"Life Without Bread"

I wanted to bring up potassium supplementation. I thought I'd read about it in this thread, but I'm also wondering if I'm remembering this from doing the Atkins Diet a few years ago. When you're on a low carb diet, it can be important to supplement with potassium, because it becomes depleted in the changeover to lower carb ingestion.

I'm having bad spasms in my legs and body, and thought it was due to the MS, but today as an experiment, I took 50mg of potassium with breakfast instead of a muscle relaxer. The result was amazing! The spasms gradually faded, and I felt much much better!

If you're having problems like this, start with a lower dose than I did....my case is not 'the norm'.

Nimue said:

Hi,

I´ve reduced my carbohydrate intake down to 25 gr = 1 bread unit per day

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No offensive, one bread unit consists out of 12 gr. of carbohydrates. ;)

Nimue said:

I wonder that a lot doctors recommend to fast regularly, but hue and cry if it comes to low carb diet( my doc included, he says low carb is ok, but ketosis is not ok !) and that you can become a ketoacidosis when you eat not enough carbs, but when you are fasting the same happens… your body build ketones to guarantee the energy supply for the brain, so for me it´s about as broad as it´s long. By now I feel very well in ketosis, and when I lost to much weight I adjust my intake of carbs up to 2 – 3 bread units (approx 70gr) per day, or I eat more fatty meat and eggs and together with the supplements and the other diet changes this works very well. I use keto stics to test the ketone bodies in the urine to have an overview.

Last thoughts: In my case I feel very well with very low carbs, maybe others can have problems with this small amount of carbs, but when you live long enough on low carb you begin to wonder if this could be the normal condition for the body, cause you have more power, a lot of health benefits , better skin etc, and it could also be a good detox support.

Only my experience !

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Thanks, good to know and mentioning your friends tip, with switching from sugar metabolism to fat metabolism sounds also very interesting.

There is also kind of energy-food (power bars) available, which consists only out of beaf for example, which some years back I found rather strange, cause I thought energy can only be delivered via sugar.

Gimpy said:

I'm having bad spasms in my legs and body, and thought it was due to the MS, but today as an experiment, I took 50mg of potassium with breakfast instead of a muscle relaxer. The result was amazing! The spasms gradually faded, and I felt much much better!

If you're having problems like this, start with a lower dose than I did....my case is not 'the norm'.

Click to expand...

There is a section of the book devoted to muscular spasms. They recommend L-carnitine supplementation during the first few weeks if there is muscular cramping. As the body adjusts to the high protein diet, it will be able to derive all the L-carnitine from the meat.

L-carnitine is the amino acid that helps carry fat into the mitochondria, where it will be used as an energy source.

Gimpy said:

I wanted to bring up potassium supplementation. I thought I'd read about it in this thread, but I'm also wondering if I'm remembering this from doing the Atkins Diet a few years ago. When you're on a low carb diet, it can be important to supplement with potassium, because it becomes depleted in the changeover to lower carb ingestion.

Click to expand...

Now that you've mentioned the Atkins diet, I've been wondering whether we should delve into it since, at a first glance, the way we're eating seems to follow the same or similar principles.
I haven't in all honesty read much about Atkins diet, just a few bits and pieces here and there. I have been researching this subject over the last 2 days and so far the only general idea that I got was that Atkins seems to be weight loss focused, instead of having health as its primary goal, which is a bit disappointing. However, considering that most people's reason to go on a diet is probably weight loss, this might explain why most of the websites I came across emphasised this point so much.

So, what does everyone think, is it worth persuing?

Gertrudes said:

Gimpy said:

I wanted to bring up potassium supplementation. I thought I'd read about it in this thread, but I'm also wondering if I'm remembering this from doing the Atkins Diet a few years ago. When you're on a low carb diet, it can be important to supplement with potassium, because it becomes depleted in the changeover to lower carb ingestion.

Click to expand...

Now that you've mentioned the Atkins diet, I've been wondering whether we should delve into it since, at a first glance, the way we're eating seems to follow the same or similar principles.
I haven't in all honesty read much about Atkins diet, just a few bits and pieces here and there. I have been researching this subject over the last 2 days and so far the only general idea that I got was that Atkins seems to be weight loss focused, instead of having health as its primary goal, which is a bit disappointing. However, considering that most people's reason to go on a diet is probably weight loss, this might explain why most of the websites I came across emphasised this point so much.

