Keto vs low GI Mediterranean diet?

[Rocinante]

As my weight has now plateaued after losing about 18% of my body mass 1-2 years ago (probably plateaued due to the huge amounts of cheddar I was eating hmmmmmm), I've been doing some research on alternative diets and other factors associated with diabetes including, in particular, gut microbiomes (Tim Spector of the Zoe Covid Study has done a lot of interesting things).

The Mediterranean diet seems to do very well for low metabolic dysfunction because it has lots of fibre and also other things which promote microbiome health and few things which are harmful to healthy gut microbiomes (eg. processed food).

Additionally many things which seem to be protective of metabolic health such as legumes and yoghurt / kefir are not really permitted in the keto diet.

I also know of several endocrinologists who don't favour the keto diet... perhaps this is why?

Has anyone experimented? How has it worked for you?

 

[Resurgam]

Legumes and yoghurt not suitable for a low carb diet?
The full fat Greek yoghurt I buy in Lidl is well under the limit of 10 percent I set myself, and I often have a small serving of peas - but like several others, I seem to get more carbs out of peas and beans than listed on the packet - others don't, so they can eat full servings.
I have found that there is an awful lot of total nonsense spouted about what constitutes a 'healthy' diet, with a big hang over from the Victorians obsession with fibre - I was pressured to eat low fat high carb for decades, and told it was me that was wrong and not doing it right when I felt unwell and put on weight - I had a 24 inch waist when I was first told that I was over weight and ought to follow the printout.
I checked out just a couple of low GI foods and found that there was no way I was going to cope with that amount of carbs even with fibre. The concept was very quickly abandoned as ineffective.

 

[shelley262]

Personally I stay keto/low carb but also look after my gut microbiome. I don’t think there’s an incompatibility especially as Dr Tim Spector lists things like a sprinkle of mixed herbs, spices, a few seeds and nuts and all vegetables (many of which happily fit in the low carb camp) - which all contribute to gut bacteria diversity. No minimum quantities are listed just the importance of a diversity. Live full fat yoghurt too fits well into keto/low carb. Fermented food such as kimchi and sauerkraut are often very low carb and help too. Issue often is what people believe a keto or low carb diet is whereas by personal choice it can very varied. I keep my diet as diverse as possible as it suits me and my gut and my bgs but don’t eat large quantities of veggies in total as not convinced by the eat a certain amount of fibre -gut bacteria need prebiotics for sure but a diversity even in small amounts is I believe the most important way to diversity your bacteria. I also make my own bio yoghurt- Check out Dr William Davis too and his yoghurt recipes.
Key message, from my understanding, is stay away from processed food, seed oils, sugars and wheat and grains and work out a diverse low carb way of eating that suits your own bgs and gut health and most importantly that you enjoy and stick with.hope you manage to work out a way of eating that suits you and your metabolic health.

 

[Antje77]

I'd choose following my unbiased meter to tell me what I can eat without issue and what foods I have to be careful with over following some specific diet.

 

[Deleted member 543160]

I eat a whole variety of low carb full fat food and not some sort of fancy restrictive "keto" diet where someone has decided what's permitted or not, so as far as I'm concerned I'll eat whatever is low enough in carbs and/or suitably fatty to appropriately manage my glucose levels and to ensure I'm using both carbs and fats/ketones for my energy needs, which for me is what actually matters.