Keto Is This Easy

(Eve ) #102

So, if l wanted to lose weight, I definitely haven’t and maybe have put on a pound or 2 since doing the keto diet. There is advice that it is easy to overdo the fat and thus gain weight, but surely in order to get anywhere near the 80% mark, it must be increased, significantly?
Any ideas?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #103

The best advice I’ve seen boils down to keeping carbohydrate under 20 g/day, eating a reasonable amount of protein, and adding enough fat to satisfy hunger. I don’t worry about percentages, because calorie-counting has always driven me crazy. So does trying to weigh everything I eat.

Well, that assumes that the body doesn’t know what it’s doing, and that we have to be strict with it and make it behave. The body is actually more complex than that advice makes it seem.

The advice that makes more sense (to me, anyway) is to bear in mind the body’s hormonal response to the foods we eat. So if we eat a lot of carbohydrate, which raises insulin significantly in order to cope with all that glucose, then yes, the fat is going to get stored instead of being metabolised, because insulin is the major hormone causing us to store fat. (Not to mention that some of that excess sugar the insulin is trying to get rid of gets turned into fat and stored, as well.)

But if we eat ketogenically, that means our insulin is low enough for us to be able to metabolise both the fat we eat and some of our excess stored fat. And when we eat to satiety, our metabolic rate increases, and we metabolise more fat than otherwise, more than we strictly need, in fact. (Ketones are made from fat, don’t forget, and the body can even excrete excess ketones if it has too many.)

As Dr. Jason Fung says, “To burn sugar, eat carbohydrate; to burn fat, eat fat.” And Dr. Stephen Phinney says, “We are not what we eat; we are what our body does with what we eat.”

#104

If one needs more fat than before, then an increase is in order, if less, it’s a decrease, it has little to do with percentages… I ate very high-fat on high-carb, in grams… It dropped when I went low-carb.

Some people very easily overeat fat, I am like that too and I don’t even need added fat for it… But it’s satiating for many people. Or not so much but they still stop when they eat enough…

You need to eat right. There are no general things about raising this and needing to be careful with that, it’s individual. Some people do it right without a care.

(Eve ) #105

Thankyou. So again, the crucial thing is all about keeping the carbs low so that the insulin release is low. Therefore less stored glucose as fat plus fewer health problems in general.
One big benefit l have already noticed is that my blood sugar doesn’t keep dropping if l go too long without eating or exercise alot. I used to go hypo very easily which was unpleasant even though l have never eaten much sweet stuff and have a very clean diet. My body just doesn’t do well with carbs! I have also read many times that as you say, calorie restriction causes the body to slow the metabolism so it can become counterproductive. So what you wrote makes sense as in don’t restrict calories, just the carbs.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #106

Say, rather, that your glucose may actually be dropping, but it doesn’t matter, because you have ketones to feed your brain with.

In an experiment done in the 1960’s on people who were fasting, and who therefore had elevated ketones, George Cahill and his team used a hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp to drive the subjects’ glucose levels low enough to normally cause coma or death, but they were fine, because of the ketones.

We occasionally hear from forum members with continuous glucose monitors, who notice that their glucose had spontaneously dropped (usually overnight, as I recall). If it hadn’t been for the monitor, they would never have noticed, because they had no symptoms of hypoglycaemia.

(Eve ) #107

So interesting…

(Eve ) #108

As I continue with the keto diet, now at about 5 weeks, l notice that overall l feel better in myself, but it is a bit of 2 steps forward and one back, i.e. today l have felt a bit ropey again and with a lower mood. Is this usual? A bit of a rocky road to better health?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #109

Give it some time. Your body is not fully keto-adapted yet. Things will feel different later on.

(Eve ) #110

I think you said it could take 6-8 weeks?
How safe do you rate peanut butter? !

(Eve ) #111

So during this period l still won’t feel great all the time? Is that the normal course of events?

(Eve ) #112

Do you know if others have experienced a roller coaster adaptation/ improvement in health?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #113

How much sugar does it contain? How much are you planning to eat?

Many people, though not all, notice a distinct improvement on mental clarity shortly after embarking on a ketogenic diet.

Fat-adaptation, however, is most noticeable to athletes, who will see a drop in performance that slowly improves (usually over the 6-8 week period I mentioned) to pre-keto levels, and in some cases, even better. We advise athletes not to overdo the exercise during this period. Non-athletes don’t always notice. Once fully fat-adapted, the skeletal muscles will pass up glucose and ketones in favour of fatty acids as their preferred source of energy.

As in all things, there is a lot of individual variation here.

I’m not sure what you mean by this. Almost everyone experiences a distinct improvement in health. A high percentage of people with Type II diabetes, for example, have reversed their diabetes on a ketogenic diet. In my own case, not only did my blood sugar go down, but so did my heart rate and my blood pressure. I also noticed that, while I never experienced the buzz of energy so many people talk about, my stamina did improve markedly. I have a fatigue syndrome that resulted from a viral infection in 2006, and keto makes me feel that I have normal energy and stamina.

The key seems to be consistency in adhering to the low limit on carb intake.

(Eve ) #114

By roller coaster l mean there are ups and downs in terms of my mental and physical health since starting keto. It hasn’t been easy right from the start but things did start to feel much better - physically and mood wise, and then a few days ago, l started to not feel well again. The keto sticks still show l am producing ketones at the same level so l assume it can’t be that l am out of ketogenesis. Perhaps l am still eating too any carbs? Any ideas?
I only have 1 teaspoon of natural peanut butter, nothing added, on occasion.

(Eve ) #115

Is Soya yoghurt ok to eat - it seems to be zero carbs but I have read that it kicks some people out of keto ??

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #116

I haven’t heard that, myself. And I try to avoid all products that contain soy, so I don’t have any experience to offer you.

But here’s my thinking: if the product only kicks certain people out of ketosis, asking others isn’t going to help you figure out whether it would be okay for you. You’d still have to try it for yourself and see what happens, in other words.

Now if it were a product that affected almost everyone negatively, that would be a different situation, and you probably wouldn’t even want to make the experiment.

But a lot of this stuff comes down to individual variability, so we still have to do a lot of self-experimenting.

(Eve) #117

Yes, fair enough that is good advice. Thanks.
Why don’t you eat any soya?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #118

For one thing, I dislike tofu with a passion, lol! Also, edamame is not one of my favourite foods.

But more seriously, the fatty acid profile of soybean oil is pretty high in ω-6 fatty acids, which are inflammatory when over-consumed. And soy is in practically every processed product, which I try to avoid for many reasons. And lastly, I am not comfortable with the amount of phytooestrogens in soy.

I’m not passionate about advocating against soy. This is just my personal prejudices at work.

(Eve ) #119

yes, I have been avoiding soy products too, but am tempted by the very low carb of the yoghurts!

(Eve) #120

I find there are days when l am struggling to find enough food to make me feel full, without going over the carb limit. I think l am correct in saying l shouldn’t be eating too much protein , and veg is limited, so feel stuck on what good options are to fill me up. Any suggestions?

(Eve) #121

Sorry, but l can’t find the post where you talked about the amount of protein recommended per day per kg or lb of body weight. Please would you tell me again! Thanks