LCHF or Ketogenic Diet

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One thing to keep in mind is that you really can’t sort of do LCHF. And by this I mean eat lots of fats and not count calories but still sneak/cheat with excess carbs. Yes it helps overall to reduce carbs, especially those empty calorie sugar carbs. But if you are still making carb choices you can’t do the fat/calories and don’t expect to see the LCHF benefit like reduced cravings. Carbs and fats don’t play well together. Kinda like you can’t have your cake and eat it too. :)

So while you can get many of the benefits with carb restriction but not full keto, one has to be very cautious and monitor their response to added carbs.

As for meals out, it is tough and there are so many temptations. But most restaurants I have been to are understanding and willing to substitute the usual starch with a salad or veggies.
 
Been doing Keto since the beginning of June 2018.

I was sharing an office with a gentleman that has type 2 diabetes. His progression went from checking his blood sugar a couple times a day and taking pills to taking pills and injections plus wearing a spiked disc in his upper arm for more constant blood sugar monitoring. He has knee problems requiring surgery but his doctor will not operate because his blood sugar is too high putting him at higher risk for complications/infection.

I came across a Ted-X lecture video in my youtube feed that discussed controlling diabetes by ignoring conventional treatment. The lecture basically discussed using a carbohydrate restricted diet to control insulin secretion/response and therefore control/reverse type-2 diabetes:


I already knew about Ketosis and Keto diets as during my bacheloriate studies I minored in nutrition...but the info I had was dated and there has been a lot of development in the data and nutritional science in general since I graduate University in 1996, So I started doing some research.

I shared the video with my colleague. He was resistant to the idea as it came across as a very restrictive regime, which it is. I could not legitimately recommend the diet without any firsthand experience with how sustainable it is from a short or long term perspective....so I adopted it myself.

I made the commitment on June 6th 2018. I read, I counted, I charted everything I was eating. I bought Keto-strips to test my urine and things went well.

My energy levels stabalized, my sleeping pattern became more regular, I did not have hunger pangs, my amount of snacking decreased, I was no longer hungry between meals, I was drinking more water, and I started loosing weight.

I knew that the first few weeks, the majority of the weight loss was water weight, so I kept myself hydrated. Eventually the weight loss was real as my clothes started to fit different.

I have to state that I did not adopt this diet/regime a for weight loss, it started out as an experiment in sustainability which could lead to a lifestyle change...the weight loss was just a by-product as well as an indicator that my body was indeed burning fat due to a state of ketosis.

I started out weighing about 240lbs. I am now fluctuating between 188lbs and 194lbs depending on how hydrated I am or if I weight myself before/after eating or before/after a bowel movement.

My waist size has gone from 38+ inches to 34 inches. I am able to wear clothes that I have not worn in years and before starting I needed new belts because the buckle could not reach the first hole...now I need new belts because the buckles reach the last hole.

At the 3 month mark I had some blood work done to see how things were going, here are the results:
Triglyceride: 68mg/DL
Cholesterol: 204mg/DL
HDL Cholesterol: 48.7mg/DL
Cholesterol/HDL Cholesterol ratio: 4.2
LDL Cholesterol: 142mg/DL

These results were higher than the blood work results a couple years prior when I retired from active duty.

I continued the regime to see if the elevated levels were due to my body still adapting as 3 months was not a long time.

At nearly 9 months I just had my blood drawn to see if I should stop or continue, here are the results:
Triglyceride: 44mg/DL
Cholesterol: 190mg/DL
HDL Cholesterol: 58.9mg/DL
Cholesterol/HDL Cholesterol ratio: 3.2
LDL Cholesterol: 122mg/DL

I had a hepatic function panel done as well and everything is well within normal limits.

So now I am 9 months into this regime and I have not felt healthier in quite a long time. I have people asking me all the time what I have done to shed weight and are surprised when I tell them I eat a high fat diet.

Here are some key points that I have learned from doing this in the past 9 months:
1. A ketogenic diet is sustainable if one is committed.
2. If one is not committed it is an incredibly dangerous regime to follow from a heart health standpoint.
3. One cannot cheat.
4. It causes one to think a lot about what one eats, especially any carbs to ensure one is maximizing the nutrient potential (vitamins and minerals) that any carb containing food sources provide.
5. Cheating only causes setbacks (my wife has been doing keto on and off since I started but has not seen similar results because she has not totally committed and cheats herself).
6. I typically cannot eat enough calories each day because I am simply not hungry as fat is more satiating and I feel full from what I eat more often than not. I also do not have crazy levels of insulin secretion going on which contributes to hunger pangs. This has created a consistent caloric deficit without increasing the amount of exercise I do which has contributed significantly to weight loss.
7. It is very important to stay hydrated on this regime.
8. I feel great and look better than when I started.
9. Even though it is a very strict way of eating, it gets easier with time as long as one does not cheat.
10. If anything improves, it will be one's will-power through sustaining this diet...as long as one does not cheat.
11. One should research the crap out of this before starting and continue after adopting it.
12. Don't cheat!!!

