Has anyone gone low carb or Keto and found it’s ‘cured’ their health issues?

[JustlookingNotbuying]

I don’t need to lose weight so am not interested in doing this way of eating for that but I have terrible gut issues (IBS), anxiety, depression and tiredness (no doubt all connected).
My diet is carefully thought about, I am on the low fodmap diet for my IBS and really have to watch what I eat but even so it’s not helping me at all.
I find the idea of eating a seriously low carb diet very daunting (especially as I can not eat diary or eggs!) but I have a friend who went Keto 4 years ago. She lost 5 stone and has kept it off but says as a side effect all of her health issues, including IBS disappeared.
I have since read lots of accounts of people going Keto/low carb and feeling fantastic on it.
I don’t know if it’s because their diet was awful before with too much sugar etc but can this way of eating really have huge impacts on your health other than your weight?
Have you seen health improvements beyond weight loss?

Yes. And my diet wasn’t awful beforehand nor was I hugely overweight (although I did have a bit to lose).

When I eat properly low carb for a sustained period of time I don’t have stomach issues, don’t have period pains at all, don’t have problems sleeping and don’t crave sugar or other carbs foods. My moods are also much better (due to improved hormone regulation).

I eat low carb for long-term health reasons, under doctors’/consultants’ agreement, not for weight loss.

It cured my period pains completely however after a while I started getting blurred vision so I had to stop.

Must add I don’t eat keto. There’s no need to go that low on carb intake to reap the health benefits.

Basically I eat lots and lots of veg, a good amount of protein, plenty of healthy fats and (try to) keep all processed carbs to the bare minimum if any at all.

Yes absolutely. Not keto but low carb and no processed foods... Lost weight without trying, no more headaches, fibromyalgia gone, very dry skin and scaly scalp all cleared up, slept better, loads more energy, never bloated, mentally so much better, no more anxiety or low level low mood, brain fog gone and generally felt able to get so much more done .. amazing and wish I'd done it years ago 🌟

I really do need to try this. I’ve never really reduced my carbs all the years I’ve had gut issues.
Can someone offer up an example of what you would typically eat in a day?
I struggle with bread and alternatives etc, I just love toast and sandwiches and always have potatoes with my evening meal.

Oh yes brain fog was another big one!

I eat a low carb diet because I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, as a result I lost 6 stone (which I needed to do) and type 2 is now in remission. Since eating low carb I sleep better, have more energy and am happier.

I tend to have something like eggs for breakfast, maybe with berries and spinach, a chicken salad for lunch with hummus and more spinach (good source of calcium as I can't have fairy) followed by stones fruit or apple (low GI), then dinner something like lentil soup with keto bread or a stir fry with courgetti, or meatballs in the slow cooker with tomato passata and loads of veggies/mushrooms.... Hope that's helpful. Honestly the best thing I ever did for my health and found the fat just melted away even though I was trying to clear up my skin. Awesome way of life and would never go back. And I loved bread/toast/potatoes more than anyone 😉 never miss them at all now, not processed foods or sugar. The healthy feeling of being without all that clogging up my system and brain is so worth it. Google also grain brain 👍🏼💟

Meant dairy, not fairy 🤦🏼😉

Thanks Jadedbuthappy82

Oh yes, definitely also much happier than I've ever been and feel so much more "me" if that makes sense. I don't feel like I'm floating blindly through life anymore, I feel actually alive and alert and just so much more positive. I never thought I could go without bread etc, a year ago I'd have laughed at the thought. Just tried it as a bit of an experiment for my skin. Oh, also it really regulated my periods and shortened them which surprised me, lighter and no pains now. I hope you get to give it a try 👍🏼🌟 the first few days you feel heavy and awful and headachey but if you just keep telling yourself to push through that, you come out the other side and just feel better and better each day ❤️ I wish you the best of luck x

I did keto for 6 months (<20g carbs) now I so low carb.

