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Help me out..

paulmh

Well-Known Member
Messages
245
Location
Wigan
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I’m trying to find instructions on Keto. On the Keto diet page on the main site it says this -

“There are a number of different types of ketogenic diet with variations in the level of carbohydrates and protein allowed in the diet and/or the amount of time someone is looking to spend in ketosis.”

Can someone signpost me to where these different types of keto might be detailed because I can’t find them.
 
Don't know whether this will help or not. I was diagnosed T2 in November 2017. I cut out the general culprits, bread, rice, pasta etc whilst I searched for a way forward.

I researched low carb, keto and paleo. Because I had a starting point HbA1c of an eye watering 122, I decided that I had to be radical. I decided to go keto and keep my daily carbs under 20g per day.

I have never kept tabs on macros. I don't count calories. Just carbs.

The trouble with T2 is there is no one size fits all. We have to find our own way.

What I found was, I assume I found my way into ketosis, the weight dropped off, I was no longer hungry needing to snack all the time. After 5 months my HbA1c had gone from 122 to 35.

I am not saying it was easy at first. I fell off the phone wagon several times as I went through carb withdrawal. I stopped beating myself up and just climbed back on.

All of a sudden the appetite just went. What a revelation! I felt I was free (of what, I am still not sure), carbs probably.

It depends on what your goals are. It has worked for me without getting too technical.
 

Thanks for this. I’m someone who needs clear instructions and I thought I had those in so far as I’ve recently been trying to stay around or below 20g of carbs a day - but now I’m reading that I have to eat “moderate” amounts of protein and “high” amounts of fat. I’ve just been allowing myself unlimited protein with little regard for fat, except for instance trying to cook in butter and adding cream to coffee rather than milk, because that’s an agreed upon part of keto.

You can see in my signature line that you and I would seem to have had very similar numbers and actions taken - for the last year and a half I went low carb - less than 100g a day - but recently noticed I was eating to the target. I’m committing to keto and have been less than 20g for the last week, but as I say, now find that there’s more to it than just the low carbs aspect, and I’m picking up these odds and sods of information that suggest that it’s pretty easy to miss the goals of keto by, for instance, over consuming protein. It seems like that diet doctor site might be the info I was looking for, and it’s been good to read your experience too, so thanks again!
 
Diet doctor is highly regarded in this forum. There are a myriad of sites out there, you have to find the recipes that suits your tastes.

Your dietary requirements will change over time. Once I reached my target weight, I had to increase fats in order to maintain my weight. Other people increase protein to do the same job. Some people have gone Carnivore. It's terribly personal and you have to find what works for you.

Good luck and stick around
 
paulmh said:
I’m reading that I have to eat “moderate” amounts of protein and “high” amounts of fat.
Click to expand...
I think the moderate protein recommendation is between 0.8 and 1.5 grams per kilogram of ideal body weight, so a considerable range. There are different schools of thought about protein - some people think it interferes with ketosis; others don't. Only way to know is to test for yourself. I personally eat protein to satiety and it tends to average around 1.5g/kg, sometimes as high as 2g/kg.

Also "high fat" generally refers to the percentage rather than grams. It normally doesn't mean adding heaps of fat to the diet, unless you need extra fat to maintain weight. I find I can get a high percentage of fat just by eating the fat that comes along with the protein.
 
It’s important to remember that nutritional ketosis is a metabolic pathway, not a set of rules or a menu. It’s highly personal. You’re doing the right thing with carbohydrate, and I personally believe that the divided opinion surrounding the topic of protein comes about through differing degrees of insulin sensitivity. If you’re extremely insulin resistant then protein is more likely to hinder ketosis, particularly in the mornings. Also, some people only encounter the protein roadblock after an initial period of gay abandon. It’s common for people to “stall” when they reach this intersection.

My personal experience is that I had to be quite strict with protein for a long time, but now that my liver and pancreas have kissed and have made-up, I can be far more liberal with little or no effect. For a diabetic, especially, the most important thing is to not view ketosis as a means of losing weight. Its purpose is to minimise insulin secretion and measurably improve metabolic health, weight loss is a side effect.

Remember too, that blood glucose is only half the story. What you can’t measure daily is what is happening to your insulin profile, and what effect it may have on your metabolic performance in the longer term. “Eating to the meter” is most certainly not an ethos to follow if you wish to stay in optimal ketosis indefinitely.
 
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