"Life Without Bread"

[Meager1]

I'd skip it. Levulose is another name for fructose.
Not only that, but less than one gram of carb per gram of the sweetener doesn't really mean anything. It could be 0.9g of carb per 1g and still be considered "less than one gram of carb." I think this product is basically fruit sugar.

Ok thanks. I guess it`s going to be life without sweetener, for awhile anyway.

 

[Gawan]

FWIW since my body started ketosis I like to go through now (next week I have one week off from work, where I can manage my own day), until my body has switched to fat burning. Unfortunately it seems I'm pretty alone in that matter, as a diabetic, to go through that process. I did search the web if another person has gone through it, unfortunate I couln't find one, at least one, but with a drawback at the end:

i asked myself this after my second week on the diet when i was feeling a bit groggy. i decided to use a ketostix to measure where is was at, and found i had ketones in my system. then followed a frantic search for answers all over the net: to which i concluded that i'd eaten too much fat and not enough carbs in proportion to the amount of exercise i was having. and that although there were ketones, this was a sign of non-PWD's ketosis rather than a PWD's ketoacidosis (i had had perfect sugar levels that day, all under 7mmol's, so i was very confused). anyhow, with a little adjusting, i have not had one more positive ketone test, and i now check each evening - and will do until i am settled on this new lifestyle.

so, i would never recommend a ketogenic diet, because i don't think it's a positive thing to do to your body, and can give you permanent damage to your kidney/liver/gallbladder. something worth keeping in mind, especially when a PWD's body is more at risk of these things anyway.

i eat about 50-100gr carbs a day, and those are mostly at breakfast time and as snacks before and after exercise. i hardly eat any carbs at dinner, it's usually a big salad, and i eat a small amount at lunch with by large protein portion for the day. i found this post at marks daily apple very helpful in understanding how many carbs i ought to be eating. but i also think that it's different every day, and that you also need to listen to your own body's demands, and account for the amount of exercise your getting with your carb intake.

_http://juvenile-diabetes.blogspot.com/2011/03/low-carb-diet-forcing-ketosis.html

Okay, so no experience what could help me. Dr. Bernstein doesn't talk about ketosis himself, only mentions the bad ketoacidosis. His diet goes for 6-12-12 grams of carbohydrates over the whole day, it is still less than Dr. Lutz nonetheless too much for a ketosis.

So what is important right now for me, taking things like an engineer, as Dr. Bernstein describes it, to plan many things in advance, cause I can only correct one lower blood-sugar once a day with an apple of maybe 15 gr. of carbohydrates.

I also found a page yesterday about ketosis symptoms:

You can actually develop ketosis symptoms that let you know this is happening in your body. For a lot of people who begin a low-carb diet, this seems to happen three or four days into the process.

Some ketosis symptoms include:

• Tiredness or fatigue
• Headache
• Feeling thirsty all the time
• Bad breath
• Metallic taste in the mouth
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Nausea or stomach ache
• Sleep problems
• Cold hands and feet

Ketosis symptoms usually last for several days-up to a week in some people-until the body is used to burning fat instead of glucose. The levels of ketones in the body (which can be measure through a urine test) will go down, but that does not mean you are no longer losing weight. It simply means your body has found a balance and is no longer producing excess ketones.

Sometimes low-carb dieters never seem to reach ketosis, or at least never have the urine test strips indicate excess ketones (the strip turns purple when there are excess ketones). This could be because exercising has used up the excess ketones or the urine is diluted from drinking a lot of water. This doesn't mean these people aren't burning fat, just that they aren't registering as technically being in ketosis.

_http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Ketosis_Symptoms

 

[Laura]

I also found a page yesterday about ketosis symptoms:

You can actually develop ketosis symptoms that let you know this is happening in your body. For a lot of people who begin a low-carb diet, this seems to happen three or four days into the process.

Some ketosis symptoms include:

• Tiredness or fatigue
• Headache
• Feeling thirsty all the time
• Bad breath
• Metallic taste in the mouth
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Nausea or stomach ache
• Sleep problems
• Cold hands and feet

Ketosis symptoms usually last for several days-up to a week in some people-until the body is used to burning fat instead of glucose. The levels of ketones in the body (which can be measure through a urine test) will go down, but that does not mean you are no longer losing weight. It simply means your body has found a balance and is no longer producing excess ketones.

