Laura Schoenfeld wrote a guest post for my blog called “Is a Low-Carb Diet Ruining Your Health.” Perhaps not surprisingly, it caused quite a stir. For reasons I don’t fully understand, some people identify so strongly with how many carbohydrates they eat that they take offense when a suggestion is made that low-carb diets may not be appropriate for everyone, in all circumstances.
In these circles low-carb diets have become dogma (i.e. a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true). Followers of this strange religious sect insist that everyone should be on low-carb or even ketogenic diets; that all carbohydrates, regardless of their source, are “toxic”; that most traditional hunter-gatherer (e.g. Paleolithic) societies followed a low-carb diet; and, similarly, that nutritional ketosis—which is only achievable with a very high-fat, low-carb, and low-protein diet—is our default and optimal physiological state.
Cut through the confusion and hype and learn what research can tell us about low-carb diets. #lowcarbdiets #myths #truths
On the other hand, I’ve also observed somewhat of a backlash against low-carb diets occurring in the blogosphere of late. While I agree with many of the potential issues that have been raised about low-carb diets, and think it’s important to discuss them, I also feel it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that low-carb diets can be very effective therapeutic tools for certain conditions and in certain situations.
With this in mind, here are 7 things I think everyone should know about low-carb diets.
#1: Paleo Does Not Equal Low-Carb, and Very Low-Carb/Ketogenic Diets Are Not Our “Default” Nutritional State, as Some Have Claimed.
Some low-carb advocates have claimed that most traditional hunter-gatherer societies consumed diets that were very low in carbohydrates. I’ve even seem some suggestions that nutritional ketosis was “the norm” for these cultures.
These claims are false.
The majority of studies have shown that traditional hunter-gatherer (HG) societies typically consume between 30–40% of their total calories from carbohydrate, though the range can vary between 3–50% depending on the population studied and the latitude at which they live. (2, 3) The only HG societies observed to eat fewer than 20% of calories as carbohydrate were those living at latitudes quite distant from the equator, often in marginalized environments where fruits, vegetables, starches, and honey were not readily available.
Yet even these cultures—such as the traditional Inuit—often made an effort to obtain carbohydrates from berries, corms, nuts, seaweed, and tubers whenever they could, as Richard Nikoley has recently detailed on his blog. What’s more, contrary to popular claims, studies have shown that it’s unlikely the Inuit spent much time—if any—in nutritional ketosis. Their high protein intake would have prevented ketosis from occurring. (5)
So, while ancestral diets were certainly lower in carbohydrate than the diet currently recommended by the USDA (45–65% of calories), they were not typically “very low” in carbohydrate (<15% of calories). With virtually no historical examples of human beings following ketogenic diets for any significant length of time, and few examples of very low-carb diets, it’s difficult to imagine how these diets could be considered our “default” nutritional state or the optimal approach for most people.
#2: Low-Carb Diets Are Incredibly Effective in Certain Situations
Lest low-carb advocates think that I am anti-low-carb, I’d like to reiterate that both the research and my clinical experience suggest that low-carb diets can be incredibly effective therapeutic tools for certain conditions.
These conditions include (but aren’t limited to):
- Overweight and obesity
- High blood sugar, metabolic syndrome, diabetes (both type 1 & type 2)
- Traumatic brain injury
- Epilepsy
- Parkinson’s disease
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Other neurological conditions
- PCOS
I have personally witnessed some remarkable transformations using ketogenic diets therapeutically in my practice. I recall an 84 year-old woman who came to see me complaining of dementia and early-onset Alzheimer’s. She was losing her memory and cognitive abilities at an alarming rate. After just two weeks on a ketogenic diet, this progression not only halted, it reversed: her memory returned, her mind was sharper, and she was far less confused and disoriented. Her family (and her doctor) were stunned, and could hardly believe the changes they were seeing.
Yet as impressive as very low-carb (VLC) and ketogenic diets can be in certain situations, that does not mean that these diets may not have some undesirable side effects over the long term—some of which we’re only beginning to understand. For example, as I discussed with Jeff Leach from the American Gut project in a recent podcast, some preliminary research suggests that long-term ketogenic/VLC diets may cause adverse changes to the gut microbiota. (6) In addition, a new paper soon to be published in the journal Cell by two Stanford microbiologists indicates that diets low in “microbiota-accessible carbohydrates (MACs)” contribute to modern, inflammatory disease. (7)
The phrase “microbiota-accessible carbohydrates” refers to the various fibers found in fruits, vegetables, starchy plants, nuts, seeds, legumes, and other foods that are poorly absorbed by us, but can be utilized as a food source by our intestinal bacteria. It’s worth noting that many of these fibers are found in foods with moderate to high carbohydrate content—foods that would typically be excluded on very low-carb diets.
It’s important to note, however, that the beneficial bacteria-starving effects of ketogenic/VLC diets can be at least partially offset by consuming non-digestible, fermentable fibers like resistant starch and non-starch polysaccharides that don’t count toward daily carbohydrate intake. This is something I recommend to all of my patients following low-carb diets)
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#3: The Fact That Ketogenic/Vlc Diets Work Therapeutically for Certain Conditions Does Not Make Them Appropriate in All Circumstances, for All People
This assumption is a basic failure of logic, but it’s remarkable to see how often it happens. A person has a life-changing experience with a VLC diet, so they assume that their friend will have a similar experience. Or a clinician that works primarily with people suffering from neurological conditions has great success with ketogenic diets, and then makes the assumption that all people (regardless of their health complaints) will benefit from them.
This is akin to saying that since people with hemochromatosis (a genetic condition that causes iron overload) need to limit their iron intake, everyone should consume foods that are low in iron.
The belief that “everyone” will benefit from one particular dietary approach—no matter what it is—ignores the important differences that determine what is optimal for each person. These include variations in genes, gene expression, the microbiome, health status, activity levels, geography (e.g. latitude and climate), and more.
When it comes to diet, there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
#4: Some People Do Better with Low-Carb Diets Than Others
If you understand #3 above, then this should not come as a surprise.
Some people may thrive on a long-term, low-carb diet. I have patients and even a family member in this category. And maybe you’re one of them too. But that doesn’t mean everyone will have this experience. If you talk to practicing clinicians who work with patients on a daily basis, or spend any amount of time in internet forums or the comments sections of nutrition blogs, you’ll find numerous reports from people who either experienced no benefit from or were even harmed by following a low-carb diet.
What blows my mind is that the “low-carb zealots” seem completely incapable of accepting these reports at face value. Instead, they’ll argue that anyone who doesn’t succeed with low-carb is either doing it wrong, cheating, or somehow imagining their symptoms.
What’s the more likely explanation here? That everyone who gets worse with a low-carb diet is either incapable of following directions, weak-willed, or delusional? Or that a low-carb diet simply does not work for everyone? You be the judge.
