"Life Without Bread"

[Gertrudes]

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

Yes, it can be very handy :D (though not ideal)

I just noticed though, and this is possibly a word of caution for everyone, but both eggs and beef liver have carbs! Acording to my carb counter eggs have 0.6 net carbs per egg, and beef liver has 5,16 per 100g! I've eaten quite a big portion of beef liver twice today, and didn't even bother weighting it since I did not suspected the carbs, but I sure went over 20g.....
Pork and lamb seem to be fine, chicken and duck liver apparently have around 1g of carbs per 100g.

 

[Gertrudes]

Oops, sorry, I don't know how I didn't see it but all types of liver have carbs after all, I have just confirmed it at the carb counter. Lamb has between 2.53g of carbs per 100g and 3.78g, depending how you cook it. Pork has 3.76g, goose 5.94g (raw).
One more thing to watch out for.

 

[seek10]

Oops, sorry, I don't know how I didn't see it but all types of liver have carbs after all, I have just confirmed it at my carb counter. Lamb has between 2.53g of carbs per 100g and 3.78g, depending how you cook it. Pork has 3.76g, goose 5.94g (raw).
One more thing to watch out for.

this explains why I had 'small' ketones on the stick 2 days back became traces yesterday. I had lamb lever. After having Vitamin C and digestive enzymes , My constipation and stomach ache came down. :)

 

[Gertrudes]

this explains why I had 'small' ketones on the stick 2 days back became traces yesterday. I had lamb lever. After having Vitamin C and digestive enzymes , My constipation and stomach ache came down. :)

From what I have been reading several factors may affect the ketone test. For example, the amount of liquids you ingest can dilute ketones so that it shows up as less on the reading stick. Something else that I read, apologies that I can't remember where, is how the amount of ketones you need to burn if you are expending more energy increases, therefore less Ketones will be expelled as waste through urine.

 

[Keit]

From what I have been reading several factors may affect the ketone test. For example, the amount of liquids you ingest can dilute ketones so that it shows up as less on the reading stick.

Tried to look for ketone urine test, but they don't sell it here. The pharmacist called it a test for people who drink a lot of liquids. :) She mentioned that they may have a normal urine test, but couldn't tell if it tests ketones as well. Maybe will buy one to see if it does.

 

[Laura]

I did have constipation and am going through some already reported intestinal problems.

When you quit feeding them carbs, the candida and other fermentation bacteria/flora/fauna/whatever in your gut begin to die off and you can lose a few pounds of them!!! And they can make you constipated until they are all dumped.

 

[3DStudent]

Ok I'm caught up on this thread. I'm waiting for some ketone strips to come in the mail. But I think I'm in ketosis because I have the odor thing going on and I'm around 25 grams. I also didn't know that you subtract the fiber so I'm probably a little less.

Do you have to eat veggies as your carbs? Would buckwheat groats, blinis, or shortbread work too?

Also I wanted to point out to watch out for spices. I like to put a lot of spices like garlic and onion powder on food. Garlic powder is 6g/Tbsp, onion powder 5g/Tbsp, black pepper 4g/Tbsp. Herbs are pretty low in carbs: oregano is about 3g/Tbsp.

 

[dugdeep]

this explains why I had 'small' ketones on the stick 2 days back became traces yesterday. I had lamb lever. After having Vitamin C and digestive enzymes , My constipation and stomach ache came down. :)

From what I have been reading several factors may affect the ketone test. For example, the amount of liquids you ingest can dilute ketones so that it shows up as less on the reading stick. Something else that I read, apologies that I can't remember where, is how the amount of ketones you need to burn if you are expending more energy increases, therefore less Ketones will be expelled as waste through urine.

Also, once your body gets used to using ketones, it creates amounts much closer to what you need for energy and you end up excreting less. When you're excreting a lot of ketones in the urine, it generally means that not every cell in the body has converted over to using them yet. This can take a few days, and that's when you have an acetone type smell on the breath and in the sweat. As your body adapts it starts to use ketones more efficiently and these symptoms disappear. You'll start seeing less ketones registering on the ketostix, too. This doesn't mean you've fallen out of ketosis, only that you're more fully adapted (unless, of course, you ate a lot of carbs, which might have taken you out of ketosis).

