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Dr. Bernstein diet - how to get enough calories?

bhk

Well-Known Member
Messages
49
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi guys,

Thanks to all for your participation to this forum, it is always a tremendously nice experience to read everyone's posts!

I am planning to try the Dr. Bernstein diet - which advocates high protein, moderate fat, low carb, but my issue with diets is always to get enough calories as I am very active, very slim and I tend to loose weight no matter what diet I do. I'm eating now a total of about 2200 kcals/day and my weight is 70 kgs (155lbs). Knowing that 1g of fat is about 9 kcal, 1g of protein 4 kcal and 1g of carb 4 kcal, how much of each should I eat each day? It seems that if I focus on proteins I would be eating like 200 grams a day or something like that, and it looks like it is too much to maintain a healthy body on a long term, no? Some of you guys follow Dr. Bernstein's diet are are in my situation (not trying to loose/control weight)?

Thanks a lot!
 
bhk said:
I am planning to try the Dr. Bernstein diet - which advocates high protein, moderate fat, low carb, but my issue with diets is always to get enough calories as I am very active
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I would try to go more for moderate protein, high fat and low carb in any case. Obviously protein is essential, but having a huge excess is not good for anyone (diabetic or otherwise).

In my opinion, the key to adding fat to the diet is to include both fat an low carb (non starchy) veggies together. This helps "bulk out" the fats so that meals are more filling, and it's also is great for making the veggies delicious (think things like butter, cheese, sour cream etc).
 
I totally get what you are stating. But the thing is, what you are describing is a ketogenic diet (which I tried many times, with very bad outcomes), which is not what Bernstein advocates (as my plan is to try this specific diet)...
 
Bernstein is not high protein nor moderate fat. He is low carb high fat and gives a guideline to protein. As @uart said, excess protein is not good and can spike bs albeit more slowly than carbs.

The way for many to get fats and calories into their diets that will stall weight loss or to gain weight is to eat cheese, nuts, pate, heavy cream, etc
I eat loads of avocado every single day but I don't gain weight, I stay the same. However, it is my main fat.

Nuts and dairy increase weight in many people, including me.

There are many ways to do keto, and you don't have to be that low carb to be keto if you don't want to. I thrive on keto but I require avocado to stay satiated.
 
Sorry, can't agree. Speaking as a longtime viewer of his monthly webinars, Dr Bernstein states time and again that he is not LCHF. He refers to his diet as Low Carb, High Protein. Whenever anyone wants to put on weight or maintain current weight, his advice is to increase protein. Not saying I agree with him, just that his view is not as you state. He actually gets quite testy when people send in questions about "his" LCHF diet.
 
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Here's a video of Dr Bernstein's on Protein/Fat. Though he gives rough protein guidelines based on weight and activity levels, basically he says eat protein to satiety and eat the fat that comes along with the protein:

 
Indy51 said:
Sorry, can't agree. Speaking as a longtime viewer of his monthly webinars, Dr Bernstein states time and again that he is not LCHF. He refers to his diet as Low Carb, High Protein.
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Yes Indy. When I watch that I get the feeling that he's just a bit coy about recommending dietary fats due the stigma that they've had with the health and medical profession for so many years.

It's almost like he's a "closet" LCHF'er.
 
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uart said:
Yes Indy. When I watch that I get the feeling that he's just a bit coy about recommending dietary fats due the stigma that they've had with the health and medical profession for so many years.

It's almost like he's a "closet" LCHF'er.
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That was a mild version of his advice on the subject. I've heard him talk about it several times during various webinars and he states clearly that he doesn't advice eating supplementary fat. He doesn't come across as coy to me. IMO he'd probably be the last person to recommend things like "bulletproof coffee"

Here's an example from his last webinar (cued to the point in the show - edited to say cueing doesn't appear to work properly - starts at 51:11 on the video):


He's been doing what he does for a very long time and has his own way of doing things that he has absolute conviction about. He also gets very exasperated with people bringing up internet gurus like Jason Fung, fasting, etc. Also the subject of measuring ketones is another hot button topic because he's completely disinterested unless ketoacidosis is involved. Even though his 30g carbs a day diet would probably be ketogenic for most people, he doesn't care whether it is or not and definitely not worried about whether additional protein is inhibiting it.
 
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Indy51 said:
That was a mild version of his advice on the subject.
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Indy, what I'm really saying is that the majority of LC (not HF) advocates are really LCHF in denial. Otherwise there's just too much protein or too little calories,

Sure he doesn't advocate going out of your way to eat fat, but it's been shown that people on very low carb diets do seek out more fatty cuts of meat etc. He's not really tracking fat, but I'll bet that most people (particularly active people) following his dietary advice are indeed eating at least moderately high fat.

