Low Carb Diet & eat more fat makes perfect sense

After snubbing the advice to eat a low fat diet for most of my life I was surprised and happy to see this excellent documentary by Dr Maryanne Demasi for Catalyst (ABC). I've always been a believer in eating fats in our diet such as leaving the fat on a steak, butter, avocados, nuts, etc and this episode vindicates me

Unfortunately, the video seems to have been taken down or something because I can't seem to play it? Anyway, the link below gives an amended transcript of the show and if you didn't see the video I highly recommend reading LOW CARB DIET: FAT OR FICTION if you're interested in weight loss and body mechanics.

Basically, the show turns the "food pyramid" (most of us grew up learning) upside down and instead of eating more breads and grains we should be eating more fat and hardly any carbs! It's to do with how the body actually processes the food and scientists have now found proof through studies showing most people metabolise fats much easier than carbs/sugars and a diet high in fat and low in carb can not only help people to lose weight but it makes them healthier and gives them more energy for longer.

For example, they have found big improvements in elite athletes performances who go on a low carb diet high in fats after being on a conventional low fat diet.

The other myth that has recently been debunked, is the risk of heart disease from eating saturated fats apparently that's all bull!

I remember my Grandfather's diet and he ate whole foods with plenty of fat and lard on bread (drippings). He lived to 91 and it wasn't his heart that took him in the end.

So the new recommendation now for a healthy diet is to ditch the pyramid, eat lots of fats, protein, and greens but drastically reduce breads, pastas, rice, sugar, and processed foods. Sounds like common sense to me!
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4126228.htm

 

I must admit omitting all bread will be impossible for me to do but I am going to limit my carbs more in the future.

My mother and mother in-law both suffer issues stemming from food intolerances like wheat etc. Obviously, some people have more tolerance to carbs than others but limiting carbs even for those people could be beneficial particularly as we get older.

I used to be a real pro bread guy, however, as much as I love it my support for this biblical iconic food is waning...

 

Unfortunately yes

What we are going to do over the next few months is not totally cut out all carbs but just eat less of them and see if we notice any changes to our overall health. This way of eating (not a diet imo) allows for the eating of most vegetables and salads. The only things it says to really limit is the high density carbs and processed foods like: rice, potatoes, breads, pastries, breakfast cereals, and sugar treats/drinks, etc.

As a matter of course, I'm used to having a high density carb with every meal as a side (and usually lots of it) so from now on I'm going to concentrate on proteins and fats with fresh whole foods. For example, instead of 2 eggs on two pieces of toast I'll have 3 eggs with bacon and no toast (or one piece of bread max - but probably none if I can help myself).

 

That's exactly right - except for the toast bit...

This is about my 7th day without bread, potatoes, or rice and I must say I feel pretty good - great actually! My wife has lost 2 kilos in a week just by eating less carbs.

I've always been a bread advocate see my bread defence article but I'm starting to feel a little sheepish about promoting carbs like bread because now I think we eat far too much of it in particular. On a standard day, I'll have toast at breakfast followed by a sandwich at lunch and a few dinner rolls at... dinner. On top of that, I'll usually eat a bowl of cereal a day and potatoes or rice are always a dominant side for at least one meal and sometimes two if I go out for lunch. Couple that, with a few sugars in a brew, a few biscuits, etc and that's a hell of a lot of carbs! The body doesn't see any of those foods as "different" it treats them all as sugar and breaks them down the same way.

The human body apparently is not designed to break down large quantities of carbs continuously all day and new research is showing that the body is far more adept at breaking down and using fats than sugars. It was that Catalyst show which tipped it for me because I was already thinking about limiting my carbs before I saw the show; although, I didn't expect they would be promoting eating more fat! That was surprise but it's making sense to me now.

Having said all that, I'm not going this whole Xmas without bread and sweets... we're just cutting back on carbs not totally abstaining from them and we'll see how we feel in a few months. But, the early signs are impressive both my wife and I are feeling less sluggish, stronger, and less hungry in just a week - we've also bot lost weight. I've been eating more meat, more fat, bacon, eggs, avos, expensive cheeses, yogurt (sugar free), cream, real butter, expensive nuts, and just salads and veggies (mostly green) so I haven't felt like I've been missing out at all

Let's see how we go... I'll keep this thread updated on our low carb experiment.

