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LCHF - understanding the high fats part

Z

zbluebirdz

Well-Known Member
Messages
51
Location
Ireland
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I'm a bit somewhat confused about the LCHF diet. I kind of understand the low carbs side of it. But not the high fats side of it.

A number of sites explain how the low carbs part work, but very little details on how the high fats part work.

The basics of how the body absorbs fats:
- The fats broken down by the stomach.
- The fats are then further digested/absorbed in the intestines.
- Some are sent to liver for further processing.
- Some go into the bloodstream.

Questions:
What happens if the liver receives too much fat?

What happens if there is too much fat floating around in the bloodstream?
 
I can't answer this (my little pea brain doesn't retain the minutiae!) but I have seen some fantastic videos on You Tube explaining it well enough that I have felt comfortable with the whole HF concept. I will have a look for some links. :)


(sorry, have to go out for a while, but will try and find some others when I get back)
 
I had issues initially with the concept of high fat. If you had 33% fat, 33% protein and 34% carbohydrate and reduced carbohydrates to say 10%, without increasing the fat physical amount just by changing the carb content you would have higher fat naturally.

In addition on LCHF we tend to not be afraid of butter, double cream, full fat yogurt, coconut based products, olive oil and the like. I was sceptical so used to do low carb low fat, bit eventually gave HF a try after much research. I then used my blood tests and satiety to prove that I had no health issues by my numbers and fullness feelings.

Being a technical person I thought eating fat would make you fat, but natural fats are fine (not so good when combined with high carb), trans fats such as in doughnuts and artificial spreads such as margarine are horrendous. When the liver is too fat this is a health issue which contributes to Type 2, however those who eat LCHF tend to drain visceral fat which reduces fat in the liver.
 
I never bothered worrying about how high fat works. I just tried it and liked it and so did my body.
 
The basic concept is that the lowering of carbs will lower circulating insulin level, that will encourage the upregulation of enzymes needed for processing fats. There is a time lag for this upregulation and varies from a couple of days to perhaps a week, hence the keto flu and the popularity of bulletproof coffee to help bridge this phase.

Whether you decide to consume more dietary fats or to rely on stored fats depends on your goals. The more fats you consume, the less stored fats is used.
 
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Squire Fulwood said:
I posted this link on another thread the other day and people seemed to like it. It mentions fat.

https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2013/08/09/the-most-unutterable-balls/
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Great link Squire. I think I would like to spread that around the world! It so hard when people don't want to change because they have grown up with the fact that fats are bad for you. And I know how difficult it was for me.

I have just watched the Dr Sikaris link too - my favourite bit - 100 ml of Greek yougurt mixed with 100ml of double cream, almonds and shavings of dark chocolate. :-)) Thank you Brunneria.
X
 
zand said:
I never bothered worrying about how high fat works. I just tried it and liked it and so did my body.
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Here here, I like the cut of your jib M'Lady. It's fine attitude when you can stop worrying about it and just eat it.
 
Perhaps not exactly what you've asked but essentially (a very over-simplified!) of what happens to the "fuel" we eat:

Basically when we eat a high carb diet, carbohydrates are our main fuel/energy source. We can only store a very limited amount of accessible surplus carby fuel for future use, and the rest gets stored as fat, which we can't access because our bodies are stuck in carb burning mode. So we get hungry faster, eat more carbs, and can end up in a vicious circle storing fuel - fat - we can't use.

When we eat a low carb higher fat diet, if we do this correctly, our bodies go through a chemical change which will switch us over to fat burning mode. We can still burn the few carbs we eat - first as they are easily processed - but our main fuel now comes from the fat we've eaten or stored. The big and very important difference is that (a) we can use any spare fat floating around as needed, and (b) all left over fat will still get stored, but we can now access this store so we become smart efficient fat burners.

Robbity
 
If you do eat fatty foods, it will not all be absorbed - unlike carbs which are all absorbed, fats can just go straight through.
We need to have the essential fatty acids in our diet, or we do not do at all well, but for most people eating more fat seems to encourage their bodies to mobilise stored fats, so waistlines shrink even if their total weight doesn't alter much.
I have added strawberries and cream to my lunch a couple or three times a week and last night I stood up to go to bed and my trousers slid down to my knees. Luckily there was no one there to see it, but I think I need some new clothes, again.
 
The fat calories also replace the carb calories. For example I eat 20g carbs or less per day so that's 20x 4= 80 carb calories. Then I eat 45 G protein. 40x4 = 160 Cal's in protein for a total of 250 calories. So I fill the rest in with some healthy fat calories. I eat at least one avocado a day, some macadamia nuts or pumpkin seeds, olive oil drizzled on my salads or veggies, a dab of real butter here and there, mayo on egg/chicken/tuna salad and a few olives.

Some people like to cook in lard, bacon grease, slather cheese, butter and cream on everything and there's nothing wrong with that but it doesn't work for me. I prefer mono fats over saturated. Or should I say my body does.
Different types of fat burn differently too. For me avocado all day long keeps me going on steady energy but a fatty cut of meat will zap my energy. The beauty is you get to find your own fat sources and quantities that work for you!

As @kokhongw said the more dietary fat you eat the less stored fat you will burn. If you're trying to lose weight you don't need high levels of fat but you still need enough calories.

Just an FYI, lchf is not high protein. And some of us like to call it low carb healthy fat. The high fat part is also because fat has very little effect on insulin and blood sugar. Of course carbs have the most effect but protein can raise bs as well. Fat has the least effect

I think of it like this...protein isnyournground wire. We only need enough for maintenance and repair ( .8-1 g per kg LEAN body weight isnone recommendations some of us use). Protein should remain stable. Then you choose your fuel source, either carbs or fat. As diabetics we should be choosing fat. As @Robbity explained, our bodies will always go to carbs first to burn which will also jack up our bs. If done correctly we can switch our bodies over to fat burning but carbs need to be low enough for this to be effective.
 
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I don't find that more fat in the diet the less body fat is burned.
There are differences in the way people react and use fats, so it might not be the case for everyone, but I have definitely seen that additional cream has resulted in my weight beginning to reduce again after an initial loss of 18lb and then an abrupt halt.
 
I can see how this works if you are slim. I need to lose weight, or at least maintain the weight I have lost. So I do low carb, cautious fats. And try to make sure that all the fat i do eat is from butter, goose fat, lard, olive oil. I still need to count calories though so I dont gain weight.
 
serenity648 said:
I can see how this works if you are slim. I need to lose weight, or at least maintain the weight I have lost. So I do low carb, cautious fats. And try to make sure that all the fat i do eat is from butter, goose fat, lard, olive oil. I still need to count calories though so I dont gain weight.
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This is true. However more importantly for me to keep my weight stable is to not eat over 20 carbs a day. When I do that the amount of fat has little bearing. If I go over 20 carbs I'm either storing fat or the carbs. Saturated fat is one fat I do store more easily too. Carbs are the biggest thing I have to watch. Obviously helps my bs too!!

I realize not many people want to be as low carb as I am and that's why we all have to find our own balance of macros for our desired goals.
 
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