Are cheat days (high carbs/sugar) dangerous?

(Andreas) #1

My cheat days are purposefully unhealthy. On cheat days I want my cakes, ice cream and stuff I normally never would touch. I don’t yearn for sweet potatoes or yams, and I would label People who have “cheat days” With potatoes, yams and rice for People With little imagination :wink: :smile:

I’m teasing, of course. What I am saying is that MY cheat days are actually sweet and candy days. I don’t do them very often. Like maybe once every 30-60 days, and then I will fast for two days to get back in ketosis.

What I am wondering, though, is what the effect of high refined carb intake (like it would be on these kinds of cheat days) would have on insulin and blood sugar. Is it Dangerous? Could it send me into hypoclycemia?

(Deb) #2

Amy Berger wrote a great blog about that:

And I usually “cheat” ( though don’t think of it as such anymore) with mostly keto-ish stuff, I allowed myself “real” honest-to-goodness (and it was good, tho not my favorite) birthday cake and ice cream. So what? I’m going on vacation next Friday and will do that all week: pizza, McDonald’s, BYOC (Build Your Own Cookie at Chincoteague Island"Va…my fave!), etc. And when I get back, I’ll get back to my keto WOE/ way of life , and be back to normal within a couple of days.
That’s my take on it. It’s what works for me. Others may feel differently.

(less is more, more or less) #3

I respectfully dissent. It’s wonderful that Amy, Deb and many others can do this. I don’t doubt she and others can follow, and do well, with Amy’s guidance. I don’t think anything she’s written is out of line. The problem with this “green light,” however, is very much a slippery slope for those just starting out on Keto. They read what they want to read and they’ll unwittingly find themselves back in carbville in no time. That is exactly my experience a decade ago, with the Atkin’s maintenance regimen: slow roll back to 60+ carbs a day. Then 100. Then 150, then, oh to heck with it, where’s my cake?

This is admittedly a radical point, but here goes. Is sugar, and, less so, carbs, addictive? Yes, powerfully so. Why should we make light of it means to “loosen restrictions” on sugar and carbs? We don’t council alcoholics to have “cheat days.” Why not? How do you know how addicted your are? This is the journey to self that’s key to understanding this.

@August78, you might be fine if you “slip” in the way Amy writes about. I’ve accidentally had high-carb meals. I brushed myself off and keto’ed on. My concern is this. It takes time to detox the brain of decades of bad eating advice, and powerful emotional triggers to indulge in carbs. People hold their nutritional concepts more dearly than religious dogma (i.e., fiber is good for you, calories matter, etc). I don’t make light that for some, such as I, this is a hard-fought struggle.

You may find, in due, prudent time, this isn’t a problem for you. I may be green with envy, but I’d respect that. Oh, and nice bull avatar, by the way.

(Andreas) #4

I understand what you are saying, but I dont see your answer directly relevant to my question (with all due respect). I am wondering whether eating a large amount of refined carbs and sugars on a single day after several months in ketosis/being fat adapted can have acutely harmfull effects. If I understand you correctly you seem to refer to psychological issues with doing snack days («slippery slope»).

Oh, and thank you for your compliment. I like bulls :smile:

(Allie) #6

It very much depends on how you react to them as an individual. If you’re keto adapted, metabolically healthy and have no issues with candida, then likely you’ll just need however much time your body needs to burn off the sugar and get back into ketosis properly.

(less is more, more or less) #7

Oh, it very much is. We’re not just metabolizing automatons. We have a heart, stomach and a soul. Take the soul out of it, sure, I don’t see great risk, though there’s rising evidence of the dangers of our SAD we have yet to understand.

Another perspective: a bottle of vodka, in some hands, can be inert and innocuous. In an alcoholic’s hands, however, it can be lethal.

(the cheater) #8

FWIW, I’ve been keto since mid February, usually have a cheat day every 7-10 days where I eat WHATEVER and HOWEVER MUCH I want; beer, pizza, cake, cookies, chips, burgers: you name it. I have still managed to lose 45lbs and counting (down from about 217 in Feb) and feel amazing. None of this “9 grapes am I still in ketosis?” stuff. I go hard in the paint and easily get back into ketosis in no time. I just start eating keto the next day and I’m back to good. I had to leave several keto groups on FB because they didn’t even allow talk of cheating. I’m kinda the black sheep in the keto community, I think.

That said, when I had my doctor’s appointment, while my doctor was highly encouraged about my keto diet (his brother being keto and also a doctor), when I told him about my cheat day, he told me not to. The whole point of keto is to control insulin/hormones and let your body do what it does best by not poisoning the well.

Have I stopped cheating since my appointment a month ago? No. However, I have cut back from about every 7 days and am leaning more to the 9-10 day interval now. Right now I have a goal of going 30 days without a cheat.

While I don’t think there is any long term harm of doing this once a week or once every 10 days or so, I’m sure it’s stalling my progress a small amount. While I’m sure I’m in ketosis, I’ve probably never fully reached 100% fat adaptation which only occurs through strict keto after months. But I’m doing pretty well.

So is cheating dangerous? Probably not more dangerous than eating a SAD, but probably not as good for you as remaining keto 24/7.

That’s my n=1.