#5: If a Low-Carb Diet Works as a Therapy in a Given Condition, That Doesn’t Mean Too Many Carbs Caused That Condition in the First Place
This is another error of logic that is often made. Here’s an example:
“A low-carb diet is effective for treating type 2 diabetes. Therefore, eating too many carbohydrates led to this condition in the first place.”
This is like saying:
- Restricting iron is helpful in hemochromatosis patients. Therefore, consuming too much iron is what caused hemochromatosis in the first place.
- A low-FODMAP diet helps patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Therefore, eating FODMAPs caused IBS in the first place.
- A low-histamine diet alleviates the symptoms of histamine intolerance. Therefore, histamine intolerance is caused by eating too many histamine containing foods.
Or, more ridiculously, since wearing a cast on your arm will help the broken bone heal, the reason you broke your arm in the first place is because you weren’t wearing a cast.
It’s true that VLC/ketogenic diets are effective for improving the metabolic markers associated with type 2 diabetes. But that doesn’t mean that eating too many carbohydrates led to the condition in the first place. It is certainly possible (and indeed likely) that eating too many refined and processed carbohydrates, in the form of flour and sugar, contributes to diabetes. But I have not seen a single study suggesting that eating whole-food carbohydrates (e.g. fruit or starchy plants) leads to diabetes or other metabolic problems. On the contrary, reviews of prospective studies looking at the relationship between fruit intake and diabetes have found that those with the highest intake of fruit had the lowest incidence of diabetes. (8, 9)
It is also worth pointing out that virtually all studies performed so far showing benefits of the Paleo diet in conditions like type 2 diabetes and obesity have used moderate carbohydrate (not low or very-low carb) versions of the Paleo diet.
#6: If a Low-Carb Diet Is an Effective Therapy for a Condition, That Doesn’t Mean It’s the Only Therapy for That Condition
There’s little doubt, as I said above in #2, that low-carb diets can be remarkably effective in certain situations. For example, there are numerous studies showing that low-carb and ketogenic diets can help with weight loss and metabolic problems. (10)
However, that doesn’t mean it’s not possible to lose weight and reset your metabolism through other means. Studies have also shown that calorie-restricted diets, protein-sparing modified fasts, and even low-fat diets can also be effective treatments. (11, 12, 13)
This means that it’s not necessarily true, for example, that everyone with type 2 diabetes should be on a low-carb diet. They may be able to reverse their condition by following a high-protein, moderate-carbohydrate, moderate-fat diet (such as the Paleo diet with 32% of calories from carbohydrate in this study), or any of the methods I just mentioned.
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#7: Whole-Food Carbohydrates Do Not Affect the Body in the Same Way as Processed and Refined Carbohydrates
This should be obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of nutrition and human physiology, so I’m amazed at how often I see experts talk about all carbohydrates as if they’re the same.
In #1 above, I referenced studies indicating that most hunter-gatherer societies consumed about 30–40% of calories from carbohydrate. These carbohydrates came from starchy tubers and plants, whole fruit, and in some cases, honey. We also have evidence of specific ancestral populations—such as the Kitava, traditional Okinawans, and Tukisenta—that consumed between 70–95% of calories from whole-food carbohydrate. (14)
Yet despite this liberal consumption of carbohydrates, these people were remarkably lean, fit, and free of chronic, inflammatory diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurological conditions. (15) If carbohydrates cause these conditions, regardless of their source, why don’t we see such conditions in these groups?
What we do see is that these cultures acquire modern disease when they adopt a modern diet and lifestyle, complete with the highly processed and refined foods that characterize it.
When it comes to macronutrients, quality is much more important than quantity for most people.
Final Thoughts
I hope this helps to clarify some of the confusion that has surrounded this issue. Low-carb diets are an effective therapeutic tool in certain situations and one that I (and many other clinicians) use in my clinical practice. That said, it’s equally true that low-carb—and especially VLC and ketogenic—diets are not appropriate in all circumstances, and they are certainly not our “default” or optimal nutritional state.
Sadly, it doesn’t seem to matter how much scientific evidence, clinical experience, and common sense is brought to bear on this question: those who preach and follow low-carb dogma will not be swayed. Ah, well. As they say: “You can’t fight faith with facts.”
“My fasting numbers are in the 80s. After a meal with low carbs but a little more than usual my blood sugar will rise to 122 and then 3 hours later be 103. Is that normal?”
Corry. Chris can add what he wants but based on these numbers, you are not only not diabetic in the slightest, but have perfectly physiologically normal BG response.
You have to understand that part of the VLC snake oil is to get you to try it for long enough that you confirm that you can’t have carbs, since VLC creates insulin resistance, so called “physiologically,” as in, if you cut off your finger, it bleeds, its a physiological response.
…Thing is, you don’t give much info and the comment is a bit ambiguous. Perhaps VLC helped, if you were getting your carbs from lots of sugar water or crap processed hot pockets, before. I am solidly open to VLC for a period helping to resent. You can do the same with weekly fasts for a few months (preferable in my view).
Otherwise, fasting in the 80s is stellar, as is a spike to 140 or less after a carboy meal, if you come back down within a couple of hours.
Chris can say otherwise, I doubt he will, but I’ve been scanning all the comments and this one really struck me as a poor soul who thinks she can’t have much of a glucose spike and be normal and I HATE for someone to have to live under that fantasy.
Cori,
Chris may respond but as someone who has successfully reversed diagnosed type 2 diabetes, I wanted to relate my experience and add to Richard’s comments.
Richard is correct. Your current blood sugar levels are well in the normal range.
After I lost weight and increased daily exercise (including resistance training twice a week), I discovered I was able to eat more complex carbs without raising my blood sugar beyond normal levels.
Everyone’s carbohydrate tolerance is different so the only way to know for certain how many carbohydrates to add to your diet is to continue slowly adding them and track your blood sugars with a meter.
If you find blood sugars are spiking over 140 two hours after eating and your fasting numbers are going into the 90s or over 100, just respond by cutting back on carbs and/or increasing exercise after meals until they are back to normal levels.
I’ve found that exercise after large carbohydrate meals makes a big difference in blood sugar control vs. sitting on a couch watching TV.
I used to follow a diet that was 50 to 75 carbs a day. I’m now at 100 to 150 without gaining weight or raising my blood sugar levels outside normal ranges.
That being said, I have zero doubt that if I went back to eating processed foods and sugar and stopped exercising, my lost weight and diabetes would return with a vengeance.
Proceed with caution. It’s a delicate balance to maintain the progress you have worked hard to achieve. It’s tempting and easy to fall back into addiction cycles. Stay vigilant.
After two years of normal blood sugars, I no longer measure myself every day. I now measure my blood sugars for one week, three times a year and adjust my behavior accordingly.
