"Life Without Bread"

[Mikey]

This is my report of how the process went for me.

I'm in the 10th day of literally 0 carbs. I had no carbs at all, not even "foundation vegetables" or xylitol (except a small portion of salad yesterday). I ate just fatty pork, beef, lamb and fish with a lot of lard, ghee and butter added. Actually, the protein was a side-dish to the fat ;)

In the first 6 days I had very low energy, felt nauseated by the fat all the time and had to force myself to eat. My muscles, especially my thighs felt very weak and could walk only slowly. My speech was almost as being drunk. I couldn't smoke. I was rather depressed -- however, thinking seemed okay.

I didn't have a bowel movement for over 4 days, so I upped magnesium to 750mg, potassium to 400mg and vitamin C to 8g daily. That helped, although I found out that I wasn't really constipated but just had latent diarrhea. ;)

At the 7th day, I believe I began to experience what the book calls the "Atkins edge" and "exhiliaration". Today I have my full energy back, my mind is clear and I can work rather efficiently. I even feel up for some exercise! Most remarkably is that after getting up in the morning my eyes aren't swollen any more, as they used to especially when I ate carbs before going to bed. That means, inflammation is way down!

The ketosticks show between 4 and 8 mmol/L most of the time, although this morning it was down to 1 mmol/L. The higher levels probably mean that I'm not yet fully adapted, ketones are still present.

Smoked salmon helped me a lot to get over the more difficult times. And I discovered that I can't eat -- or rather drink -- liquid fat. Ugh! So my resolution is to have frozen fat available, it goes down way easier because I can chew it!

While reading this thread -- and I needed over one week from beginning to end -- I found those studies most valuable and interesting:

Prolonged meat diets with a study of kidney function and ketosis (PDF)

Two normal men volunteered to live solely on meat for one year, which gave us an unusual opportunity of studying the effects of this diet. The term “meat,” as used by us, included both the lean and the fat portions of animals. The subjects derived most of their calories from fat and the diet was quite different from what one, who uses the term “meat” as including chiefly lean muscle, would expect.

Jefferson's post containing links to several studies (PDF) showing the harmlessness of high fat, colesterol, and zero carb diets

 

[Mikey]

What I also noted are that my dreams start to be vivid again. And I can remember more of them. Here are a few quotes from the thread I wanted to comment on:

Carbs MIXED with higher fats is a deadly mix.

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

It's here in this excerpt from the New Atikins:

It's the combination of fat and a relatively high intake of carbohydrates—particularly refined ones—that can become a deadly recipe for obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and a host of other ills. We've touched on it before, but in this chapter, we'll prove to you that dietary fat is fine in the context of a low-carb lifestyle.

I had wanted to ask something: I still have hemp seed oil and flax seed oil at home, and am currently using hemp seed oil for omega 3s. I know that in the long run I'll have to get everything from animal fat, but can I use those up, and are those acceptable as a source for omega 3s (so I don't have to throw them away)?

I tried to eat 1 tablespoon of flax seed oil recently, and it very much nauseated me. It would have been unnatural for hunter-gatherers, so maybe it is unnatural now?

On a different note, flaxseed oil (and possibly hemp) are probably the best oils for seasoning a cast iron pan :D

Quick question dugdeep: wouldn't this turn them into toxic oils since they can't stand the heat?

snip

When it comes to seasoning cast iron, it seems the rules of fats that you want to eat don't apply :)

Check out this link for more - http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

I tried this recipe for seasoning cast iron a few months ago. I did a total of 3 or 4 layers of 'dried' flax seed oil. Apart from the fact that it was a rather tedious process and our house had an intense hemp seed smell all over afterwards, it did not work. I wish I had photographed it, but the first blinis I made with the pan stuck more than I ever experienced it before. Following that, I scrubbed the pan hard with steel wool and a lot of soap to remove all the hemp seed layer until it looked silverish at some places. Then I tried to make blinis without seasoning at all, and it worked much better. Later I discovered that it's the water content of the dough and the heat of the pan that makes all the difference. The natural lard seasoning that developed slowly over time is much better. Anyway, since blinis are out to a large extent, we won't have that problem any more. :)

Does anybody know what is the 'record time' it has taken the transition to ketosis? Soon it will be 3 months for me and I still haven't transitioned according to the 1 urine test I did.