I'm pretty sure I've been in and out of ketosis for a few months now; ever since reading LWB. Right away I dropped down to close to 0 carbs and stayed there. I wasn't being totally strict, though, and was sometimes having more carbs, as long as I stayed under the 72g. I was even eating dark chocolate with 8g of sugars per serving, assuming it was OK because I was still staying well under the 72g/day. But, in retrospect, I think this was enough to take me out of ketosis since it was a quick hit of sugar all at once (I think measuring in g/day instead of g/meal might be a bit of a disservice when you're trying to stay in ketosis. 72g all at once will definitely take most people out of ketosis). I think people should watch out with things like xylitol for this reason - although it's not as high in refined carbs as sugar, it still has some carb which your body is getting in quick hits. I could be wrong on this, of course.

For the last 2 weeks I've been much more dilligent, dropping down to almost 0 carb. Surprisingly, this got rid of my chocolate cravings like they were no big deal, whereas before they were almost uncontrollable! I occasionally have onions and garlic, herbs, lemon juice just to add flavour to meals, but that's it for carbs. I don't have ketostix, but I'm pretty sure I went into ketosis last week when my boss offered me a piece of gum I said "Oh, am I stinky?" and she said "Yep!"

manitoban - where did you pick up the ketostix? At Shopper's D?

 

[Josi]

Also I wanted to point out to watch out for spices. I like to put a lot of spices like garlic and onion powder on food. Garlic powder is 6g/Tbsp, onion powder 5g/Tbsp, black pepper 4g/Tbsp. Herbs are pretty low in carbs: oregano is about 3g/Tbsp.

Hi 3D Student,

Even if spices have carbs - I can't imagine eating a Tablespoon of any of them at one time. :)

 

[Gawan]

To give an update how it went yesterday with really low carbs:

In the morning I was first full of energy and also started the day with a low blood-sugar (maybe due to sport I did the day before yesterday and it's aftereffect), so I started to low my basal rate that the b-s gets higher. Well nothing happened after several hours and the b-s was still low, where I adjusted my basal rate again and went for several hours just with 10% of the normal rate, nonetheless the blood-sugar sticked to low results. So the day was exhausting and only light work could be done and I needed to take a nap in the afternoon. I went to bed at 20.30. Woke up again 01.30 with a nauseated feeling and the b-s dropped again, where I adjusted the basal rate to 65% and woke up in the morning still with a lower b-s. Basal rate is now set to 25%. Still feeling nauseated and if it is getting worse at the moment.

So for other diabetics it could cause some more problems, especially when they are on the ICT (intense conventional therapy) and injecting the basal in the morning with a pen which lasts for about 12hrs. And it would be impossible to correct the low b-s without eating carbs, cause the insulin is injected. Well, if it is a common result that the need for insulin drops dramatically remains to be seen. Just like to mention to take care and to take time for the transition. Especially for diabetics.

this explains why I had 'small' ketones on the stick 2 days back became traces yesterday. I had lamb lever. After having Vitamin C and digestive enzymes , My constipation and stomach ache came down. :)

From what I have been reading several factors may affect the ketone test. For example, the amount of liquids you ingest can dilute ketones so that it shows up as less on the reading stick. Something else that I read, apologies that I can't remember where, is how the amount of ketones you need to burn if you are expending more energy increases, therefore less Ketones will be expelled as waste through urine.

Maybe the test thing is not too important, but I know it from myself that it is nice to have some numbers :), for example from the book:

Ketones - Measure or Not

These temporal changes in how the kidneys handle ketones make urine ketone testing a rather uncertain if not undependable way of monitoring dietary response/adherence. Testing serum for beta-hydroxybutyrate is much more accurate but requires drawing blood, and it is expensive be­ cause it is not a routine test that doctors normally order.

