"Life Without Bread"

[3DStudent]

It's very encouraging that you successfully traveled Laura. I'm still sensitive to eggs and haven't tried butter since doing really low carbs.

Today I made bone broth with lamb necks. Just a little apple cider vinegar, water to cover, salt, and tallow. I haven't tried the liquid yet, but the meat and fat on the lamb was good. I only cooked it a little over two hours, and I'll try to remember to put the salt in after it's done.

 

[Laura]

I kept thinking that until I felt like the Duracell rabbit I wasn't in ketosis - maybe that's not true for all. I was hoping to feel more energized or some sort of tangible change along the lines of what some forum members have posted. It's what is referred to in The New Atkins as the Atkins Edge but so far the edge seems a bit dull, to tell the truth. Hopefully, I'll notice changes further along the way.

I think this must be the case - that it takes some time for a real switch-over of the fuel burning system - at least I hope so. And maybe it takes longer for those of us who are a bit older. The young'ns seem to make the transition so easily. It could take weeks of really, really LOW carbs for the mechanisms to grind off the rust and become efficient.

I'm feeling much better and I KNOW my carbs are way low, but I'm not a ball of fire yet either! My legs feel less heavy when I climb stairs and that's been with me for most of my life.

 

[Thor]

I kept thinking that until I felt like the Duracell rabbit I wasn't in ketosis - maybe that's not true for all. I was hoping to feel more energized or some sort of tangible change along the lines of what some forum members have posted. It's what is referred to in The New Atkins as the Atkins Edge but so far the edge seems a bit dull, to tell the truth. Hopefully, I'll notice changes further along the way.

I think this must be the case - that it takes some time for a real switch-over of the fuel burning system - at least I hope so. And maybe it takes longer for those of us who are a bit older. The young'ns seem to make the transition so easily. It could take weeks of really, really LOW carbs for the mechanisms to grind off the rust and become efficient.

I'm feeling much better and I KNOW my carbs are way low, but I'm not a ball of fire yet either! My legs feel less heavy when I climb stairs and that's been with me for most of my life.

Laura, are you still at 20 or below or have you settled at another level?

 

[Laura]

Laura, are you still at 20 or below or have you settled at another level?

I'm definitely below 20, some days just 10 or even less. I have the sinking suspicion that I'm one of those with VERY LOW tolerance for carbs. I'm thinking some of you will be able to up the levels at some point and stay in ketosis with many more than me!

 

[Rena]

From 2001 to 2005, I did the old version of Adkins and used this free on line calculator to help me keep track of protein, fats, carbs and calories. To my surprise, my account is still active, even though I stopped using it many years ago. It shouldn't take long to get the hang of it if you so choose to use it. I hope it helps!!!

It is free, and it offers so much that I can't imagine what the paid version would offer. The free has everything I need myself. You do have to sign up, which is no big deal with me and then just go to the "Free online account" section down a bit to the left. I have never been spammed by this site fwiw.

_https://www.fitday.com/

 

[mcb]

...I haven't had any cravings since the first week of low-carb and even then they were not very strong...

There you go. Other things I noticed, apart from certain stronger odors in the morning, were an abrupt end to blood sugar highs and lows, as well as to weight gain. These changes would, I suppose, be more noticeable in people that are carbohydrate intolerant, which is only like 75% of the population. :)

 

[mcb]

If it seems a little odd that it took so long for this group to catch on to low carb diets, here's something that occurred to me last night while reading The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living. This knowledge is a "threat to the system" and has been actively countered for decades. What would happen to the multi-billion dollar statin industry if people actually came to believe that they could simply change their diets instead?

It wouldn't exactly dry up overnight, since a lot of people are no more going to give up their carbs than anything else they do that makes them sick, but it would impact and threaten it. And that is not the only medical industry built upon people's poor dietary practices. The implications for food processors and for agriculture in general are not all that nice either.

I have seen hints of another threat in the book. In most people it would appear that high carbs can cause some pretty significant damage at the cellular level. Could this be something that makes humans "tastier" to 4D STS? It certainly contributes to suffering.

I know that I avoided low-carb diets because of all the misinformation I received from my HMO and from other services that were part of my health benefits. Phinney & Volek fill in many of the details about how this state of affairs was brought about. I seem to be reading an awful lot of "how it was done" books lately.

 

[dugdeep]

Since you seem to be well informed on dietary and health issues, I think you know this, but just a reminder: according to all the (reliable) sources I've read, and Psyche's post a few days ago, measuring ketosis with ketostix isn't reliable. Especially once you're through the adaption period.

Thanks Aragorn. I think it was more the cravings that made me think I dropped out of ketosis. I often have periods where the ketostix aren't registering anything (first thing in the morning, in particular) even when I know I must be in ketosis; hovering around zero carbs many days.