The urine test is not reliable, more reliable is maybe how you are feeling. Ketosticks detect acetoacetate ("Ketones") but not beta-hydroxybutyrate. Gaby's excerpt:

Within a few days of starting on carbohydrate restriction, most people begin excreting ketones in their urine. This occurs before serum ketones have risen to their stable adapted level because un-adapted renal tubules actively secrete beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate into the urine. This is the same pathway that clears other organic acids like uric acid, vitamin C, and penicillin from the serum.

Meanwhile, the body is undergoing a complex set of adaptations in ketone metabolism[99]. Beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate are made in the liver in about equal proportions, and both are initially promptly oxidized by muscle. But over a matter of weeks, the muscles stop using these ketones for fuel. Instead, muscle cells take up acetoacetate, reduce it to beta-hydroxybutyrate, and return it back into the circulation. Thus after a few weeks, the predominant form in the circulation is beta-hydroxybutyrate, which also happens to be the ketone preferred by brain cells (as an aside, the strips that test for ketones in the urine detect the presence of acetoacetate, not beta-hydroxybutyrate). The result of this process of keto-adaptation is an elegantly choreographed shuttle of fuel from fat cells to liver to muscle to brain.

In the kidney, this process of keto-adaptation is also complex. Over time, urine ketone excretion drops off, perhaps to conserve a valuable energy substrate (although urine ketone excretion never amounts to very many wasted calories). This decline in urine ketones happens over the same time-course that renal uric acid clearance returns to normal (discussed below) and thus may represent an adaptation in kidney organic acid metabolism in response to sustained carbohydrate restriction.

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.

 

[Bluestar]

Most folks find that they can come off from a bunch of supplements on this diet because it really promotes the absorption of all nutrients. Fat is a key to this process. Maybe you don't need your vitamins. Perhaps you can save them for special occasions. But you might need some supplementation to help the transition into this diet. Most of us have had relief with digestive enzymes, ox bile, milk thistle (liver support). You'll probably need certain supplements like potassium, magnesium, L-carnitine and Himalayan salts to help with the muscle cramps and make up for the loss of water and minerals. Some people loose a lot of water at the beginning, so make sure you drink enough in order to have a pale yellow urine.

I've noticed that those who come off from supplements find that they need to take only magnesium (occasionally) and vitamin C. Never take magnesium with meals as it will alkalize your stomach and you need the acid to digest the meat. Vitamin C you can take after meals or when you feel you need it.

Thanks Psyche, the only two vits I am not taking at the moment is the ox bile and L-carnitine. The betaine HCL and digestive enzymes are helping very well. It is definitely the beef, made some chuck steak yesterday that was cooked for almost three hours with a very small onion and some organic beef broth. Tasted great and the fat was nice and melted and easy to eat. The rock feeling in my belly only lasted about 10-15 mins until the enzymes kicked in. So it is my stomach for sure. I did up my carbs back up to 60g from 20gs. Just to give my stomach a bit of a rest. Will focus on pork, lamb and salmon for a few days and then drop my carbs down slower this time. I think I dropped it to fast for my system.

Taking ALA/CoQ10 combo, potassium, fish oil, multivitamin, mag, milk thistle, vit D, once in a while some gaba and a calcium supplement. Divide them up throughout the day. Mixed some french sea salt I have at hand with some ascorbic acid in water yesterday for the first time. Bit hard to swallow, but I sipped it through the day.

Thanks again for your assistance.

 

[Bluestar]

I am not AB blood type, so I can have beef, but if you can still eat pork and lamb, then i don't see any reason to force yourself to eat beef. Pork and lamb are more fatty meats than beef anyway, and I personally find them more tasty. I don't know how you feel about eating animal organs, but they are excellent sources of fat and nutrients and true delicacies in my book ;) I know that organ meat produces in people the same resistance as eating fats does, my partner is like that, but he promised to try it out next time we cook it. It might be one of those things that "grows on you". Also, whenever my partner tries to eat fat, he ads lean meat and the piece of fat together on his fork, and he finds it easy to eat it like this.