Sometimes low-carb dieters never seem to reach ketosis, or at least never have the urine test strips indicate excess ketones (the strip turns purple when there are excess ketones). This could be because exercising has used up the excess ketones or the urine is diluted from drinking a lot of water. This doesn't mean these people aren't burning fat, just that they aren't registering as technically being in ketosis.

_http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Ketosis_Symptoms

Yes, the excess ketones thing goes away along with the symptoms once the DNA gets unlocked and the systems shift. That's what I meant about having to put the car up on blocks and change the engine.

Volek and Phinney call the state "nutritional ketosis" which is nothing like ketoacidosis. They also point out that none of the studies done by mainstream believers in high carbs ever lasted long enough for the body to stabilize in ketosis. Nor did those studies ever increase the fat levels to the correct levels. For them "high fat" meant like 40% instead of the 60% or higher that is necessary. They also made some serious procedural errors which are described in the book and make you wonder how those people could call themselves scientists, the errors are so obvious.

It reminds me of the guy who has been creating the "drives theory" about human psychology. He looked at the data from a British civil service list that was kept over many years and noticed that the higher a person was in rank, the longer they lived and the fewer health problems they had. So he concluded that when your drive to be socially dominant is frustrated, you get heart attacks. The idea of psychopathology being at the top and affecting those under them, causing (even if indirectly) their health problems, never occurred to him! That crap passes for science these days! And people take this guy seriously!

Anyway, it seems that the level of carbs that is required for an individual to slip into ketosis, i.e. fat burning energy process, is different for everyone. Not wildly different, but enough different that everybody has to use the process the Volek and Phinney describe in "The New Atkins" to find their own level where they 1) lose weight; 2) stay stable; 3) gain weight. That's assuming that you are one of those whose body allocates excess carbs to fat. If you are one of the skinny types whose body allocates excess carbs to be burned off in "nervous energy" or whatever, it's probably a little more difficult. You have to look for more subtle signs such as changes in energy, cravings for carbs, etc.

I still include yams or sweet potatoes in the less than 25g a day. In one of your posts, you mentioned them as being acceptable carbs...yet they do taste sweet, and I have wondered about that.

According to the Atkins carb counter, 1/2 of a medium baked sweet potato has 11.8g and 1/2 cup of a medium boiled sweet potato has 17.6g.

I've cut out my daily sweet potato for the duration. I think I want to allocate my allotted carbs to having xylitol in my tea and a bit of lettuce and green beans and olives and a few other things like that.

It seems that I may be sabotaging myself with my free use of xylitol. I realized that I'm getting more carbs than I've been counting.

This product is less then 1 carb per gram.

TriMedica SlimSweet Natural Sweetener DescriptionSlimSweet...Made from fruit!
Tastes like sugar!
100% natural!
Low Glycemic!
SlimSweet is a great-tasting all-natural sweetener made from Lo Han, a carefully harvested fruit found only in China. SlimSweet is a healthy alternative with a naturally sweet taste. Now available in convenient single-serve packets or easy-to-use shakers.

http://www.vitacost.com/TriMedica-SlimSweet-Natural-Sweetener

I'd skip it. Levulose is another name for fructose.
Not only that, but less than one gram of carb per gram of the sweetener doesn't really mean anything. It could be 0.9g of carb per 1g and still be considered "less than one gram of carb." I think this product is basically fruit sugar.

DugD is right. That's really deceptive. I'm sticking with xylitol, just reducing the amount per day. It has less carbs than this stuff which could be about the same as sugar.

I think I'm in ketosis today. I do feel some better.

 

[Oxajil]

So what is important right now for me, taking things like an engineer, as Dr. Bernstein describes it, to plan many things in advance, cause I can only correct one lower blood-sugar once a day with an apple of maybe 15 gr. of carbohydrates.

Hi Gawan. This is from my own experience, so it might not be the same for you. I noticed that a whole apple had too many carbs for me (at once). What I did was slicing the apple in 4 pieces (I put the other pieces in the frigde), and have a piece every so hours, (when I craved for carbs), and so this way I distributed my apple throughout the day, so my body wouldn't have a rush of sugar at once. That helped me in some way, as it was easier on my system, but, again, that was my experience, so it might be different for you. Fwiw.

