LCHF - Low Carb High Fat Diet Ver 2

[jcza]

Remember the confusion with Woolworth's Mackerel? I sent them a mail and got the following response.

I still can't figure out how they managed to get so many carbs in the mackerel - is it possible that it's farmed not wild and fed grain / pellets / etc? would that make a difference?

Every other source I can find lists Mackerel carbs at 0-2 carbs per 100g.

 

Guess I'll just have to stick to prawns and salmon

 

 

 

 

Thank you for bringing your concern regarding the Lightly Smoked Mackerel to our attention. Responding to customer needs is Woolworths' first priority, and we appreciate it when customers take the trouble to let us know their needs or concerns.

 

You may be assured that your comments have discussed with our technologist who has informed me that the nutri results from the lab were drawn and double checked. We use SANAS accredited labs and the nutri on this report was in fact 16g/100g which is in fact what is on the packaging.

 

We wash the fish in a light salt and water brine and then smoke it with a light smoke cycle with real oak chips, so we do not add anything during the smoking process.

 

If we can be of assistance to you in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us as follows, call us on 0860 022 002, email custserv@woolworths.co.za or contact us online www.woolworths.co.za.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

I received the same reply, makes me wonder about their mackerel....

[Stefan Cremer]

nice! One question though, do you have enough energy since you are replacing carbs with protein and not fat? Protein isn't a good source of energy

Sure do, I haven't had issues with energy since the change. Although you must remember that the change was noting major, just cutting back on the carbs (not eliminating it) and increasing the protein intake.

[Stefan Cremer]

Hi Stefan,

 

Congrats - it's always lekker when a change results in positive outcome.

My knowledge of spastic colon is limited, but iirc, its very similar to irritable bowel syndrome. Perhaps do a search for LCHF and IBS, I remember reading about treatment of ibs using LCHF - just cant remember where I read it. Also at a talk by Noakes he stated that leaky gut syndrome can be very effectively cured by LCHF and ensuring that you dont take antibiotics.

 

Edit: typo.

Hi Dale

It is indeed quite rewarding! IBS is probably a better description, I will have to read up on it and LCHF combined. Can't see that it would be a successful effort, as I have it quite bad...

[Wet Ears]

I am busy reading Atkins and see they measure Carb intake by means of a "Net Carb" system which is basically Total Carbs less the Dietary Fibre (as fibre is not as fast acting as Carbs).

 

What are your guys/girls views on this? I am taking the more conservative approach and using Total Carb value. I suppose however that this is how they get people to stay under 20g in the Induction Phase.

[Snytjie]

In the spirit of our n=1 experiment reporting on the lost thread, here follows mine as to help kick-off the current one. Excuse the length: I gave the full Monty for the odd chance that it will contribute to a more integrated understanding of the LCHF diet and exercise.

 

Background: My experiences with sport throughout my life led me to believe that I had very little athletic ability. I never had any speed nor was I able to build any meaningful level of endurance. I now know that these experiences were mediated by i) my own ignorance of proper training methods, ii) the ignorance of most sport coaches during my school career, and iii) the way in which sport was practised in those days. I know it now because, after realising in January of 2012 that I have to do something about my fitness if I wish to maintain a good quality of life, I researched proper training methods and went for a number of assessments and lessons by skilled persons. This provided me with more adequate perspectives. It resulted in me starting to train for triathlon in April 2012. To date I’ve done two sprint distance races followed by two Olympic distance races. I’m currently training for the 70.3 distance and will hopefully do a four event series of these from December 2013 - April 2014. I do not wish to race anyone but myself, so I am focussed on finishing comfortably (6-6.5 hours for the 70.3) rather than breaking myself to pieces on race day. If I survive the series with body, mind and marriage intact I will explore the possibility of doing the Ironman in 2015.

 

Starting operation ‘Get in Shape’ in 2012 included changing my diet. A dietician provided a balanced diet plan consisting 43% low-GI Carb, 36% Fat and 21% Protein. I am 1.83m, weighed 101kg and was 15kg overweight. I have hereditary cholesterol and when my total level was 8.6 in 2010 I started taking 40mg Aspavor. Late 2011 my total cholesterol levelled at around 5, and I reduced dosage to 10mg.

 

Coupled with increasing exercise levels, I brought my weight down to 90kg by July when I reached a plato. In August 2012 I did a triathlon- specific evaluation at Velocity Sports Lab in Hout Bay. My BMI was still 26 with 22.6% body fat. I was not happy with the plato in weight loss, but despite already knowing about LCHF decided to give my current regime more time.

 

When my weight and body fat % was still stable by November, I lost faith in my diet and changed to LCHF. An additional contributing factor to me changing was that I started to follow Phil Maffetone’s training regime which focusses on aerobic base building to enhance your body’s ability to burn fat for fuel during endurance sport. It made sense to align my diet to that which I tried to attain in training. I initially misunderstood the concept and was really on a high-protein low-carb diet for two months before the LCHF thread here on The Hub got me on the right track.