Thanks Alana, found some farm raised ground lamb, smoked wild salmon and some bacon that had not been all nitrated up at the market. Gonna stick to those for a while. My husband suggested that I cook any meat with fat on it till it's done, then cut the fat off and cook it a bit more till it's crunchy, not over cooked though. Will try this method and see if I can tolerate the consistency. Haven't tried organ meat and that may take a while for me to conquer. Will see :/

Yes, I think that patience is required from all of us here during this transition, and if you had a lifelong habit of not eating much meat, your liver and digestive system will take a while to adjust.

That is my approach now, I was eager to get things rolling and went a bit fast. Thanks

I consider myself lucky in that I always liked fat and organs, and bone marrow, and all those nutritious parts of the animals that Western civilization considers "ew!" In fact, I remember that as a child I only wanted to eat carrots, cucumbers and fatty meat on a bone, with all the cartilage and stuff. My mother really gave a fight to teach me to eat everything else.

For me it was the opposite. My family were bone marrow, organ meat loving people and I was the one who wanted the top cut pieces of chicken, or the leanest meat and only in small portions.

As a side note, I was reading this article posted on SOTT today: How to prevent spending the last 10 years of your life in a diaper and a wheelchair, which has a podcast link in it. It's 1:10 long, and I recommend listening to it. Datis Kharrazian, DC, M.S , along with host, Chris Kresser, discuss the circular interaction between brain and gut: yes, gut health affects the health of the brain too, but the same is true where brain malfunction affects the health of the gut. From the page:

In this episode we discuss the gut-brain axis: the relationship between digestive health and cognitive function, memory, depression, anxiety and other mental and behavioral health issues. We cover:

* the basic physiology involved
* how inflammation in the gut affects the brain
* how decreased brain activity compromises gut function
* how to recognize the signs and symptoms of gut-brain axis dysfunction
* studies demonstrating gut-brain dysfunction and its effects on health
* dietary and lifestyle modifications to improve gut-brain function.

I think the gut-brain axis is one of the most important and least recognized factors in human health. If you follow a good diet (Paleo, Primal, Perfect Health Diet, etc.) and you’re still experiencing gut symptoms, it’s likely you have a gut-brain axis issue.

Thanks for the info, will definitely read it as soon as I am able.

 

[Jefferson]

Does anybody know what is the 'record time' it has taken the transition to ketosis? Soon it will be 3 months for me and I still haven't transitioned according to the 1 urine test I did.

The urine test is not reliable, more reliable is maybe how you are feeling. Ketosticks detect acetoacetate ("Ketones") but not beta-hydroxybutyrate. Gaby's excerpt:

Within a few days of starting on carbohydrate restriction, most people begin excreting ketones in their urine. This occurs before serum ketones have risen to their stable adapted level because un-adapted renal tubules actively secrete beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate into the urine. This is the same pathway that clears other organic acids like uric acid, vitamin C, and penicillin from the serum.

Meanwhile, the body is undergoing a complex set of adaptations in ketone metabolism[99]. Beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate are made in the liver in about equal proportions, and both are initially promptly oxidized by muscle. But over a matter of weeks, the muscles stop using these ketones for fuel. Instead, muscle cells take up acetoacetate, reduce it to beta-hydroxybutyrate, and return it back into the circulation. Thus after a few weeks, the predominant form in the circulation is beta-hydroxybutyrate, which also happens to be the ketone preferred by brain cells (as an aside, the strips that test for ketones in the urine detect the presence of acetoacetate, not beta-hydroxybutyrate). The result of this process of keto-adaptation is an elegantly choreographed shuttle of fuel from fat cells to liver to muscle to brain.

In the kidney, this process of keto-adaptation is also complex. Over time, urine ketone excretion drops off, perhaps to conserve a valuable energy substrate (although urine ketone excretion never amounts to very many wasted calories). This decline in urine ketones happens over the same time-course that renal uric acid clearance returns to normal (discussed below) and thus may represent an adaptation in kidney organic acid metabolism in response to sustained carbohydrate restriction.

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.

That's what I found out - that the urine test is really not that reliable. When carbs are dropped and fat increased, and this is over time, one will just needs to trust he/she will go into ketosis.