If I ever find myself gaining weight and creeping back towards diabetes, I will measure myself after every meal and adjust my behavior to return to normal levels.
Here is a good link on what constitutes normal blood sugar levels.
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/16422495.php
Hope this helps.
Well, those numbers are too high according to my allopathic doc!
Hi Chris, I have been very low carb for 6 months trying to reverse diabetes that I self diagnosed. I believe that it helped but would like to start adding in some carbs. My fasting numbers are in the 80s. After a meal with low carbs but a little more than usual my blood sugar will rise to 122 and then 3 hours later be 103. Is that normal? How would I go about adding more carbs in without it affecting my blood sugar? Thanks! I would really appreciate your advice.
I thought I would reply. If you have been following very low carb for six months your body will overreact initially and spike your blood sugars. I would only starting adding complex carbs at your dinner meal. If you eat low car all day and have carb with dinner it shouldn’t spike the blood sugar. Your body is always trying to balance itself out. It gets used to whatever you have been doing consistently and responds accordingly. These low carb diets can backfire when you go back to eating moderate to high carb. I recommend the book the carbohydrate addicts diet which shows how to eat low carb and have a reward meal which consists of carbs. They say you can do any meal as a reward meal with carbs but I found that if my breakfast or lunch included carbs it would spike my blood sugar. If I ate the first two meals of the day low carb and had my reward meal at dinner it didn’t spike and only went up a little bit. Carbs are tricky and you have to slowly reintroduce them. You will know you are off track if your appetite goes way up and you want more and more of them. If you add them and your appetite is able to be controlled you are onto something. Also GTF chromium is a good mineral for blood sugar control. Just be careful taking it if you already take a prescription like metformin.
Carl:
I’m sure you’re posting with the best of intentions. Moreover, trying to help others who might be in a rut. Kudos on that score.
But, at a point, one has to wonder, why all the trouble? Should eating be so hard and complicated? How come animals in nature aren’t all obese, diabetic, suffering all manner of malady? Could it be that they aren’t capable, as humans are, of subjecting themselves to unnatural interventions?
I submit for your consideration a different perspective because I don’t think it’s all that surprising that LC diets are often associated with marvelous honeymoons, even decent early marriages. Unfortunately for many (…truly unfortunate, because my personal proclivity would just be to eat huge grilled ribeyes with tons of browned butter—but that’s not a regular availability found in nature). But for so many, this marriage fails.
“Stalling” in Wheat Belly and LC Weight Loss After Amazing Strides”
http://freetheanimal.com/2014/12/stalling-amazing-strides.html
Here’s a comment I just got today on that post:
“My story almost exactly. I started with the 4 hour body back in late 2011. I should have stuck with. Richard – I’d love for you and Tim Ferriss to have a chat about this whole thing. I was pounding beans along with protein and veggies and eliminated any food that was white. I went from 225 to 205 in about 4-5 months. Won a biggest loser contest at work! I was 43 yrs old and hadn’t been that weight since I was 20. I then discovered Paleo which outlawed beans and I wanted to drop below the 200 lb marker and I thought – wow- din’t know beans were so bad for me. Took them out and went even more low carb for about 2 years Guess what? Pounds started coming back. I am now back at 225. Here is the bio marker that really gave me a clue something was weird. My thyroid markers – TSH in particular went from 1.5 to 3.5 to 5.5 to eventually 9.0. My wife kept saying – why are you so tired? I started going to an endocrinologist a few months back and she put me on a low dosage of armour natural thyroid and things are better on that front. I also have low testosterone (~325 total). I was on chlomid for 18 months and it was awesome. Levels back up to 700 and other things back up (wink wink) and my mood was so improved. I don’t think that (Low T) is getting enough chatter on this blog as I think men in their 40s who have sat behind a desk for 25 years (like me) are not the same type of 50 years ago (like my dad who was an auto mechanic) who largely did manual labor all day and their T levels rose naturally based on their exertion levels. Low T does lots of things that mimic low thyroid and I think they are kinda connected. So I hope that as my thyroid comes back in shape by adding back beans and resistant starch and armour I will see my T levels go up – if not then I will need to address my low T. Thanks Richard for bringing this topic about stalls on LC to the forefront.”
I agree with #4, I’ve lost over 100lbs on low carb and I’ve been doing it for over 2 years. However it has not worked for some of my friends as well.
It was rough to get started, but I used a 21 day sugar detox program which helped a lot. Check out the reviews of it http://www.lowcarbreviewsite.com/21-day-sugar-detox/
September 16, 2014
Dear Chris,
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
YOU have been a LIFELINE for ME! I have met you and asked questions at “Your Personal Paleo Code” book signings/dinner in Berkely, CA and here in Portland OR, where I currently live. I am impressed with your work and have enjoyed your book and many articles since. You often “hit the nail on the head” as you have just now.
I have been on a VLC Paleo diet for about a year. At first I felt GREAT…but now I am sick…and find that it is doing me more harm than good. Why?
I am now presenting with hypothyroidism (T4-T3 conversion), adrenal fatigue, and SIBO. My liver is unhappy. So am I. I am not by nature a sad person.
Hypothyroidism: I have never had this problem before. I am being told it is from stress, age, and/or hormonal changes. All apply, but this alone doesn’t make sense to me. Your article about being on a VLC Paleo diet for a long time does! I am a somewhat vain, attractive woman, but have now lost half my hair! My scalp is dry, flaky, itchy (no fungus), and I am often so tired I just want to sit in a chair all day. I am not by nature a sedentary person who prefers to stay home. Even so, I have lost 30 pounds, and am now too thin (Yes…too thin!) now at 5’9” 125 lbs.
Adrenal fatigue: I have no energy for anything. Burnt out! I do not exercise too much. I walk briskly, do Yoga, or bike about 45 minutes to 1 hour daily…at best…when I am not too tired.
Bugs: SIBO test results have been “off the charts” with astronomical numbers!!!
I tested positive for the parasite Blastocystis Hominis recently, and about 25 years ago…when I was given about 3 courses of antibiotics…yet chronic diarrhea persisted. Dismissed as a “misdiagnosis” because I had not traveled to a third world country (Do New York City kitchens count?) I was ultimately diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome)…a.k.a. “stress induced head case!” Yes, but what about the bugs?
Blastocystis Hominis is now dead and gone. A good start!
Treatment: I was put on Armor thyroid (We keep upping the doses!) and targetted SIBO antibiotics, while doing SIBO testing, since April 2014. It is now September!!! 6 months and at least 8 (14 day) courses of antibiotics with a week of SIBO testing in between! I am also treating hypothyroidism and SIBO with diet. I am on a strict (No FUN!) SCD low FODMAP (Dr. Siebecker), Paleo diet. I have to prepare and eat all my meals at home. I have a very limited social life…always having to eat before events. I would love to go out to eat with my husband here in Portland, OR (Food Mecca!) but cannot trust the restaurants even here! This is stressful and makes me sad.
