Hi everyone, thank you for sharing your stories and advice on this site.
I just want to ask, a lot of people on here are watching their diets closely, low fat, gluten free, restricted etc.
What do you guys think about the Keto diet, high protein, high fat, low carbs.
Any one else feel low energy when low carbing?
Thank you 😊x
Any one else feel low energy when low carbing?
Yes, me. I tried a keto diet, but I've now reverted to a diet which is more a moderate low carb. I was struggling hugely on a ketogenic diet - no energy, having almost the worst brain fog of my life, could barely speak, memory was total pants, felt like I was suffering from dementia.
I can't decide whether or not my problem is due to severe insulin resistance, or an inability to make use of fat in my diet (and my body) - in other words my body isn't adaptable in choosing to use glucose or fat as an energy source, or whether the problem is something I haven't considered.
I forgot to mention - I would never eat low fat. Fat is an essential nutrient required for, amongst other things, brain health and cell walls.
That's interesting, can you explain why you think it could be insulin resistance? Does it get worse when on low carbs?
My understanding of keto, low carb, diabetes, insulin resistance etc is very limited. I feel that everything my body does with insulin, fat, carbs and glucose doesn't work well.
What I do know is that when I reduce my carb intake and increase my fat intake I simply run out of energy to an extreme degree. I stagger terribly and can't stay upright very well, can't think, can't speak very well, struggle to make it up the stairs, my heart changes its rhythm (and not in a good way). I've treated myself repeatedly for keto flu, but it seems to have little impact on my symptoms.
I did (once!) manage to stick to a keto diet for three weeks. I felt worse and worse and worse, and eventually threw in the towel. When I ate some carby food I could think again. I don't have any answers, sorry. I did join a keto forum and ask for help but, naturally, I was told I just hadn't stuck it out long enough.
Thanks for your answer, so far I'm free from diabetes, but pretty much everyone in my family over the age of 40 has it, so it's interesting to know keto may have an impact on insulin resistance. All you read is about shunning carbs, so I assumed keto was a better option for those with such tendencies. I'll need to read more into it.
Oh, I wish I could eat keto! Whatever it is that is causing my problems I don't believe that it is something that applies to everyone. For a start there are far too many people who have done really, really well on keto and/or low carb. Please don't read too much into what I wrote. I could have got completely the wrong end of the stick about everything!
Hi Craino,
I do watch my diet carefully - I could not do keto - it is too strenuous for me and I need some carbs for energy. I would pass out without some on my diet. I do not do gluten free either as I do not have issues with it - I follow a low carb, moderate protein (mostly chicken and fish with the occasional burger splurge), only olive oil for fat (I do not believe in low fat, think it is unhealthy), lots of veggies, fruit, nuts as snacks during the day, and 2.5 litres of water per day. I do not eat dairy at all as it does not agree with me. I don’t process the fat in cheese at all and I am lactose intolerant - and choose not to bother with tablets for that. Easier just not to have it and I get my calcium from greens and other foods. I do not eat sweets at all, nor processed foods of any kind. I have followed this diet for at least 15 years.
This diet may not agree with or work for everyone - and I am not recommending it to anyone. This is just what works for me and I maintain my weight at a good level by eating this way. Hope this is helpful.
Thank you for your reply, this is how I am too x
I have been on a keto way of eating for 18 months and a four month break of low carb but not Keto as I was on a very long cruise. However back to Keto and my body just loves Keto. No more brain fog, never hungry, never crave sweets any more and I lost 20lbs in a year which was huge for me as I had tried every way of eating under the sun and just kept putting weight on never mind loosing any.
You need to commit to doing it properly or it definitely doesn’t work. My plan for my way of eating is 20 daily net carbs (carbs less fiber) 130 grams of healthy fat and 80-90 grams of healthy protein. I don’t count the carbs in green veggies in that allowance so eat a lot of salads and vegetables. I only eat twice a day around 8-9 am and around 5 pm no snacking in between other than green tea or coffee. I have totally reversed my insulin resistance and can’t imagine any other way of eating. I am no longer pre-diabetic. The secret is to plan your meals and don’t keep anything in your home you shouldn’t eat. I also bake very healthy Keto buns that give me my daily allowance of fiber and only 2 net carbs. I also make no flour Keto brownies at 5 net carbs for a treat and I have a small daily amount of berries with cream. Essentially protein and fats for the rest of what I eat. My husband does about 40-50 net carbs a day and still stays in Keto but he doesn’t need to loose any weight. He has so much more energy and his memory issues have gone. He is 70 and I am almost 65. Only exercise I do is walking 4-5 times a week for at least 30 minutes per walk.
You can’t just do high fats without the low carbs or your body won’t go into fat burning mode. It’s helpful to have someone who knows what they are doing to help. I was greatly helped by my naturopath and also online by Dr Eric Berg who has so many short videos on Keto for every issue you can think of.
I researched it a lot before I took the plunge and for me it was one of the best choices I have ever made.
I've never tried keto. My diet is restricted enough due to me not liking food very much, without a restrictive diet on top.
I tried gluten-free but it did nothing for me. Nor did I feel bad when I started eating it again.
