Keto Lifestyle

[RoamerRV428]

thing is sugar really is poison to the body, add in a ton of life troubles, like chemical air pollution, noise pollution (yes it effects our bodies to the negative, lol) and smoke/drink/processed chem food and then you UP the whole anti with tons of sugar. Poison for sure. I like to see it like that so when I want to eat a 1/2 gallon of my fav choc. ice cream I know it is the wrong thing to do for health HAHA

Fiber is not needed by your body actually. Tons of true zero carbers are living the lifestyle and never eat fiber. Protein only. Over 10-15 years of no veg. etc. in their menu. Animal kingdom foods only. In fact the digestion is so thankful cause it doesn't need 'scraping/cleansing' anything sitting in the digestive track like junk does. Protein is one of the most efficient used by the body and leaves very little waste. Fiber is required to help move all the junk from the body when eating the junk then it helps ya, but if not eating anything but protein and fat, nope, fiber is not ever needed. Is it eaten back in the cavemen times, sure, if seasonal fruit was in it was something to eat if the kill wasn't happening. Now our food system is so off nature. Will never be right again. So one has to navigate thru it all best one can I guess

to me there is no such thing as a net carb LOL I go by total carbs. To me a carb is a carb is a carb and I just leave it at that.

 

[Dingfelder]

(And...even though not low carb, anyone else remember when granola used to be in health food stores? Now it's all chemicals and candy. Would not feed that crap to the hogs.)

I fell for this big time.  I used to eat Nature Valley granola bars all the time after they first came out and for decades after.  They are very dry and hard, but I figured granola was supposed to be very good for you, so I was doing my body a favor.  And they are small, easy to transport, and don't really spoil, so I could always find room for one or two in even a super-crowded bookbag or wherever.  Well, turns out I much later read that their sugar content is as high as any candy bar.  D'oh!

Same thing with raisin bran cereal, which I thought was healthy stuff.  It's got bran, right?  And raisins, a "superfood."  Turns out it is one of the most highly sugared cereals on the market.  Those raisins are coated with it.  Probably corn syrup now, but whatever.

Anyway, I've definitely been taken in by the healthy grain and the healthy idea of the moment (or half century).

 

[badmotorscooter]

I'm certainly no expert on keto. But I believe the human body was designed
to burn energy both from carbs and fat. Yes, ketogenesis is good, but carbs have their purpose too.

Processed sugar, high fructose syrup and table salt should all be avoided.

 

[Dingfelder]

I can eat maybe 50 to 100 carbs a day, and still stay in mild state of ketosis, 

Wow, this is very high.  I'm very new to researching and trying the keto thing, but my reading has been saying 20 to 50 grams and ideally well under 50.  
There is bound to be some discrepancy that standardized figures can't account for, I'm sure.  50 to 100 carbs or any such range must be a much different story to a 100 pound person than to a 250 pound person.  The one is two and a half times the size as the other one!

 

[Dingfelder]

I'm certainly no expert on keto.  But I believe the human body was designed
to burn energy both from carbs and fat.  Yes, ketogenesis is good, but carbs have their purpose too.  

Processed sugar, high fructose syrup and table salt should all be avoided.

I think we were designed to eat whatever we could get our hands on, and plenty of it.  Storing fat used to be a very good thing, and in active lives wasn't necessarily that easy to do, so we're made to eat plenty of everything and love doing it.

The liver can convert fat into glycogen, which then gets converted into glucose, if I recall the process correctly.  I'm new to reading about this stuff and sometimes need a brain refresh on the technicalities, so forgive me if I misstated any.  Anyway the point is that carbs can very easily and quickly supply the glucose we need, but if we never took in a single carb for the rest of our lives, we'd still be able to make all we need. So we don't really need them, unless we are not keto-adapted, in which case we can feel very low-energy and hungry without a regular supply.

It's hard and unlikely, especially for males, to burn fat as a fuel source unless a person is in ketosis.  Women are actually better at that.

Re salt, every keto proponent I've seen says it is both necessary and good.  It gives me headaches very quickly, as I tend toward high blood pressure, so I have used it sparingly since I was a kid.  But I did find a bit of it instantly made me feel better a couple weeks ago when I was in ketosis and feeling out of it.  It was like an instant miracle cure.  I think that means my electrolytes had gone out of balance, but I'm still studying up and processing how to do all this.  A lot of sources skim over or just leave out important aspects of managing a keto diet and lifestyle.

