LCHF Diet - Wary Of It

SunnyExpat said:

Heavier in my case.
I guess my body didn't read the same book, sadly for me.

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SunnyExpat, I hear you. I went to a LCHF talk-session tonight, by Caryn Zinn, an LCHF nutritionist (South African/new Kiwi), and Grant Schofield, a Kiwi LCHF professor (in.... something!) and heard "If you eat too many discretionary calories , even high/healthy fat ones, you will get fat," - and thought of you! Well, I thought to myself, "I wonder if this is what SunnyExpat meant in the 'LCHF diet - wary of it' thread?" - that kind of thing.

I guess the main thing is, different bodies react to foods and different balances of protein, fat and carbs differently. The big take home message is - you are your own n=1/experiment! You have to try these things out for yourself. Find your own food-place that works for you, indeed. (Your own blood glucose readings, and your own HBA1c in relation to food, and weight.)

And food is soooooo personal. No other person can tell anyone what to eat - ever! It's like telling someone who they should have sex with. Too personal.

But, saying that. Fat is the one food group that does not affect our - as in diabetic's - blood glucose level. It is the one food group that we can get energy, and derive satiety/feelings of fullness from, and not get dangerously high levels of glucose in our blood. ie that does not badly affect our health. Bearing in mind 'the cholesterol myth'. And the scientific evidence is in that in the absence of high carbohydrates levels (and that is extremely important) - healthy fats do not damage your health. Far from it. As for getting fat - OK. I hear you. You personally get fat from high fat. It's because I have been living in Sweden for so long I think - the LCHF message is loud and clear there. And Sweden is one of the few countries in the world where, due to LCHF, apparently, according to the diet doctor Eenfeldt, where obesity levels have dropped, not increased. And yeah - obesity levels have a relationship with T2 diabetes, due to waist fat meaning fatty liver etc etc, with the 'right' genetic bodily disposition. Which ALL of us T2 diabetics have.

I don't see this as an emotional argument, ladybird64. But I do understand that food has a very real emotional aspect to it. Food is very personal, as I say, and agree with.

But dietary fat has, objectively, a special place in a diabetics' heart and tummy . It is the one food group that does not raise our blood glucose.

Agreed Clive, but I wasn't arguing! I just feel that when someone is new to it all, it can be a bit overwhelming - hence my advice to test and therefore, eat to the meter. There's nothing like the evidence under one's nose to clarify matters!

LCHF doesnt necessarily have to mean adding extra fat to your diet, simply by reducing the carbohydrates in your diet will automatically increase the percentage of fat in your diet.

I lost 4 stone in around 10 -11 months following a very strict reduced carb diet, for the first 6 months I eat around 60g of carbs and then increased them as I lost weight.

At no time did I increase the fat in my diet and I never have but I have lost another stone and maintained that weight loss for 6 years now.

Lots of lchf enthusiast talk about drinking cream and bullet proof coffee with oil and butter and adding etra fat at every opportunity but I never felt the need to add fat and never have.

I still eat a reduced carb diet but as I am now well controlled I dont count them and probably eat between 100 and 160 a day now sometimes probably more as I dont believe the odd higher carb day does me any harm at all, but I do stress that I am well controlled now and that I was VERY strict with my diet while I was getting to this state.

Sid Bonkers said:

LCHF doesnt necessarily have to mean adding extra fat to your diet, simply by reducing the carbohydrates in your diet will automatically increase the percentage of fat in your diet.

I lost 4 stone in around 10 -11 months following a very strict reduced carb diet, for the first 6 months I eat around 60g of carbs and then increased them as I lost weight.

At no time did I increase the fat in my diet and I never have but I have lost another stone and maintained that weight loss for 6 years now.

Lots of lchf enthusiast talk about drinking cream and bullet proof coffee with oil and butter and adding etra fat at every opportunity but I never felt the need to add fat and never have.

I still eat a reduced carb diet but as I am now well controlled I dont count them and probably eat between 100 and 160 a day now sometimes probably more as I dont believe the odd higher carb day does me any harm at all, but I do stress that I am well controlled now and that I was VERY strict with my diet while I was getting to this state.

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Good post Makes sense.

I'm not clued up like most on here but I know since taking metformin and hflc I've lost two stone, came from 13 to 11stn. I'm type 2, give it a try x

Sid Bonkers said:

LCHF doesnt necessarily have to mean adding extra fat to your diet, simply by reducing the carbohydrates in your diet will automatically increase the percentage of fat in your diet.

I lost 4 stone in around 10 -11 months following a very strict reduced carb diet, for the first 6 months I eat around 60g of carbs and then increased them as I lost weight.

At no time did I increase the fat in my diet and I never have but I have lost another stone and maintained that weight loss for 6 years now.