Today I also seem to feel rather good and energetic.

 

[Laura]

Hi Gawan. This is from my own experience, so it might not be the same for you. I noticed that a whole apple had too many carbs for me (at once). What I did was slicing the apple in 4 pieces (I put the other pieces in the frigde), and have a piece every so hours, (when I craved for carbs), and so this way I distributed my apple throughout the day, so my body wouldn't have a rush of sugar at once. That helped me in some way, as it was easier on my system, but, again, that was my experience, so it might be different for you. Fwiw.

Today I also seem to feel rather good and energetic.

Probably should eliminate apples entirely for awhile. Even if you don't get all the carbs at once, you still get a sugar rush. Also, the fact that you are having carb cravings means that you are not switched into fat burning metabolism.

As I've mentioned, I have scans of "The Vegetarian Myth" and "The New Atkins".

 

[Oxajil]

Probably should eliminate apples entirely for awhile. Even if you don't get all the carbs at once, you still get a sugar rush. Also, the fact that you are having carb cravings means that you are not switched into fat burning metabolism.

As I've mentioned, I have scans of "The Vegetarian Myth" and "The New Atkins".

Oh, but I have! That was some weeks ago, when I had apples. I stopped eating them when I noticed the effects I'd get afterwards. I actually don't crave for any vegetables or fruits, but only for fat, meat and eggs.

Edit: I actually figured out from the past, of introducing and testing fruits/veggies, that I haven't found one veggie or fruit that would give me a good result. All they did was either make my skin itch, make me feel tired or give me pains in several area's in my body. Even a carrot would gave me pains in my head. The discomfort would pass after an hour, but I just didn't feel the need for them anymore at some point and quit them altogether. They didn't feel like they were fuel to my body.

The only reason I was thinking about getting lettuce again was because I wouldn't know where I could otherwise get some of my carbs from (not that I have carb cravings, but I thought that I should go with the low-carb-plan and start with 20/40 carbs a day). But I thought about it earlier today that I can be fine without any carbs. So I'm gonna stick with 0 carbs for some time, and see how things go.

 

[Laura]

Probably should eliminate apples entirely for awhile. Even if you don't get all the carbs at once, you still get a sugar rush. Also, the fact that you are having carb cravings means that you are not switched into fat burning metabolism.

As I've mentioned, I have scans of "The Vegetarian Myth" and "The New Atkins".

Oh, but I have! That was some weeks ago, when I had apples. I stopped eating them when I noticed the effects I'd get afterwards. I actually don't crave for any vegetables or fruits, but only for fat, meat and eggs.

If you re-read what you posted above, that is not how it came across!

 

[Thor]

Just today I was having a very high-fat dinner and at one point I felt that now was probably the time to stop. However, the greedy part of me that always wants more, was not content to stop. I debated internally for some time and decided that since the diet is also about learning when to stop eating, that I better restrain myself. So far so good. However, as I was doing the dishes I thought that I still have 5 g of carbs to go before I hit 20 so I mights as well have some coconut milk, which I find delicious. It was a craving for something more. I drank half can of coconut milk and as expected, it was delicious. About one minute later I became completely exhausted and my brain fogged over. Not a wise move

Have you read every word of the book excerpts I've posted? Cravings are a result of too many carbs. You have to just soldier through until ketosis kicks in and hold that state for at least two weeks before all carb cravings go away. (They do.)

Yesterday during the afternoon I had a full can of coconut milk without any problem and I don't normally react to coconut. But here it seems like I drank it when I had reached my fat limit and that was the cause of the reaction.

Carbs MIXED with higher fats is a deadly mix.

I am waiting for the digestive enzymes to arrive and that may change things a bit. I am currently eating around 300-350 g of fat a day and that seems OK if I listen to my body regarding when to stop.

I'll be getting some more info posted in the next day or two when I get it scanned that will give you some precise info about how much protein and fat to eat in ratio. But do, please, re-read every bit of the excerpts from "New Atkins".

Laura, I did read all the excerpts but the thing about carbs mixed with high fats didn't stick in my mind.

I found another plausible reason for my reaction. I am taking Niacin three times daily. The tablets that I take are sub lingual and to increase absorption what do you think they added - yes, one gram of sugar per tablet. So it might be that the fatigue and brain fog was a result of going past the 20g threshold. I checked all the supplements that I am taking and luckily that was the only one that had sugar in it. That being said, I'll still wait for the two weeks or more of ketosis to before I start adding more carbs.