This task I have now I will have to pursue on my own, based on some of the things Psyche has posted, the level of my individual maxiumum carb intake per day. I will just do this by trial and error, likely just having a blini/piece of sweet potato/slice of buckwheat bread depending on the meal to to mop up the fat.

And about Data's intense drive for ketosis - wow! I would call it "Tough Guy Approach to Ketosis or TGAK" with emphasis on the 'gak' from the large quantities of fat taken at one time :)

I personally try and take in the fat slowly throughout the day , mix it in with carbs like beans or peas slathered with ghee. The frozen idea is interesting, and a good way to bring up the fat regularly throughout the day - thanks for that tip!

 

[Bluestar]

My energy levels have skyrocketed

This is wonderful and inspiring news.

and I cannot believe I spent 24 years of my life slowly killing myself, thinking I was doing the right thing!

The point about slowly killing ourselves because we "thought" we were doing the right thing still makes me shake my head in disbelief. Having worked for many years in health food stores, it shows me how ignorant I was even though I read books and articles about health. It did not make a difference cause I was reading the wrong materials.

 

[nicklebleu]

Hi all,

This is one fast paced thread ... barely keeping up reading the books and threads - and doing a bit of work to pay the bills!

I just found that "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" is available in Amazon's Kindle shop, if you can't wait for the hard copy to arrive! Still reading "The Vegetarian Myth", but TAASOLCL is waiting on my computer to read ...

I have been on very low carb counts now for almost a month and it has been a rocky road. Intermittent phases of high energy follow generally low energy, especially in the morning, clearing towards the afternoon. Unfortunately lots of energy in the evening. Sleep mostly patchy and not very restful. I don't think that I can decrease carbs further, the only ones I am eating are a smidge of cruciferous vegetables, a little bit of nuts, small servings of salad, the rest is pretty much fatty meat and eggs. Not sure if my protein ingestion is too high?

And what stumps me, I haven't lost an ounce - quite on the contrary, I have slightly increased my weight (and I could easily do with losing 5 kg).

I have had chocolate cravings, which I have alleviated with small servings of high-cocoa (85%) chocolate, which would amount to less than 4g of sugar per day. I plan to purchase 100% cocoa chocolate and make my own with a bit of xylitol, but I have had tremendous problems finding a source that is not prohibitively expensive.

The only thing that I can think of that I haven't done yet is increasing my amount of salt - though I haven't got much problems in this department, only had one cramp (ok, a bad one) a week ago, but otherwise I feel ok. Still depending on HCl and milk thistle with the high-fat content, otherwise I am regurgitating food all night and have indigestion.

Another question is - green tea. I have a habit of drinking a pot of green tea in the morning and some more for lunch and for breaks. Now green tea has caffeine like coffee does. There is a bit of disagreement about the amount as compared to green tea. Most claim that green tea has around half of the caffeine, but others say, that this is incorrect. It depends on the tea - the difference between individual teas is bigger than between green or black tea. So maybe I need to get rid of green tea as well? I sincerely hope not ...

So not entirely sure what the problem is here. Anyone an idea where I might be able to improve my current diet?

 

[jhonny]

I'm in my 3rd day of detox diet.
Yesterday I went to sleep ( before I did the meditation) and I had a dream, I was eating buñuelo( that's a Colombian recepi prepared with wheat flour, milk and lots of cheese) and I felt very guilty but after I went to another place and I ate an ice cream with chocolate there, in the dream I thought...I have to start again with the diet.
I think that is the enslavement of my body to dairy, carbohydrates and gluten.

 

[Aiming]

Another question is - green tea. I have a habit of drinking a pot of green tea in the morning and some more for lunch and for breaks. Now green tea has caffeine like coffee does. There is a bit of disagreement about the amount as compared to green tea. Most claim that green tea has around half of the caffeine, but others say, that this is incorrect. It depends on the tea - the difference between individual teas is bigger than between green or black tea. So maybe I need to get rid of green tea as well? I sincerely hope not ...

Green tea is supposed to contain lots of fluoride, so I don't know whether you'd like to continue it. However, I've recently heard that black tea is supposed to be anti-inflammatory, so you wouldn't have to give up on tea altogether. :) I've searched, but couldn't yet find any sources for black tea being anti-inflammatory, and I'm also unsure about its high caffeine amount and what its specific effect is on the body.