So, what does everyone think, is it worth persuing?

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Why consider Atkins when we he didn't have a clue about gluten, dairy, and quite a few other things?

What they mention about the Atkins diet in the book seem very relevant to me. Mainly that it started very low in carbs (even lower than the 72 grams) and then it got more relaxed. That can be very dangerous for people with health problems, as it can increase the risk of thrombosis or blood clots in the body as the transition can be very stressful in an overburdened body. They recommend an easier transition for those with health problems (high blood pressure, heart problems, etc.) of 9 to 10 Bread Units (?) and then after at least 3 months, 6 Bread Units.

Life Without Bread does mention gluten, but very briefly and definitely off the mark regarding which foods contains it.

Laura said:

Why consider Atkins when we he didn't have a clue about gluten, dairy, and quite a few other things?

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Ah, good to know, thanks Laura. I wasn't aware of where the difference lied since I really don't know much about Atkins apart from low carb, high in fat and meat. Well, in a way I'm not surprised that he wouldn't have a clue about gluten and dairy, unfortunately many authors seem to often miss out on these two.
I thought of researching further to check what he had to say specifically about carbs, protein and fat. Is his research off the mark here as well?

Life without Bread is on my list already, so I'll read that one for sure.

Nienna Eluch said:

Acid Yazz said:

I really must go through that book "Life without bread"!!!

I have been a vegetarian since I was born... Some meat here and there over the years. Now, I find it really hard to digest meat, especially red meat. I thought it could be because my blod type is A. But maybe it is just because I'm not used to it. Now I eat chicken and duck 2-3 times a week and some fish as well, but it is still kind of hard to take it.

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It sounds as though you have a sluggish liver. Getting it working again will really help in the digestion of meats.

I, too, am a type A and following Dr. Psyche's post on how she is treating here sluggish liver has helped me tremendously. I can even eat red meat now with no problems. :)

The only difference I have made is to take HCL (hydrochloric acid) instead of the ox bile. Being a type A, I am low in hydrochloric acid. You should do whatever works best for you, though.

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Thanks a lot! I will have a look!

Actually I have to read quite a lot... This Diet is new to me and I don't want to proceed without knowledge of what I'm doing!

bye!

Legolas said:

No offensive, one bread unit consists out of 12 gr. of carbohydrates. ;)

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Hi Legolas,

sorry you are absolutely right 1 BE = 12 gr of carbohydrates , a thin slice of bread with 25 gr weight is approx 1 BE, there lies my mistake . We don´t weight exactly, at home we have an index about the foods and the bread units. For me it is easier to work with bread units, then I know when to stop ( I can better visualise the amount), and I don´t have to take my kitchen scales with me all the time. Thank you for your hint.

Legolas said:

There is also kind of energy-food (power bars) available, which consists only out of beaf for example, which some years back I found rather strange, cause I thought energy can only be delivered via sugar

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I found this also very strange, but otherwise maybe this mechanism was life saving in past times. I am no expert but if I remember right ? … when your body is on the lipid metabolism he always go the easiest way to guarantee the energy supply for the brain, and this is good fat/protein from food /meat intake, otherwise he will use the fat from the fat tissue ( in my case not so bad at all ;)). I am very carefull with my health and don´t try to start extreme experiments, but what is, when this mechanism (lipid metabolism) is the normal way the body have to use the energy ?, or is it really a mechanism only for famines and bad times ? At the moment I feel very well, but I will have a look on my health and adjust my diet if there should appear problems.

Reading "Life Without Bread" gave me several big "AHA!" moments. The first one had to do with the hormone imbalances that can be caused by carb-based metabolism, including stress hormone imbalance, growth hormone imbalance, etc, and how that can lead to some people being too thin and some just packing on weight no matter how little they eat. That part of this book is absolutely priceless.

Then, the next big "aha!" was understanding how carb metabolism differs from fat metabolism in terms of the mitochondria. Although he didn't say so explicitly, it seems to me, from reading about the process, carb metabolism must be more stressful to the body even at this cellular level.

Tying it all together was understanding why "diets" fail - when you think you've been really good, you give yourself a nice carb treat and that just switches your already damaged system back to carb metabolism and everything goes haywire again. So the key is to never, ever, have more than that minimum of carbs so that your body never switches on to carb metabolism. It appears that fat metabolism is how the body was designed to operate.

