Isn't a low carb diet really bad for you?

[Conundrumish]

I'm surprised to read on here that so many people are doing Atkins/other low carb diets - aren't they meant to be really bad for you?

Interesting Riven - I thought ketogenesis was different to ketosis (is that the correct terminology) but after a quick google I'm not so sure.

I don't think Atkins is as strict as a ketogenic diet (again, not sure). Is your DD's diet very high in sat fats then? Because Atkins isn't necessarily so, and has an emphasis on lots and lots of protein.

You don't have to put your body into an artificial state of ketosis to lose weight.... I think that's important to state.

So if you reduce your intake of refined carbohdyrates to next to nothing, consume moderate amounts of the unprocessed whole carbohydrates (veg, wholegrains, pulses), get a good balance of other foods, and control your calorie intake..or increase your exercise level, then you can control your weight & be in good health at the same time.

Where it is unhealthy, I think, is when people lose a couple of stone doing strict no or low carb... then they stop, regain the weight... then they repeat. Yo-yo-ing quite severely as a result. And long-term, we simply don't know what a prolongued very low carbohydrate diet does to the body.

Thanks for posting all that Riven, I've seen your posts about her diet on here before- it's had quite a major impact on her epilepsy hasn't it?

Chil - yes, I'm coming round to this idea more and more. Atkins initially was good for me as I lost a chunk of weight very quickly, but like you suggest, I have cut out almost all processed carbs, and trying to stick to low-GI, wholegrains etc. Weight certainly isn't going back on either

This is what low-carb means for me now anyway... I don't realy understand the mindset of going to all the trouble of losing a huge amount of weight on Atkins, and then going back to your diet of sugar/cakes/pizza etc and expecting the weight to stay off.

Agree it doesn't need special books but people are often pretty ignorant about carbs - I remember working with a woman who thought she was doing Atkins but was eating 3 bananas a day (as they don't count as they were fruit and not the muffin she usually ate at break)

So you do need to use your loaf

I think it's very easy for your diet to become very carb- based - plenty of people have bread for breakfast, bread for lunch & pasta for dinner for example.
While I have been 'low carbing ' for the last month or so I have still had a couple of spoons of oats every day, the occasional rye cracker,things like carrot, tomato & beetroot every day, natural yoghurt, hummous.... but what I haven't had is any bread or potatoes.
I don't eat meat but have made more of an effort to have fish & eggs every day. And I have lost a lot of weight without any problem.
Cutting out a lot of carbs makes me think more about what I am eating, as opposed to just having toast because I am tired & bored. And I reckon at 40ish - unless I take up running every day - I just don't need to be eating huge bowls of pasta all the time

So agree - full on Atkins cannot be healthy, but there is definately a case for lower carbs

I don't do Atkins anymore. I do my own version. But i don't have loads of weight to lose. I start off with more or less Atkins ongoing weightloss (ie using quite a lot of green veg and salad, a few nuts and Greek Yoghurt). Then I add in oats, lentils and brown rice (a tiny amt of each) and some fruit. Lots of water. No processed food. Heaps of green veg and salad.

It seems to work. I lose a lot of flab very quickly (I don't weigh myself).

But however I do it it hits my stamina for six. Which is why I am reluctant to try it atm. Only just got back to running after a fallow period around Nov and Dec.

In a healthy, balanced diet you should reasonably expect to get between 40% and 65% of your daily calories from carbohydrates - preferable the wholegrain, unprocessed, high-fibre type. Once you get below 40% on a too-regular basis that's when you diet start to become imbalanced and when you're more at risk of mild nutritional issues.

I remember that the OP is pregnant and wondering about the effects of ketosis on the foetus?.... I'd be as worried about the malnutrition mentioned above as I would about ketosis. The foetus is extremely good at sucking as much nourishment as possible out of the mother's body, often at the expense of the mother. So, in a situation where the mother's diet is poor and lacking nutrition, baby is usually OK but it's the mother's health that really struggles

Ignore that last part about ketosis and pregancy... I was getting two different threads confused.

Riven - I am not sure why I don't go out of ketosis! I certainly don't have that much fat and have found my cholesterol has gone way down. I don't have any refined carbs and I also am not having anything starchy at the moment i.e bread, pasta, potatoes. For dinner I might have a chicken breast grilled or roasted with a 100g of spinach and a light vinagarette or pork chop with stir fried bok choi with chinese style dressing, have had all these and stayed in ketosis. I am not having any sugar though really. Calpol almost pure sugar so maybe that's the difference?

Read the Diet Delusion by Gary Taubes, and then make your mind up...

I've just finished it. Taubes is a very respected US science journalist and he basically reviews all the scientific literature on nutrition, weight loss, heart disease etc. He concludes that basically the last 50 years of nutritional advice are wrong and based on academic fraud! And based on their own partial conflicts of interest.

Apparently (Taubes claims) the only conclusive advice suggesting that heart disease is linked to fat is based on one or two inconclusive studies... And no systematic studies of low carb diets have been done (partly because Atkins etc were regarded as charlatans) so low fat has become orthodoxy without clinicians really exploring the science properly.

He does mention the link to epilepsy Riven also but I can't remember the details.

Its a good but slightly shocking read.

The problme is most women in the UK pack in masses of refined foods and refined carbs. Or they starve lose weight and then binge and put even more back on.

What they really need is to find a sustainable diet which helps their mental as much as their physical health and keeps them happy and healthy until they're 85. I found that. I do eat a lot more protein than most women - 3 times a day. I wouldnt' call how I eat a diet as I'm not trying to lose weight. It's just a balanced 3 meals a day, no processed food, healthy diet, low GL, GI which all diabetics would follow, all those with depression woudl be recommended by their doctor etc. But I eat things like brown rice and baked potato and new potatoes but simply not to excess. Fish , eggs, chicken etc makes you feel full . Porridge doesn't in the same way.

So if you eat brown carb, meat and at lunch and dinner also some veg perhaps a handful of each of those three you will do fine. If you cut out the carb element you will probably feel depressed. Go and research thigns like brain chemistry and seratonin levels etc.

There is no research that 5 pieces of fruit and veg a day is needed. They just made that figure up. It could as much have been 10 as 5 or whatever but most people eating a healthy diet probably have 2 veg at lunch and dinner or fruit after and easily get up to 5. I certainly do. More of a problem for ex sugar addicts is just replacing sucrose with a load of fructose and getting their sugar highs from loads of sweet fruits which continue to spike their blood sugar levels. For some they may have to give up fruit and dried fruit and stick with veg instead.

CillaSnowball- I have also read the diet delusion , certainly an eye opener

have to agree with riven and xenia a diet without processed carbs is the way to live
sugar is the cause of obesity not fat