Fat doesn’t make you fat, carbohydrates do.
Why go low carb? What is low carb?
We are told that eating fat will make you fat. It is actually when you eat fat AND too many carbohydrates. When you consume carbohydrates, they are converted into glucose by your body. The pancreas then secretes insulin (or it may need to be injected) to reduce the blood glucose levels. Insulin is our fat STORING hormone and fat burning is switched off. If we have very little amounts of carbohydrates in our diet, we require less insulin, and therefore store less fat and able to burn fat.
Different people can tolerate, and remain healthy, with large amounts of carbohydrates and some virtually none (diabetics). Also as we get older, our ability to handle carbohydrates may diminish and we may get pre-diabetes or insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes). When we consume too many carbs, our body will produce more insulin to help reduce the large amount of glucose now in our blood, leading to hyperinsulinaemia.
Why go low carb? By restricting your carb intake you –
- stabilise blood sugar levels
- stabilise insulin release
- stabilise hunger signals and learn to really recognise true hunger
- stop insulin spikes which lead to crashes in blood sugar then insatiable hunger
- lose weight
- improve blood lipid profile – increase good cholesterol, decrease bad and lower triglycerides
- improved nutrient intake
- can help prevent developing type 2 diabetes by reducing your insulin levels
- reduce inflammation in arteries and veins which is a contributing factor to cardiovascular disease and dementia
Why go low carb? By eating a low carb high fat diet, you are sustained throughout the day. You don’t get the sugar spikes and then sugar crashes, you don’t need the cake and coffee to stimulate you in the afternoon slump, your whole unprocessed food intake skyrockets, your blood lipid profile improves, blood pressure drops, need for type 2 medication and insulin will be reduced, thinking will be clearer for the entire day, your gut will improve the ability to absorb nutrients, migraines will reduce …….. Why not try it?
You may have heard of various new ways of eating/lifestyles such as Paleo, Primal, Mediterranean and LCHF. They all have similarities between them that they are based on eating a variety of nutrient dense food.
Paleo diet is eating the way our ancestors did. Meat, fish, chicken, vegetables and NO dairy, no grains, no sugar, no wheat, no processed food. Fabulous but not necessarily low carb. Much of their baking will use dried fruit and honey, which are just alternative forms of sugar.
Primal as for paleo but they include dairy. Again, not necessarily low carb.
Mediterranean a whole foods diet full of vegetables, fruit, nuts, olive oil, pasta and whole grain breads.
Atkins many ask is LCHF is another form of the Atkins diet? Atkins was based on carbohydrate counting and allowed a lot of processed foods as long as it was low carb. It didn’t emphasise increasing vegetable intake, it allowed manufactured processed Atkins bars, low carb breads etc. It was not a quality diet. It was also high in protein which is where most criticism lies.
LCHF is really the best part of all of these. The emphasis is on whole foods, clean foods, unprocessed foods, quality foods, variety and balance of foods, no sugar, no grains, moderate protein, and most importantly, low in carbs to prevent obesity, diabetes, dementia, cardiovascular disease etc.
So how much carbohydrate can you consume in a day? Well this depends on your tolerance (younger children can tolerate more than adults) and also your hunger levels. If you can control your hunger and maintain weight, you may tolerate more. Others who have never been able to control their appetite, may find restricting carbs quite strictly helps curb their hunger signals and allows them to regulate their appetite. Moderate restriction is keeping vary intake below 100g/day. A ketogenic diet is one where carbs are almost eliminated (less than 20g/day) so we start burning the bodies fat stores for energy. By eating this way, your body becomes “fat adapted”. Energy remains pretty constant throughout the day, you can sustain exercise for longer periods and it has therapeutic effects for epileptics, alzheimers, weight loss, T1 & T2 diabetes, acne, PCOS, and some cancers which have insulin receptors. Restricting carbs so low, is especially useful for those who are pre diabetic, hypertension, high blood pressure or those who want rapid weight loss.
If you have any of the above conditions, always check with your doctor before reducing you carb intake. Your blood pressure may drop and blood sugar control will improve and so may require a reduction in your medication so you don’t become hypoglycemic or hypotensive.
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Victoria Skelly says
I do low carb high fat but I disagree with no calorie counting… I meet my macros. Fats/Proteins/Carbs and Calories. No matter what if you eat in a surplus you wont lose weight… example: I maintaine at 1700 cal I wont lose weight until i drop those calories down…. 15 years of this and I always gain if I eat too many calories even if they are low carb and under my carb count.
Til says
Yes I have often wondered why should you do low carb?