 

[Jacklelop]

I have found that like RomerRV428 I have to do Total Carbs. My limit is 25 carbs per day and they are almost always veggie carbs and carbs such as Spices and Cheese. That's what works for me. Some Days I don't eat all 25 but I feel great. My health and since of wellbeing has improved so much.

 

[badmotorscooter]

Table salt is awful. If you go on a sodium reduced diet that is bad too, even for people with high blood pressure.

Solution? Eat all of the natural sea salt you want within reason. It contains a balance of 81 minerals including sodium and especially magnesium.

 

[B and C]

Sea salt does not contain iodine which the body needs IIRC. That is why table salt has it added from what I remember. I use both table and sea salt.

 

[badmotorscooter]

Eggs, yogurt, cranberries and a lot of other foods contain varying amounts of iodine. You don't have to depend on table salt.

 

[B and C]

Well, I eat one of those on a regular basis (eggs)! I just eat everything in moderation. When I overeat is when the weight is gained.

 

[SLB_SA]

7 Dangers of Going Keto
The low-carb, high-fat plan promises quick weight loss, but health experts worry about these side effects and complications.
https://www.health.com/weight-loss/keto-diet-side-effects

 

[Dingfelder]

But what are the dangers of NOT going at least, say, low carb? With things like obesity and diabetes being among them, we need to think about opportunity cost as well as just pointing to or from whatever diet we prefer or dislike in isolation.

Lots of the stuff listed in the linked article are less than thoroughly indicative of problems. For instance, reduction of ability in high-intensity exercise MIGHT be a problem. But honestly, how many of us engage in high-intensity exercise? And the comparison -- people who are adapted to using carbohydrates, like pretty much all of us, on four days of a carb-heavy diet being measured for performance vs. people on a mere four days of a ketogenic diet -- is comparing people who are naturally adapted to people who are barely or questionably adapted. Everywhere I look, the understanding is that keto adaptation usually takes a week or so to set in, and full adaptation to using ketones for energy takes weeks after that, sometimes months. Further, people being judged while halfway in transition between the ability to use carbs and the ability to use ketones are commonly warned about the "keto flu," which might last anywhere from a few days to a week. But ... the measurement referenced was at four days, right in the middle of that keto flu period. That may or may not seem fair, but it can't be anything remotely like definitive. You're talking about measure people at their worst as an indication of the whole value of the diet or a fair discussion of its limitations.

Other things, like the difficulty of sticking to the diet, are fair to mention. But all diets are hard to stick to. Dieting itself is a very flawed idea, in that what a person really needs is to make lifestyle changes rather than step in and out of temporary diets. And keto is among the harder to get into and get used to. That doesn't make it inferior in the long term.

As with any article, it's best to read with both an open mind and a few grains of salt.

 

[RoamerRV428]

so true, there are more than 7 danger signs on a SAD menu for life

also we have to remember that people are absolute individuals. No 2 are alike in medical situations, living/environmental situations, past experiences encountered in life etc......so everyone making dietary changes will experience different issues at different times. What works one month might need tweaking to correct/balance off the good and bad changes that come from making a huge menu change in your life.

We know the basics of what life requires, protein, fat and water to survive. After that it is a very very personal issue on how one incorporates more and more foods into their life and how they want to handle 'their personal low carb' journey.

One can chat macros etc forever but what suits one will never always suit another. So finding your way into the lc world is individual, everyone needs to experiment and find what does work for them.

 

[RoamerRV428]

Jacklelop, I so hear ya. Lower the better. I allow 10-15 total carbs per day if wanted. I easily eat 0 carb days most of the time cause I feel my best there. Any food from animal sources I never count a carb, any non-animal carbs I count, like veg.

rare I eat veg but every now and then I do want some mushrooms with my steak.
Or I do want some broccoli thrown in my sautéed chicken in alfredo sauce.

also when I gravitate toward over 15 total carbs per day, I find myself wanting more food. I get hungrier instantly. If I hit into the 25-30 mark on carbs I start to want more and more like ice cream and other nasty stuff LOL When I keep the carbs in total control I don't fret over any junky foods out there.