I will have my blood drawn again in another 3-4 months to see where things are at and now that it is getting warmer and will be less wet out I will start jogging/cycling in an effort to increase overall fitness and to further adopt a healthy lifestyle. I would like to see my HDL level increase and my LDL level decrease further...so I will be paying more attention to how much fat I am ingesting from animal sources and increase the sources of omega 3 and omega 6 that I eat.

If everything checks out at the next blood draw, I will consider it a successful experiment and will continue as a permanent lifestyle change.

-Z
 
I think the ability to “cheat” is very individualized and depends on what the cheat is. Even the level of carbs each individual can consume and maintain keto varies. And to there is the choice of keto vs low carb.

I don’t have the answer. As I said before, one can’t make a habit of cheating. Eating carbs and high fat is probably the worst diet choice. But it seems many can get away with the occassional extra carb and still maintain the benefits and not get side tracked. And too some LCHF followers will do a planned carb load, carb up or do cycle keto.

And lets say its really is a special occassion and there is a decadent carb in front of me. Yes, if I wish I can take a few bites and stop. But I know that for some people one bite might mean the entire serving.
 
Been doing Keto since the beginning of June 2018.

I was sharing an office with a gentleman that has type 2 diabetes. His progression went from checking his blood sugar a couple times a day and taking pills to taking pills and injections plus wearing a spiked disc in his upper arm for more constant blood sugar monitoring. He has knee problems requiring surgery but his doctor will not operate because his blood sugar is too high putting him at higher risk for complications/infection.

I came across a Ted-X lecture video in my youtube feed that discussed controlling diabetes by ignoring conventional treatment. The lecture basically discussed using a carbohydrate restricted diet to control insulin secretion/response and therefore control/reverse type-2 diabetes:


I already knew about Ketosis and Keto diets as during my bacheloriate studies I minored in nutrition...but the info I had was dated and there has been a lot of development in the data and nutritional science in general since I graduate University in 1996, So I started doing some research.

I shared the video with my colleague. He was resistant to the idea as it came across as a very restrictive regime, which it is. I could not legitimately recommend the diet without any firsthand experience with how sustainable it is from a short or long term perspective....so I adopted it myself.

I made the commitment on June 6th 2018. I read, I counted, I charted everything I was eating. I bought Keto-strips to test my urine and things went well.

My energy levels stabalized, my sleeping pattern became more regular, I did not have hunger pangs, my amount of snacking decreased, I was no longer hungry between meals, I was drinking more water, and I started loosing weight.

I knew that the first few weeks, the majority of the weight loss was water weight, so I kept myself hydrated. Eventually the weight loss was real as my clothes started to fit different.

I have to state that I did not adopt this diet/regime a for weight loss, it started out as an experiment in sustainability which could lead to a lifestyle change...the weight loss was just a by-product as well as an indicator that my body was indeed burning fat due to a state of ketosis.

I started out weighing about 240lbs. I am now fluctuating between 188lbs and 194lbs depending on how hydrated I am or if I weight myself before/after eating or before/after a bowel movement.

My waist size has gone from 38+ inches to 34 inches. I am able to wear clothes that I have not worn in years and before starting I needed new belts because the buckle could not reach the first hole...now I need new belts because the buckles reach the last hole.

At the 3 month mark I had some blood work done to see how things were going, here are the results:
Triglyceride: 68mg/DL
Cholesterol: 204mg/DL
HDL Cholesterol: 48.7mg/DL
Cholesterol/HDL Cholesterol ratio: 4.2
LDL Cholesterol: 142mg/DL

These results were higher than the blood work results a couple years prior when I retired from active duty.

I continued the regime to see if the elevated levels were due to my body still adapting as 3 months was not a long time.

At nearly 9 months I just had my blood drawn to see if I should stop or continue, here are the results:
Triglyceride: 44mg/DL
Cholesterol: 190mg/DL
HDL Cholesterol: 58.9mg/DL
Cholesterol/HDL Cholesterol ratio: 3.2
LDL Cholesterol: 122mg/DL

I had a hepatic function panel done as well and everything is well within normal limits.

