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When you're asking about low-carb diets, what are you referring to, specifically? Something similar to the Adkins diet or just simply cutting back on starchy carbs?
Weight loss is not the only reason to go low carb. My main reason is blood sugar control. I am type 2 diabetic and in my case it means the difference between serious health complications and eventually death or not. My body has broke down and cannot produce enough insulin to compensate for high levels of carbohydrates. Since carbohydrates are essentially glucose (sugar) you tell me which way I should eat? Also, it is my belief that many years or consuming excessive carbs and being sedentary could be a factor in getting diabetes. As an analogy, Asians consume large quantities of rice as we all know and I don't think there is a prevalence if diabetes among them and in fact there are very few fat Asians. The difference with them is they actually get off of their butt and are active. That is not the case with many Americans.
My understanding of Type II is that the cells are insulin resistant, not that the pancreas does not produce enough insulin. Did you have some kind of pancreatitis as a result of metabolic syndrome that damaged your pancreas so that it no longer produces adequate insulin? If this is the case, you must need to take insulin injections?
As far as the low carb diet, how long have you been doing that? What kinds of foods with carbs do you restrict?
My understanding of Type II is that the cells are insulin resistant, not that the pancreas does not produce enough insulin. Did you have some kind of pancreatitis as a result of metabolic syndrome that damaged your pancreas so that it no longer produces adequate insulin? If this is the case, you must need to take insulin injections?
As far as the low carb diet, how long have you been doing that? What kinds of foods with carbs do you restrict?
You are correct, I am also Type 2, most of us actually produce TOO MUCH insulin, but we are resistant - something has broken down in our system and we can't use it.
For myself, I am "lower carb" than I used to be but not "low carb" as many define it. I just cannot function without carbs. I try to balance it out by making sure I don't get too much at any sitting, and if I do I go right out and exercise it off. I also eat small portions of food. Yes, I have lost weight this way, and kept it off. For me being super low carb just does not work, I feel awful, can't function, etc. We are all different. I do also exercise EVERY DAY which is extremely important for both health and weight.
When you're asking about low-carb diets, what are you referring to, specifically? Something similar to the Adkins diet or just simply cutting back on starchy carbs?
I don't know. I've read a lot of people posting here promoting low carb eating. Maybe they can explain what that means. I'm guessing it means the dietary carbohydrate is kept under a certain percentage of the total intake.
You are correct, I am also Type 2, most of us actually produce TOO MUCH insulin, but we are resistant - something has broken down in our system and we can't use it.
For myself, I am "lower carb" than I used to be but not "low carb" as many define it. I just cannot function without carbs. I try to balance it out by making sure I don't get too much at any sitting, and if I do I go right out and exercise it off. I also eat small portions of food. Yes, I have lost weight this way, and kept it off. For me being super low carb just does not work, I feel awful, can't function, etc. We are all different. I do also exercise EVERY DAY which is extremely important for both health and weight.
How long have you been doing this? What do you mean by lower carb? Can you give an example of what a daily diet intake might consist of?
What do you use this approach for with your personal eating plan? How often do you use it?
Depends. I used a cyclical (5 days on, 2 off) low carb approach in 2009. It worked well, but knowing what I know now it wasn't the ideal approach for my situation.
I used Lyle McDonald's Rapid Fat Loss Handbook to take off a very significant amount of weight in 2011-2012 and then once more for a shorter period of time last year to take off some weight I had put back on.
My understanding of Type II is that the cells are insulin resistant, not that the pancreas does not produce enough insulin. Did you have some kind of pancreatitis as a result of metabolic syndrome that damaged your pancreas so that it no longer produces adequate insulin? If this is the case, you must need to take insulin injections?
As far as the low carb diet, how long have you been doing that? What kinds of foods with carbs do you restrict?
It is not that simple. My problem is both insulin resistance and my pancreas does not produce enough. It can be induced to do so with medication. So basically I am on two different types of medications. I won't go into too much detail.
Metformin (Biguanide) These types of medicines are used to treat insulin resistance
Glimepiride (Sulfonylurea) This acts by increasing insulin release from the beta cells in the pancreas
The Metformin by itself will not lower my blood sugar enough. I need the second one to do the job
The low carb diet has helped me tremendously with my insulin resistance. I am on a much lower dose of medicine as a result.
I've been on low carb for about 1 1/2 years now.
Specifically my diet is the LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) diet. It substitutes fat for carbs (and no you do not get fat from it). It is NOT high protein like Atkins. Protein will also raise your blood sugar although more slowly than carbs. The ratio I shoot for is 85%, 10%, 5% (Fat, Protein, Carbohydrate calories) although it does not always work out that way.