 

[Gaby]

Hi all,

This is one fast paced thread ... barely keeping up reading the books and threads - and doing a bit of work to pay the bills!

I just found that "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" is available in Amazon's Kindle shop, if you can't wait for the hard copy to arrive! Still reading "The Vegetarian Myth", but TAASOLCL is waiting on my computer to read ...

I have been on very low carb counts now for almost a month and it has been a rocky road. Intermittent phases of high energy follow generally low energy, especially in the morning, clearing towards the afternoon. Unfortunately lots of energy in the evening. Sleep mostly patchy and not very restful. I don't think that I can decrease carbs further, the only ones I am eating are a smidge of cruciferous vegetables, a little bit of nuts, small servings of salad, the rest is pretty much fatty meat and eggs. Not sure if my protein ingestion is too high?

And what stumps me, I haven't lost an ounce - quite on the contrary, I have slightly increased my weight (and I could easily do with losing 5 kg).

Keeping track of fat loss with the scale can be quite frustrating. Here is a quote of "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" that helps put things into perspective:

Although modern scales are gen­erally consistent and even pretty accurate, they suffer from not being able to differentiate water from muscle from fat. This is particularly important for the individual trying to chart her/his course on a weight loss diet because humans do not regulate their body water content precisely. So if a 70 kg adult typically contains an average of 42 liters of water, over the course of a day that person's body does not care if it contains 41 liters as opposed to 43 liters of water.

Above 43 liters, the kidneys speed their function and clear the excess fluid, whereas below 41 liters, thirst prompts us to increase our water intake. The result is that most people's weight varies randomly across a range equivalent to 2 liters of water - about 4 pounds. When humans cut back in calories, they tend to lose weight quickly at first. Some of this is water weight due to reduced glycogen reserves (the body stores 3-4 grams of water along with each gram of glycogen). But then if all subsequent weight loss comes from fat, and a 500 kcal per day deficit results in a pound per week rate of loss (assuming a pound of adi­pose tissue contains 3500 kcal), this weight variability within a 4 pound range can lead to a great deal of frustration and misunderstanding for the individual. This 4 pound range in weight variability could completely mask four weeks of excellent diet adherence at 1 pound per week of body fat loss. And any clinician who has worked with dieting subjects has seen individuals who are clearly sticking to much more stringent diets plateau for up to 2 weeks and then abruptly show a 5 Ib weight loss. Obviously, this can be explained by the unpredictable shifts in body water content. Bottom line: the standard scale is a lousy short-term tool for monitoring your diet progress (or somebody else's diet adherence)

I think it will be helpful to keep track of your measurements, especially around the trunk where most people loss fat during this diet. Others have noticed that although they feel lighter and their trunk is thinner, their weight in the scale goes up. Muscle should be heavier than fat as well, and some of us have noticed increased muscle mass here and there :)

If you are eating mostly fatty meats, I think you're safe. Our energy should come from around 70% fat sources. The "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" book does a pretty good job and illustrating how this is the case as long as you have fatty meats.

I eat 85% cocoa chocolate as well, 1 or 2 squares. But I noticed I have more acne during my PMS, so I think I will save it for special occasions instead.

Another thing I noticed is that I don't have allergies anymore with spices whereas before I always did. I would eat one sausage and have allergies. Now I had sausages every single day for 3 weeks. It seems I relaxed my vigilance too much, now I'm having an allergic dermatitis that is getting better when I stopped the sausages. I found an article the other day explaining how this is a common problem. Most people tend to heal their allergies in a low carb diet because most sources of allergens comes from plants. But then, they start to eat a lot of meats with spices and the problem comes back. So this is an issue that those of us who are histamine sensitive have to be careful with.

 

[Gaby]

I'm in my 3rd day of detox diet.
Yesterday I went to sleep ( before I did the meditation) and I had a dream, I was eating buñuelo( that's a Colombian recepi prepared with wheat flour, milk and lots of cheese) and I felt very guilty but after I went to another place and I ate an ice cream with chocolate there, in the dream I thought...I have to start again with the diet.
I think that is the enslavement of my body to dairy, carbohydrates and gluten.