At first my numbers were going down nicely…but now, as I have added more whole food carbohydrates to my diet (e.g. organic, ripe bananas, coconut milk (no BPA or guar gum), coconut, currants, fruit, nuts, honey, butternut squash, zucchini, etc.) to improve the hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue, the SIBO (methane/hydrogen) numbers are once again climbing!
The good people (naturopaths) I have been working with for about 6 months do not understand all this and/or know what to do next, even though I give them your articles. “Man with meat seek fire!” They see so many people; all on different diets…and have little understanding of Paleo. I agree with you, there is not ONE Paleo diet that fits all. I also realize that ultimately…I am the one who needs to solve this problem! I cannot, however, do it alone. I need good help.
Is it possible that I am not absorbing fructose well, as some of your articles have discussed? I have requested a test to determine this. What do you think is going on? If so, how do I up my whole food carbohydrates, without fruit (fructose) to treat the SIBO and hypothyroidism at the same time? I don’t want to take thyroid replacement pills…especially when my actual thyroid gland is fine!!! (No Hashimotos)
Can YOU please come here to Portland, OR to treat me? I am (only mildly!) kidding. I get YOU are too busy (famous now!)…but can you refer me to someone like YOU in Portland, OR who “gets” this stuff? I can’t go on like this!
Did I mention it all has me depressed? AND…it didn’t help that Robin Williams, one of my very lovably human heroes, offed himself this Summer! Though I have maintained my excellent sense of humor throughout this food/bug journey…long term chronic sickness with depression is no laughing matter. HELP!!!
Your admiring fan in need,
“Something is Bugging” ME
A starvation protocol is probably not the easiest approach to fixing SIBO (not saying it doesn’t work if stuck to religiously). Siebecker’s own site describes it as a starvation protocol and says: “Dietary Treatments for SIBO…as the main treatment for SIBO, without antibiotics or other treatment. Diet alone may reduce bacteria, just at a slower rate than antibiotics. 1 1/2 years up to 3+ years is usually needed.”
Basically you are putting yourself on a weak antibiotic (i.e. starvation) for 1 to 3 years. I realize some people need this, and I’m not trying to criticize Siebecker, but starvation doesn’t work for everyone.
Have you read Dr. Grace/BG’s “How to Cure SIBO” series? That’s a far quicker approach, that just sweeps the bacteria out of the small intestine. Dr. Grace prefers to focus on feeding the immune system, not starving it.
I’m 58, female, and have had many health issues since having an emergency hysterectomy in my 30’s. Gallstones, kidney stones, candida, rosacea, osteopenia, migraines, and pre-diabetes to name a few. I’ve been losing hair at an alarming rate for a couple of years, and recently have beginning Parkinson’s symptoms (although my neurologist won’t diagnose it yet.) I read “Grain Brain,” and have gone low carb, my weight is down (although I’ve always been thin), and my neurological symptoms have leveled off, but not disappeared. However, my hair loss is even more severe, and, while my brain fog has improved, I feel weak as though I’m not getting enough fuel. I’m confused and afraid to add carbs back in due to the Parkinson’s symptoms. Does anyone have any experience with low carbs and Parkinson’s improvement or at least control of symptoms? I’m so hungry!
Excellent article. I would say that while many prior cultures may have thrived on relatively high or seasonally high carbs, massive amounts of SUGAR (in all its forms) has irreversibly changed our metabolism (and even the microbiota), which is what has made very low carb diets now necessary. High or seasonally high carb diets were fine before, but SUGAR came in and changed everything.
That’s quite an oversimplification. Sugar has been around since about 8,000 B.C.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sugar
The mass production of sugar contributing to a large portion of the modern diet is just one piece of the puzzle. Antibiotics, lack of fermentable fibers, lack of fermentable foods, lack of flora diversity, over-sanitized lifestyles, gluten, all contribute to problems in the gut.
VLC is simply one therapy option. Not necessarily ideal for everyone. There are other approaches. Whole food moderate carb diets appear to work quite well for a wide range of health issues.
VLC can certainly be therapeutic. However, VLC is also a starvation protocol for the microbiota. It’s not really intended to bloom a healthy/robust microbiota as VLC does not provide a diversity of prebiotic fibers.
I’m currently doing a program that eliminates grains, sugar and processed foods. Been doing it for about a year and 3/4 and can say for the most part it’s been good. I’m overweight to be sure…BUT I’ve only lost between 20 and 30 lbs on this then stalled. My metabolism in my opinion was ruined years ago by yo-yo dieting. Doing anything extreme…be it low fat or low carb hasn’t worked for me. I have several auto-immune issues going as well. BUT in doing what I’m doing I have lost 3 clothing sizes and gradually my labs have improved and I do feel better. Just a little frustrated though as I think I could be doing better.
Thanks for the article, it confirms my own experiences which are that every body is different and so every person must find his or her own best diet. I am a 56-year-old woman. In my case, very low carb with moderate protein and high fat does the trick. I had to find this out myself, using what I read as a guide only and tweaking from there. I found that my body quickly learned to turn protein into glocuse so for me the key has been upping my fat intake (this was hard to get my mind around!). Once I did this my body immediately started burning fat (i.e. mild ketosis whithin 2 hours). The result for me is slow but steady fat reduction, moods that remain even throughout every day, sleep that is deep and restorative and real energy when I need it but that does not have me bouncing off the walls. Zealots be damned, I’ll do what works for me.
Congratulations on finding success… is not an easy journey… especially for us older women (I’m 50)!
Can you please elaborate (or anyone else) what you mean when you upped your fat intake. I eat butter but no other dairy, eat meat with fat on it (although not grass fed), and cook in coconut oil and use olive oil in salad dressing. Other than that I need to up my fat but not sure what that would be. Thanks.
Michele, I think her point is you can help nudge your body into ketosis by increasing fat intake. It doesn’t have to be a lot of fat and all the things you mention are good. Just use fat naturally in the way that it enhances the flavor of food. Generous butter or olive oil on veggies for example. Eggs are great. Soft cheese is high in fat and probably good. All things in moderation.
If ketosis is your goal, I’d recommend buying keto sticks at Wal-Mart. Eventually you’ll know what ketosis feels like but initially it’s helpful to have the confirmation.
Long term, especially if you are at a the weight you want to be, there’s no great need to stay in ketosis, the goal might be simply to be “keto-adapted” which means your body is geared up to burn fat but it can also burn some carbs at the same time. Some people would argue it’s better to have carbs in your life; I don’t think there is proof but the arguments (such as Paul Jaminet’s prescription to consume a little bit of starch) in some ways make sense.