Lots of lchf enthusiast talk about drinking cream and bullet proof coffee with oil and butter and adding etra fat at every opportunity but I never felt the need to add fat and never have.

I still eat a reduced carb diet but as I am now well controlled I dont count them and probably eat between 100 and 160 a day now sometimes probably more as I dont believe the odd higher carb day does me any harm at all, but I do stress that I am well controlled now and that I was VERY strict with my diet while I was getting to this state.

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At that LCHF lecture I mentioned the speakers talked about the fact one can make a distinction between Low Carb High Fat, and Low Carb Healthy Fat, if wanted. I like that. Keep the acronym, but have it reflect more a not-actually--that-high-fat intake.

AloeSvea said:

At that LCHF lecture I mentioned the speakers talked about the fact one can make a distinction between Low Carb High Fat, and Low Carb Healthy Fat, if wanted. I like that. Keep the acronym, but have it reflect more a not-actually--that-high-fat intake.

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I like that as well - Low Carb Healthy Fat. Now that I would go with so thanks.

Definitely the way I go, healthy fat, (and that's a different opinion ), but cutting the carbs is the way.

Sid Bonkers said:

Lots of lchf enthusiast talk about drinking cream and bullet proof coffee with oil and butter and adding etra fat at every opportunity but I never felt the need to add fat and never have.

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Please accept my apologies if this post strays from the original thread. But this point Sid makes is something that has confused me for quite a while. I have read a lot of posts talking about 'fat bombs' like the bullet proof coffee and I don't understand the reason for them. I guess I can see their use in someone who is seriously underweight, but the general feel I get is that most people with type 2 need to lose weight. Even those that are of a normal weight at diagnosis probably have 'hidden' fat - around their organs - that needs to be reduced.
I'm really curious to know if I'm missing some important point here. I wasn't sure whether I should have started a different thread for this - so again, apologies if I should have.

I don't need fat bombs, and bullet proof coffee sounds vile.

Yes, I managed to convince myself that I needed to add more fat to my diet, and started eating loads of cream.

My weight had dropped to 165llbs, but within a couple of weeks I was up to 173llbs

It took longer to get back down into the 160's after I recognised the stupidity of my ways.

LinsT said:

Please accept my apologies if this post strays from the original thread. But this point Sid makes is something that has confused me for quite a while. I have read a lot of posts talking about 'fat bombs' like the bullet proof coffee and I don't understand the reason for them. I guess I can see their use in someone who is seriously underweight, but the general feel I get is that most people with type 2 need to lose weight. Even those that are of a normal weight at diagnosis probably have 'hidden' fat - around their organs - that needs to be reduced.
I'm really curious to know if I'm missing some important point here. I wasn't sure whether I should have started a different thread for this - so again, apologies if I should have.

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I found that my body dislikes carbs at breakfast - and that includes the carbs released from protein - I found they halted my weight loss.

I went without breakfast for years on end, and deeply regret it (certainly not going back to that!) so had to find something suitable. After quite a bit of head scratching (because it wasn't easy to come up with a breakfast that has neither carb nor protein!) i decided to try bulletproof coffee.

Worked like a charm. Although i have since switched to coffee with cream because it is easier to prepare.

Its brilliant.
No hunger or interest in food til lunchtime
Rock steady blood glucose
No dips in concentration
Plenty of energy
And my weight loss began again and has continued slow but steady. Which is just how i like it.

As for fat bombs:
My goodness, they are fantastic. In my experience, they cut through a carb craving like nothing else. Delicious, perfect alternative for a sweet little nibble, but no bg impact at all (for me). I used to keep them in the freezer for when i needed a decadent treat with no downside. Bliss.

LinsT said:

Please accept my apologies if this post strays from the original thread. But this point Sid makes is something that has confused me for quite a while. I have read a lot of posts talking about 'fat bombs' like the bullet proof coffee and I don't understand the reason for them. I guess I can see their use in someone who is seriously underweight, but the general feel I get is that most people with type 2 need to lose weight. Even those that are of a normal weight at diagnosis probably have 'hidden' fat - around their organs - that needs to be reduced.
I'm really curious to know if I'm missing some important point here. I wasn't sure whether I should have started a different thread for this - so again, apologies if I should have.

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It's all about getting into, and staying, in a state of ketosis. A fancy way of saying - so your metabolism/body is fat burning, and not sugar/glucose burning.

Humans basically have a dual fuel system - when lots of fruit and vegetables (and honey) were available (originally, before we got really creative with farming) we used those (relatively low amount of) carbs for glucose-fuel, and when they weren't we switched to fat burning - stored fat and available dietary fat. It means we as a species can survive periods of lack of food, and it means we could survive well by basically getting in there with dead animals and eating a lot of the fat in it (if you are interested where this dual-fuel system comes from.)