 

Currently: I’ve been on LCHF for five/seven months depending on how you see the high protein part. I lost another 4kg and weigh 86kg. The apparatus at Virgin measures my body fat at 18%. When I went onto proper LCHF, my diet consisted of 10% Carb, 20% Protein and 70% Fat. I stopped using MyFitnessPal after two months as I thought I got the hang of it. And with logging food, reading The Hub, training and family life I couldn’t justify my salary with a clear conscience. So I dropped logging food. Blood work last week showed everything in good order with total cholesterol at 5 dead, LDL at 2.9 (should be <3.0) and HDL at 1.6 (should be >1.00). I’m in an arm wrestle with my (very good) GP about ceasing statins for a few months. During my last week of training I swam 5km, cycled 155km and ran 32km (all aerobic threshold intensity) which sees me well on track to handle the planned races from December forward. I’m happy.

 

A few perspectives resulting from my experience:

 

1. I have never measured my Ketone levels. I’ve never had enough motivation to buy a blood meter, and I do not want to confuse myself with Ketostix whose readings can be inconclusive. I changed slowly and as long as all feels good and there is no loss in endurance level I’m content. I have to be burning fat effectively because I wouldn’t be able to handle the volumes of training otherwise. I’ve never bonked, and can do without experiencing it.

 

2. I never experienced any carb flu, loss of energy or change in training capability following the start of LCHF. I attribute it to the Maffetone method already enhancing my body’s ability to burn fat before starting LCHF. I think the easy route to LCHF is exercise first followed by diet change.

 

3. I’m not absolutely against significant carb intake. What matters for me, is the effect of significant carb intake. Obviously, when sedentary, the effect of significant carb intake will be negative and will propel me back into inefficient fat burning and ill health. However, I’m not convinced that, for example, Tim Noakes’ endeavour to see how far you can push endurance without using carbs is applicable to the majority of people. Endurance sport puts a major strain on my body. In addition to high volumes of fat burning my body needs carbs/glycogen to function during such sports. My body needs more of it than what can be stored in my glycogen stores. Noakes and others like Peter Attia is busy researching whether your body can provide enough glycogen through gluconeogenesis to satisfy this demand, and it seems that it is possible. I don’t like it though. I am not comfortable to use an ‘emergency’ bodily function when I can meet that need by eating carbs during exercise. As long as I’m happy that my training and diet maintains my body’s ability to burn fat effectively, I’ll rather provide the glucose to it in an easy way when the going gets tough. There is not enough motivation for me to see how long/far I can go on water alone. I take in 200-300 kcal of carbs per hour of exercise from the second hour onwards. It leaves a deficit of 700-800kcal which will be made up mostly by fat burning. In addition to this, I’ve tried to up fat and protein levels in my immediate post-exercise recovery nutrition while cutting the carbs. It is not as effective as providing a 2-3:1 ration of carbs to protein. Doing the latter sees me recover much quicker. I do concede that certain individuals have a more serious health status than me and that there is motivation for them to keep carb intake to minimum.

 

4. I think one should ease into the LCHF diet. I’ve seen a few family members regressing to high carb diets because they experience or perceive a sudden loss of quality of life when changing to LCHF. When you like cooking for example and have developed a certain taste over decades, I would not recommend changing quickly. Easy does it. We should not give in to the modern world’s assertions that there is a quick-fix solution for everything.

 

Phew! Verbal diarrhoea comes to mind. Anyway, thank you to all contributors on the LCHF discussion on The Hub. Your inputs have helped a lot of us and will continue to do so in the future.

[htone]

I am busy reading Atkins and see they measure Carb intake by means of a "Net Carb" system which is basically Total Carbs less the Dietary Fibre (as fibre is not as fast acting as Carbs).

 

What are your guys/girls views on this? I am taking the more conservative approach and using Total Carb value. I suppose however that this is how they get people to stay under 20g in the Induction Phase.

For me a carb is a carb is a carb...

But then again, I drink fat for breakfast, so what do I know ?

Spare yourself the trouble, just count total carbs !

[Wet Ears]

My copy of Phinney & Volek arrived today - chuffed!

[tombeej]

Interesting how our views might differ so fundamentally once in a while.

 

For me, carbs are definitely not all just carbs. There are endless numbers of terrible carbs, but also many excellent ones. 30g of carbs from super low GI green veges, seeds, nuts and fruit like grapefruit and apples cannot be likened to 30g of carbs from a caramel fudge cake.

