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Dr. Bernstein carbs. A shock

alliebee

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,486
Location
Rothwell N' ants
Well my new bible Dr.Bernstein days this. 1cup of mixed green salad with one tiny slice of onion and one slice of tomato has 6 g of carbs.....this has shocked me...no wonder I'm slipping in and out of ketosis was eating small portions of above ground grown veg with my moderate potions of protein and raised good fats....there is so much conflicting advice here too...I'm reading Diet Doctor www too. I'm floundering a bit...I'm a nurse with a lot of experience. And I'm understanding the science here but I'm at a loss. Moderate protein low low carb. More fats. But hey. I thought an 8 ounce steak was ok with cauli mash and a few leaves of salad. I'm very confused
 
I found out yesterday that my 107g of petit pois contained 7 carbs! Wish I'd left them out as it pushed my carb intake to 30g for the day. Wasn't happy!
 
Even lettuce has carbs in it. 80g of lettuce has 2 carbs. Not a lot, but still 2.

I use Carbs & Cals, a wonderful book from Amazon. It details most common foods, with photos of it on a plate so you can see the amounts, and shows the weight, carbs, calories, protein, fat and fibre amounts for that portion.
 
I wouldn't personally worry about the small amounts of carbs in vegetables such as tomatoes or petit pois.

Ketosis is brought on by low calories and not exclusively ultra-low carbs. Whilst it's good to have a target, don't let your target prevent you from having good, healthy food. The body has a number of processes designed to keep us alive. If you ate nothing by cheese, for instance, the body will convert some of this into blood glucose to keep you alive, you wouldn't simply be living off ketones.

Also, a single slice of tomato should not be 6g (unless it was a huge tomato). The Carbs and Cals app I have lists a regular sized tomato as having 4g of carbs and 20 kcal.

If you take a very low cal diet as 800 kcal, you could have 200 tomatoes and be comfortably in the ketosis zone.

It's good to have a target but don't lose perspective in doing so.
 
Thanks for the advice. It is a great book though...I've kept v low carb today and back to dark pink on the ketostix. So I guess its weighing everything until ive learned carb values and what say 50gms looks like. Learning lots
 
I used to weigh all my salad and was amazed when it would come in at 19g carbs....

Mainly because when I was diagnosed 30 years ago and taught exchanges I was told not to count veg or salad.

I only weighed for a couple of weeks and then could portion size and count accurately.
 
I portion size peas, whether garden peas or dry (then soaked) marrowfat ones, because of the carbs but I still eat them because of the goodness. I also count the carbs in tomatoes but still eat them.
 
@ alliebee,

How do you measure ketones, urinating on sticks is not a very good method of testing. Far better to do it properly via measuremt of beta hydroxy butyric acid. For example with a meter from Abbot that measures both ketones and glucose, separate test sticks are needed. The ketone sticks are expensive but well worth it because of the real results you get. Later you dont need to test all that much if you keep track of your macro nutrient food composition.
To stay in ketosis you need to follow the low carb way to ensure that you have low glycogen stores. The body preferentially oxidises the carbohydrates and only then oxidises the fatty acids from the fats/oils.

Bernstein seems to divide carbs by two. For example 100 grams tomatoe has 2.7 grams carbs, 100 grams lettuce 1.2 carbs, radishes 1.8 grams, avocado 2 grams etc. You will need to keep under 50 grams of carbs/day and most probably around 30. Since I dont take any meds for diabetes I am trying out 16 grams carbs /day and getting good results for BG and ketones.
 
That sounds a really good plan. How much are the meters? And the strips? Approx. I think the ketostix are a bit hit and miss..I'm under 30g of carb a day according to my fitness pal...im sure I'm in ketosis even when the stix read v low. I'm seeming to feel it in my body. No cravings not really hungry and a faint metally taste on my tongue. Thankyou for all the information
 
As you adapt to a very low carb diet, the level of ketones you "spill" in your urine declines. Your body gets better at using them instead of losing them!
So measuring ketones in your blood is a more accurate way of assessing your success. If you can't afford the blood metre/strips, you can use this keto calculator:
http://www.flexibleketogenic.com/
 
About the salad, Americans count total carbohydrate including fibre, in UK we list fibre separately, so US values are often higher than ours. Bernstein is also concerned about the bulk of salad, which he calls the "Chinese restaurant effect". Even if you stretch your tummy with some zero carb substance, it can still put up your bg.
 
Gots to check your nutrition labels guys. When low carbing there is no substitute for checking the labels. If there is no label then look online. Assume everything has some carbs and protein. There is no free lunch on low carb, no such thing as a free food, apart from pure fat.
 

Hmm. Almost none of the above information about ketosis is correct. Ketosis is all about the carbs. 800 gCH from 200 tomatoes, or even 200 gCH from 50 tomatoes, and you are never, ever going into ketosis. Ketosis is not brought on by low calories. Ketosis is brought on by a low insulin state, and a low insulin state is brought on by low levels of carbs. Yes the body will convert protein into carbs when carb intake is low. But it's still all about the carbs - ingested or converted. Carbs carbs carbs carbs carbs.
 

I am following dr Bernstein. I thought he allowed 2 cups salad!... And 1 cherry tomato.... Definitely low carb, mod protein..... But more importantly I think, is to eat to your meter... If a few tomatoes has little effect, then ok, if not you have to limit them..... I was low carb before Bernstein, but following his recommendation / advice / experience, have to say he seems to be right, my BG levels have fallen by a hole point since following his advice / experience, even though I was low carb before. Bernstein book, I have found, is full of practical experience, from both himself and his hundreds of his patients..... He has gone from a 12 year old T1, an unhealthy 30 year old given 5 years life expectancy, to reach 80 with very few normal diabetic complications.... And so far I can not fault his BG level findings..... I do so wish I could eat some fruit, but have to say eliminating fruit had definitely reduced my BG levels.
 
Just an update to say, nearly a year on, and I now don't miss fruit at all. Quite happy without fruit. By not eating fruit and lowering my carb intake by around 12g my BG levels have dropped around 20%.... And still are nearly a year on.
 
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