That is very common when you start the diet, you start fantasizing with carbs. You're exorcizing the dairy and gluten demon ;)

I'll work on the detox diet and post a revised version in the Éiriú Eolas forum so you can have a better idea on when to decrease your carb intake and prepare yourself for keto-adaptation. The gist of it is to decrease net carbs (total carbs in grams minus fiber grams) to 108-110 when you do the transition phase, which is the phase when you re-introduce saturated fat and fatty meats. This is the "less-stressful" version. If that phase goes well with the help of some detox supplementation (magnesium, vitamin C, digestive enzymes), probably you will be able to start keto-adaptation much sooner than the usual 3 months advised on "Life Without Bread".

Just to clarify, this tip goes specifically to jhonny whom I met in Barcelona :)

 

[Mikey]

I have been on very low carb counts now for almost a month and it has been a rocky road. Intermittent phases of high energy follow generally low energy, especially in the morning, clearing towards the afternoon. Unfortunately lots of energy in the evening. Sleep mostly patchy and not very restful. I don't think that I can decrease carbs further, the only ones I am eating are a smidge of cruciferous vegetables, a little bit of nuts, small servings of salad, the rest is pretty much fatty meat and eggs. Not sure if my protein ingestion is too high?

If the process is dragging out too long, maybe you should reduce the carbs even more? It's my second week of trace carbs only (contained in the meat, in the liver I eat) and I feel completely normal. It's as if 'steam' is generated constantly and very smoothly.

Remember that protein is digested into sugar too. Cravings of any kind is a hint for too much carbs. What is your total net carbs a day?

I'm in my 3rd day of detox diet.
Yesterday I went to sleep ( before I did the meditation) and I had a dream, I was eating buñuelo( that's a Colombian recepi prepared with wheat flour, milk and lots of cheese) and I felt very guilty but after I went to another place and I ate an ice cream with chocolate there, in the dream I thought...I have to start again with the diet.
I think that is the enslavement of my body to dairy, carbohydrates and gluten.

Yes I dreamed about eating carbs too, and I felt guilty in the dream as well. :)

 

[nicklebleu]

Data,

I don't think that I can noticeably reduce the carbs much further, as I practically eat none.

For breakfast it's eggs and bacon - so only minimal carbs in meat. Lunch is usually some left-over meat and maybe one cup of vegetables - that's 6 g of net carbs. And dinner is pretty much the same. That means that I currently live on around 10 - 20 g of net carbs a day. Of course I can completely cut out the veggies, which might reduce my total carbs to well below 10 g, but I don't think that this should make a big difference ... oh, well, I can try!

Psyche,

I know that scales are the curse of the "dieter" and I don't use them that much. Unfortunately the "look" follows the scale ... might still be water though, but thought I had gotten rid of it by now.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts!

 

[aragorn]

Data,

I don't think that I can noticeably reduce the carbs much further, as I practically eat none.

For breakfast it's eggs and bacon - so only minimal carbs in meat. Lunch is usually some left-over meat and maybe one cup of vegetables - that's 6 g of net carbs. And dinner is pretty much the same. That means that I currently live on around 10 - 20 g of net carbs a day. Of course I can completely cut out the veggies, which might reduce my total carbs to well below 10 g, but I don't think that this should make a big difference ... oh, well, I can try!

Psyche,

I know that scales are the curse of the "dieter" and I don't use them that much. Unfortunately the "look" follows the scale ... might still be water though, but thought I had gotten rid of it by now.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts!

You mentioned eating nuts, what kind of nuts? Some nuts, like cashew, have quite many carbs in it, where as hazel nuts are quite low with carbs but high with fat.

How many percentages of your daily intake of energy(calories) is fat? In the "The art and science book" it is said that this should be 65% or more, if I remember correctly.

Are you sure that you're not getting any hidden carbs, like in supplements or spices?

 

[Gaby]

You mentioned eating nuts, what kind of nuts? Some nuts, like cashew, have quite many carbs in it, where as hazel nuts are quite low with carbs but high with fat.

Nicklebleu, I was thinking also that perhaps you might have an intolerance to some of the nuts. One sign could be water retention despite being on a low carb diet. Perhaps you can re-introduce nuts at a later stage when your gut heals more. Or stick to the ones that seem safer. We usually test one at a time to see how the body reacts.