Also when I say fats I mean healthy fats such as fish, nuts, avocado, dairy (I can tolerate it well) and yes some meats. I have switched to using only olive and coconut oils. Sometimes it is a bit more protein and less fat. As for the amount of carbs per day I would say I am moderate on the following scale and maybe more liberal on the weekends but I try NOT to cheat. I do not feel tired in the least and I try to exercise as often as I can.
Strict LCHF <20 gram carbs per day
Moderate LCHF 20-50 grams per day
Liberal LCHF 50-100 grams per day
The most common mistake that most low carb dieters make is going low carb AND low fat. You cannot do that and maintain adequate energy levels. Calories do not matter and neither does exercise as long as you limit the carbs. I exercise for overall health but it does nothing for weight loss.
It is not that simple. My problem is both insulin resistance and my pancreas does not produce enough. It can be induced to do so with medication. So basically I am on two different types of medications. I won't go into too much detail.
Metformin (Biguanide) These types of medicines are used to treat insulin resistance
Glimepiride (Sulfonylurea) This acts by increasing insulin release from the beta cells in the pancreas
The Metformin by itself will not lower my blood sugar enough. I need the second one to do the job
The low carb diet has helped me tremendously with my insulin resistance. I am on a much lower dose of medicine as a result.
I've been on low carb for about 1 1/2 years now.
Specifically my diet is the LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) diet. It substitutes fat for carbs (and no you do not get fat from it). It is NOT high protein like Atkins. Protein will also raise your blood sugar although more slowly than carbs. The ratio I shoot for is 85%, 10%, 5% (Fat, Protein, Carbohydrate calories) although it does not always work out that way.
Also when I say fats I mean healthy fats such as fish, nuts, avocado, dairy (I can tolerate it well) and yes some meats. I have switched to using only olive and coconut oils. Sometimes it is a bit more protein and less fat. As for the amount of carbs per day I would say I am moderate on the following scale and maybe more liberal on the weekends but I try NOT to cheat. I do not feel tired in the least and I try to exercise as often as I can.
Strict LCHF <20 gram carbs per day
Moderate LCHF 20-50 grams per day
Liberal LCHF 50-100 grams per day
The most common mistake that most low carb dieters make is going low carb AND low fat. You cannot do that and maintain adequate energy levels. Calories do not matter and neither does exercise as long as you limit the carbs. I exercise for overall health but it does nothing for weight loss.
Interesting. What are your blood profiles like (hdl, ldl, triglycerides)?
Interesting. What are your blood profiles like (hdl, ldl, triglycerides)?
Better than they have ever been. My trigs were close to 400 at one point before the diet. Last test they were 124. My total cholesterol was 144. It's was the carbs in combination with my diabetes that were causing my high numbers and here I was told it to cut out red meats, high fats etc. The same old story we've been hearing for decades now as you might well know. The same old low-fat nonsense over and over. It never did any good for me to do low fat. Not only that, many low-fat products are actually worse for you than the full fat. Take for example yogurt. Low or Non fat yogurt has no health benefits and most varieties are full of sugar. By the way, if I kept listening to the doctors I would be in worse shape now than before. To tell you the truth my regular doctor (GP) never gave me any advice on diet. I did this on my own after doing a lot of research. The medications were not working very well any more and my next step was to go on insulin. The medications have their limits and I was quickly reaching them with my old diet.
OP, I got very good weight-loss results on a low-carb diet (which included a gym exercise program as an essential part of the package, to build lean muscle mass) after prolonged illness and weight gain from that. I've kept the weight off because the program I did included thorough info on how to keep the weight off, i.e. a dietary plan for life, which was a modified version of the low-carb, higher-protein diet. You gradually add carbs back in after you've attained your weight goal, but you do have to remain on a modified version of the diet the rest of your life. Some dieters regard that as a down side, so they choose not to go the low-carb route.
In my case, low-carb is appropriate for me, because it keeps blood sugar stable. As a thyroid patient, I'm more prone to pre-diabetes, so that was one reason the doctor recommended this type of diet. There were other reasons as well, that don't relate to the usual concerns you list in your OP (cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.). My triglycerides have always been low, cholesterol has always been too high, but that fell into normal range after I found the correct thyroid remedy. So my case is a little different from the norm.
Most low-carb diets cut carbs back to a tiny minimum, and increase protein intake. They vary in exactly how they do that; the South Beach Diet, as far as I can tell, introduces a 2-week crash program to get some quick momentum going, then adjusts after that, for example. But the principle is the same in all of them.
I've found that endocrinologists support the low-carb diet, especially for diabetic and pre-diabetic patients, because it controls insulin. Excess carbs provoke insulin, and that not only leads to insulin resistance, it also tends to cause the body to produce and retain excess fat. A low-carb higher-protein diet also keeps stress hormones stable, which is important for keeping blood sugar under control.
I hope this answers some of your questions.
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