(SleepyMotherOf3 🇬🇧) #9

I agree that there are carbaholics and carb addicts. I would describe myself as a carb addict, I eat carbs once a week because I want to and enjoy it but have no problem getting back on the horse. A carbaholic would not easily do that. I can also have alcohol occasionally with no addiction problems.
Is it fair to warn everyone off of alcohol because alcoholics exist?
Is it fair to warn all keto eaters off of carbs because carbholics exist?

(Diane) #10

You don’t say how long you’ve been eating Keto. If your journey is just starting, I do believe that cheat days might delay fat adaption. I did have a cheat day once a month for the first 3 months [on my sister’s birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Eve (and for 2 additional days after Christmas)]. I’m pretty sure I didn’t reach a fully fat adapted state until about 5 months in (and after my first extended fast). I believe I was pretty metabolically deranged, but I’m guessing my cheat (or planned FREE days) didn’t help speed the process any.

However, for me, having a list of foods that I might want to eat on my next free day/meal, made it easier for me to stay in plan the rest of the time. Anytime I was tempted, I could say, well I don’t need to eat this right now. If I still want this, I can have it on my free day. It really helped me during those rough first 2 weeks and continued to be helpful through those rough months of the holidays. Incidentally, I didn’t need to eat off plan for New Year’s or for the next 3 1/2 months. I had an egg roll and some dessert on my birthday in April. The rest of the day and birthday meal was very keto.

Also, if you are trying to lower your HbA1c, even a single blood sugar spike can expose your red blood cells to glucose and raise your levels (I don’t know how much or how significantly) if this happens anytime in the approximately 90 days before your test.

#11

Specifically to answer the question (and I’m no doctor) I’d say no it’s not dangerous to indulge in a cheat day. Unless you’re diabetic or pre diabetic or have some other condition. Then I wouldn’t touch carbs with a 10 foot pole.

(less is more, more or less) #12

I can’t answer whether it’s “fair” but I obviously believe it’s important aspect that is commonly ignored. Feel free to scroll past if you feel otherwise.

(Andreas) #13

Thank you all for your input. Some of the answers were more directly targeted at my question of «is it dangerous to eat high amounts of refined carbs and sugars on a cheat day after a prolonged period of being in keto an fat adapted?». None of you serm to say it is directly harmfull. I have been in keto since february with maybe three cheat days since then. I concider myself fat adapted and able to handle cheat days perfectly fine. I just fast for a day or two and im back on the wagon.

I was worried that my body would handle the blood sugar spikes more poorly after being in keto for an extended period of time. It seems i dont need to worry. I dont have any symptoms of insulin resistance or diabetes. My thyroid is working great.

#14

My experience is that if I indulge my world-class sweet tooth and have a day of excess sweets, I get incredible ‘charley horses’ that plague me for hours. This doesn’t happen if I eat more benign carbs like rice or potatoes.

I’ve been very low carb for over a decade, and I really limit sweets because of this. I might have a ‘carb meal’ every 6-8 weeks, sometimes longer.

(Alec) #15

My understanding is that the sugar burning mechanisms do not whither they just stick around and the body will still prefer to burn carbs before fat even when you’re fat adapted. If the carbs are available.

By spiking your insulin for a day you won’t be as healthy as you would without your carb day, but it would be very very marginal.

#16

I have been strictly Keto for only 3.5 months. Because I know I am strongly addicted to carbs/sugar I find it easier to just completely cut it out. No moral judgement, everyone can do what they want. n=1= no carbs for me. That said I did have a day where I ended up getting a load of carbs that was hidden in something. Inflammation in my joints was almost immediate, and the craving for carbs took days to rectify. For those of us with deranged metabolisms carbs/sugar is basically poison, and it takes days to rid the body of the effects. So, free choice, but I would be reticent to ever encourage or give someone an excuse to indulge. I have known quite a few addicts and the excuses for eating carbs sound like the same ones they use.

#17

I have been keto and zero sugar 5-10 grams carbs per day 62 days… the last 16 or so carnivore. I even went on vacation and managed to abstain however I had a celebration with my son and we had a gelato feast. I do not feel guilty whatsoever because I know that tomorrow I will go back to my keto woe… here’s the kicker though, I feel guilty for not feeling guilty. What’s happening is that with keto I have not only improved my physique but also the way I treat myself. I even went on a Rocky Mountain back country camping trip alone! That may not sound like a big deal, but it’s huge for me. I’m not worried about getting back into ketosis because I know it will happen, it was a cheat meal not a cheat day or a cheat mentality if that makes sense to anybody? I’m super happy about the changes

(Allie) #18

Keto gives us freedom :grinning:
When you have that metabolic flexibility, as long as you don’t have any blood sugar / sugar addiction issues to deal with, you can slip in and out of ketosis almost at will. This is why I don’t worry about tracking macros or going massively over on protein. I still choose to avoid sugars and starches because I know they make me feel awful, but I don’t worry from the perspective of staying on ketosis.

(Zenjen) #19

i’d say that it’s not dangerous to eat carbs now or then, but from my experience is better to stay away from carbs. I didn’t feel good when i had my first cheat day a few days ago. i was without energy and the food didn’t feel right in my stomach. If you don’t have any problems, than i think it’s ok to have a cheat day. Most of the times the body itself tells us if we are doing something wrong, so maybe you just have to listen to it and do what’s right for you.