There is abundant scientific data that low-carb high fat is a good way to go and by implication that ketosis is really good for you. However exactly the right way to do it — not a lot of data. And even if there were a lot of data, it may well be the sort of thing that is different for every person.
We all need to be scientists and pay attention to how our bodies respond to different habits of eating/fasting. If you lose weight, that is data. If you feel more alert, that is data. If your blood lipid profile is better, that is data too.
..and I hasten to add, the Atkins philosophy is really sound. Atkins is not a set diet for everyone, and it is also not a permanent very low carb regimin. It is about finding the right level of carbs for each person, which is going to depend on body chemistry, level of exercise, health of pancreas and insulin regulation system, liver function — lots of things. You can be following Atkins and eating 120-150 grams of carbs a day once you have reached your desired weight.
People here are forgetting that Professor Thomas Seyfried has recommended a VLC or ketogenic diet that is very moderate on protein intake. While Atkins was great, too much protein causes a host of issues.
Also, it is entirely safe to assume that our bodies can be moved from using carbs or fat as fuel.
Many of these studies that are cited seem to show correlation, not causation. The one about how people who consume the most fruit have the lowest incidence of diabetes is nice, but that could just be because those people are more aware of processed foods, don’t eat BPA (a known fat-storage inducer), and/or pay more attention to health trends. I like the stuff I’ve read about the Ketogenic diet because they use physical research about actual mechanisms in the body, not just vague testimonies in which a host of issues like BPA consumption, activity levels or calorie counting are not even taken into effect.
Long story short, if you restrict your protein intake, get nearly 80-90% of your calories from healthy fats, and still consume leafy green veggies with some resistant starches or fermented foods, then you should be able to have a perfectly healthy, long-term experience on the VLC or ketogenic diet.
Excessive protein intake probably accounts for a lot of the symptoms reported on this thread.
The problem with discussing Atkins is there is a huge difference between “Atkins” the myth (perpetuated by vegans and carb afficionatos) and official Atkins as recommended by the Atkins Foundation. That’s why people think Atkins is all about butter, steak and pork rinds. It’s not.
Even in the “induction” stage of Atkins which is most aggressive, the diet INSISTS on 20 grams a day of carbs, mainly from vegetables. In fact the Atkins book says you lose weight faster on 20 grams than if you try to do 0 grams. So there’s that.
But the second point about the real Atkins regimen is that after induction, it is all about adding back in carbs, mainly from vegetables, fruits and nuts until the person reaches the level of carb consumption that their body can handle. It is different for every person. Atkins is VERY pro vegetable and there are vegetarian/vegan Atkins menus.
I think for an obese person, the risks of obesity are so high that you should do whatever works to lose weight. But once you’re at a healthy weight, there’s no need for a ketogenic diet.
People still freak out about ketosis probably because it’s such a mysterious sounding word. All ketosis means is that you’re burning fat. And I think most people would agree that some burning of fat is desirable for virtually everybody from time to time.
If you are obese, ketosis is by definition the only way you’re going to lose weight. So don’t be afraid of it. It
is the ONLY path to a healthy weight.
You can get to ketosis on a low fat diet by severely restricting calories, or you can there with unlimited calories but severely restricting carbs. The second option works better for a lot of people because the person isn’t walking around feeling like they’re starving. But your mileage may vary.
Regardless of how you get to ketosis, it will feel weird sometimes, but most that weirdness is simply that your blood pressure has dropped significantly because eliminating carbs means a LOT less retained fluid. Going low carb is like taking a water pill.
For most people the lower blood pressure is good, and your body adjusts over a number of weeks. But in the meantime salty liquids (we just drink chicken broth with extra salt sprinkled in) helps you feel better almost immediately.
Thank you Tom. No, I don’t want to go into ketosis. I have bought the keto urine sticks but haven’t tried them. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t in ketosis, which I think I was originally with 40+ ketones showing on a standard test in March (and that may not even mean ketosis but I had extreme brain fog and losing too much weight on the VLC eating). I don’t want to lose any more weight. Just want to stop losing weight and get a little more energy without adding too many carbs. I think all the fat I can add would be good..
Michelle,
A similar thing happened to me when I went VLC two years ago and lost too much weight while getting massive brain fog. It was debilitating. It was this Paul Jaminet’s analysis that finally got me on the road to recovery:
————-
From: Paul Jaminet:
Low-carb diets generally improve immunity to bacteria and viruses, but not all is roses and gingerbread.
Low-carb diets, alas, impair immunity to fungal and protozoal infections. The immune defense against these infections is glucose-dependent (as it relies on production of reactive oxygen species using glucose) and thyroid hormone-dependent (as thyroid hormone drives not only glucose availability, but also the availability of iodine for the myeloperoxidase pathway). Thus, anti-fungal immunity is downregulated on very low-carb diets.
Moreover, eukaryotic pathogens such as fungi and protozoa can metabolize ketones. Thus, a ketogenic diet promotes growth and systemic invasion of these pathogens.
As the fungal infection case studies on our “Results” page illustrate, low-carb dieters often develop fungal infections, and these often go away with increased starch consumption.
Another issue is that mucus is essential for immunity at epithelial surfaces, and glycosylation is essential for the integrity of cellular junctions and tissue barriers such as the intestinal and blood-brain barriers. Thus, reduced production of mucus can impair intestinal immunity and promote gut dysbiosis or systemic infection by pathogens that enter through the gut.
Finally, a very low-carb diet is not entirely free of risks of gut dysbiosis, and not just from fungal infections. Bacteria can metabolize the amino acid glutamine as well as mucosal sugars, so it is not possible to completely starve gut bacteria with a low-carb diet. Nor is it desirable, as this would eliminate a protective layer against systemic infection by pathogens that enter the body through the gut. As our “Results” page shows, several people who had gut trouble on the very low-carb (and generally excellent) GAPS diet were cured on our diet.
————-
I researched what Paul mentioned in that quote, and found a lot of research to support what he was saying.
Fighting candida turned my life around and I’m forever grateful for Paul’s work.
I suspect what determines whether people feel better or worse on a specific diet has more to do with what class of pathogens they have in them. So, it can be a kind of diagnostic tool. Paul mentioned this on a podcast here while back.
Good luck.
Michele, if you want to stop losing weight (a really nice problem BTW), don’t add fat, add carbs. It may not really matter what carbs you add back — whatever you prefer.
I would again recommend you read the “New Atkins” book by Eric Westman, which is very authoritative. Atkins has a lot of methods for adding back carbs and calibrating it so you don’t just put the weight back on that you work so hard to lose.
I personally would start adding back some roots — sweet potatoes, parsnips, onions, then yellow potatoes — then moderately low sugar fruits — tomatoes, berries, apples. Then if you’re still losing weight, start adding in grains and legumes — wild rice before white rice, quinoa, French lentils, wheat (if possible, non GMO ancient wheat varieties like spelt). Some nuts if you are okay with them — walnuts and almonds are great.