 

I also have a problem with those who say GL (glycemic load) is a better measure than GI because it measures a foods GI combined with actual grams of carbs in the serving. My favourite example is watermelon vs. apple. Watermelon has a stratospheric GI, but has a lower GL than a similar serving of apple because it has very low grams of carbs in a serving. So I've seen LCHF sites recommend watermelon as a great low carb fruit. Bollocks! May as well pour a couple tablespoons of sugar down your throat, or eat a doughnut. It will produce the same huge spike in blood sugar levels.

 

The right carbs (for me): low Gi as possible, real, whole, raw as possible... and nutrient dense.

 

So if someone is following the strict/extreme version of LCHF and eating like 30g of carbs per day, go back to that pic of htone's with the comparison between a bun and the real thing. You cannot afford to have the attitude of "Ok, I drank x number of beers, which equals my carb limit for today". Those are dead carbs with zero nutritional value. Same with bread. Worthless. If this a decision for life, then surely you shouldn't be settling for anything less than the most nutritent dense, real, wholesome carbs possible.

[tombeej]

Can someone re-post htone's picture of the bun comparison again? It's just too important .

[DaleE]

Roasted & Salted Nuts vs Plain.

Is there any reason you should not be eating the former on this diet as I much prefer roasted and salted to plain and the carb and fat content seem similar.

 

The issue with roasted is that generally nuts are roasted with a hydrogenated oil, not dry roasted. It's the oil that is a problem. Have a look at roasted and salted nuts ... the salt only sticks to the nuts if there's oil around

As Htone said, Dry roast them yourself and you're good to go.

[Wet Ears]

Thanks DaleE, point noted!

 

It's answers like these that make me so bleak we lost the original thread, so much valuable info. I do have it saved in Word format but still not the same.

 

Anyway, onwards and upwards - this LCHF version 2 thread is on it's way to matching its predecessor!!

Edited May 24, 2013 by Wet Ears

[tombeej]

I roast my own macs and almonds. Nuts into a bowl, then I pour avo oil into my hands and then stir/mix the nuts with my hands until they just enough oil to have a bit of a sheen (surprisingly little oil is needed). Then spread onto a baking tray and under the grill (I pull a chair up to the oven and leave the oven door open so that I can watch. I shake the pan once or twice to give them an all-round tan.

 

Once roasted, I use fine grain table salt (has a better chance of sticking to the nuts).

 

Careful of nuts. I only eat them on heavy training days and use only high fat macs, almonds and maybe walnuts.

[DaleE]

I roast my own macs and almonds......

 

Careful of nuts. I only eat them on heavy training days and use only high fat macs, almonds and maybe walnuts.

 

Thanks for the roasting ideas - getting hungry already.

Also try brazil and pecans - both high in fat and low in carbs.

 

Interestingly, the lowest carb count I have found on any nuts are Woolworths Macadamias Roasted and Salted. 7g carb, 80g fat per 100g .... Their raw macadamias are 15g carbs, 67g fat, so either some carbs get destroyed in the roasting process ....

.... or they have got another label wrong

[MrJacques]

30g of carbs in 2 ways...

http://www.kostdoktorn.se/wp-content/2013/04/301.jpg

 

http://www.dietdoctor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/cool-infographic-fat-food-carbs.jpg

[P.A.K.]

Where do you guys buy fresh berries (raspberries and blueberries)?

[P.A.K.]

Some bad rep on our diet:

 

In theory, low-carb diets sound like a great way to lose weight. One study found a low-fat, low-carb, high-protein diet to be as effective for weight loss as a low-fat, high-carb, low-protein diet. Both diets also lowered blood cholesterol and insulin, but the patients on the low-carb diet reported less hunger and more satisfaction.

 

It is important to note, however, that the diet in this study differed from the popular Atkins, which is high in fat. But another study which compared an Atkins-style diet to a low-calorie, low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet found that subjects on the Atkins-style plan initially lost more weight and had a greater increase in HDL or "good" cholesterol than those on the high-carb plan. After one year, however, weight loss for both groups was similar, and subjects on both diets were equally likely to drop out.

 

But while being able to eat all the steak, butter, and eggs you want and still lose weight may sound like a great plan, there is a downside: A diet that's rich in meat and high in fat can take a toll on your health.

 

One recent study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggested that eating lots of red meat over a prolonged period is associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer. Because of the increased strain so much meat puts on your kidneys, low-carb diets can also increase your risk of kidney stones and may deplete your calcium levels, putting you at risk for osteoporosis. You may also be at increased risk of developing gout.

 

And while the Atkins diet was shown to raise HDL levels in the short term, so far there is no research on how this diet - which is high in cholesterol-promoting saturated fat - affects heart health in the long term. As well, because this diet cuts out so many foods that provide vital nutrients - things like whole grains, fruits and veggies - it's important to think about the long-term effect this could have on your ability to fight other diseases.

 

Edit: http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_health_features_details.asp?health_feature_id=159&article_id=494&channel_id=159&relation_id=2345

Edited May 24, 2013 by P.A.K.