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Friday, March 30, 2012

High Fat Low Carb Diet is the same as a Paleo Diet!

It's true!  HFLC (High Fat Low Carb), or LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) are the same exact thing!


But did you also know that the  Paleo Diet is also the same as High Fat Low Carb or Low Carb High Fat??


PD = LCHF or HFLC!!


How's that for a formula?

Anyway, here is some LCHF, HFLC, or PD info:
This video will explain just about ALL you need to know-




Do you want to eat real food (as much as you like) and improve your health and weight? It may sound too good to be true, but LCHF is a method that has been used for 150 years. Now modern science proves that it works.

There is no weighing your food, no counting, no bizarre “meal replacements”, no pills. There is just real food and common sense. And by the way, all the advice here is 100 percent free.

Contents

Introduction
Dietary advice
Theory
Tips and recipes
Cook books and more

Introduction
LCHF (Low Carb, High Fat) means you eat less carbohydrates with a higher proportion of fat. The most important point is to minimize your intake of sugar and starches. That way you can eat other delicious foods until you are satisfied – and still lose weight.

A number of recent high quality scientific studies show that LCHF makes it easier to lose weight and control your blood sugar. And that may just be the beginning.

The basics
Eat: meat, fish, eggs, vegetables growing above ground and natural fats (like butter).
Avoid: sugar and starchy foods (like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes).
Eat when you’re hungry until you are satisfied. It’s that simple. You do not need to count calories or weigh your food. And just forget about industrially produced low fat products.



Real food. Add some good fat (like butter).

There are good scientific reasons why LCHF works. When you avoid sugar and starches your blood sugar stabilizes and the levels of the fat storing hormone insulin drops. This increases your fat burning and make you feel more satiated.

Note for diabetics
Avoiding the carbohydrates that raise your blood sugar decreases your need for medication to lower it. Taking the same dose of insulin as before might result in hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). You will need to test your blood sugar frequently in the beginning and adapt (lower) your medication. This should ideally be done with the assistance of a knowledgeable physician. If you are healthy or a diabetic treated by diet alone or just with Metformin there is no risk of hypoglycemia.


Dietary advice
Eat all you like
Meat: Any type. Beef, pork, game meat, chicken. The fat on the meat is good as well as skin on the chicken. Try to choose organic or grass fed meat if you can.
Fish and shellfish: All kinds. Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel or herring are great. Avoid breading.
Eggs: All kinds. Boiled, fried, omelettes. Preferably organic eggs.
Natural fat, fat sauces: Using butter and cream when you cook can make your food taste better and make you more satiated. BĂ©arnaise, Hollandaise, read on the packages or make it yourself. Coconut fat, olive oil and canola oil are also good options.
Vegetables growing above ground: All kinds of cabbage, such as cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts. Asparagus, zucchini, eggplant, olives, spinach, mushrooms, cucumber, lettuce, avocado, onions, peppers, tomatoes and more.
Dairy products: Always select high fat options. Real butter, cream (40% fat), sour cream, fat cheese. Turkish yogurt. Be careful with regular milk and skim milk as it contains a lot of milk sugar. Avoid flavored, sugary and low fat products.
Nuts: Good to eat instead of candy in front of the television (preferably in moderation).
Berries: Okay in moderation, if you are not a super strict /-sensitive. Good with whipped cream.
Maximum 5 grams of carbohydrate (excluding fiber) per 100 g of food is a basic tip for beginners.



Avoid if you can
Sugar: The worst. Soft drinks, candy, juice, sports drinks, chocolate, cakes, buns, pastries, ice cream, breakfast cereals. Preferably avoid sweeteners as well.
Starch: Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, french fries, potato chips, porridge, muesli and so on. »Wholemeal products” are just less bad. Moderate amounts of root vegetables may be OK if you’re not too strict with the carbohydrates.
Margarine: Industrially imitated butter with unnaturally high content of omega-6 fat. Has no health benefits, tastes bad. Statistically linked to asthma, allergies and other inflammatory diseases.
Beer: Liquid bread. Full of malt sugar, unfortunately.
Fruit: Very sweet, plenty of sugar. Eat once in a while, treat it as a natural form of candy.
Once in a while
You decide when the time is right. Your weight loss may slow down a bit

Alcohol: Dry wine (regular red wine or dry white), whisky, brandy, vodka, drinks without sugar.
Dark chocolate: Above 70 % cocoa, preferably just a little.
Drink most days
Water
Coffee: Try it with full fat cream
Tea



The theory of LCHF
What are you designed to eat?
Humans evolved during millions of years as hunter-gatherers, without large amounts of carbohydrate. We ate the food that is available to us in nature by hunting, fishing and gathering all edible foods we could find. That did not include pure starch in the form of bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. We have only eaten such food for 5 – 10 000 years, since the beginning of agriculture. Just a limited adaptation of our genes can take place in such a relatively short time.

With the industrial revolution, 100 – 200 years ago, we got factories that could manufacture large amounts of pure sugar and white flour. Rapidly digested pure carbohydrates. There has been no time to genetically adapt to that food.