Because Type 2 diabetics have become carb-intolerant, in essence, due to too many of them for our bodies (from sugar, dairy, grains, and processed food and drink), it can be very beneficial to our health to switch to fat-burning mode. There are a couple of diabetic doctors who treat their T2D this way (South African Tim Noakes, and Canadian Dr Jay Wortman), amongst others. Ketosis is perfectly natural, and it is quite fun to observe your body make the switch. Especially when, as a diabetic, you get really healthy blood glucose levels.

That's what consuming very high level of dietary fat is about! And hence the 'fat bomb diets' and so on you can follow in here. To be in true fat-burning mode, folks need about 80-85% of their diet being fat! (Is my understanding.) Hence the consuming fat in every which way. We're talking a lot of avocados, otherwise. I really found out about all of this, by reading a fat bomb fest thread here, and going online and reading more. (Yeah - this will be my next experiment, but no, no coffee with butter in it. I do have coffee with big dollops of cream though.)

LinsT said:

Please accept my apologies if this post strays from the original thread. But this point Sid makes is something that has confused me for quite a while. I have read a lot of posts talking about 'fat bombs' like the bullet proof coffee and I don't understand the reason for them. I guess I can see their use in someone who is seriously underweight, but the general feel I get is that most people with type 2 need to lose weight. Even those that are of a normal weight at diagnosis probably have 'hidden' fat - around their organs - that needs to be reduced.
I'm really curious to know if I'm missing some important point here. I wasn't sure whether I should have started a different thread for this - so again, apologies if I should have.

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It's also that the fat is replacing the carbs, or even a whole meal (i.e. carbs and proteins). BPC is supposed to be a full breakfast, with the calories of a normal breakfast but nothing that can elevate blood glucose. Fat bombs were originally designed for fat fasts, which is eating only 1000 calories per day, 95% fat, for up to 3 days only, for the purpose of "restarting" weight loss on a LC diet. Obviously, if you add a BPC to your normal brekkie of bacon and eggs, plus a few fat bombs as snacks between your meals, it's not going to lead to weight loss!

EDIT: Fat is satiating, so replacing meals in this fashion is possible, or even easy, for many people.

LCHF has given me excellent results in my blood lipid tests, my cholesterol numbers and ratios are all good.
I basically follow an Italian diet without the pasta I don't totally avoid red meat but tend to eat fish white meat, leafy salads, tomatoes, berries, olive oil, eggs and cheese, cream. I take fish oil capsules and eat a little Peanut Butter everyday which probably helps.
Having lost weight round my waist line I find I can tolerate some breads taken with olive oil (mainly Focaccia, Piadia/Piadina) in sensible amounts without alarming BG levels.

Sirmione said:

LCHF has given me excellent results in my blood lipid tests, my cholesterol numbers and ratios are all good.
I basically follow an Italian diet without the pasta I don't totally avoid red meat but tend to eat fish white meat, leafy salads, tomatoes, berries, olive oil, eggs and cheese, cream. I take fish oil capsules and eat a little Peanut Butter everyday which probably helps.
Having lost weight round my waist line I find I can tolerate some breads taken with olive oil (mainly Focaccia, Piadia/Piadina) in sensible amounts without alarming BG levels.

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Lucky you to be able to tolerate a little Italian (yum) bread! Sigh.

Both my blood pressure improved numbers considerably on LCHF and are now the same or better than they were 40 years ago at age 21.
The effects of LCHF on a lot of us seem to fly in the face of the accepted dietary wisdom but all I know is both my blood pressure and blood lipids have shown significant improvements.

Sirmione said:

LCHF has given me excellent results in my blood lipid tests, my cholesterol numbers and ratios are all good.
I basically follow an Italian diet without the pasta I don't totally avoid red meat but tend to eat fish white meat, leafy salads, tomatoes, berries, olive oil, eggs and cheese, cream. I take fish oil capsules and eat a little Peanut Butter everyday which probably helps.
Having lost weight round my waist line I find I can tolerate some breads taken with olive oil (mainly Focaccia, Piadia/Piadina) in sensible amounts without alarming BG levels.

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Sounds like a great a diet to me. Only wish we could get the Italian breads here but the French are very parochial. We can now get ciabatta which I love and have found has a lower carb content than the French breads or processed breads. Good news!!

And can someone please tell me what a fat bomb is???

chinta said:

Sounds like a great a diet to me. Only wish we could get the Italian breads here but the French are very parochial. We can now get ciabatta which I love and have found has a lower carb content than the French breads or processed breads. Good news!!

And can someone please tell me what a fat bomb is???

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Have a look at Pinterest for Fab Bombs. each pic links to the recipe. They are basically nuggets of high fat low carb deliciousness.

Edited: should have written faT bombs hahaha!