You shouldn't go too low carb, because you need carbs to convert. And, I'd be very surprised if you found anyone on here doing low fat - except those adepts of Slimming World - because most of us know that good fat is necessary, and low fat is very bad for all sorts of reasons.
I don't eat a lot of meat, for various reasons, but I love veggies like cabbage, carrots, potatoes and cauliflower, cooked in the Indian fashion, with lots of spices. And salades. Plenty of olive oil, and butter on my bread. 
You are still very healthy with your selections! We need to go with what works for us or we won’t stick to it! I to love Indian spices and a lot of my Keto recipes are curries! You don’t need carbs to convert to energy on a Keto diet as your body burns fats (ketones) and not carbs so when you do intermittent fasting - eating once or twice a day your body then burns your body fat for its source of fuel. If you aren’t overweight you can still stay in Ketosis around 50 net carbs - my husband does that and at age 70 he is also finding huge benefits other than weight loss. He eats three times a day and doesn’t loose weight as he doesn’t have fat to loose!
Thank you greygoose for your reply, i agree with you, don’t advocate low fat diets, we used to do low carbs high protein when i was bodybuilding, but cant maintain energy levels now if i try to do low carbs.
Interesting to see how we all cope differently with our own issues. X
Don’t do keto but I became T2 diabetic while being treated for inflammatory arthritis. I was taking part in a prediabetes study so fortunately it was discovered very quickly.
I bought a book by Dr David Cavan called Reverse your T2 Diabetes plus a blood sugar meter and followed his instructions to the letter. Basically that is Low Carb, High Fat.
It worked very well for me. I lost a lot of weight and got rid of the T2. It really is a way of life rather than a diet although saying that my GF chocolate brownie on a Sunday turned into one every other day along with bags of chocolate buttons.
Last week I got a grip of myself and I’ve cut out carbs, sugar and starches and I gave the say I feel an awful lot better. Grain based carbs be they gluten free or not, do absolutely nothing for my body. I also like the DietDoctor.com website, there is a lot of helpful information on there about the best sorts of carbs to eat.
But to answer your question, I’ve got loads of energy, in fact I’ve got more energy when I eat carbs. I’ve slipped up and been eating very badly for a few months and my body feels sluggish and I feel like I want to hibernate - a week back on low carb and I’m full of energy again even though I’d say I’m eating less, I’m definitely eating better.
Thank you for your reply
Will look at website you mentioned. Be well x
Hi there. I stick to low carb as am also concerned about T2 diabetes (my mum has it). I did do keto and it was great for weight loss. I definitely didn't have any problems with how it made me feel either, but ended up relaxing things a bit after doing keto for a year.
I agree that the dietdoctor.com website is great. It caters for different levels ifow carb and has loads of good recipes so would highly recommend it.
Insulin resistance is obvious - if you have a belly of any description you have insulin resistance! Also if your blood sugar is pre-diabetic or diabetic you are insulin resistant. I do not have a blood sugar monitor but have my AC-1 blood test done every three months which gives you the average sugar measurement over the previous 3 months. My aC-1 is now 5.2 down from 6. My triglycerides went from 175 to 68 (whike eating all that healthy fat!) and my HDL went from 45 to 63. My thyroid tests are stable on Naturethroid.
My favorite keto recipe book is called The Ketogenic Cook Book by Jimmy Moore and Maria Emmerich and I also tweak my own recipes - like I added flax meal and chia seeds to the basic Keto bun so that it had lots of fiber. Keto helps with snacking as you are really never hungry or crave sweets after your body becomes fat adapted. The first few weeks can be difficult if you have been consuming lots of carbs, sugar, junk food and processed food. It’s probably like withdrawal symptoms from any addiction!! Once you get through that it is really very easy.
Dr Eric Berg’s videos on You Tube are extremely helpful. I like his way of Keto in that your green veggies aren’t counted in your daily 20 net carbs. You do not restrict or count calories at all. Although I only eat twice a day the amount of food I eat is the same as three meals - around 1800 calories. I managed my food in the early months through the Carb Manager App until I knew what I was doing.
Because we are hypothyroid weight loss isn’t as fast as many others achieve - Keto weight loss can be substantial if you are young and very overweight. However I would have settled for just not adding weight as it had slowly increased since becoming hypothyroid in 2009. I was delighted with almost 20lbs loss over a year. I don’t feel that Keto is a diet it really becomes your way of eating. You need to choose healthy fats like avocado oil or olive oil on salads, avocados, almonds, Organic cream and grass-fed butter and grass fed meat is also fine. You soon find out what your body works well with and stick with it.
I believe there is a blood test to confirm IR but when all the evidence was showing that I was IR the test didn’t seem so relevant to me.
Hi a guy called Mark Sisson is the king of keto. He ran a blog for 10 years of his own living experiment. He has a site called marks daily apple, so much info and research on his site I’m not sure I would live long enough to read it all, lol.
low Vit D
Apparently "I'm one of those"....
I don't believe in the "this is what you should eat" fairy .... Swedish meat balls!
Do you have a gallbladder or sluggish liver?
Low T3 Low T4 and very Low TSH