I made a pact with myself in that if I want ice cream when the family has it, I take like 2 bites of hubby's ice cream and then a taste of the kid's ice cream. That is all I need to satisfy the fact that I gave it up. It works for me. I never disallow any foods in my life at all, I eat what I want when I want, but if an extremely low carb menu works for me and is one I thrive on, then I stay here and just know I can eat a bite of this or that when wanted, I usually never want it

 

[RoamerRV428]

over 50 carbs per day sure isn't a ketosis situation usually for many. Under 50 starts keto for most and many need to stay near the 20-30 range to get into any real deep ketosis.

plus bopping up and down, in and out of keto is kinda useless. Your body doesn't ever get the long term effects of staying in deep ketosis. Great benefits come with staying in a deep keto state, benefits many never will understand if they are not achieving this. In and out of keto is just doesn't give any real benefits.

 

[jeanmarie]

Jacklelop, I so hear ya.  Lower the better.  I allow 10-15 total carbs per day if wanted.  I easily eat 0 carb days most of the time cause I feel my best there.  Any food from animal sources I never count a carb, any non-animal carbs I count, like veg.

rare I eat veg but every now and then I do want some mushrooms with my steak.
Or I do want some broccoli thrown in my sautéed chicken in alfredo sauce.

also when I gravitate toward over 15 total carbs per day, I find myself wanting more food.  I get hungrier instantly. If I hit into the 25-30 mark on carbs I start to want more and more like ice cream and other nasty stuff LOL  When I keep the carbs in total control I don't fret over any junky foods out there.  

I made a pact with myself in that if I want ice cream when the family has it, I take like 2 bites of hubby's ice cream and then a taste of the kid's ice cream.  That is all I need to satisfy the fact that I gave it up.  It works for me.  I never disallow any foods in my life at all, I eat what I want when I want, but if an extremely low carb menu works for me and is one I thrive on, then I stay here and just know I can eat a bite of this or that when wanted, I usually never want it

Oh my gosh! I am never going to lunch with you! I would have to stab you with a spoon handle when you tried to mooch my desert. My mother used to mooch off everyone's plate and I hate that. If you want ice cream, get your own.

 

[RoamerRV428]

LOL Jeanmarie.

one or 2 spoonfuls from the mega sized desserts offered in this country now isn't a real mooch to me

Thankfully my family doesn't do 'mooching' behavior. We don't hoard food as 'our own' and 'get your own', happily we are the type that shares with each other and not give it a second thought.

A few times the family would get ice cream flavors I hate. I would buy a small cup of ice cream I liked, take 2-3 bites and dump it in the garbage....omgosh I hated when I threw money straight into the garbage. I don't do that much anymore, I can't take throwing hard earned money into the garbage. Between ice cream and money I opt for the money, haha.

 

[badmotorscooter]

This is my humble opinion and of course it could be wrong.

I believe switching in and out of ketosis is a good thing. Everything in moderation, staying in deep ketosis all the time is not what the classic hunter/gatherer human does. Modern humans in developed countries fuel their bodies consistently from carbs and rarely if ever switch to ketosis mode, that's very bad.

I think leaving out fruits and vegetables for the sake of not eating carbs is going to potentially cause some unhealthy deficiencies.

 

[badmotorscooter]

I forgot to add there are two ways to enter ketosis, both from depleting your bodies store of carbs.

Not eating many carbs to begin with is one way.

Or staying physically active to burn up all the carbs and enter ketosis.

I choose staying physically active and can switch to ketosis at will. It's simple math for me and I use a similar formula to control my weight.

 

[Jacklelop]

Yes RoamerRV428 I agree fully with you. This lifestyle is an individual choice based on what works for each individual.I have came to realize that I have a Food Addiction. If I could eat in moderation, I would not have weighed over 300 pounds. I do not risk drifting out of Ketosis. Ketosis suppresses my hunger.


For folks to understand, the dependence is not unlike alcohol or tobacco dependance. You do not eat to live, You live to eat because Food is your best friend. I had to break free from it. The Keto lifestyle has allowed me to do that. I cannot go in and out of Ketosis because I fear that it would start the dependence all over again. I'm a work in progress folks and perhaps someday I'll have it all together. Until then I have go with the knowledge that my overall health is better today than it was a year ago.