If you are STILL losing — you can open the door to sugary fruit like bananas, or grain products like beer, or pasta and bread. But I can’t eat much of those before my waistline starts to expand.
The more carbs your body can tolerate without gaining weight, the more freedom you have to eat a wider variety of carbs.
“(such as Paul Jaminet’s prescription to consume a little bit of starch) in some ways make sense”
Actually, Jaminet doesn’t prescribe “a little bit of starch.” He prescribes a rather large volume of starchy vegetables, but it only translates to a moderate level of actual carbs.
Jaminet says 150g of carbs as some fruit and starchy carbs to help cure most health issues. It’s classified as a moderate carb diet, but few realize that it translates to a pound of starchy vegetables—which are mostly full of water when cooked. If you only ate a “little bit of starches” as your only carbs, you would likely be VLC.
Hi,
very good and interesting article. Personally, I am in keto-state almost 4 months a was in also at the beginning of this year. This state is very helpful for me and I am professional soccer player in first czech league (Synot league).
But I think it is very individual and someone doesn´t need ketogenic or low-carb-diet. You could mention Weston Price and his works as proof. But as you wrote, kind of carbohydrates is very important. It is difference to eat vegetables, fruits, tubers and some legumes and maybe grains, and eat refined carbohydrates. Also quantity of calories matter, because Okinawa, Kitava etc eat low calorie diet.
From my point of view, one of most important things is fat metabolism most of times so that mitochondria was healthy and don´t overcome. But they can be overdose also by very high calorie high fat diet, so moderation is key. For example, herbivors like cow, sheep, goat and some monkeys are also in fat metabolism despite very high carb diet because of fermentation of food in stomach.
Have nice day 🙂
Hi Chris -I am 70yrs old and have spent 55yrs yo-yoing between 10st and 16st most commonly just under 15st. I must have joined various slimming clubs nearly 200 times without succeeding. Last year I discovered the low carb way of eating and whilst I am still losing (about 35lbs so far ) I have settled for about 50-60g carb because I like fruit and veg too much to be under that. The carbs are about 15-20% of my intake. I never eat any added sugar nor grains except the occasional rye crispbread. I could live like this forever! Loved the article.
BUT if you were wearing a cast your arm might not be broken 😉
great article.
Hi Chris et al:
You briefly mentioned that your experience suggests that low-carb diets can be incredibly effective therapeutic tools for traumatic brain injuries. As someone who’s recently suffered a rather severe TBI, I was hoping you could elaborate on any effective therapeutic tools you were aware of, or point me in the direction where I could learn more. thanks, pete
The whole carbs-cause-obesity-so-don’t-eat-ANY argument is over-simplistic for a complex problem. Many people and many entire cultures can eat high levels of complex carbs and never gain weight. With gut bug genes outnumbering human genes 150-1, the evidence seems to point to a wrecked gut biome as being a likely cause for carb intolerance in the modern world.
Take poop from a lean mouse and put it in an obese mouse, and you get two lean mice. Wake up people!
Chronic diseases, such as diabetes, are being linked more and more to gut health. Instead of giving up carbs forever, you’d *think* people would take their carb intolerance as a sign that things are not working properly in the gut.
Nope, it must be the carbs they say — gotta give them up because somebody figured out a way to starve themselves of a macronutrient without being hungry and that’s the new gospel.
“With gut bug genes outnumbering human genes 150-1, the evidence seems to point to a wrecked gut biome as being a likely cause for carb intolerance in the modern world.
“Take poop from a lean mouse and put it in an obese mouse, and you get two lean mice. Wake up people!”
And so on…. Spot on. Moreover, from that Cell paper that Chris mentioned and I summarized here (from the full text, not publicly available)…
Starving our Microbial Self: The Deleterious Consequences of a Diet Deficient in Microbiota-Accessible Carbohydrates
http://freetheanimal.com/2014/09/deleterious-consequences-carbohydrates.html
“A single human gut can contain upwards of 60,000 carbohydrate-degrading enzymes…compared with the human genome with about 17 glycoside hydrolassss and no polysaccharide lyases involved in carbohydrate digestion in the gut.”
And by the way, my promotion of resistant starch is just one piece of the gut biome puzzle. In the book I’m currently writing that’s over 400 pages, 2,000 references—many from 2013 and 2014—and 18 chapters, resistant starch is exactly ONE chapter. So, yea, total “zealotry.”
As for anecdotes, there’s nearly about 120 billion of them, the estimated number of humans that have ever lived. A minuscule percentage of them ever practiced a VLC/Keto diet, the evidence is overwhelming that the vast majority of them consumed plenty of whole-food carbohydrate, and yet we’re here and a most successful species at that.
Great work, Chris. It would be very helpful to me (and I’m sure many others, based on the frequency that I’ve seen this issue pop up) if you could provide some insight into why low carb diets can cause sleep disturbances in certain people.
For example, when I go on a keto or VLC diet, I fall asleep easily, but continually wake up every 30 minutes starting at 4am (5 hours into my sleep); I never get back into a full sleep cycle. The next day I’m dragging and my memory falters (although I feel “alert”; maybe it’s ketones + cortisol?), go to sleep with a sleep debt, and the cycle repeats. Note that I’m not in a caloric deficit when this happens, and I’m taking in ~120 grams of protein, 20 – 100 grams of carbs, and the rest as fat.
I also notice that my fasting blood sugar goes up from 85 (when I’m eating 150-300 grams of carbs) to 115 while in ketosis or low carb, and my low-carb postprandial blood sugar DECLINES to ~95!
People have pointed to low carb possibly inducing high cortisol, physiological insulin resistance (is this even healthy?), a lack of serotonin -> melatonin, and everything else in between.
Do you have any ideas? A quick bit about me: I’m 8% body fat, muscular, lift heavy weights or do cardio 5x /week. I’m intrigued by ketosis because of the potential improvements on cognition, but not for weight loss – I’m content with my physique.
Thanks, and keep up the excellent work!
I went low carb for one year when I was 20 years old. Ended up in a psychiatric hospital. Low carb diet made me extremely depressed, anxious and exhausted. And this is when my vitiligo appeared… Now I eat fruit almost every day, lots of potatoes, tubers and rice and my mental health is better than ever! Low carb is really not for everyone. I personally do well when I eat protein rich breakfast or fast instead and eat carbs for lunch or diner.
With my physicians support, I’ve done lowcarb off/on for 20+ years. I’m 69 years old and had strayed from the plan for a few years. My caring and informed doctor encouraged me to go back to a lchf plan to manage the weight I’d gained and my increased BP and cholesterol values. After 8 months I’ve lost 55 lbs and my BP and cholesterol values are excellent. I do use potato starch daily and drink 8 oz of homemade kefir as well. I’ve never felt so good in all my life!!! I agree that lowcarb isn’t for everyone by it sure works for me. Thanks for your interesting article.