 

My wife and I have a European background with a strong Italian and Spanish undertones so we have always been bread dippers and pasta eaters. What's worse is my love for Asian food and fried rice etc. In my 20's I was a super fit young soldier - there was a time when I ate nothing but tuna and steamed rice almost everyday for lunch so it was probably the tuna not the rice that made any difference LOL

Asian food minus the rice ie beef stir fry with fresh vegetables is probably one of the best foods to eat for someone trying to cut down on their carbohydrates.

For breakfast this morning I had bacon and freshly laid eggs... I didn't miss the bread for the first time. It's probably because I realise I don't need bread to make me feel full now.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not shying away from the dilemma... Simple carbs go great with so many meals, what's spaghetti bog without the pasta? Tomato mince... And carbs are really necessary for endless reasons. Potatoes, rice, and maize have saved the world from starvation so I'm not advocating banning these foods or anything.

What I'm trying to do is find out more about me. Why is it, regardless of all the exercise and active lifestyle I lead with all the healthy food I grow and eat, do I still have a slight podge and feel a little ordinary? If I'm honest with myself, I think it comes down to my access to cheap and easy carbs - I (and Nina) just eat way too much simple carbohydrates! Some Sherpa in the Himalayas with a handful of meat may need a bucket of rice a day to sustain him and his lifestyle; however, Mark sitting on his PC here probably doesn't need any rice (only the handful of meat).

But even in that example, scientists are now saying that Sherpa would be better off eating more meat and a heap of lard than the rice at all because his body would use the fats more efficiently so he would would have more energy over a longer period to do his job. However, we all know how limited and expensive protein is so it's just not practical to expect everyone to follow a low carb way of eating.

 

Finding it hard to give up bread ☺

But, the low carb way of eating is going well apart from the obvious lapses one has over the holidays.

I have decided to keep eating breads (I love it too much) but just not as much as I used to. However, I'm not missing pasta, rice, or potatoes near as much and although it's early days I'm feeling like limiting my carbs is improving my health.

I've only lost a few kilos since starting the low carb diet and my wife has lost about 7 kgs which she is wrapped about! The difference between my wife and I has been the amount of exercise - she has exercised more than me over the past 8 weeks and I think that's why shes making better gains in burning the fat off.

I intend to get into more exercise soon.

 

Yeah true I suppose. It's harder than I thought to cut back on bread but as long as I don't exclude it altogether I think I can cope.

Yes I'll pass your congrats on cheers

 

That's very interesting! I can't say I have experimented much (if at all with spelt) so this is something else I will be looking into now also.

I do agree we have to be careful how much we refine our food before consumption and be very wary of genetically altered foods. If genetically altering changes the molecular structure meaning it changes the way our body absorbs them then that rings alarm bells for me. Scientific improvements in growing quality of produce should never mean creating a totally new food - if you know what I mean... Especially without lots of testing before release similar to pharmaceuticals.

Back to the low carbs though, my wife has now lost 10 kg and this is partly due to eating less bread, cereals, and sugar so I/we believe not over indulging in those high carb foods is the key. This doesn't mean NEVER eating bread or pasta or rice or giving up a sugar in coffee or refraining from a the odd soft drink - just limiting it and being aware not to make a habit of eating high carb foods daily and in every meal. She also exercises daily now (well most days) and this has also helped make a significant change to her health and body shape.

It has been proven purple vegetables are high in special chemical antioxidants and thus very good and healthy to eat. It's possible eating purple vegetables could help weight loss for the same reasons bearded1 was talking about spelt because many purple vegetables are old heirloom unmodified ancient produce which is probably better absorbed by us and in turn less likely to make us ill or trigger weight gain. Having said that, I am not aware of any scientific proof showing eating purple vegetables directly helps weight loss.

 

So are you saying it's common practice to spray wheat with weed killer before harvest? If that's correct, I'd like to see a package label stating it (maybe next to the heart foundation tick)

One reason we grow our own mangoes is because of the dipping in pesticides and fungicides after picking of commercial ones - not for me...

I'd be interested to know the difference in carb makeup and a scientific analysis of how the body uses homemade spelt pasta vs standard wheat pasta - that would also be a great article to write!

Actually, I'd like to see a separate thread discussing pasta made with spelt and perhaps a quick recipe (if you could spare the time)...

 

I have moved the discussion about Roundup to its own thread glyphosate herbicide or Roundup causes cancer please discuss that part over there and continue the low carb discussion here...