Ribeye steaks are nearly the perfect keto/carnivore food

#42

Just checked my GKI (Glucose Ketone Index) and it’s 6.04, which is mild ketosis. I did have a coffee with liquid stevia a little bit ago, plus it’s 8:30 in VA right now, so my ketone levels could be lower since typically they’re at the lowest in the morning.

I say it’s going pretty well. I’ve been primarily sticking with ground beef and ribeye’s for the past week and it’s helping. I was going to eat the 21 ounces of ribeye for lunch today at work, but I decided to leave my lunch at home since I didn’t feel hungry this morning.

Looking forward to this fasted workout later :sunglasses: (Ate at 6pm yesterday, won’t be breaking my fast until about 6:30pm today)

(Jim) #43

@PaulL can you explain further to this newbie? I’m trying to stay under 20 gross carbs and finding it difficult to also stay under 75g of protein (which is what my app recommends). I’ve read that being over on protein isn’t that big of a deal and, conversely, I’ve read that being high on protein will knock you out of ketosis. I’m 48, 6’0”, 165lbs and pretty healthy. Massive weight loss is obviously not my goal. I would assume that being relatively healthy I don’t have an insulin problem, but again I’m new to all this (11 days in) and just trying to figure it all out. There seems to be a lot of contradictory information out there.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #44

Yeah. This is an old understanding, based on the idea that the liver uses amino acids from the protein we eat to make glucose—the process is called “gluconeogenesis”. It used to be believed that any protein in excess of requirement would result in gluconeogenesis, but recent studies have shown that the gluconeogenesis occurs only as needed. (There are certain cells, such as the red corpuscles in your blood, that cannot metabolize anything but glucose. The brain may or may not need a minimal amount of glucose; this is currently being challenged by some experts.)

Professor Benjamin Bikman has shown that the key is the relationship of insulin to glucagon. These hormones are secreted by cells in the Islets of Langerhans in your pancreas, and to some extent they work at cross-purposes. They have different effects on different cells. Glucagon is low and insulin is high when we eat lots of carbohydrate, and this inhibits gluconeogenesis, so as to promote the use of the glucose in the bloodstream. In the absence of carbohydrate, glucagon is as high as insulin, so the insulin/glucagon ratio is low, which promotes gluconeogenesis and the making of ketones (ketogenesis) in the liver. Bikman has shown that protein intake can go quite high—in the absence of dietary carbohydrate—without raising the insulin/glucagon ratio (in other words, if insulin rises, glucagon rises to match). On the other hand, in the presence of dietary carbohydrate above a certain threshold, increased protein causes increased insulin, with no matching increase in glucagon.

I don’t want to overwhelm you, or to hijack the thread any further, so send me a private message if you still want more information.

(Chris) #45

Please start a new thread rather than PM!

@Ketodrick 75g sounds like about half of what someone your size and age would want - low protein like that is begging for frailty problems later on - sarcopenia, etc.

(Doug) #46

Right on, Paul! This is enormously important. It’s not just “a difference,” it’s a titanic response when eating carbs versus almost none at all when eating ketogenically.

That great Dr. Bikman ‘relevance of dietary protein’ video =

Eating substantial carbs = Insulin/Glucago ratio 4.0:1
If very low-carbohydrate, the ratio changes to 1.3:1 (obviously much preferable in this day and age of obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, etc.)

Then, from either of those two diets as a background:

The ratio, for keto people, after eating protein: 1.3:1 unchanged - Dr. Bikman did say it actually went up by 6%.

The ratio, for carb-eating people, after eating protein: 70:1 :open_mouth:

So, if keto, protein barely makes the Insulin/Glucagon ratio budge, while if coming from a substantial-carb diet, it absolutely goes to the moon, ending up ~5300% as high as for keto people.

If high insulin is a worry - and there is a great and growing body of evidence that persistently high insulin is a very bad thing for us - then the importance of this is clear.

(Jim) #47

@Dread1840 I have a Newbie thread here in which I’m trying to figure it all out. Long story short. After a week (now 11 days), I haven’t really noticed any difference in the way I feel. I grew concerned that perhaps I needed to go to gross, rather than net, carbs and some have suggested that high protein might be knocking me out of ketosis. I ordered pee strips that should arrive today, but now from what I understand those are pretty useless. I’m just trying to get dialed in to what I, personally, need to do. But please direct any responses to my newbie thread so as to not detail this one any further. Thanks.

(Doug) #48

Rocky
Rocky.png302×590 272 KB

This is Rocky. Two Saturdays ago he told me that yes, ribeye steaks are just as good as can be imagined.

(PJ) #49

My “instant pot” has made such a difference in my food life I regret not finding it and buying it ten minutes after whenever they first came out.

Initially I just used it as a more space-saving slow cooker. But now…

Chuck roast (or any kind of roast). Slather with spices. bit of oil on ‘sautee’ in the pot, toss it in, brown both sides (3min ea). Add some broth, spices of choice, seal and pressure cook it about 45 minutes (bit more if it’s real thick.

Presto. Falling-apart roast beef, a great juice you can if you like thicken a bit (back to ‘sautee’ and cook down and/or add thickener).

And when you’re done? ONE POT to wash. Not heavy or huge. Doesn’t take up much counter space. I know I sound like the product evangelist. It took me months even to use the thing! But wow, once I finally started… cheap cuts of meat (cut up huge things to multiple pieces and stack in there, it’s just fine) are the bomb.

Also: rip up and toss in a walmart roasted chicken from the deli (5 bucks here), pressure cook it with some water and vinegar and spices, sautee it for a bit (the ‘jiggling’ of the boil helps), strain it and you have great bone+meat broth and well worth the cost and way better than anything you’d buy in a box or can.

Also great for mass-pressure cooking 5# of chicken, adding in coconut milk and curry etc. and slow cook for awhile. By the way if you mass cook chicken (to put “in” things) in the pressure cooker you can throw it in your stand mixer and it will shred it beautifully. Since it’s soft and moist unlike (usually) when you bake it.

I love sirloin but I can never get a steak anything like the Texas Roadhouse restaurant or Outback make them, so I’m a steak snob and can’t cook them for myself. But chuck burger, and roasts, especially with the IP to make it SO easy to cook and clean up, are the bomb!

(PS I’m not suggested chuck burger in the IP. By the time it’s browned it’s cooked. Yes you can certainly do it in there but you could just as well do that in a regular pot on the stove.)