Chris, you mention “traditional Okinawans” as having health and longevity on a high-carb diet, but your sentence is a little misleading, because you don’t acknowledge that most of those carbs are rice! The Paleo concept, that 8-10,000 years of eating cultivated grains is not long enough to adapt, isn’t perfect.
Are you sure about that or are you just making an assumption?
The data and references on Wikipedia say otherwise:
“The traditional diet of the islanders contains 30% green and yellow vegetables. Although the traditional Japanese diet usually includes large quantities of rice, the traditional Okinawa diet consists of smaller quantities of rice; instead the staple was the purple-fleshed okinawan sweet potato. The Okinawan diet has only 30% of the sugar and 15% of the grains of the average Japanese dietary intake…The dietary intake of Okinawans compared to other Japanese circa 1950 shows that Okinawans consumed: less total calories (1785 vs 2068), less polyunsaturated fat (4.8% of calories vs. 8%), less rice (154 grams vs 328g), significantly less wheat, barley and other grains (38 g vs. 153g), less sugars (3g vs. 8g), more legumes (71g vs 55g), significantly less fish (15g vs 62g), significantly less meat and poultry (3g vs 11g), less eggs (1g vs 7 g), less dairy (<1g vs 8 g), much much more sweet potatoes (849g vs 66g), less other potatoes (2g vs 47), less fruit (<1g vs 44g), and no pickled vegetables (0g vs 42). In short, the Okinawan circa 1950 ate sweet potatoes for 849 grams of the 1262 grams of food that they consumed, which constituted 69% of their total calories.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa_diet
Finny,
Correlation is not causation. Yes the Okinawan diet is sweet potato rich but might there be another possible explanation for their long lives?
How about body size?
The average Okinawan is considerably shorter than mainland Japanese and one of the shortest human beings on the planet. Think pigmys.
“The Okinawans are shorter and weighless than mainland Japanese, and men aged 87 to 104 years average 145.4 cm (4ft 9 in) and 42.8 kg (94lb).”
Okinawan women are even smaller.
Could the reason Okinawans eat so little have anything to do with the fact that they are tiny?
The average American Male and Female is nearly twice the size of your average Okinawan.
I’m not saying diet is not a factor but it may not be the only factor.
It’s just a fact that toy poodles live longer than Great Danes even if they are eating the exact same diet with the only difference being the quantities eaten.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071721/
Samaras TT, Elrick H. Height, body size and longevity.Acta Med Okayama 1999;53:149-169.
It’s amazing to me how many health advocates and scientists who love to quote “Okinawan” diet statistics to make a point completely ignore the elephant in the room.
Blaine,
Very interesting. However, maybe you should re-read my comment as I never said they lived longer “because” of sweet potatoes. You put words in my mouth.
All I did was point out that they didn’t eat a lot of rice, but rather they ate a ton of sweet potatoes.
Finny,
I apologize. I was in fact putting words in your mouth but please understand I was also responding to the post you were commenting on that referred to the Okinawan diet’s health and longevity benefits.
The only reason anyone ever brings up the Okinawan diet is to make the case that it leads to longevity.
Google, “Okinawa Diet” and “Longevity” and you will find over 7,500 hits. The most frequently viewed have titles like “The Okinawa diet, the key to longevity and living to 100.”
Usually the Okinawa diet is hijacked to promote a vegan or vegetarian agenda.
The same Wikipedia article you site that documents Okinawans eating more sweet potatoes than rice also reports Okinawans eat twice the amount of pork as main Island Japanese.
Granted, it’s still not a lot of pork but it is an inconvenient truth for those beating the Vegan and Vegetarian drum.
There is a lot of scientific support that longevity is tied to size. Short people, on average, live longer than tall people, even taking into account confounding variables.
It’s why vegetarians rarely point out elderly Okinawan men are on average 4′ 9″ tall and weigh 94 pounds. Not realistic role models unless you are five inches shorter than Mickey Rooney who lived to 93.
Here is a link to a very large study that indicates shorter American men of Japanese descent live longer than taller Japanese American men and the FOX3 gene may be responsible.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0094385
Shorter Men Live Longer: Association of Height with Longevity and FOXO3 Genotype in American Men of Japanese Ancestry
PS: And no, I’m not accusing you of being a vegetarian or putting words in your mouth. I’m using this as a teaching moment.
I think the take away is that eating lots of sweet potatoes doesn’t predispose Okinawans to obesity or an early death.
It’s very interesting that short people live longer. I wasn’t aware of that!
Though, while we are on the subject, I have also heard theories about some tubers being particularly high in certain health-promoting compounds — rather than just the bags of sugar that low carb advocates make them out to be. For instance:
http://youtu.be/PefdHNnDuv4
Maybe it’s nothing, but my guess is that there are dozens of phytonutrients and compounds in tubers that mostly go unnoticed.
Anyway, the only point I was trying to make is that they don’t eat as much rice as mainlanders and they ate a heck of a lot more of their Okinawan sweet potatoes. And yes, they are shorter!
Finny,
My own guess (and it’s only a guess) as to why Okinawans live so long is they eat a relatively spicy whole foods diet; they haven’t historically eaten much in the way of processed foods and sugar, they use lard to cook with rather than manufactured vegetable oils and… they are tiny people with a longevity gene… at least the ones who make it to 100.
Okinawans have had thousands of years to evolutionarily adapt to eating sweet potatoes so I’m not surprised they are well adapted to eat them anymore then I’m not surprised by the people in the seven separate geographic areas of the world that evolved lactose persistence to digest and thrive on dairy.
Also, anyone who is 100 years old today on Okinawa went through decades of severe calorie restriction during World War 2 and the decades that followed. Modern processed foods simply weren’t available at all for the first half on a current centenarian’s life
Some animal studies have shown calorie restriction may extend life although those studies have come into question in recent years.
I think it actually comes down to the fact that toy poodles live longer than Great Danes and Shetland Ponies live longer than Clydesdale Horses even though the only difference in their diets is the quantities they consume.
Darwin made the observation 150 years ago that domestic animals that were kept in pens and not worked grew bigger and less healthy then their wild counterparts.
Sounds to me like he was saying we need to eat less and move more to be healthy.
Very interesting, Blaine!
But, of course, Okinawans aren’t the only culture with high longevity. There are others.
The “Blue Zones” are:
Okinawa, Japan
Sardinia, Italy
Loma Linda, California (7th Day Adventists)
Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica (Hey, they’re short, too! But also eat lots of rice, beans and maize)
Icaria, Greece
Funny, the one thing they all eat is legumes.
