Did you have unexpected benefits eating lower carbs?

[Ihopeyourcakeisshit]

I'm not low carbing per se but I have inadvertently been eating lower carbs due to a change in work circumstances.
Apart from weight loss, did anybody find anything else good happen that they weren't expecting?

@3luckystars

Here's the current chat thread - we're in week 3 now (out of 8)

@Wishihadanalgorithm

Yes to what a lot of PP have said from lack of farting to clearer skin etc. I also noticed the bobbly skin on the back of my arms and legs disappeared.

I never saw the increase in energy though.

You do have to watch your electrolytes /salts otherwise you can get fatigue

When you have no carbs in your system you don't retain water (which is why you lose the bloat) and so, you also don't retain your salts. You need to salt everything. I also take an electrolyte tablet.

@SisterJude

What you eat/don't eat depends a bit on which plan you're following, as there are many.

But essentially, you won't be eating sugar (in any form - including honey/agave syrup/maple syrup etc), rice, potatoes, pasta and bread.

What you will be eating is plenty of fat - a low carb diet is a high fat one - so cream, butter, cheese.

Unprocessed meat and fish, eggs, and plenty of vegetables and salad. Some fruit (exactly how much depends on the plan).

Oh, and no flour or things made with flour - so no cakes or pastries.

Ive been farting more 🤦
I'm only cuting out refined sugar not proper low carbing, I did that at the beginning of the year and had fainting episodes

@BIWI

Sounds like you're one of the few then *@RacketeerRalph*!

Yep! It was awful! Bloated, farts stank like something had crawled up and died, stomach pain. I kept it up a fair while to see if it was just the transition but nope.

Thank you! I’m going to join.

@BIWI is it possible to do proper low carb if you're vegetarian?

What easy breakfasts can you make on this diet?

[quote HereticFanjo]@BIWI is it possible to do proper low carb if you're vegetarian? [/quote]
Yes you can. It's not as easy as if you're a meat eater, but you definitely can. Rose Elliott has written a vegetarian low carb diet, and there's a recipe book to go with her diet which has some lovely recipes in it.

@AwaAnBileYerHeid

What easy breakfasts can you make on this diet?

Depends on how you're defining easy!

But anything with eggs - boiled, poached, scrambled, fried, omelettes.

Full fat Greek yoghurt, with berries and/or nuts

... or any leftovers from the night before. Breakfast doesn't have to be about specific foods - we have Mr Kellogg to thank for that.

Thanks @BIWI I'll check it out!

Less brain fog, feel lighter as less bloated, much better skin and keratosis pilaris cleared away, no more tonsil stones. No more hangryness!

Freedom from needing to snack / eat all the time. When I was on low carb (def not keto more like 50-100g a day) I became able to go for so long without snacking. I wax genuinely happy and satisfied in two meals a a day. It was so freeing!

I started purely for weight loss and have found it the easiest diet/lifestyle change to stick to. I never feel hungry and don't feel deprived. Not saying I don't have days where I cheat a little but it's easy to get back on track.
The most unexpected benefit was that my joints no longer ache all day every day. I assume that's the low sugar part at work but the difference is amazing. My bloodwork has improved as well, especially the LFT.

Low carbing has two key benefits - first, because your blood sugar levels are stable (which means the key hormones insulin, grehlin and leptin are in balance), you won't be hungry between meals.

Second, it helps to 'damp down' inflammation, which can cause many painful conditions.

I've been eating low carb just over a year:

Skin tags "melted" away.

My heels are now very soft and smooth. Prior to diet change, you could have sanded an old boat with them.

My lifelong eczema has cleared up and haven't had a single recurrence
yet.

My waist circumference is now less than half of my height

I now like my reflection on the mirror when at the hairdressers

I can go hours between meals. I can feel hungry but I still function normally as the shakes and blurry vision isn't affecting me anymore.

No more cystic acne spots.

This summer gone I noticed I tolerated heat much better which made a huge difference to my mood overall. I used to dread heat waves before.

I was able to wear a summer dress without big bloomers first time in years. This was due to the chub rub disappearing thanks to the weight loss.

@AwaAnBileYerHeid

What easy breakfasts can you make on this diet?

In addition to the eggs mentioned, you can also prepare a chia pudding the night before. Many recipes on the internet if you google it.

I often batch cook the coconut flour waffles as they keep in the fridge well and all you need to do is to warm them up in the microwave in the morning. I use the recipe from Diet Doctor website, it's under the dessert -section but works well for breakfast.

When I’m fully into low carbing I don’t routinely eat breakfast because I simply don’t need to - I hardly ever feel hungry until about 1 or 2 pm so for the most part I prefer to start my day without food and then have a more substantial lunch and dinner.

However almost any food can be had at breakfast - even curries, stews, whatever leftovers you have from previous dinners, are perfectly palatable (at least to me) especially when eaten cold because that way the flavours are a little more subdued.

I forgot one which is discussed quite a bit in keto /low carb communities - tanning

I now tan, actually tan, without burning. This is totally unexpected.

To be fair, this seems to be something to do with fewer / no seed oils in the diet not specifically low carb. The research around seed oils and skin cancer that is emerging is pretty horrifying.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4063976/

Brighter eyes.

No excess stomach acid and reflux. On the other hand, it's pretty constipating.

@longwayoff - it shouldn't be, if you're getting your carbs mostly from veg/salad, and you're keeping your fat and water intake high!

I hardly ever fart.

My snoring improved dramatically within about a week. I have an app that monitors my snoring and I went from epic snoring for most of the time I was asleep to moderate snoring for part of the time I was asleep.

It's lack of veg, BIWI. I cant face the quantity required. I have, however, lost 2 stone by dropping in and out of the low carb threads since last year, so my grateful thanks for all the wise advice and hard work you put in.