diet

[kazz1234]

could u tell me what is a low carb diet does it work for every one im confused people saying low carb diet ive cut my bread out put potatoes I cant stop as it fills me up

[harleychick]

With a low carb diet u can only have between 60 and 130 carbs a day it is not easy to do. Make sure your eating the right kind of food though.

[Penel]

Have a read of this article posted by OlsBean. It explains the Low Carb/High Fat diet.

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[teri54 6lbs]

LCHF I had done like many lots of diets over the years and ended up more over weight and disheartened but I heard about this health plan and I have found some thing that works for me,which I feel is important as some diets work well for some as you will hear from this site, to find out about the diet youcan go to Authority nutrition and diet dr to read a little more ,I have lost 20llbs in 7 weeks and had a treat accasionally. I wish you well and good luck.

[kazz1234]

thanku for your lovely messeges

[Salaisa]

Concerned, could you please rewrite the first part of your response (glucagon and insulin) in human language, and could you please elaborate on what is "too much protein" (struggling to find a number for that). Thank you.

Kazz1234, I think I am starting to gravitate towards this kind of diet (still at a stage of finding out more about it). I have stopped eating bread and pasta, cut out most cakes (my biggest offender, although will have a piece occasionally, never before lunch time though). Still have potatoes or rice, but in small amounts, and usually later in the day (usually dinner). I feel really good.

[kazz1234 in reply to Salaisa]

hi im confused what we can eat ive been making a lot of home made soup i do eat veg and daily maybe a 100grams potatoes dont eat pasta but do eat rice ive stoped all the bad foods i eatloads og chicken fish but what can u eat to satisfy you

[Salaisa in reply to kazz1234]

Sorry about that kazz1234. Low carb means eating less carbohydrate rich food. This includes bread, pasta, any baked goods (cakes, muffins, scones - anything with flour), but also potatoes and pasta, any sugar (and strict versions of the diet will exclude also fruit as it has lots of natural sugar). Most of our Western diet is based on bread/grains/pasta/potatoes as the main part of our diet. In low carb, most of your calories will come from protein and fat. A very good explanation of one form is here dietdoctor.com/lchf

Chicken and fish and veg and soups are really good. If you feel hungry, then the above low carb diet would suggest that you eat more natural fat - eg have scrambled eggs made on real butter and with lots of full fat cheese on top of them. Or have less lean meat and eat the fatty bits too (eg if you fry streaky bacon, eat all of it). (But no bread with it.) I think I will maybe let other more experienced members to reply, as I am only exploring this option and don't know that much about it.

I will say based on my 2-week experience that if I have a protein full fat breakfast (scrambled egg, a slice of fatty cheese, a slice of ham, 2 Ryvita crispy bread slices - not real bread really, all amounting to about 350 calories) then I can go on until lunch (about 4-5h) without needing a snack and without being hungry. I then have lunch meat+veg (skip rice and potatoes), plus for dessert full fat yoghurt with a bit of fruit, and I can again go on until (almost) dinner time without being hungry at all. Interestingly, I stopped craving sweets (like cakes and biscuits), of which I would previously have generous helpings all through the day (I might still have some, but it's a rational decision if you know what I mean, it's not a choice based on strong cravings).

Unless you are pressed for time to lose weight quickly and if you are looking for a change of lifestyle, maybe you could try to experiment with this for a week or two and see how you feel about this type of eating and if you miss badly some of the things which are discouraged on this type of diet.

[kazz1234 in reply to Salaisa]

thanku so much that's been a great advice im going to try cutting out potatoes an rice see if I lose weight quicker ill follow u and let u know how im doingxx thanku again very helpfull

[Penel]

Salaisa's advice is very helpful. I also find that cutting out carbs has stopped my cravings, and that I don't often feel hungry between meals. I cut down on carbs gradually, rather than all in one go.

This is another site that gives some useful information, but you are unlikely to need the amount of protein suggested.

authoritynutrition.com/12-b...

[Salaisa in reply to Penel]

Penel, how far are you in the process? Still cutting down of have you found your stable regime? I would like to know about your experience (I noted and like that you still eat cake - that's my kind of diet!), which does not seem to go to some of the extremes suggested on the internet. Also would be interested about long-term experience, say 2 years? Most of the information which is "research-based" seems to come from studies done over a few weeks, and the focus a lot on losing weight, less on long-term effects on health. (Thank you for the paper you sent, read it and understood most of it. Did note that the author is not entirely unbiased as he supports lchf.)

[Penel in reply to Salaisa]

I got down to a good weight two years ago, but now have to lose 6 or 7 pounds to get back there.

I had to go gluten free some 12 years ago, and found that with no bread etc, the weight came off very easily (I can't eat the supermarket gluten free stuff because of the additives). I also found I had to give up sugar, milk and potatoes because they disagreed with me. So I ended up 'low-ish carb' without knowing it. I gave up low fat foods and went back to butter and cream, because I could tolerate the lower amount of lactose in them. I lost about 2 stone.

My husband decided to join me in eating gluten free/low carb at home, he was borderline type 2 diabetes with high BP, but this has now been reversed and he is now off all meds.

Having found gluten free flours, like buckwheat and chickpea, I like to make us the occasional cake or pie. I dare say that the weight would come off quicker without them, but ....we enjoy them. I have looked at the full Ketogenic diet, but cannot manage to go that low.

Cutting down on carbs has been a traditional way to lose weight for years. Have a look for The Banting diet.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wil...

This is another interesting site, which explains the idea of 'insulin resistance', which affects a lot of people.

forbes.com/sites/rosspomero...

[Salaisa in reply to Penel]

Thank you, Penel, that was extremely useful. I think that's the way I will try to go. I like the in-between approach of the "authority on nutrition" site. Except one thing which I don't understand: why would someone who promotes real food include "chocolate flavoured protein powder" in their plan?

[Penel in reply to Salaisa]

Yes, an inbetween approach seems to work for us, although my husband went as low carb as he could manage for a couple of weeks to make sure that the pre-diabetic problem was reversed. Good luck with finding your balance.

As for "chocolate flavoured protein powder"...yuk!

[Salaisa]

Thank you. Still unsure about protein. Palm sized does not always apply as I eat lots of cheese, yoghurt, eggs, legumes too. Or I will have a slice of ham with an egg in the morning. Dr Google recommends anything from 50 to 150g, which is quite a big range. I think I am now settling on 150g of carbs (150 total, of which 50g fiber), and need to determine the proportion of the remaining calorie intake in terms of fat and protein.