A non-invasive alternative is to measure breath acetone concentration. Acetone is produced by the spontaneous (i.e., non-enzymatic) breakdown of acetoacetate. Because it is volatile, acetone comes out in expired air, and its content is linearly correlated with blood ketone levels. A number of busi­ nesses have developed prototype handheld devices to measure breath acetone, but at the time of this writing, nothing practical is on the market. [the book is published in 2011]

But whatever test is used, the key question is why do it? Many people are able to initiate and follow a low carbohydrate diet just fine without ever measuring ketones. Others, however, find an objective measure of nutri­ tional ketosis to be reassuring. In some clinical settings, ketone testing is used as a measure of 'diet compliance: While this may be useful in the short term to keep patients on track in a strictly regimented dietary program, it begs the question of how that individual's diet will be managed long term. For this purpose, the handheld breath acetone monitors under development hold some promise as a guidance tool put into the hands of the individual striving to find the right level of carbohydrate intake for long-term maintenance.

 

[aragorn]

Ok I'm caught up on this thread. I'm waiting for some ketone strips to come in the mail. But I think I'm in ketosis because I have the odor thing going on and I'm around 25 grams. I also didn't know that you subtract the fiber so I'm probably a little less.

Do you have to eat veggies as your carbs? Would buckwheat groats, blinis, or shortbread work too?

Also I wanted to point out to watch out for spices. I like to put a lot of spices like garlic and onion powder on food. Garlic powder is 6g/Tbsp, onion powder 5g/Tbsp, black pepper 4g/Tbsp. Herbs are pretty low in carbs: oregano is about 3g/Tbsp.

I could be wrong, but it sounds like you haven't read in depth about the LCHF diet before starting? ;)

Even though I was familiar with the basics of the diet, I find it beneficial to go through the material suggested in this thread. I think it's better to know too much than too little before making dramatic changes in your diet.

 

[Laura]

I'm pretty sure I've been in and out of ketosis for a few months now; ever since reading LWB. Right away I dropped down to close to 0 carbs and stayed there. I wasn't being totally strict, though, and was sometimes having more carbs, as long as I stayed under the 72g. I was even eating dark chocolate with 8g of sugars per serving, assuming it was OK because I was still staying well under the 72g/day. But, in retrospect, I think this was enough to take me out of ketosis since it was a quick hit of sugar all at once (I think measuring in g/day instead of g/meal might be a bit of a disservice when you're trying to stay in ketosis. 72g all at once will definitely take most people out of ketosis). I think people should watch out with things like xylitol for this reason - although it's not as high in refined carbs as sugar, it still has some carb which your body is getting in quick hits. I could be wrong on this, of course.

Exactly. That's what I figured out, that too much xylitol can be an issue. Now I have only 1/2 (one half) of a tsp in my tea and have only about 3 cups per day spread out.

 

[Gawan]

Still feeling nauseated and if it is getting worse at the moment.

Okay, after I went on the toilet I'm feeling better now, somehow I ate this morning rancid butter, where I wondered why it did taste so sour and before that I perfectly ignored all thoughts that I shouldn't use this butter.

 

[Laura]

Still feeling nauseated and if it is getting worse at the moment.

Okay, after I went on the toilet I'm feeling better now, somehow I ate this morning rancid butter, where I wondered why it did taste so sour and before that I perfectly ignored all thoughts that I shouldn't use this butter.

Have you read all of the book I sent you? You ought not to be doing stuff without knowing exactly what you are doing! And rancid butter? Yuck! Be careful!!!

 

[Thor]

Ok I'm caught up on this thread. I'm waiting for some ketone strips to come in the mail. But I think I'm in ketosis because I have the odor thing going on and I'm around 25 grams. I also didn't know that you subtract the fiber so I'm probably a little less.

Do you have to eat veggies as your carbs? Would buckwheat groats, blinis, or shortbread work too?

Also I wanted to point out to watch out for spices. I like to put a lot of spices like garlic and onion powder on food. Garlic powder is 6g/Tbsp, onion powder 5g/Tbsp, black pepper 4g/Tbsp. Herbs are pretty low in carbs: oregano is about 3g/Tbsp.

I think this is a very good point. When I make the sausage patties from the video I add a lot of spices (garlic, thyme, basil. sage and cumin). Originally, I thought that such a small amount would be negligible in each serving but when I actually ran the numbers it turns out that I am having 1-2 g of carbs per meal due to garlic and spices!

3DStudent, in TNAFANY it is stated that 12-15 g of your daily carb intake should come from foundation vegetables to provide fiber for digestion and I don't think the buckwheat and shortbread fall into that category :)