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why eat?

B

benjo123456

Well-Known Member
Messages
92
Type of diabetes
Don't have diabetes
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
This may seem like a silly question, but if the point of a low carb diet is to live off our own fat for energy, why do we eat at all? What benefit is there in it?
 
Because the fat will eventually run out?!
No seriously we need other stuff too, like protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals, to name a few...
 
Because when you don't eat your body changes how it operates - wanting to hang on to energy reserves.
If you eat as though you have camped next to a downed mammoth in a valley full of lush vegetation and fruit bushes then there is the sense that all is going to be well for some time and your body lets go of energy stores confident that food is not going to be a problem for some time to come.
 
The world record is 382 days it occurred in the 1970's and was undertaken by a 456lb 27 year old Scotsman. He subsisted on
"noncaloric fluids, a daily multivitamin, and various supplements,"

Fung, Jason; Moore, Jimmy. The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended (p. 227). Victory Belt Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Edited to say
Guess what book I'm reading at the moment. :)
Also he had no hypos.
 
I know this came across a little stupid, but I haven't explained myself very well. I mean more in terms of on a day to day basis. Obviously we need to replace the fat/vitamins etc, but when we eat our meals every day, does it serve any purpose other than the replacement of that fat. Does it then make no difference if we go a day without food?
 
It has been written through history and unfortunately religion that eating very little or fasting can be very good for your health and your state of mind.

I don’t eat a lot nowadays and I have great energy. The best way to approach this is you experience and experiment and what suits your day to day life.

Only by trial and error can you find what balance of protein, fats and what carbs you can eat to make you healthy again.


Best wishes
 
benjo123456 said:
I know this came across a little stupid, but I haven't explained myself very well. I mean more in terms of on a day to day basis. Obviously we need to replace the fat/vitamins etc, but when we eat our meals every day, does it serve any purpose other than the replacement of that fat. Does it then make no difference if we go a day without food?
Click to expand...

It does make a difference.. it can make you healthier to go a day or two or three without food. However it is not quite so easy to do. I skip breakfast every day extending my overnight fast (apart from tea and coffee) from 8pm (dinner) to 1 pm the following afternoon when I may (usually) have some lunch. Sometimes I don't eat anything for about 23 hours. Blood sugars and insulin levels drop for me during those times. I have done extended fasts (no food only liquids) for up to 7 days and some forum members have fasted for longer. We even have a forum section for it.

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/fasting.78/
 
A lot of keto forums talk about the need to eat regularly at first, and I was wondering what, if anything this actually achieve s given that the aim is to use our own fat. Is eating a piece of fat better than simply not eating in the short term, is there any short term advantage to eating that fat or is purely to make sure we replace some of the fat our body needs?
 
benjo123456 said:
A lot of keto forums talk about the need to eat regularly at first, and I was wondering what, if anything this actually achieve s given that the aim is to use our own fat. Is eating a piece of fat better than simply not eating in the short term, is there any short term advantage to eating that fat or is purely to make sure we replace some of the fat our body needs?
Click to expand...
The reason the keto forums say this is because its so much easier to fast when you are used to eating keto. The higher fat intake keeps you feeling fuller for longer so its far easier to skip meals. If as a carb burner you try to fast the hunger pangs are very strong so you are far more likely to fail or say "this isn't for me". Once your body is used to running on fat then its easier to miss meals. There is a huge amount of knowledge out there which people are happy to share. Sometimes you have to take them as trying to be helpful. They usually know because they have been in your shoes.
 
Resurgam said:
Once you get used to eating low carb it is very easy to just forget to eat. I did that a few days ago. It came to 8 o'clock at night and I realized I had not eaten anything. It was not a deliberate fast, I was simply busy and forgot.
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I do this all the time.

But just got a huge bollicking from nhs as I'm preoaring for bariatric surgery. I have to have 3 meals and snacks. Everyday.
Remember thou I'm on insulin so its a lot different to those who aren't.
 
I do the intermittent fasting, eating only in a 6 hour window.
I eat dinner at about 7pm
I have a decaf coffee with cream when I get up and a cup of tea mid morning
I eat lunch at about 1-15pm and a cup of tea mid afternoon

So an 18 hour fast every day other than my coffee and tea (and water of course)
I have the coffee with cream to stop my blood sugars rising during the morning as they are prone to do.
 
Not about fasting, but about the 'why eat?' question in general.

I'm going through one of my massively obsessively meticulous phases at the moment, and one pattern there is the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. So if I've got a perfect line on my Libre graph I terrorise myself with the decision of whether to even bother to add food and insulin to the equation - two factors which in their opposing ways will potentially upset the line - or not.

My break was over this morning by the time I'd decided whether to allow myself coffee or not. Coffee spikes me. My line was perfect. I wasn't sure how much insulin to take to cover it as I'm doing different stuff to normal today. So I didn't bother with the coffee.

I don't mind the not having something. But I do massively mind the amount of time and energy I waste beating myself up about stuff like this.

xxx
 
Snapsy said:
Not about fasting, but about the 'why eat?' question in general.

I'm going through one of my massively obsessively meticulous phases at the moment, and one pattern there is the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. So if I've got a perfect line on my Libre graph I terrorise myself with the decision of whether to even bother to add food and insulin to the equation - two factors which in their opposing ways will potentially upset the line - or not.

My break was over this morning by the time I'd decided whether to allow myself coffee or not. Coffee spikes me. My line was perfect. I wasn't sure how much insulin to take to cover it as I'm doing different stuff to normal today. So I didn't bother with the coffee.

I don't mind the not having something. But I do massively mind the amount of time and energy I waste beating myself up about stuff like this.

xxx
Click to expand...

I can second that. There are many instances where I have done without a cup of tea with milk because it is too close to my lunch or dinner and will affect my pre and therefore post meal levels. I have even refused to take the dog out too close before a meal because walking raises my levels. It really is stupid and is allowing diabetes to control me.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
It really is stupid and is allowing diabetes to control me.
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Gosh, reading your words has made me realise just how very very hard we are being on ourselves - it's okay being aware of this in myself, but gosh, somebody else saying it has put a whole new light on it for me.

I've had varying shades of this attitude over the last thirty years, but I have recently seen myself become absolutely ridiculous about it. Not healthy, not healthy at all.........

Thank you for posting that, @Bluetit1802 xxx
 
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