A lot of dietary advice from the NHS is outdated or confusingly represented.

[Infundibulum]

I have lost 25Kg (56lb or 4 stone) in 6 months on the Keto diet with intermittent fasting. A lot of the foods the NHS diet recommends spike blood sugar and cause insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance causes immense harm to our bodies, and the number one thing for your health is to become sensitive. This is only achieved by lowering blood sugar, which lowers insulin, which raises your sensitivity and your cells will allow their stored fat to be taken. Hench you lose weight.

It's a straightforward biological mechanism, nothing complicated and quite natural.

All you have to do is not eat about 95% of the food sold in a supermarket.

[S11m]

Hi, Infundibulum , welcome.

Yes - I am glad more people are getting to know it.

I lost 30kg through IF and Lowish carb, moderate fat - it took me about 14 months, but weight lost slowly is easier to keep off, and I have been stable at 15% body fat for three months.

I hope you will give us some feedback on the "fasting and Furious" forum.

healthunlocked.com/fasting-...

...but this is the NHS Weight Loss Forum - and we try to work with them rather than against them - some doctors refer their patients here.

Weight loss is not all about motivation and masochism - if you "slim smart" it is not so hard!

Many of us here find that what works is a combination of The Low Carbohydrate, High-Fat (LCHF) diet (see the forum here on Health Unlocked) and Not Snacking All Day AKA Intermittent Fasting (IF). See:

healthunlocked.com/fasting-...

[Infundibulum in reply to S11m]

Hi,

I work for the NHS, 22 years, so I know its foibles and one of them is that it responds to change like an old oak tree in a light wind.

Their food distribution plate is just a variation of the old food pyramid created in the 70's when the 'modern' advice was to remove fat and increase carbs. This food % distribution has been completely discredited, but not really advertised....

Obesity, diabetes and heart disease increases follow a direct correlation line from that time on with refined carb intake.

There is no masochism involved, I make a wonderful chocolate almond flour cake, covered in dark chocolate & pecan ganache surrounded by a moat of double cream. I eat cheese covered in peanut butter but also raw broccoli and spinach smoothies.

[S11m in reply to Infundibulum]

The NHS likes to think that they base their advice on evidenced-based, peer-reviewed, double-blind trials... but SAD and all the guidance that follows it was based on the biased observational study by Ancel Keys. He used data from seven out of about countries for which data was available... and the countries that ate a lot of fat also ate a lot of sugar.

[Hopalong1 2 stone in reply to Infundibulum]

That cake sounds good, please may I persuade you to part with the recipe? I am interesteted in keto, was prediabetic in Feb when I joined and have reduced inflammation, in knees particularly. Keto on!

[Freesia3 in reply to Infundibulum]

Your cake sounds delicious, would you mind posting the recipe? 😋

[BridgeGirl Administrator SS Supercook 2 stone]

Hello and welcome 😊

You'll find many members of the forum understand these points and follow a low carb high fat approach: I don't think many maintain a keto diet because it's so restrictive, though many follow it for a few weeks as an induction to lchf.

You will have been sent a welcome message with a link to our Pinned Posts. Have a look at them, particularly the Welcome Newbies post which will help you find your way around. I recommend joining a weekly weigh in on the day of your choice, and using the Daily Diary, where members log their meal plans and get useful feedback.

Please also read the information about security/privacy, especially as you have left your post.

To make the most of the forum, join in with activities, read and reply to posts, ask questions and encourage others – it will all pay off for you 😊

[Lesley1234567]

Hi BridgeGirl since I joined this forum I have had some excellent support and advice and it has all been good and sound. It’s through this forum I discovered lchf/keto, which I believe to be the same. After all this time I could be wrong. Because you have just pointed out that keto can be too restrictive to maintain but lchf isn’t.

[babss Host 2 stone in reply to Lesley1234567]

Hi Lesley, the terms lchf and keto are used interchangeably quite a lot which is confusing! Keto is a very low carb diet, probably around 20-30g per day, which causes the body to produce ketones as it burns up fat for energy. Lchf I think refers to a diet where you are consuming under around 100g per day, so much less restrictive (but still effective for weight loss)

[BridgeGirl Administrator SS Supercook 2 stone in reply to babss]

Thanks for replying, babss, as I hadn't seen this post from Lesley

There's a good picture about 1/3 of the way down this page showing comparative plates: ketogenic, moderate low carb and liberal low carb. I think that illustrates it well. dietdoctor.com/low-carb

There will be different interpretations of "low" and "liberal" but ketogenic seems to be consistently used to mean a diet with less than 20g carbs per day.

[babss Host 2 stone in reply to BridgeGirl]

Thanks for the link to the diet doctor page bridgegirl, very useful.

[jazz62]

Hi Infundibulum.

Well done. Having done some research I think this is the way to go for me too, however I don't eat meat other than chicken and turkey. Where did you get your recipes/eating plans from? Although I think my biggest issue is procrastination. It does help inspire me reading success stories such as yours. Cazz

[BridgeGirl Administrator SS Supercook 2 stone in reply to jazz62]

This is a great resource for getting you started on a low carb approach, including loads of recipes. dietdoctor.com/low-carb

If you join our Daily Diary, you'll find plenty of members who eat this way. As I said above, not many people maintain a keto diet but many use it for a couple of weeks to launch into a low carb high fat way of eating and continue with that for good.

There's also a lchf forum you may like to join healthunlocked.com/lchf-diet

[jazz62]

Thank you Bridge Girl. I'll take a look.