to take my doctor's advice and leave them be. My bowels are fine thank you.
I have a problem with high fats, oils, too much of any fat. I do eat good fats but its usually anything fried - shallow or deep fried - not that I eat it often. I've just come back from my diabetes check and my cholesterol and blood glucose are fine, so I'm obviously doing something right
" but there were still obese people and people with diabetes and other associated illnesses, its not an ideal diet for everyone." There must be very few people for whom high fat diet is not desirable but surely they are not obese and D people. Crazy but fat cuts fats. Obese and D people to should eat lots of good fats. And even for the people with gall stones. Low carb and high good fat diet is good for both D and obese people.
Came across a study that shows that calorie reduction while still covering the body's nutritional needs can slow down the aging process. Go to: nature.com/articles/ncomms4557
What does that have to do with LCHF diet? Well, fat has double the calories of carbs or proteins, thus it seems unlikely that a diet rich in fat will reduce calorie intake.
According to a recent study ( nature.com/nature/journal/v... ) increased fat consumption leads certain intestine bacteria’s to produce more acetate which can lead to increased insulin secretion and thereby weight gain as cells store the extra glucose as fat.
Other studies (e.g. nature.com/ncomms/2014/1404... ) have shown that a diet with increased fibre contend leads to a reduced appetite - also via acetates.
However, the diet itself influences the bacterial population in the intestine and possibly different bacteria's generate different acetates leading to a different reaction in the brain.
Furthermore, fat diet tend to lead to poorer bacteria population which has many negative effects on the health.
And another (very) good reason to avoid fat and proteins in excess...
«High-protein diets not only restrict your consumption of carbohydrates, which can contribute to the onset of malnutrition since carbohydrates contain essential vitamins and minerals, but also promote the consumption of high-fat foods like red meat and full-fat dairy products. A high-fat diet increases the need for lipase, an enzyme produced by the pancreas necessary for the breakdown of dietary fat. A high-protein diet with added fat puts more strain on the pancreas by forcing it to work harder.»
"A high-fat diet increases the need for lipase, an enzyme produced by the pancreas necessary for the breakdown of dietary fat. A high-protein diet with added fat puts more strain on the pancreas by forcing it to work harder."
1) lchf doesn't recommend high protein or low/ high calorie diet. Protein to be taken as per need 1g/ kg daily or a bit more for those who require extra prots like athletes and convalescing patients.
2) lipase is produced by glands in pancreas . Our beta cells are weak and not the glandular tissues. And both are separate entities and work independently .
Was thus googling "high fat diet" to write that ultimate LCHF diet post and found.... What 5 Days of a High-Fat Diet Does to Your Muscles ( dailyburn.com/life/health/h... ).
a couple extracts to conclude my argument about LCHF diet...
«While these college guys didn’t develop beer guts overnight (they, in fact, experienced no weight gain), their bodies did undergo some hidden changes. Researchers found that participants’ high-fat diets disturbed their ability to oxidize glucose in their muscles after just five days. Why does this matter? Glucose, which comes from carbohydrates, is responsible for providing your cells with energy and controlling blood sugar levels. When you eat a meal, your glucose levels rise and then fall as your body works to either convert these carbohydrates to energy or store them for later use, in the form of fat.»
Or... High-Fat Diet: Bacteria Interactions Promote Intestinal Inflammation Which Precedes and Correlates with Obesity and Insulin Resistance in Mouse ( journals.plos.org/plosone/a... )
Thus once more, high fat might seem a miracle way to control your blood sugar, but there is no free lunch - your body is paying a price for it!
This concludes my post about LCHF - a forewarned patient can be forearmed...
i am not going to reply to any "LCHF fan" anymore but might however from time to time repost this concluding statement.
Very interesting, indeed. After that video i was proposed Prof. Tim Noakes - 'LCHF for Elite Athletes' video and watched that as well. Very interestingly close to the end
In essence, athletes that don't suffer from insulin resistance can and should follow high carb diet but athletes suffering from IR can improve their results by switching to LCHF diet.
But as he points out himself before in the presentation, athletes are obviously (very) active physically. Thus, question remains whether Insulin resistance for type 2 diabetic has different origin than world level athletes'.
And that for them, increasing exercise might already be enough to restore insulin sensitivity and not switch to a diet that might have other (side) effects.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