I look forward to reading more about fat to protein ratios!

Until then, here is a table from TNAFANY that gives ranges for protein intake for men and women based on height (g=grams, o=ounces)

Height	g/day W	o/day W	g/day M	o/day M
4’ 10	63–125	13
4’ 11	64–130	14
5’ 0”	65–135	14
5’ 1”	66–138	14
5’ 2”	68–142	15	74–154	16
5’ 3”	70–145	15	75–157	17
5’ 4”	71–149	16	76–159	17
5’ 5”	73–152	16	78–162	17
5’ 6”	75–156	16	79–165	17
5’ 7”	76–159	17	81–168	18
5’ 8”	78–162	17	82–171	18
5’ 9”	80–166	18	84–175	18
5’ 10	81–169	18	86–178	19
5’ 11	83–173	18	87–182	19
6’ 0”	85–176	19	89–186	20
6’ 1”			91–190	20
6’ 2”			93–194	21
6’ 3”			95–199	21
6’ 4”			98–204	22

 

[aragorn]

I'm halfway through reading "New Atkins", and it just boggles the mind how totally deceived the main stream public is about what is considered healthy eating habits. I mean, the science behind the low carb high fat diet is strong and very simple - you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand it. Which makes me think that there must be VERY powerful forces at work promoting these completely unhealthy eating habits that most people are following.

I'm looking forward to start the low carb program and reach ketosis. My wife is interested in trying it too. We just need to read carefully the books before starting. For those of you who have an iPhone (or iPad), there are some fantastic carb counting apps available. I'm using something called 'Carb Diet', which after trying several others, I found to be the best.

 

[Thor]

I'm halfway through reading "New Atkins", and it just boggles the mind how totally deceived the main stream public is about what is considered healthy eating habits. I mean, the science behind the low carb high fat diet is strong and very simple - you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand it. Which makes me think that there must be VERY powerful forces at work promoting these completely unhealthy eating habits that most people are following.

I'm looking forward to start the low carb program and reach ketosis. My wife is interested in trying it too. We just need to read carefully the books before starting. For those of you who have an iPhone (or iPad), there are some fantastic carb counting apps available. I'm using something called 'Carb Diet', which after trying several others, I found to be the best.

I second that. It's quite intuitive to use and fast once you've entered a few meals.

If you're looking for it on the App store it is called Low Carb Diet Assistant but when it appears on the iPad/iPhone it is just called Carb Diet, which can be somewhat confusing.

edit: corrected spelling

 

[Laura]

For those in countries or situations where obtaining "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" is impossible, we've made a scan. Remember the deal: you buy it when and if you are able, and at the very least, you write a review for the author.

http://www.pentagonstrike.co.uk/low_carb_living.pdf

 

[manitoban]

I just did a urine test and I am definitely in ketosis! I've had no constipation problems at all, just a slight headache, sour mouth, and a bit tired, but not too bad at all.

 

[Gertrudes]

I just did a urine test and I am definitely in ketosis! I've had no constipation problems at all, just a slight headache, sour mouth, and a bit tired, but not too bad at all.

I think I'm in ketosis as well. My strip's color is in between "small amount" and "moderate amount". Is that good enough to be considered ketosis?

I did have constipation and am going through some already reported intestinal problems. However, my levels of energy are very high. I notice it particularly in how I can sleep much, much less (not ideal, I know), and still be good as new.

 

[manitoban]

I just did a urine test and I am definitely in ketosis! I've had no constipation problems at all, just a slight headache, sour mouth, and a bit tired, but not too bad at all.

I think I'm in ketosis as well. My strip's color is in between "small amount" and "moderate amount". Is that good enough to be considered ketosis

I'm not sure but your strip is showing presence of ketones, so probably you are. My strip showed large amount.

However, my levels of energy are very high. I notice it particularly in how I can sleep much, much less (not ideal, I know), and still be good as new.

Glad to hear your energy levels are high. :) That's good, and especially if you can still function well without much sleep!

 

[Oxajil]

If you re-read what you posted above, that is not how it came across!

Ah yes I see what you mean... Apologies!