The psoriasis I'd had for 20+ years disappeared, also much more energy. Hasn't helped with my anxiety though.

Can you stop (or halve) the bread and potatoes now? And add more meat, green veg and a glug of olive oil?
I tried lc and failed a bunch of times, just felt too awful. Gradually reduced carbs over time until it was down to basically breakfast toast and snacks, and then it was easy to make the switch.
I still have a slice of lc seeded bread with eggs most mornings. I'd find lc hard if I couldn't eat eggs though.
I was already pretty healthy but the thing that has improved is that I'm not hungry every few hours, energy is sustained for longer and when I do get hungry I'm not desperate and cross - hangry - like I used to be.

I started consciously reducing (not stopping) carbs a few weeks ago and have to say that I do feel generally better lately and have lost a few pounds. Couldn't do full on Keto personally.

Oh and I've found it easy to maintain a decent level of vit d since my diet changed (used to be deficient and really struggled to up my levels even with supplements). I attribute the improvement to increased fat in my diet.

I feel much better on a low carb diet. My stomach issues have pretty much cleared up and I don’t feel tired in the afternoon any more.

I'm better low carbing as well. Felt rubbish at first, just to pre-warn you. It's like a detox. But I was able to cut out anti acid meds and i have a lot more energy.
Carbs seem highly addictive and once I start I have trouble finding the off button. I used to have the jitters a lot as if I'd overdone the caffeine, and that has gone too. It's the first thing to roar back into life if I have sugar/bread/an apple though. I listened to a podcast about carb addiction and they referred to apples as a gateway drug 😳 (If you are an addict - some people are like me with alcohol and take it or leave it)
I dont do seriously low carb/keto but when it's going right I live on meat/fish/eggs/salad/dairy/veg and it feels a lot healthier for me. Bit of rice sometimes, very occasionally porridge but never bread or potatoes. A little fruit but not apples, oranges or bananas because they make me crave more sugary things.
Home made bone broth daily for a while really helped me wean (slowly) off
lanzoprazole. Need to get back on it as it's supposed to be very healthy.

The biggest plus for me is that I no longer feel controlled by food, and I still eat well and enjoy it. It's so hard to start though!

I started low carbing over 15 years ago, originally to lose weight. But a couple of months in, I realised that I hadn't had any IBS symptoms since I started. I used to regularly get knee pain, caused by inflammation of the ligaments, and that's gone. It also helped enormously through the menopause.

Any number of people who have been on the Low Carb Bootcamp on here will attest to how it can help with/cure other ailments.

It's also a way to reduce hypertension, cholesterol and blood pressure as well as help to push diabetes into remission. (There's also some suggestion that it can help to prevent/slow Alzheimer's Disease - in some quarters now being called Type 3 diabetes).

This is the podcast I think. I listened on Spotify

I eat low carbs and feel so much better. I have lost weight which is a bonus.

I felt AMAZING on Keto (after the Keto flu had passed). No notable health issues beforehand but I had so much energy, slept like a baby, perfect poos and had a flat tummy for the first time ever... Fell off the Keto wagon when we went to Spain on holiday a few years bah and have never quite managed to climb back on...

Giving up bread & wheat will probably make a huge difference it's a very processed food and many people are low level intolerant to wheat.

I'd cut that first give it several months the cut out potatoes if giving up wheat hasn't made a difference.

Yes, it cleared up my terrible skin, got rid of random patches of eczema, improved my period pain, got rid of niggling stomach related issues, stopped my afternoon energy dip and brain fog. Weight loss was the least of it (but I did lose loads).

Oh wow! I really do need to give this a go. Alongside my gut issues I too have low energy and that jittery feeling you describe Solosunrise.
I think I’ll need to start by cutting down all my carbs especially the bread, that will have to go first 😢

Thanks for posting @Solosunrise. I was about to ask for the link. Interesting what you say about apples. I crave them and they always seem to make me even hungrier!