Putting the fat thing in "Life Without Bread" together with what Baker had to say about how fats are the building blocks of all cells in the body, PLUS the raw material for the hormones that help cells communicate with each other, and realizing that "you are what you eat," and we are obviously NOT supposed to be plants nor to construct our cells from plant fats, then the rest is easy to figure out.

Seems to me that 2D grass/veggie eating creatures with their elaborate digestive systems were designed to process vegetable matter and convert it to fats that are usable by humans with the least amount of energy expenditure.

I think that this is a key: energy expenditure. Just as Castaneda's Don Juan speaks of impeccability as the conservation of energy for awareness, the same may be true for our bodies: get energy as efficiently as possible, and let the body be a good vehicle for awareness.

Laura said:

Then, the next big "aha!" was understanding how carb metabolism differs from fat metabolism in terms of the mitochondria. Although he didn't say so explicitly, it seems to me, from reading about the process, carb metabolism must be more stressful to the body even at this cellular level.

Tying it all together was understanding why "diets" fail - when you think you've been really good, you give yourself a nice carb treat and that just switches your already damaged system back to carb metabolism and everything goes haywire again. So the key is to never, ever, have more than that minimum of carbs so that your body never switches on to carb metabolism. It appears that fat metabolism is how the body was designed to operate.

Putting the fat thing in "Life Without Bread" together with what Baker had to say about how fats are the building blocks of all cells in the body, PLUS the raw material for the hormones that help cells communicate with each other, and realizing that "you are what you eat," and we are obviously NOT supposed to be plants nor to construct our cells from plant fats, then the rest is easy to figure out.

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Thank you Laura for this, I think I must go more in detail and order the book as soon as possible !

This video explains some of the info presented in the book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCVo8HbDpXI&feature=player_embedded

I found it here, which recommends "Life Without Bread": http://healthydietsandscience.blogspot.com/2010/04/low-carbohydrate-diet-to-treat-diabetes.html?spref=tw

Following a low carbohydrate/ketogenic diet most patients with type 2 diabetes could discontinue or reduce their medication.

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Laura said:

Putting the fat thing in "Life Without Bread" together with what Baker had to say about how fats are the building blocks of all cells in the body, PLUS the raw material for the hormones that help cells communicate with each other, and realizing that "you are what you eat," and we are obviously NOT supposed to be plants nor to construct our cells from plant fats, then the rest is easy to figure out.

Click to expand...

This concept is also nicely put in the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFT-c4g5vDA&feature=player_embedded

He basically says in a scientific polite way, that women with fertility problems shouldn't have babies. Fertility drugs lower cholesterol which is essential for brain development, and lead to higher rates of autism. All this low fat/rich in sugar diet has created not only an epidemic of diseases like diabetes and most possibly cancer, but it seems to be behind the increasing rates of autistic spectrum disorders and ADHD, along with known toxins. Not only everybody is unhealthy with a modern diet, but we have also lost our ability to give birth to healthy children. Then we add environmental factors...

What a disaster! :O

I found this funny short video "Big Fat Lies" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8WA5wcaHp4&feature=related

it fits to the new "Connecting the Dots video"(http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=22955.msg249782#msg249782):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kulpPMhaq5o

maybe something to put on "TheSOTTReport" on youtube ?

Psyche said:

Gimpy said:

I'm having bad spasms in my legs and body, and thought it was due to the MS, but today as an experiment, I took 50mg of potassium with breakfast instead of a muscle relaxer. The result was amazing! The spasms gradually faded, and I felt much much better!

If you're having problems like this, start with a lower dose than I did....my case is not 'the norm'.

Click to expand...

There is a section of the book devoted to muscular spasms. They recommend L-carnitine supplementation during the first few weeks if there is muscular cramping. As the body adjusts to the high protein diet, it will be able to derive all the L-carnitine from the meat.

L-carnitine is the amino acid that helps carry fat into the mitochondria, where it will be used as an energy source.

Click to expand...

The new supplements I've been taking have L-carnitine in them, I'm going to go through the book today (Life without Bread) and see if adding more will help, though I'm wondering if its a matter of the pathways needing to heal? Does that make sense?

I did not mean to endorse the Adkins diet, it was offered as a reference for suggesting potassium supplementation for muscle cramping.

Its frustrating to me sometimes that so much information is scattered hither and yon, but that is just part of learning, osit. ;)