Type 2 Husband worry re LC/HF diet

specialk said:

I am doing really well sticking to a low carb high fat diet. I have type 2.
I am concerned that my husband is inadvertently following the same diet. He is not diabetic or overweight or I'll in any way. Will this eating regime cause him problems?

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Hi @specialk ,

A lot of non-diabetics use LCHF without any problems. I have a work colleague who's a keen cyclist (competing at club level) and he claims that he's never felt better since starting LCHF about 18 months ago.

I do not consider a LCHF diet to be only relevant to Diabetics.

It is a lifestyle choice, as would choosing to be a Vegan or Gluten free or such like.

My hubby is the type 2 in this house, and I eat the same diet as him. I feel fine on it.

My wife and son follow LCHF and have lost very large amounts of weight but neither are diabetic. To me this proves that the right diet e.g. Low-carb is the key for many to lose weight but it does require real will power. The only noticeable effect of low-carbing is that you may go into ketosis i.e. fat burning which isn't a problem.

specialk said:

I am doing really well sticking to a low carb high fat diet. I have type 2.
I am concerned that my husband is inadvertently following the same diet. He is not diabetic or overweight or I'll in any way. Will this eating regime cause him problems?

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I am not diabetic (my husband is T2) and we have both been of low/very low carb diets for over 30 months. I lost some excess weight, my skin improved and an underlying sense of misery went out of my life. In other words, I felt and looked better than I had for years. Not done me any harm. I feel as if I have finally, in my 60's, after years of low fat/ wholemeal/ minimal meat diet found out what a NORMAL human diet is and discovered what I am supposed to eat.
Sally

Just make sure he doesn't lose weight (assuming he doesn't want to). It is a fine balancing act to get the balance of carbs and fat correct in order not to lose weight and to maintain current weight. It isn't as easy as it sounds. Believe me, I know. It may be he may have to increase the amount of fat he eats if he finds he is losing weight.

Yes I think the main problem for him is that he may loose weight that he doesn't need to. I really can't see the point of LCHF if your husband or for anyone else if they are not diabetic or overweight

Pinkorchid said:

I really can't see the point of LCHF if your husband or for anyone else if they are not diabetic or overweight

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I hate to disagree or seem provocative, but I really can't see the point of carbs for anyone who has an alternative and wants the greatest chance of the best possible health.
Sally

Pinkorchid said:

Yes I think the main problem for him is that he may loose weight that he doesn't need to. I really can't see the point of LCHF if your husband or for anyone else if they are not diabetic or overweight

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Why on earth not?

LCHF is a way of eating .. not really a diet.. he will be fine .. the wife has always been low carb mid fats and she is not losing weight ! We are also vegetarian ..

sally and james said:

I hate to disagree or seem provocative, but I really can't see the point of carbs for anyone who has an alternative and wants the greatest chance of the best possible health.
Sally

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I suppose "an alternative" is a bit subjective, but you have to realize that even ignoring the psychological barriers of a low-carb diet there are still some people that metabolically respond poorly to a low-carb diet.

My father is in his mid 50s, non-diabetic, runs marathons, and is in all-around excellent shape. He decided to give the low-carb approach a try just because I do it and because it interested him. For about a month he had no issues, was in ketosis, and our diets were nearly identical. Then, he started having issues on some of his runs: heart palpitations, severe loss of energy, etc. He actually told me he thought he was having a mild heart attack. Unfortunately, this happened a second time. He reverted back to his normal diet which includes a moderate amount of carbs, and hasn't had issues since.

Of course, I realize an n=1 anecdote proves nothing, but there are a fair number of respected doctors (who promote low-carb living) that also note that the diet doesn't work for everyone (citing similar issues to what my father experienced).

TorqPenderloin said:

I suppose "an alternative" is a bit subjective, but you have to realize that even ignoring the psychological barriers of a low-carb diet there are still some people that metabolically respond poorly to a low-carb diet.

My father is in his mid 50s, non-diabetic, runs marathons, and is in all-around excellent shape. He decided to give the low-carb approach a try just because I do it and because it interested him. For about a month he had no issues, was in ketosis, and our diets were nearly identical. Then, he started having issues on some of his runs: heart palpitations, severe loss of energy, etc. He actually told me he thought he was having a mild heart attack. Unfortunately, this happened a second time. He reverted back to his normal diet which includes a moderate amount of carbs, and hasn't had issues since.

Of course, I realize an n=1 anecdote proves nothing, but there are a fair number of respected doctors (who promote low-carb living) that also note that the diet doesn't work for everyone (citing similar issues to what my father experienced).

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Is your father having those palpitations checked out at all? It could be wise. I don't make that statement because I think he could be unwell, but because of general caution.

As you may be aware, there are more and more endurance athletes who are using reduced carb diets in their day to day lives. My understanding is, @Southport GP is a distance runner, so he probably has more robust knowledge that I.

I hope your father is feeling well again.

AndBreathe said:

Is your father having those palpitations checked out at all? It could be wise. I don't make that statement because I think he could be unwell, but because of general caution.

As you may be aware, there are more and more endurance athletes who are using reduced carb diets in their day to day lives. My understanding is, @Southport GP is a distance runner, so he probably has more robust knowledge that I.

