Effects of my high fat/low carb diet

[Alysia]

...but have fallen in love with the wonderful folks who hang out here.

love you as well

[MCC]

I am not very conversant with atkins. And I know there is a controversy about the low carb, high fat diets. But if you do some reading based on the sources of the books Wheat Belly and Grain Brain it does make sense. My bad cholesterol has always been in the normal range, and fluctuates about 10 points typically. It is still well within the normal range. My doctor says that the good cholesterol and the ratio between the two is more significant, and also keeping triglycerides low. So a lowering of the triglycerides by 40 points, and raising of the good choleterol by 27 points is quite significant. The diet does not recommend deep fried foods, or trans fats. Just good fats. And you will find that recommendation is becoming much more main-stream. Even the ban in eggs is being loosened. Even by Dro Oz, who frequently recommends increasing the good fats and decreasing the carbs! Anyway...the authors to read and consider their thoughts are William Davis and Daniel Perlmutter.

Did you look at the link I posted?

Nothing will convince me that lots of butter, meat and cream is a good thing. You will end up swapping autoimmune disease for heart problems I agree with Lisa that dairy is for calves, not humans. Read this about kids especially and dairy: http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/health/time-to-stop-milking-it-6501841.html

I believe the best diet for health is vegan. No animal products, healthy carbs and lots of veg and fruit

[BookNut]

Did you look at the link I posted?

Nothing will convince me that lots of butter, meat and cream is a good thing. You will end up swapping autoimmune disease for heart problems I agree with Lisa that dairy is for calves, not humans. Read this about kids especially and dairy: http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/health/time-to-stop-milking-it-6501841.html

I believe the best diet for health is vegan. No animal products, healthy carbs and lots of veg and fruit

I did read the article. And I am sure milk causes many folks problems. I may have not been entirely clear about what I have been doing. I do not eat tons of butter and milk products. I simply do not substitute margarine or skim milk products which have added sugars to make them palatable. The particular diet I am on does call for a somewhat higher percentage of good fats than the US Food Pyramid. And it does discourage SOME of the higher carb fruits (bananas and pineapple) and high carb veggies such as potatoes. But its biggest empahsis is on LARGE quantities of healthy vegetables. I have added salads to every meal except breakfast, but I use dressings made with olive oil and vinegar to minimize the sugar and fake fats that so many store bought dressings have. There are many approaches to good nutrition. The "best" one is a healthy plan that the individual is able to follow successfully. Vegans and carnivores are never likely to agree, lets face it! =). But they can probably agree that eliminating the most highly processed foods in the supermarket is a good thing. Meanwhile, I am absolutely thrilled with the large rise in my good cholesterol and the HUGE drop in the triglycerides. And I am not concerned at all with the rise in the bad cholesterol, since it is unlikely to go any higher, and is well below the danger level.

It is interesting to read the multitude of different opinions, and take what works in one's own situation. Thanks for the input!

[windchime]

I did the Atkins diet about 10 years ago and had great success with it. The first two weeks is the hardest. My pain disappeared and I had a lot more energy. I also lost weight. Can't remember how much now. Vegetables alone do not satisfy me. Even adding grains/nuts to the veggies is not satisfying for me. Now if you go by the Blood Type diet, I'm an O, and that makes me a carnivore and no amount of veggies are going to satisfy me.

I do agree regarding the processed foods and I don't have a problem with veggies, I just need a slab of some kind of meat to go with. Usually chicken or fish, but sometimes beef and pork. Just my two cents worth.

[BookNut]

I did the Atkins diet about 10 years ago and had great success with it. The first two weeks is the hardest. My pain disappeared and I had a lot more energy. I also lost weight. Can't remember how much now. Vegetables alone do not satisfy me. Even adding grains/nuts to the veggies is not satisfying for me. Now if you go by the Blood Type diet, I'm an O, and that makes me a carnivore and no amount of veggies are going to satisfy me.

I do agree regarding the processed foods and I don't have a problem with veggies, I just need a slab of some kind of meat to go with. Usually chicken or fish, but sometimes beef and pork. Just my two cents worth.

Interesting. I never heard of the blood type diet. Something new for me to research. Thanks!

P.S. I love the "yoga cat" avatar!

[Pierre42]

If you're after diet recommendations:

(1) Sugar is inflammatory, so the less you consume the better, you can live perfectly well without ANY "processed sugar" (ie cane/beet sugar, or HFCS) in anything you eat. (and before anybody screams at me ... feel free to go completely nuts and eat ALL the fruit you want, it's REALLY hard to get "too much sugar from fruit" if you're actually eating raw fresh fruit.)