In the 80s the fear of fat gripped the western world. The low fat products appeared everywhere. If you eat less fat you need to eat more carbohydrates to feel full. At this time the worst epidemic of obesity and diabetes in history started. The most fatphobic country in the world, the USA, has been hit the hardest and is now the fattest major country in the world.

Today it is clear that the fear of real food with natural fat contents has been a mistake.

The problem of sugar and starch
All digestible carbohydrates are broken down to simple sugars in the intestines. The sugar is absorbed into the blood, raising the blood glucose. This increases the production of the hormone insulin. And insulin is our fat storing hormone.

Insulin is produced in the pancreas (pictured to the right). In large amounts insulin prevents fat burning and stores surplus nutrients in the fat cells. After some time (a few hours or less) this may result in a shortage of nutrients in the blood, creating feelings of hunger and cravings for something sweet. Usually at that point people eat some more. That starts the process again, a vicious cycle leading to weight gain.

A low intake of carbohydrates gives you a lower and more stable blood glucose, and lower amounts of insulin. This increases the release of fat from your fat stores and increases the fat burning. This usually gives fat loss, especially around the tummy in abdominally obese individuals.

Weight loss without hunger
LCHF makes it easier for the body to use its fat stores, as their release is no longer blocked by high insulin levels. This may be a reason why intake of fat gives a longer feeling of satiety than carbohydrates. Caloric intake usually drops in studies when the participants eat all they want on a low carb diet.

So, no counting or weighing of the food is required. You can forget about the calories and trust your feelings of hunger and satiety. Most people don’t need to count or weigh their food any more than they need to count their breathing. If you don´t believe it, just try a couple of weeks and see for yourself.

Health as a bonus
No animals in nature need the assistance of nutritional expertise or calorie charts to eat. And still, as long as they eat the food they are designed to eat they stay at a normal weight and they avoid caries, diabetes and heart disease. Why would humans be an exception? Why would you be an exception?

In scientific studies not only is the weight improved on a low carb diet – the blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol profile (HDL, triglycerides) is also improved. A calm stomach and less cravings for sweet food is also common experiences.

Initial side effects
If you stop eating sugar and starch cold turkey (recommended) you may experience some side effects as your body gets used to it. For most people it is relatively mild and just lasts a few days. Also there are ways to minimize it.

Common during the first week:

Headache
Tiredness
Dizziness
Heart palpitations
Irritability
The side effects rapidly subside as your body adapts and your fat burning increases. They can be minimized by drinking some extra fluid and temporarily increasing your salt intake somewhat. A good way can be some broth every few hours. Alternatively drink a few extra glasses of water and put some more salt on your food.

The reason is that carbohydrate rich foods may increase the water retention in your body. When you stop eating that food you will lose excess water through your kidneys. That may give dehydration and lack of salt in the first week before the body has had time to adapt.

Some prefer to decrease the intake of carbohydrates slowly, over a few weeks, to minimize side effects. But for most it is wise to take away most sugar and starch right away. A few extra pounds of fluids lost on the scale in the first days is great for the motivation.

How low to go?
The less carbohydrate you eat the more pronounced the effect on your weight and blood sugar will be. I recommend following the dietary advice as strict as you can. When you are happy with your weight and health you may gradually try eating more liberally (if you want to).

2 comments:

Gemma Anne Roissetter Brown said...

I was under the impression LCHF, Ketogenic and Paleo are similar but have subtle differences.

My understanding is LCHF and Ketogenic lower ALL carbs, the difference being how much you lower them by. Ketogenic aims to lower it to less than 50 NET grams (total carbs - dietary fibre) whereas LCHF suggests keeping carbs between 100 - 150 net grams. The Ketogenic is better for weight loss, if that is what you desire.

Paleo concentrates on eating as we would have pre- agriculture. This means no dairy and no mass produced grains. It does not aim to lower carbs in itself and allows as many carbs as you want.

However - you can combine them. For example my husband is lactose and gluten intolerant so we are trying a Paleo-LCHF, i.e. no dairy, 100-150 net grams of carbs and medium protein with lots and lots of yummy fat to make up the calories as we are both a healthy weight.

PaleoJay said...

Good points all, Gemma!
As you point out, LCHF, Ketogenic, and Paleo are all similar- AND, they are all available as templates to start with, and by doing an experiment of one on yourself, you can customize what is best for you, at least at any given stage of your life.

I find that most folks of Northern European descent can tolerate dairy very well, at least real, pastured, full fat dairy! So, I love dairy- and I also love ketogenic diets; but not on an ongoing basis unless a therapeutic effect is desired as in fighting a disease.

Like you say: they are all "kissin' cousins"! Subtly different, but really quite close to one another, in whatever form: this is what I wanted to convey in the blog.

If your husband is lactose intolerant, perhaps he can still tolerate butter- or at least Ghee. (Clarified butter). Usually, the more fat involved, the less problem with dairy....

But you can always load up on coconut milk and oil!