I hope your father is feeling well again.

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Yes, he just had a full check-up last week as a matter of fact. I appreciate your concern.

I would agree that in general most people respond extremely well to a low-carb diet, and there are endurance athletes that compete on the highest level without carbs in their diet.

I'm not aware of any actual statistics, but only a very small few (I would imagine less than 5%) seem to respond poorly to the diet change.

TorqPenderloin said:

Yes, he just had a full check-up last week as a matter of fact. I appreciate your concern.

I would agree that in general most people respond extremely well to a low-carb diet, and there are endurance athletes that compete on the highest level without carbs in their diet.

I'm not aware of any actual statistics, but only a very small few (I would imagine less than 5%) seem to respond poorly to the diet change.

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I'm pleased your father is feeling well again.

Pure speculation on my part, but could either your father have been experiencing a variant of carb flu, following his reduction, or perhaps had cut his carbs further, having got used to his initial reduction?

In my observation, many people find they start by cutting out the biggies, then gain more confidence (that their world didn't implode in the absence of pasta or rice) and trim back further.

I am assuming your father hadn't been testing hi s blood sugars as a matter of his own interest? There's always a possibility he had a non-diabetic hypoglycaemic episode, I guess, that could have presented itself as palpitations.

specialk said:

I am doing really well sticking to a low carb high fat diet. I have type 2.
I am concerned that my husband is inadvertently following the same diet. He is not diabetic or overweight or I'll in any way. Will this eating regime cause him problems?

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I believe it will improve his health too.... There are a wealth of illnesses that are less likely from reducing carbs...

Is it Professor Tim Noakes that used to do a lot of running and advocated high carbs but changed to advocating low carbs when he got T2 diabetes??

AndBreathe said:

I'm pleased your father is feeling well again.

Pure speculation on my part, but could either your father have been experiencing a variant of carb flu, following his reduction, or perhaps had cut his carbs further, having got used to his initial reduction?

In my observation, many people find they start by cutting out the biggies, then gain more confidence (that their world didn't implode in the absence of pasta or rice) and trim back further.

I am assuming your father hadn't been testing hi s blood sugars as a matter of his own interest? There's always a possibility he had a non-diabetic hypoglycaemic episode, I guess, that could have presented itself as palpitations.

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I wouldn't rule anything out, but his carb intake was somewhere in the 25-30g per day range, and we were both pretty consistent about that for several weeks before these episodes. While I know it's not a foolproof measurement, he was also using ketostix strips (like me) to measure if he was producing ketones.

Actually, he was testing his blood sugar (and about 5 times a day in some cases) but hypoglycemia wasn't ever an issue. Type 2 diabetes runs on his side of the family and he's actually the only one of four siblings who doesn't have t2 (although the other three are 40+ lbs overweight, have stressful jobs/lives, don't exercise, and two of them smoke). I think he has a fear of developing it himself (although his numbers certainly don't put him at risk).

Totto said:

Why on earth not?

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Because why would people want to stop eating food that they enjoy when there is no reason for them to. I don't mean they should eat junk food just have a healthy diet. For most people without diabetes or being over weight foods like bread pasta and rice in normal size portions and all fruit and vegetables should be ok. I wonder how many people here would be doing LCHF if they had not got diabetes and how many if they were really honest would prefer not to have to watch what they eat

Pinkorchid said:

Because why would people want to stop eating food that they enjoy when there is no reason for them to. I don't mean they should eat junk food just have a healthy diet. For most people without diabetes or being over weight foods like bread pasta and rice in normal size portions and all fruit and vegetables should be ok. I wonder how many people here would be doing LCHF if they had not got diabetes and how many if they were really honest would prefer not to have to watch what they eat

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All I know is the OP's husband sounds like a caring guy who fully supports his wife...

... He might buckle occasionally & sneak down the odd jacket potato. But fair play to the guy!

Pinkorchid said:

Because why would people want to stop eating food that they enjoy when there is no reason for them to. I don't mean they should eat junk food just have a healthy diet. For most people without diabetes or being over weight foods like bread pasta and rice in normal size portions and all fruit and vegetables should be ok. I wonder how many people here would be doing LCHF if they had not got diabetes and how many if they were really honest would prefer not to have to watch what they eat

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Annie - I think you are assuming a very literal position here for the OP's husband. I could consider that the position could be more likely that MrSpecialk is following largely the same diet as the OP, but that there may be times when he has larger portions of foods specialk herself has in a very modest portion. This is certainly how it works in our house.

MrB is not overweight, nor does he has health issues of any sort, thankfully. He eats largely as I do, but if we have some rice or sweet potato, say, I will have a very modest portion and he will have more. In other words, he eats largely as I do, but his proportions could differ quite markedly on some days. On days, such as tomorrow, we are out to friends, where there will be a buffet meal. MrB will certainly sample more of the carbier options than I, if that's how he feels on the day, and as our hostess is an excellent cook, I'm sure his every carbtastic desire will be satisfied.

Yes, MrB watches his weight, in both directions. When we spend time overseas, we both tend to have to be careful of losing, because our food options are a bit more limited, and in the heat we have less appetite. In the UK for the opposite of the same reasons, he keeps and eye on both the scales and his belt.