The only other diet that is low carb, (if were restrict the definition of carbs to easily digested starches and sugars), is a high bulk vegan diet. You can have a diet along those lines with quite low fat and low/moderate protein and kind of low carb. The carbs are still really there, and make up a lot of the calories, but they are largely in the form of soluble fibres and resistant starches that don't get broken down into glucose. I think that this type of diet probably also works for diabetics, but is just harder to stick to - well I've never been able to stick to it myself anyway.
 
Indy51 said:
He also gets very exasperated with people bringing up internet gurus like Jason Fung, fasting, etc
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Yes. That is really unfortunate. Because I respect both of them.

And when it comes to excess protein, I think it affects Type2 more than Type1 due to disproportionate insulin/IGF1/inflammatory response.
 
Richard Bernstein said:
For a sedentary person we use 1.2g protein per kg of body weight
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So let's do the calculations for a 70kg person. That's 84 grams of protein plus 30 grams of carb for a total of approx 456 kcal.

Basal metabolic requirements from several calculators* give a value of about 1622 kcal. So the question is: If not from fat then from where do the other 72% of the calories come?

* Average of Harris-Benedict, Harris-Benedict (revised) and Mifflin- St Jeor BMR estimators for a 70 kg 180 cm male.
 
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Reactions: bhk
Exactly!!!! I'm 54 kg but I don't exercise other than slow to moderate walks and daily activity so I use the .8g per kg. which gives me 43g protein. I do quite well on this. I eat less than 20 c per day as that suits me best. So I'm eating 252 calories between protein. And carbs. The rest can only come from fat!! I use avocado and some nuts and seeds and mayo as my primary fats. I do still weigh my protein as it has a profound effect on my bs, I eyeball my veggies and I eat enough fat until I'm satisfied. I don't count calories but I do listen and watch my body. I don't gob fat but I certainly don't skimp. I don't eat coconut oil out of the jar or take bites off a stick of butter. I don't pour olive oil on salads but rather drizzle. Nor do I eat bacon or fatty meats daily. I would say I eat a normal meal ( albeit small but I eat 4 of them and have some snacks ) and leave the carbs off.

The best advice I took away from him was laws of small numbers and that's completely helped me sort out my insulin and was able to reduce it to the point I don't fear hypos. That was a gem of info for me
 
bhk said:
I totally get what you are stating. But the thing is, what you are describing is a ketogenic diet (which I tried many times, with very bad outcomes), which is not what Bernstein advocates (as my plan is to try this specific diet)...
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HI I have not really studied Bernstein except to note he is very interested in the insulin required to stabilise his sugars. On this info, and knowing that Proteins DO provoke an insulin response, I am surprised to see you describing his diet as high protein. Perhaps it is how one defines high. I understand is pretty difficult to eat a lot of Protein : see the weight lifters trying to get a round this with special protein drinks, or as in my gym , one guy routinely eating 12 hard boiled eggs [ without the yolks ] to try to swallow protein. Mixed vegetables fried in olive oil will provide plenty of calories from the fat.
 
Gee, for a simple question requiring a simple numerical answer, you're having no luck at all...lol
 
Contralto said:
LATX is one of the things that overuse can cause, i.e. yu can give yourself the allergy. I am beyond tired of folks who counsel others on this forum to have several a day.
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Ok ok. I hereby promise to never again counsel people to eat several latex gloves per day. Eating one latex glove per day is definitely enough.
 
I would recommend Dr Jason Fung's work where he debunks the calories in calories out model of dietary control and advocates LCHF diet and intermittent fasting for diabetes 2 remission i.e. the focus is on reducing processed carbs. His book "The complete guide to fasting" is v.worth reading or look up website and dietdoctor website as well. All I can say is that it worked for me - I am a skinny diabetic 2. A year ago my Hb1Ac was 55 - 2 readings over the last 6 months were both 37 i.e. in the normal range - previously was taking 4 metformin a day - now no meds. Good luck
 
Not sure where you see I was ' counseling' you. I explained what I have read others do as well as what I do. I never suggested you should do the same thing.

Furthermore, I would never advice anyone with a latex allergy to eat avocado

Lastly, avocado IS good for many of us and we enjoy it. Are you beyond tired of people advising others to eat veggies? I don't eat dairy but I'm not arguing with people who suggest it.
 
The Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI) of protein appears to be 0.75g per kg weight.
https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritionscience/nutrients-food-and-ingredients/protein.html

In the first video Indy provided Bernstein suggested 0.8g per kg body weight for invalids who sit all day, take no exercise and do no housework. For moderate exercise people (eg. half an hour daily exercise) he mentioned 1.1g to 1.5g. and between 5g to 15g for athletic people.
 
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