Every single “blue zone” area you mention has a similar climate range year round and they are all either islands, or coastal area populations. (Costa Rica is a bit hotter with more rain)
One thing is certain, none of them have snow. All have lots of sunshine and the vitamin D that goes with it.
All blue zone areas.except California have shorter than average populations but Seventh Day Adventists “Loma Linda” are less likely to drink alcohol, smoke, do drugs and consume caffeine which includes most sodas and the sugar that goes with it. Sodas are the number one source of sugar and excess calories in the American Diet.
SDAs encourage exercise and are also less likely to engage in many other risky behaviors of the general population.
Many SDAs are lacto-ovo vegetarian which is a whole lot better diet than the SAD diet.
I am not saying it’s not legumes that are responsible for the blue zones but there are certainly other potential reasons for the longevity found in these areas.
You will notice on the Seventh Day Adventist Ven diagram to promote their vegetarian, “plant based” diet that population height, climate and proximity to the sea are all left off.
Why would they want to include these other commonalities that could distract from their agenda and the conclusions they want people draw.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone#mediaviewer/File:Vendiagram.gif
I’m not saying it’s a deliberate oversight but if I can see other similarities in Blue Zones, you wonder why they couldn’t.
As far as I can tell the Seventh Day Adventists are the only vegetarians in the blue zones and none are vegan.
Both Okinawans and Costa Ricans consume a lot of lard, other wise known as pig fat, which I suspect isn’t something SDAs want to talk about.
.
Again, very interesting! I’m aware of the SDA biases. They fudge their data to make vegetarianism look better than it is. I get it. I know all about it. But I’m not talking about vegetarianism and don’t care about it. We need meat and fish. Let’s move on.
All I’m saying is that these cultures aren’t afraid of eating complex carbs alongside their meat/fish and they do very well on their balanced diets. You can say that they are adapted to eating complex carbs, but most People of European descent come from a very long ancestry of carb adaptation.
There isn’t any evidence, as far as I can see, of complex carbs causing diseases in the traditional cultures that ate them. If anything, they seem to thrive on them.
I’ve been diagnosed with Lipedema and have read that weight loss diets don’t work with this condition. I have been on a diet forever. Desperately need to lose weight. Got the book about diets for Apple and Pear shapes. It is suggested in the book that Pear shaped people need to eat every 3 hours and eat a diet high in complex carbohydrates. Then I got a video which said “Butter makes your Pants fall down” suggesting a diet low in carbs and high in protein and fat. The results shown were nothing short of amazing. I am totally confused. Help!! I am 67 years young and very healthy except that my weight is affecting me. Need to lose 30kg. I would appreciate any help from anyone who has this condition and has had success losing weight, particularly below the waist. Thanks in anticipation
Helene, three good starting points would be
— the “New Atkins” book edited by Dr. Eric Westman of Duke University. Scientifically mainstream and reflects the wisdom of 50 years of patient experience with low-carb. Atkins is NOT a butter/meat diet and it is not no-carb. It is about finding each person’s individual threshold for handling carbs.
— dietdoctor.com — a blog by Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt, a Swedish physician who has championed low-carb in that country. His blog is so popular around the world it is translated into other languages now. It’s a mixture of advice, discussion of the science and stories and pictures from people who have used carb restriction to lose weight and restore normal metabolic function.
— Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes — the clearest explanation there is of the insulin hypothesis, why low-carb tends to work so well for overweight people.
Westman, Eenfeldt and Taubes all have great reputations. They are all advocates for low-carb, but their writing is pretty clear about what is supported by the science and what is not.
The wheat in today’s market is a very different plant from what was around in even 1900. I saw one article that said the way wheat was altered is more drastic than GMO modification is.
Try at least reducing your consumption and notice any differences you do (or don’t) feel.
Some flexible doctors recommend elimination diets to find out who the bad and good guys are for YOU.
I laughed when I read your intro to this. And it’s so interesting how we’re all so attached to our beliefs, and how although we say the point of talking about all this is to get at the truth, we don’t always want it when it contradicts our beliefs. And it’s so interesting the way really this is about beliefs and not truth or science. It’s almost political. And we want a label, we want to belong to a group! No wonder “Paleo” has taken off – really it’s not that different from Weston Price’s ideas, or Atkins’ but for lots of reasons it’s taken off and it’s cool. And it’s great – but, as you say, there is a risk of ending up as insular as the vegetarians. Great article!
One of the biggest challenges with untangling from the Debate and moving into Self Experimentation…is the way our human brains (don’t) deal (well) with delayed response.
I mean, obviously, if eating a candy bar threw a person into anaphylactic shock, they wouldn’t eat it any more. But we’re talking here about responses to diet that can take years or decades to manifest…so when we try any new Diet, it’s easy to focus on the short-term effects, and very difficult to figure out what is going on, metabolically, and what _might_ happen, if we continue on a particular path.
What I’m trying to say is: even if a diet is or isn’t good for us, it’s sometimes hard to tell.
When my son was six, and suffering from worsening symptoms of anorexia and autism-spectrum-disorder, we were eating a Whole Foods Vegetarian Diet. I am certain that our switch to a low-carb, GAPS-type diet was very important to his survival, and incredibly increased health…OVER TIME (the next two years). In the short term, he reacted horribly, and was really, really sick. By the time he started getting healthy, it was easy for me to get stuck on the idea that he would “need” to eat this way forever, in order to get more and more healthy. (I was thinking this way even despite what Natasha Campbell-Mcbride, who originated the GAPS protocol, says about GAPS being a short-term, gut-healing protocol: http://chriskresser.com/7-things-everyone-should-know-about-low-carb-diets ).
Over the past nine months, we have been transitioning to a much higher-starch, “PHD”-style diet, with an emphasis on resistant starch: http://www.lifeisapalindrome.com/updates/thinking-about-gaps-resistant-starch-and-beyond . This is a very good thing, at this point, I think. I _don’t_ think we could have eaten this way at the beginning of my son’s healing path, although I think that if I hadn’t been so wrapped up in his challenges, I should have switched up my own diet sooner. (VLC was initially super helpful for my hormonal issues…but then I experienced some horrific mood issues, possibly as a result.)
Anyway…the journey continues. Adding more starch has helped a whole lot of things, and it has also uncovered new challenges. When I am playing scientist, I am fascinated and interested and want to read and read and understand and experiment. When I am feeling like an exhausted mama-of-three…I just wanna have us all feeling good, all at the same time, for once!! At these latter moments, popping a Perfect Human Diet Pill sure sounds appealing…
Thanks so much, Chris and Laura, for these food-for-thought articles. I really appreciate them, and all the comments.
Regards,
Sarabeth
Sorry, the correct link for Dr. Natasha’s article is: http://www.doctor-natasha.com/one-mans-meat-another-mans-poison.php