So now I am 9 months into this regime and I have not felt healthier in quite a long time. I have people asking me all the time what I have done to shed weight and are surprised when I tell them I eat a high fat diet.

Here are some key points that I have learned from doing this in the past 9 months:
1. A ketogenic diet is sustainable if one is committed.
2. If one is not committed it is an incredibly dangerous regime to follow from a heart health standpoint.
3. One cannot cheat.
4. It causes one to think a lot about what one eats, especially any carbs to ensure one is maximizing the nutrient potential (vitamins and minerals) that any carb containing food sources provide.
5. Cheating only causes setbacks (my wife has been doing keto on and off since I started but has not seen similar results because she has not totally committed and cheats herself).
6. I typically cannot eat enough calories each day because I am simply not hungry as fat is more satiating and I feel full from what I eat more often than not. I also do not have crazy levels of insulin secretion going on which contributes to hunger pangs. This has created a consistent caloric deficit without increasing the amount of exercise I do which has contributed significantly to weight loss.
7. It is very important to stay hydrated on this regime.
8. I feel great and look better than when I started.
9. Even though it is a very strict way of eating, it gets easier with time as long as one does not cheat.
10. If anything improves, it will be one's will-power through sustaining this diet...as long as one does not cheat.
11. One should research the crap out of this before starting and continue after adopting it.
12. Don't cheat!!!

I will have my blood drawn again in another 3-4 months to see where things are at and now that it is getting warmer and will be less wet out I will start jogging/cycling in an effort to increase overall fitness and to further adopt a healthy lifestyle. I would like to see my HDL level increase and my LDL level decrease further...so I will be paying more attention to how much fat I am ingesting from animal sources and increase the sources of omega 3 and omega 6 that I eat.

If everything checks out at the next blood draw, I will consider it a successful experiment and will continue as a permanent lifestyle change.

-Z
Those LDL’s are off the chart! I would work on getting those lowered as you mention....are those numbers hereditary?
 
Those LDL’s are off the chart! I would work on getting those lowered as you mention....are those numbers hereditary?

Those LDLs are within normal limits per the reference range of 0 to 130 mg/DL. They may be at the upper range of within normal limits but they are certainly not "off the chart".

What is as or more important is the ratio of HDL to total cholesterol...acceptable is 5.0 or less. My ratio is 3.2.

I literally just got back to my office from a meeting with my doc discussing the blood work results. The only comment she had was that I should drink more water as my sodium levels were a bit high on the comprehensive metabolic panel.

She has been following me on this regime for 9 months and has advised that I should redo the blood work in 6 months to a year, but so far in her eyes it is successful, considering the numbers have decreased since the last blood work.

-Z
 
Defense Department to ban beer and pizza? Mandatory keto diet may enhance military performance

Interesting read. I knew the military was experimenting with keto diets but did not realize that part of the interest, especially for Navy Seals, is...

“One of the effects of truly being in ketosis is that it changes the way your body handles oxygen deprivation, so you can actually stay underwater at depths for longer periods of time and not go into oxygen seizures,” Sanders said at the Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in May.“
 
I have been very successful with the Weight Watchers Freestyle Program. It is a low-carb and low-fat program that encourages healthy eating and activity - but it is not so restrictive and you can live on it long term. The program also encourages consuming healthy, natural starches like beans and peas but not refined starches and sugars.

It's not really a diet that you go on and then stop, it is a balanced but controlled lifestyle system. You can attend meetings or do it online, or both!

@uncfnp the pilot study for the program was done at UNC Chapel Hill and the organization is offering participation to staff at a discounted fee, see the link below.

https://hr.unc.edu/weight-watchers-at-work-unc-chapel-hill/
 
I highly recommend this

0 carbs no artificial sweeteners but it surprisingly good

7A33633F-E8F8-4799-992C-5ABA0F6DE234.jpeg


We mix Pellegrino plain with some small bit of juice sometimes for a low carb drink
 
Huh. Admittedly could be a bit better and risk factors would need to be evaluated but those numbers are far from “off the chart.”

Cholesterol ratio or non-HDL cholesterol: Which is most important?


I agree, not off the chart

LDL is not really linked to heart risk because “discordance” particle size profile etc

You’d probably want to do some advanced lipidology like particle number (LDL-P) to have that number mean much

HDL and TRIGS better indicators IMO

Anyone not diabetic using Metformin “off label?”
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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