Despite the problems you're going through I think you've made some pretty interesting observations, and these will probably be useful for you in the future. I hope you can transition back quickly

Thanks Hesper! I'd thought the same thing. It was actually really interesting to see how 'cravings' would manifest. For carbs, yes, but in a lot of unexpected ways too. No real harm done, since the cravings were all relatively easy to ignore, but interesting none the less. Getting a little peak back at the psychology of sugar metabolism (sounds like a book ) makes me see at least part of why the world is so insane.

 

[Psalehesost]

Coconut oil seems to be either really good for or really inflammatory for some people.

And for some it has both good and bad properties - had rarely, it seems to do good things for my brain, but having it often makes for a low-level inflammation (accompanied by cravings for more coconut).

 

[Oxajil]

Coconut oil seems to be either really good for or really inflammatory for some people.

And for some it has both good and bad properties - had rarely, it seems to do good things for my brain, but having it often makes for a low-level inflammation (accompanied by cravings for more coconut).

When I take coconut oil in, I seem to get nausea. But I don't have any problems if I use it externally. So far, I do best with duck fat, and just the meat fats.
Maybe coconut oil isn't a natural thing to be used internally for our bodies?

 

[Gertrudes]

Coconut oil seems to be either really good for or really inflammatory for some people.

And for some it has both good and bad properties - had rarely, it seems to do good things for my brain, but having it often makes for a low-level inflammation (accompanied by cravings for more coconut).

When I take coconut oil in, I seem to get nausea. But I don't have any problems if I use it externally. So far, I do best with duck fat, and just the meat fats.
Maybe coconut oil isn't a natural thing to be used internally for our bodies?

So far I haven't problems with coconut oil, at least that I have noticed, although something might have escaped me. I can actually eat it by spoon, and the same with Ghee. What seems to be the problem for me is to eat a fair amount of hot liquid fat. If it is cold, I'm fine, hot, I have to be careful and eat less of it.

Interesting that Data also remarked something similar here:

As I mentioned earlier, I can't drink warm, liquid fat. Yuck! But I found out that refrigerated lard, slowly eaten with a teaspoon, with a pinch of salt on each spoon, works best for me.

I was getting nausea very often until I realized that I was eating cold fat by the spoon with no problem, and it was only when I cooked it and ate it warm that it didn't digest. I wonder why......

 

[Oxajil]

Hi Gertrudes,

I'm the opposite it seems. Eating just a teeny bit of coconut oil, makes me nauseous. And I don't really like the taste of ghee.
But I actually enjoy warm, cooked duck fat...

 

[stellar]

Laura, are you still at 20 or below or have you settled at another level?

I'm definitely below 20, some days just 10 or even less. I have the sinking suspicion that I'm one of those with VERY LOW tolerance for carbs. I'm thinking some of you will be able to up the levels at some point and stay in ketosis with many more than me!

I've been finding that even small amounts of carbs through veg gives me clear signs of 'no'. I would develop bowl cramps or lethargy or both in the same day. So it's meat and fats all the way for me, for now. :/

 

[Laura]

Laura, are you still at 20 or below or have you settled at another level?

I'm definitely below 20, some days just 10 or even less. I have the sinking suspicion that I'm one of those with VERY LOW tolerance for carbs. I'm thinking some of you will be able to up the levels at some point and stay in ketosis with many more than me!

I've been finding that even small amounts of carbs through veg gives me clear signs of 'no'. I would develop bowl cramps or lethargy or both in the same day. So it's meat and fats all the way for me, for now. :/

Yeah. I ate a salad one night and my whole system stopped transit for two days! CRAZY to observe the body doing things right and telling me what it does NOT like.

 

[Thor]

As has been discussed earlier, in the thread it is common for people to experience slower bowel movements or longer time for food to pass through the bowels.

As I am doing the DMSA protocol, this made me wonder about the following that I am hoping to get some forum members' thoughts on.

As I understand it, the chelation of heavy metals goes through the liver and into the intestines to be excreted. During the DMSA protocol, Sherry Rogers recommends that people do a detox enema (coffee enema) on a daily basis. This is supposed to both benefit the detox capabilities of the body and to reduce the risk of reabsorption of recently chelated heavy metals. If intestinal transit time (I don't know if there is a proper term, but it should make sense) increases while on the low-carb diet, would that lead to increased risk of toxic reabsorption during the DMSA or other detox protocols? If this is the case, would it be a good idea to increase vitamin C and magnesium to achieve faster bowel movements and perfom the daily detox enema as suggested by Sherry Rogers?

Alternatively, one could also argue that improvement of gut health and reduction in intestinal permeability that are also results of the low-carb diet would lead to reduced risk or reabsorption and that the low-carb diet in itself reduces the need for the detox enema.