Newly diagnosed and put on to Low Carb High Fat diet

I posted this on another thread today

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/please-educate-me-on-fats.185023/

"Yes, it's confusing at first. It's the mix of carbs with fat that is the problem. If you low carb then having more fat (not trans fats) is fine.

There's a book called Eat Fat: Step by step guide to Low carb living(version 3) It's by Trudi Deakin and is available on Amazon. I used an earlier version to help me.

My non diabetic hubby had a high ALT liver test a month ago, indicating fatty liver. The ALT score should be less than 50 in his case. It was 123. I gave him a low carb diet and increased fats so that he wasn't hungry. I switched from full fat milk to double cream in his coffee etc.

One month on his test is now marked as 'borderline' at 59.

Oh and his BMI was 25 pre low carbing, so I was only aiming to cure the liver, not for overall weight loss.

At the beginning of the month I used an online calculator to work out his BMR so that I made sure this was a low carb not a low cal diet. I used MyFitnessPal to log his food so I knew he was having at least his recommended amount of calories daily. Some days he had more. Every day was higher calorie than his normal diet.

He has lost 10 pounds without even trying. This is proof to me that dietary fats don't make you fat. It's the carbs you have with it that do the damage.

Now, most of us here know that T2s are carb intolerant. It seems carbs aren't great for nondiabetcs either. Hubby's pre low carb HbA1c was 32. That hasn't been retested as it was perfectly normal. He loves the new diet and won't be reverting to his carb laden one anytime soon.

Edit: I aimed for around 80g carbs daily. The lowest daily count was 60g and the highest was 135, but most days 80 - 100g was what was achieved."

A keto diet simply means you are in ketosis, burning fat. Low carb high fat can be a keto diet, but isn't necessarily so. I go into ketosis on about 30 -35 g carbs, but we all differ.

It's confusing but most of us find that it's carbs (particularly fructose) that cause fatty liver, not fat.

And yes, I have achieved non diabetic results for 10 years following LCHF. The only exception to this was the HbA1c test I had done whilst I was still recovering from Long Covid. I am back on track now though.

It was a shock to be eating extra fats when I went low carb, but it really works. I didn't go as low as keto as I got back into normal sugar levels on 85g a day - but the only way to know how many carbs you can cope with is to get a meter and test. I tested before then 2 hrs after every meal for the first few weeks until things settled down and I understood how my body reacted.
I swapped to full fat Greek yogurt and full fat milk (but much less) and started putting butter or olive oil on green veg/green salad. This meant I never felt hungry.
I do still eat fruit but only small amounts of berries, usually raspberries.

NicP said:

Thank you so much. I honestly am so confused about this. I am missing my porridge oats on a morning. I tend to gave them with water and blueberries so I am guessing I can still have them. For a few days now I haven't been having any carbs at all. I will try the book you suggest too. Thank you so much.

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As @TriciaWs says you really need a meter to see if you can handle carbs like porridge for instance. I use www.myfitnesspal.com to log my food, then I can see what my breakdowns of carbs, protein and fats are. There are other apps though.

NicP said:

Hello Everyone,

I was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (only just diabetic) so I am being treated by diet. I have been told to eat a low carb, high fat and protein diet. I think this is just another term for the keto diet, although I think I need to eat the good fats but I am not sure?

I so confused by this and I am struggling to know what is right. I also had raised liver enzymes in my blood. They were raised to 61. Haven't a clue what that means. Doc wants a repeat blood test in a few weeks. But from talking to the diabetic nurse I think I may be non alcoholic fatty liver disease. If this is the case won't eating a high fat diet make this worse?

I have to admit that dieting for me has always meant eating a balanced diet and eating low fat everything. This diet has thrown me because eating high amounts of fats, even the good ones, has always been a no no.

Can anyone suggest something good to read to help me understand what is the right things to eat and what isn't please? Or any good recipes? Has anyone got any experience with this diet? Has it made your nafld worse or better? Have you managed to reverse your diabetis following this diet?

Thanks in advance.

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Thats interesting. Who told you to eat low carb, high fat and protein diet, and what country are you in?

@NicP hello and welcome. Have you had a look at the low carb diet forum which is shown as a heading on the home page? There is a thread ‘low carb in 60seconds’ which is a link to the diet doctor website. This is brilliant. There are quite a few other thread here which are really useful and informative when just starting out. I wish you luck on your journey .

NicP said:

Hiya my diabetic nurse told me to eat a diet of low carbs (no more than 130grams I think), high good fats (extra virgin olive oil, butter) and some protein so eggs and meat. I'm based in Yorkshire, England.

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Thats brilliant. I am so glad she or he got you off to a good start.

Hi @NicP and welcome to the forum.
If you do test and find you can tolerate porridge, all well and good but not many type 2s can. If you find you can’t I have keto coconut ‘porridge’ every morning. It’s low carb, delicious and filling
Here’s the recipe:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/recipes/keto-coconut-porridge

lucylocket61 said:

Thats brilliant. I am so glad she or he got you off to a good start.

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Not like my DN who (although not face to face) sighed when I defiantly said I was going LCHF but my GP was fascinated and was very supportive as I had lost weight but burst my bubble by telling my levels still need to come down

NicP said:

Hiya my diabetic nurse told me to eat a diet of low carbs (no more than 130grams I think), high good fats (extra virgin olive oil, butter) and some protein so eggs and meat. I'm based in Yorkshire, England.

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Wow what a smart nurse, you are incredibly lucky.

NicP said:

If this is the case won't eating a high fat diet make this worse?

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Cheese and other dairy products can be classed as healthy fat, for just one example that is safe to eat.

Testing bg using your own meter and seeing weight loss on the scales will soon give undeniable proof to both eyes and brain! Did for me

I’m doing this I brought the low carb cookbook expensive but fabulous so much information in it only had to start meds because steroids for my asthma when needed put my sugars up

NicP said:

Hiya my diabetic nurse told me to eat a diet of low carbs (no more than 130grams I think), high good fats (extra virgin olive oil, butter) and some protein so eggs and meat. I'm based in Yorkshire, England.

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I would say you are lucky in finding that nurse.

johnme said:

I would say you are lucky in finding that nurse.

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If only we could clone her & send her all over the country