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Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

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Re: Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

#51

Post by el_oni »

StacyC wrote: post #34

I am 58, on a (mostly) strict ketogenic diet since 2013. It has worked wonders for me and I expect to eat this way the rest of my life. I eat a lot of meat and eggs as I have found that combination (1) is something I enjoy very much, and (2) makes me feel the best. I didn’t have much weight to lose but I went from 175 to 160 (high school weight) and under 15% body fat. My energy level is consistently very good. Diet…

> reversed his T2 diabetes and lost quite a bit of weight doing keto. His doctor had advised meds to “manage” the disease.

My assumption there is that compliance for meds is probably better than compliance for huge lifestyle changes (such as diet). And that most people that the doctor sees in your BILs situation wouldn't stick to a ketogenic diet, and would need to go onto meds at some point in the future anyway.

Aside from that, im glad that it worked out for him. My anecdote about T2, is that a guy who works with my SO was told to control his diabetes with diet and is now insulin dependant, he hasnt been doing his insulin properly and has developed a swathe of health problems because of it.

Re: Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

#52

Post by Darmody »

cpach wrote: post #31
Darmody wrote: post #26

I love how we're starting to focus on our diets to prevent or cure a huge amount of diseases. You don't need drugs, expensive treatments, nothing, only a good diet. (read the comments below for an clarification for this statement) I personally can't work on a very low carb diet. Now I'm eating carbs again but NOT refined carbs. I make sure everything I eat is nutrient dense. Well, not everything, I'm not a robot but…

May I ask what kind of carbs you include in your diet?

Quinoa, whole fruits, whole pasta, rye bread, beans. Every now and then I eat white rice as I dislike the brown one.

Re: Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

#53

Post by throwaway_kufu »

iand wrote: post #10

Can someone explain why ketosis is the secondary energy system in the body and not the primary?

Keto is the primary energy system.

Consider when you don’t eat (fasting) your body goes into Ketosis. In other words it’s the default energy system.

You literally have to introduce Specific foods that knock you out of Ketosis...it just so happens now a days those are the primary foods people eat. Foods that spike insulin and knock you out of Ketosis really wouldn’t have been available in a constant supply to keep people running on glucose pre-agriculture.

Also consider the blood brain barrier, ketones are much more efficient at crossing the blood brain barrier to fuel the brain compared to glucose.

Re: Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

#54

Post by throwaway_kufu »

shlant wrote: post #50
dazag wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is the primary energy system. When a woman get pregnat, weeks before giving birth, she starts to produce ketones for the baby (it doesn't matter how many sugar the mum takes). And when the baby is born, meanwhile he drinks from mum milk he is in ketosis, because more than 50% of human milk is saturated fats. So yeah, we are in ketosis until we start to eat "food" high in carbs. The body can't burn fats if insuline…

> "It is the primary energy system" No, it's not [1]. Why do you think many organs[2] including the brain[3] that NEEDS glucose to run? > "we are in ketosis until we start to eat "food" high in carbs" No, that's not how that works. Infants are in a MILD ketosis and "this isn’t a function of their diet, but of the developmental period they’re in"[4] 1. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article-abstract/59/3/682S/473... 2.…

The brain doesn’t only run on glucose it certainly runs on ketones and ketones are much more efficient at crossing the blood brain barrier. Now when the brain is running off ketones it still needs some glucose, but the body accounts for that by being able to produce its own glucose and doesn’t need it from outside sources like carbs or sugar).

Ketosis is the default energy System, in that all things being equal when a person doesn’t introduce any food they naturally go into ketosis. People literally need to eat certain foods that spike insulin to get “kicked out” of ketosis.

Re: Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

#55

Post by Shivetya »

One thing many overlook with low carb is that you can still enjoy your favorites sauces and similar, you will be amazed how far a tablespoon of one will go. This can apply to mixing in what otherwise are considered carb no nos like bread crumbs. A little goes a long way and the carb impact can be minimized if the base is large.