(2) Intermittent Fasting is apparently one of those "miracle cure" thingys which actually does work. (Surprisingly, you don't have to buy ANYTHING)

Don't take my word for it, watch the documentary:

For two days a week, eat nothing. (literally no food at all)

Together is best, but you can still get most of the benefit from two separate days. HUGE benefits to your health all around, especially things like glucose/insulin response and cholesterol. (ie scientifically measured benefits)

In the documentary they talk about the challenge of doing this In The Real World and suggest 2 separate 24 hour "days" , eg skip dinner today, plus breakfast and lunch tomorrow, have dinner as normal tomorrow.

Been there, done that, found it surprisingly not a problem. (currently taking a break from any caloric restrictions due to recovering from surgery)

[MCC]

Another good documentary on how diet effect health is FOODMATTERS® | Natural Health & Nutrition | FOODMATTERS®

"Let thy Food be thy Medicine and thy Medicine be thy Food" - Hippocrates. That is the message from the founding father of modern medicine echoed in the controversial new documentary film Food Matters from Producer-Directors James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch.

With nutritionally-depleted foods, chemical additives and our tendency to rely upon pharmaceutical drugs to treat what's wrong with our malnourished bodies, it's no wonder that modern society is getting sicker. Food Matters sets about uncovering the trillion dollar worldwide 'sickness industry' and gives people some scientifically verifiable solutions for overcoming illness naturally.

In what promises to be the most contentious idea put forward, the filmmakers have interviewed several world leaders in nutrition and natural healing who claim that not only are we harming our bodies with improper nutrition, but that the right kind of foods, supplements and detoxification can be used to help with chronic illnesses as fatal as terminally diagnosed cancer.

The focus of the film is in helping us rethink the belief systems fed to us by our modern medical and health care establishments.

PS. NO I am not saying quit your medication in favour of a healthy diet.

[mishb]

If you're after diet recommendations:

(1) Sugar is inflammatory, so the less you consume the better, you can live perfectly well without ANY "processed sugar" (ie cane/beet sugar, or HFCS) in anything you eat. (and before anybody screams at me ... feel free to go completely nuts and eat ALL the fruit you want, it's REALLY hard to get "too much sugar from fruit" if you're actually eating raw fresh fruit.)

(2) Intermittent Fasting is apparently one of those "miracle cure" thingys which actually does work. (Surprisingly, you don't have to buy ANYTHING)

Don't take my word for it, watch the documentary:

For two days a week, eat nothing. (literally no food at all)

Together is best, but you can still get most of the benefit from two separate days. HUGE benefits to your health all around, especially things like glucose/insulin response and cholesterol. (ie scientifically measured benefits)

In the documentary they talk about the challenge of doing this In The Real World and suggest 2 separate 24 hour "days" , eg skip dinner today, plus breakfast and lunch tomorrow, have dinner as normal tomorrow.

Been there, done that, found it surprisingly not a problem. (currently taking a break from any caloric restrictions due to recovering from surgery)

Pierre, this diet doesn't really work for us when we need to take medication during or after a meal

A lady at work did this diet for 12 months and lost 15 kilo, which is all she wanted to lose.
She absolutely loved eating this way, however she eventually became very sick, lethargic and had a lot of muscle weakness.
The doctors found that she was extremely low on insulin but not diabetic. They told her to stop the diet.

I think with any dietary change, you should consult your doctor first

[BookNut]

Just a quick update. Had lab work done yet again. Still on High Fat, Low Carb diet. Last labs had the bad cholesterol as raised very slightly but still in the normal range. Today's labs list the bad cholesterol at 98...21 points lower than the last reading. Yahoo!!! The good cholesterol went down slightly and the triglycerides went up a little. But the total cholesterol went down by 24 points. Yahoo again!!

[KimH]

Hi Jacquie, I have been trying to diet too. I bought the Grain Brian when it first came out. I also have a few of Dr Hyman books. When I fall off the healthy eating wagon I feel it. I had always eaten healthy and had not been overweight but years of illness and the sedentary life has had a effect. Years of not having health insurance forced my Dr to pick and choose lab work and meds. I got insurance in January and I am in drug induced remission while very slowly getting off the prednisone. I am hoping for more RTX in August. Now my Dr is beginning to look at the other stuff. I have a mild fracture of L 1 and L 2 and had a bone scan which showed that some of my bones are swiss cheese. I will find out what is next to solve that issue. My doctor is consulting with Dr Lebovics to see if there is any contraindications with fosamax or something similar. I might end up going to the Osteoporosis clinic at UCONN. Next is cholesterol tests. I hope the diet is working to prevent high levels of the LDL s.