Dietary carbohydrate restriction improves metabolic syndrome independent of weight loss

(Bob M) #1

This is a study from Volek’s group. They kept calories constant for three different diets. They were specifically looking to see what happens if one does NOT lose weight on a keto diet. (One attack on keto is that the benefits you receive are because you lost weight.)

https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/128308

They have this nice diagram:

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Basically the HC (high carb) diet made metrics worse, the MC (medium carb) diet didn’t change the metrics, but the LC (low carb, basically keto) diet decreased glucose and blood pressure and triglycerides while raising HDL. LDL size also increased, small LDL decreased (both supposedly factors in heart disease), and the blood actually – OMG!!! :wink: – contained less saturated fatty acids (SFA).

I did not see this on the forum, and I thought it was interesting.

EDIT: By the way, I believe it was the same people who rotated through three diets. So, you can’t chalk up the differences to different people.

(Chuck) #2

This has been my own experience with eating and dieting my whole adult life. Right now I am just trying to figure out how much carbs I can endure and maintain my my health. I want to keep my BP and acid reflux under control. Anything wheat, and sugar loaded triggers my acid reflux, and wheat and salt together triggers my blood pressure. But I can have almost unlimited salt as long as I don’t have anything with wheat.

(Bob M) #3

Yeah, I only rarely get acid reflux on keto, and then it was something I don’t normally eat. Meanwhile, wheat and other carbs can/will cause acid reflux. Which might be good, as it keeps you on the keto path. :grinning:

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

Vinnie Tortorich, who is a fitness coach, and who has had great success using a ketogenic diet on his clients, found that although people often reacted badly to the word “ketogenic,” they responded well to his mantra, “no sugar, no starches, no grains.”

(KM) #5

Yes … The sound “kee-toe” is directly linked to an increase in eye rolling, especially in people who have no idea what it means. “Low carb” is less reactive but useless as most of these same people don’t really know a carbohydrate from a carburetor. Sugar, grains and starch … familiarity breeds support.

#6

Yeah, that’s right but the other problem is that “low carb” easily means 150-160g carbs… It’s the low-carb advice for people with diabetes here. And indeed, it usually means a significant carb intake drop so it’s good, just… Not necessarily enough.

And my “problem” with this that sugar may mean different things. Not like it’s necessarily a problem, maybe the other person think about candy and the ketoer think about carrots too :wink: (It’s such an old thing for me, I look at a carrot and see sugar since probably more than a decade… I ate it on keto, sure as it was basic to me but I knew I should be careful.)
I had a time when I considered all net carbs sugar as they are, often complex sugar but still :slight_smile: I called all carbs sugar. But anyway, I always ate plenty of sugar on keto and even on carnivore. My idea of “plenty” changed during the times though :wink:

Communication is hard. People use the same word for different things and yep, people are so very ignorant sometimes… I read so many times things like this: “I don’t eat ANY carbs! I eat tons of vegetables, fruits…”, sometimes grains too… But only added sugar was carbs for them. Very inaccurately. I just don’t believe people at this point. I met “vegans” who ate meat (oh they tried to explain and justify it…) and the like, many people really have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to their diets. No wonder that when I was a vegetarian, most people doesn’t understand I don’t eat meat. Not like “meat” means the same for everyone, of course. If it’s flesh of an animal, it’s meat to me as it makes perfect sense to me. I don’t care about religious past things (where any animal in the water was “fish” too, Middle Age monks loved their tasty loopholes though their mental gymnastics were adorable compared to the Japanese ones…). A dead animal is a dead animal and it’s not vegetarian at all.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

Vinnie Tortorich found the same, when he was helping Hollywood actors get fit for movie roles, so he coined the mantra, “no sugar, no starches, no grains,” instead.