Plus there is so much variety in the produce department that fits the diet that many overlook. Low carb/keto does not mean having to eat what is on their list but looking on the lists for items you have never tried to see new opportunities.

Re: Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

#56

Post by mrob »

throwaway_kufu wrote: post #53
iand wrote: post #10

Can someone explain why ketosis is the secondary energy system in the body and not the primary?

Keto is the primary energy system. Consider when you don’t eat (fasting) your body goes into Ketosis. In other words it’s the default energy system. You literally have to introduce Specific foods that knock you out of Ketosis...it just so happens now a days those are the primary foods people eat. Foods that spike insulin and knock you out of Ketosis really wouldn’t have been available in a constant supply to keep peo…

Even in the environment of evolutionary adaptedness, prolonged fasting is not the default. If you're going to argue that metabolism under abnormal conditions defines the primary energy system, alcohol must be the primary energy system. It's used at higher priority than either carbs or fats.

Re: Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

#57

Post by [deleted] »

YinglingLight wrote: post #38
jahnu wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are also for the hard to market, varied diet but largely fruit and vegetables, moderate exercise, little or no alcohol, and regular checkups. I'm failing to some degree on these, I admit.

They are also for 7-8 bite sized 250 calorie meals every other waking hour. A feat that can only be feasibly achieved via living off ready-made readily-purchasable health snacks™. There is no money in fasting, intermittent or otherwise.

[deleted]

Re: Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

#58

Post by leadingthenet »

ddorian43 wrote: post #15
tmikaeld wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course, eating high-carb meat like hot-dogs and chicken nuggets won't work. I tested my urine during Atkins and I was either high or medium in Ketones. I did eat a lot of meat high in fat and little to no carbs. I was able to keep being in ketosis while still eating about 50g carbs/day (Through meat products), while I was doing exercises daily.

Note for others tha urine isn't accurate. You need blood test.

It’s accurate enough, at least in the beginning.

Re: Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

#59

Post by bkovacev »

mikece wrote: post #2

It's been used to treat diabetes and seizure victims for a while so, yes. Personally I lost over 70 pounds (from 295 to 225 -- I'm 6'5") at one point using keto. My main concern is whether one who is on the diet for weight loss will become overly sensitive to carbs if/when they start eating them again causing the body to immediately store them away as far instead of burning them (and if so, how long would it take to…

An anecdotal story, so YMMV. I was 280lbs and dropped to 240lbs using fasting + low carb + keto (at times). During the time my stomach would always bloat when I ate carbs. The harmony lasted for about a year and then all the benefits stopped for me at least. I stopped losing weight, lost a lot of strength even though I was eating 1800-2000 calories a day (two meals one protein + oats the other fish/meat + veggies and if really hungry I'd do the same meal one more time) with occasional one meal a week cheat day.

It took me about a solid year of eating 100-150gr a day from oats/rice/pasta/bread to be able to start utilizing carbs as fuel completely and not until I doubled it to 200gr (250-300 at times) did I start noticing weight loss + increase in strength. I was able to drop my weight to 225lbs in span of 4 months. My macros are around 220gr of protein, 200gr carbs, 60gr of fat.

When I was doing my research I found that most body builders / athletes were talking about reverse dieting as a must after a long diet. They were slowly reintroducing carbs I think an increment of 20-30gr per week for their daily intake (I dont recall the exact numbers).

Re: Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

#60

Post by tmikaeld »

ddorian43 wrote: post #15
tmikaeld wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course, eating high-carb meat like hot-dogs and chicken nuggets won't work. I tested my urine during Atkins and I was either high or medium in Ketones. I did eat a lot of meat high in fat and little to no carbs. I was able to keep being in ketosis while still eating about 50g carbs/day (Through meat products), while I was doing exercises daily.

Note for others tha urine isn't accurate. You need blood test.

Time of the test matters a lot, I dismissed morning, because it was always too high.

Tested during mid-day and late afternoon and made an average.

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