Introduction by one confused newbie

[Mohembo]

My doctor diagnosed me as diabetic about 10 years ago on the basis of one blood sugar reading over 7 mmol/L. In this country, once you are registered as diabetic you are always a diabetic. My doctor was very frank with me, insisting that even if I dropped some weight and exercised a lot showing a drop in blood sugar levels, these would inevitably go up, and he pulled out graphs to prove it. “Accept it! You are diabetic and always will be!” he said.
A couple weeks ago I had a retina scan for burst blood vessels. It was totally clear, and has been throughout. The only other bio-marker remotely connected to diabetes is slightly high blood pressure - which was diagnosed almost ten years earlier. My HbA1c was 45 mmol/mol in February. Here the reference interval is 31-46, so I was then borderline, I guess.

I am not overweight. And my purpose for going Keto is not weight loss. In fact, I would worry if I lost a lot more. If I have any overall purpose, it is to prove that first doctor wrong.
I have been going through 2ketodudes’ pods, and while I find them interesting and useful, I also find them increasingly “irrelevant” to my case - specificaly in the sense that they have such a focus on weight loss.

One of my current sources of ‘confusion’ regards protein consumption. There is a strong warning against over-consumption of proteins. Too much protein and you will reduce ketone production. And of course we want ketone production. Both Dudes love bacon and seem to consume a lot of it. According to https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/nutrition-piece-bacon-1557.html a slice of bacon contains 4 gms of fat and 4 grams of protein. The site also maintains that 4 gms of either one equates to 4 calories. (There are other things on this site that I know the Dudes contest, and I take note of that!)

But my basic question is: how can eating a lot of meat be encouraged when many meats seem to have as much or more protein than fat?

I think I am different from many in the keto community in that I am not particulary fussy or even interested in food for food sake. I eat to live, I do not live to eat, and never have.Yes, I enjoy good food, but I enjoy very ordinary food too, and I have no problem keeping my variety of food to under twenty “recipes.” Is there any short list of basic meals that will fill the keto diet requirements?

I have used the keto calculator (https://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/) to calculate my minimal calory intake and am sure that I’m no way near it. Yet I feel pretty good. How long can this go on? - I have lost some weight (4-5 kgs) since going Keto 4 weeks ago, but it has been a hot period, I’ve been working fairly hard physically, and have been stable for over a week.

When my fasting boodsugar (finger prick method) got to 3,6 I stopped taking my metformin (which horrified the nurse I informed by telephone - apparently doing this without the corfirmation of the doctor is heresy. The doctor could not be reached. My fasting blood sugar continues to be low, and I look forward to seeing my latest HbA1c in a month or two.)

Answers, comments, queries welcome!

[Jacymac]

Welcome and congrats on your progess so far.

You’re right that you are atypical for this board in that weight loss isn’t desirable for you. You should check out the maintenance threads on here for people who are in a similar position.

As far as the macronutrients of bacon is concerned. I think there is an error in the calculation.
The site you linked to specifcially says that bacon is around 65% fat and 30% protein in calorie form.
Elsewhere on the site it also gives the correct figures of 9cals per gram of fat and 4 cals per gram of protein.

Each Gram of Protein & Carbohydrates Contains How Many Kilocalories?

Hopefully that helps with your understanding of meat consumption.
Protein levels are probably not an issue for you if you are maintaining. I don’t think eating protein limits ketone production as such. There is a commonly cited process of glucogenisis which is where protein can be made into glucose, and it is often said that overeating protein will turn it into sugar, but the process in the body is demand driven not supply driven.

Personally, if I were you, I would watch my carbs, but ensure that protein and fat levels were both good, and make sure as well that you aren’t undereating calories.

As far as recipes are concerned. Check out the recipe page on here, or on www.dietdoctor.com
but basically pick your piece of meat, add a side of green veggies and a creamy or buttery sauce and you’re good. There are some people on here who eat the same thing every day including eggs by the dozen!

What did you Keto today?

We had thread on the FB page that was great. @carolT suggested that we start one here. We often get a lot of stick from friends, family, strangers about what we eat - or what they think we eat! So how about putting up some pics of what you ate today? Or what you would eat on a typical day. And yes throw in any BPCs and fat bombs that you have had too! Seeing as I started this topic and have yet to post what I have eaten I am editing to show you my dinner tonight! Slow-roasted lamb with herby c…

Good luck

[Mohembo]

Thanks Jacymac!

[PaulL]

But my basic question is: how can eating a lot of meat be encouraged when many meats seem to have as much or more protein than fat?

You have to remember that percentages are always calculated as percentages of total calories, and fat contains just over twice the calories protein has (9/g and 4/g, respectively). So if you eat 50 g of protein and 50 g of fat, you are actually getting 31% protein and 69% fat.

The other thing to bear in mind is that researchers’ recommendations are all over the place, from Dr. Ron Rosedale, who recommends 0.6 g/kg of lean body mass (his concern is longevity); to Benjamin Bikman, who recommends 1.0-2.0 g/kg (his concern is preserving lean muscle), to Dr. Ted Naiman, who believes that “too much protein” isn’t even a thing. (The Dudes, by the way, recommend 1.0-1.5 g/kg.)

All this is to say that, as long as you keep your carbohydrate low (we recommend under 20 g/day, especially in the beginning), the rest will sort itself out. Just be sure to eat enough, so that your body doesn’t think you’re in a famine and reduce your metabolism to compensate.