Coming off Keto

[amms36]

Hello everyone,

I've been doing keto now for around six months. I'm happy with my weight loss, and am now aiming to transition away from Keto and to move to a more normal 'lower carb' diet.

Sadly, coming off Keto is being a lot harder than I expected. And I just wanted to see whether or not these experiences are normal.

On Friday I decided to have some bread and 4 roast potatoes with a steak.

Within about 30 minutes of eating, I felt very unwell. My stomach felt extremely uncomfortable, and I ended up being sick. DH was also on Keto, he ate the same dinner as me. He also felt some discomfort but wasn't unwell like I was.

For the remainder of this weekend, my stomach has felt unwell, and I have a much lower appetite (although it was already quite reduced on Keto anyway). I haven't attempted eating carbs again.

Is this a normal reaction?

I've had a similar reaction when I have cheated on low carb. 4 roast potatoes and bread is a lot of carbs compared to keto, and wouldn't be 'low carb' anyway. Can you increase things more gradually? (e.g have more carby veg, berries or nuts)

I used to have a carb day every month and still so occasionally. I've never felt unwell after carbs. Have felt bloated but not ill.

Thank you for the replies :)

I think I will have to try a more gradual approach.

Sadly, DH and I had blood tests, and our cholesterol levels have climbed quite substantially since beginning Keto. I can only assume it's because of moving to full fat dairy, cheese, eggs, etc. So I am now becoming quite concerned about that.

I'd like to move to a system where on the average day we had a healthy cereal for breakfast, a light sandwich for lunch, and then a protein and salad for a main course. I know this wouldn't really be 'low carb' but I'd consider it 'healthy.

DH is still slightly overweight on the BMI scale. I'm in the middle. So I think we can make that work. I'm just worried about the fact the cholesterol levels have increased so much, despite both losing substantial amounts of weight. But it is a genetic problem for both, to be fair.

@amms36 Was it an increase in total cholesterol or a specific type? An increase in total cholesterol can be a good thing if it's due to an increase in the 'good' cholesterol. @BIWI may know more (maybe one for the Bootcamp FAQs?)

Cereal isn't a healthy breakfast. I'm not sure why you seem to equate carbs with healthy food. If you start eating cereal and sandwiches again every day then you'll likely just regain the weight.

When you say it's gone up, what do you mean though? Do you have a breakdown of the figures? You should have four different 'numbers' - total cholesterol, HDL (the "good" one), LDL (the "bad" one) and Triglycerides.

The link between fat and cholsterol is dubious though. Here's a piece that @StuntNun wrote a few weeks ago:

high blood cholesterol levels are a risk factor for heart disease so people were advised to limit dietary cholesterol in order to lower their blood cholesterol. However there's no link between dietary cholesterol intake and blood cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is an essential substance for your body to function therefore it is tightly controlled. If you eat more cholesterol then your body produces less; if you cut out cholesterol then your body produces more to compensate. So it doesn't make any difference at all how much cholesterol you eat. It's possible that saturated fat could raise your blood cholesterol however the studies carried out to date give mixed results. One potential issue is that studies don't differentiate the source of saturated fat so a ribeye steak is considered the same as a doughnut. As low carb enthusiasts we see sugar as the big villain but the mainstream viewpoint is that sugar is only implicated in tooth decay and is otherwise benign. It doesn't really matter though because what the studies don't show is any association between saturated fat and heart disease. So long story short I know, too late most people don't have to worry about increasing their saturated fat or their cholesterol intake.

However, you also say it's a genetic problem for you - so this is probably more important for you:

There are some people with familial hypercholesteraemia who have chronically high cholesterol that may choose to emphasise monounsaturated fats and fish oils in their diet instead of animal fats however this is based in the precautionary principle rather than because we have any evidence they should limit their intake of saturated fat and cholesterol.

Like @Hopeislost, I'm also wondering why you see thing like cereal and bread as healthy - given what you must have learnt about keto/low carbing!

@amms36 I suspect a lot of us have hidden food intolerances to e.g. wheat or dairy that we usually either don’t notice or put down to something else such as IBS. The first time I had bread after going low carb I had a terrible stomach ache the next day and it turns out I’m wheat intolerant. When I was eating it every day then I had a certain level of tolerance and only had low grade stomach issues pretty much all the time. When I cut wheat out to go low carb then I lost any tolerance I did have so now I react much more strongly than I did before. I’m okay with a small amount of wheat but I’ll never be able to eat pasta and bread again. If this is the case with you and you’re genuinely wheat intolerant then you wouldn’t want to reintroduce cereals and sandwiches as they’re only going to cause problems. To be honest I’m not sure why you would reintroduce these foods on a daily basis anyway, knowing they’re setting you on a pathway to weight gain and ill health.

My cholesterol came back high too but when they did a risk assessment on me my chances of a cardiac event was 2% so very low.
Cholesterol needs to be taken in a wider context for it to have any proper meaning.
I have cut down on meat however and now eat min 2 pieces oily fish a week though usually it's more like 4. Not hard for me though as was never a big meat fan.
Remember increasing your carbs does not have to mean cereal and bread. You can increase your veggies/pulses/beans etc

I was never clinically overweight. I was at the upper end of normal. I am now in the middle of normal. I know there is much debate on the overall usefulness of BMI as a weight measurement though.

Personally, I don't think that cornflakes as a breakfast is unhealthy. I would understand that argument if I ate sugary cereals. Likewise, I don't think a sandwich made at home, without unhealthy fillings would be negative.

I have always used healthy oils and plenty of vegetables. Certainly the diet I am looking to move towards fully embraces the sort of diet which is typical here (I don't live in the UK). But with a greater focus on moderation around certain things and portion control.

Coeliacs disease does run in my family, so I think this is something I'm going to need to monitor, and if needs be I'd move to a gluten free diet completely.

My approach to food has always been that eating certain things such as bread (very typical here) and the odd treat does not lead anyone on a pathway to ill health. Getting the balances wrong does though.

Personally, I don't think that cornflakes as a breakfast is unhealthy. I would understand that argument if I ate sugary cereals. Likewise, I don't think a sandwich made at home, without unhealthy fillings would be negative

You do realise that cornflakes and bread are just as bad as sugary cereals? They're very high in carbs (without the added sugar) so will have the same kind of negative impact on your blood sugars. Surely you must know this if you've been following a keto diet?

In fact, having checked on Sainsbury's website, there are just as many carbs in Kellogg's Cornflakes as there are in Cocopops - 84g per 100g. A recommended serving of both cereals is 30g. I don't know if you've ever bothered to weigh out 30g of cereal, but I can guarantee that what we would all consider a normal portion would be at least twice that amount. And then, of course, there's the milk that you'd use on top - which would add more carbs.

Re bread - Hovis wholemeal (medium slice) is 37.8g per 100g/15.1g per slice and Hovis white (medium slice) 44.6g/17.9 per slice

So for a sandwich, either 30.2g carbs or 35.8g carbs - before you put anything in it.

The sandwich would be marginally better in terms of the impact on your blood sugars, but cereal and a sandwich in one day is not great.

Oh goodness me. I have said that I am moving away from a Keto diet.

I am not afraid of eating a balanced diet which will involve eating carbs. The majority of the population in the country I live in eat a moderate amount of carbs and it has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.

The condescending tones sometimes really astound me. I haven't asked for anyone's opinions on what I should or should not be eating.

Oh goodness me. I'm sorry for trying to help and give you some advice.