I am losing weight by counting calories and have found it much easier to avoid certain fatty foods (sausages, fries, chips, cheese) than avoiding carbs. So why all the hype about low carb? I don’t get it. I love my carbs more than sausages and chips and I’m glad I can just choose what I want to eat as long as my calories are not too much.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
The major problem with calorie counting is that it never addresses the real problem, and the long term issue that eventually makes many people give up – hunger! Calorie counting generally relies on low fat and low satiety i.e.: hungry all day. Secondly, eating low-carb stabilises blood sugars, reduced inflammation, you eat unprocessed whole foods and enjoy healthy fats which are lacking in so many peoples diets. Everyone knows the dangers of a high sugar diet, and will not argue the fact that sugar is inflammatory and toxic, but all carbs turn into sugar within our body. We continue to eat carbs, but LOW carb. So our carbs now come from nutrient dense sources such as vegetables, low sugar berries, nuts, dairy … Not from bread, pasta, rice, sweets, sugar sweetened beverages, baking, and thew constant snacking most people do. P.S. We eat sausages and cheese, but you will never find fries and chips on a low carb site – they are high carb!!!! 🙂
Gail Schielke says
Hi I tried the Atkins diet 15 years ago and had great success. I ate LCHF at that time and no bars , shakes etc just real food. Now in my mid 60’s and having quit smoking 8 months ago I have 40 lbs to lose. I started LCHF 8 weeks ago and have not lost 1 lb. I have tried adding extra fat and still no luck. Carb intake is between 15 and 20 grams most days and occasionally 23 -25. Very discouraging. Must say I do feel better on it, no bloating or gassy feeling.
Cat's Meow says
You don’t say if your clothing size decreased. It’s possible that you lost fat and gained muscle which is heavier than fat but takes up less room. Another thing to consider is your water intake. Make sure you are drinking 64 ounces of water each day. That will help with weight loss.
Monica says
Gail I hope things are going better on your diet if not maybe change up and go on low carb keto or paleo . You’ll be able to read all about it on the net. I had the same problem at one point and that is when I went on keto. Good luck!
You can't argue with science says
Because you are overconsuming fat.
Record calories — don’t listen to the knuckle-heads that say “eating fat can’t make you fat.”
Your body will happily store calories from ANY macronutrient.
Jeanie Kirby says
“I Remember another Man who was Above and Beyond Obsessive Compulsive and Sprooked “HIGH FAT”,Low Carb or No Carb Diet”!?, “His name was “Nathan Pritakin”. He had the most horrendous clogged Arteries and the massive Heart Attack that Killed him, was caused by this stupidy., thus it was, by the Coroner, the worst he had ever seen in his Career or ever had to perform?, Balance of Fats And go lightly on the Carbs???, As there is Carbs in everything, bar, Eggs, Meats, Fish, And Free Vegetables., above ground, and below in some case watch these, but the balance is 3 above with 1 below, “Carbs are Flavour”!, Getting The “Calories are King, But Carbs Count Booklet, Will Enlighten you to everything You Eat Or Drink, and “WHATS In It”!, Its not what you eat?, But how Much, Read the Per Serve Column and Stick to That, You can have everything, But Be AWARE”!!!!!!!!, “If that Per Serve is HIGH, Then say Goodbye, If its Low, Then Say Hello”!
Carbohydrates function is for your Brain And Your Liver”!, Very important., the more you eat, and NO “Exercise” makes you FAT!, But Eating A Lot Of Fat Will cause worse problems! The Pancreas secretes Insulin to break down everything we eat., and once the Beta Cells in the Pancreas are Damaged?, THEY DO NOT MIRACULOUSLY REPAIR THEMSELVES”!!!!, Vavoom, you’re a Diabetic, FOREVER……… Thing Is, “Don’t Become Stupidly Obsessive!?, Be smart, and Live And Eat well, Its ok to have a treat, just don’t go over board”!………XXXXXXXX…”Type 1 Diabetic of 26yrs, Australian Athlete, 7 years to Date With Using The Australian Diabetes New Guidelines Format”!………XXXXXXXXXX, “Changed My way Of Living”!……..XXXXXXXX
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
I am afraid you are incorrect. Pritikin in fact was not low carb he was low fat, and battled Atkins for years in the low fat vs low carb debate. “One of Pritikin’s strongest critics was Dr. Robert Atkins, whose own diet was the antithesis of Pritikin’s. During the late-70s and early 80s, media coast to coast broadcasted their debates. Pritikin claimed that the Atkins diet clogged arteries and would kill Americans. Atkins claimed that his diet prevented heart attacks and strokes. By 1983, Atkins’ attorneys had filed lawsuits against Nathan Pritikin, charging him with libel.” Furthermore, Pritikin did not die of clogged arteries, “in 1985, Pritikin died from complications related to a 35-year struggle with leukaemia.” You may wish to read this article which articulates the low fat vs low carb debate concisely and thoroughly.
Vanessa Webb says
Thanks for the clarifications here! It seems that any “fad” diet especially one which promotes the consumption of it’s own bars seems to be getting away from the “eat real food” philosophy. I don’t see LHCF as a fad diet……and my cholesterol, BP, blood sugar and waistline are proof that it’s a sustainable, healthy choice for me. LOVE this site!
Riyadh Alismail says
isn’t low carb a problem for people doing wight lifting where it will affect their body growth and power at the gym???? if not what’s the substitute??
Moose says
Its called low carb high fat. So you need to increase your fat intake and moderate protein.
Dawn says
I’m confused on protein intake..how many g should I be eating daily…what amount is too much and what is too little on LCHF
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Moderate protein is the key. Not too much, not too little. If you want to count, be guided by protein per day = 1-1.5g/kg or 0.6 g per lb of your lean body weight (that is, the weight you should weigh). And remember 100g steak does not equal 100g protein. Each type of meat varies according to how much protein and fat it contains.
Squimpleton says
Maybe it’s changed over the years, but I’m doing Atkins now and it most certainly does emphasize vegetables. The Atkins food pyramid at the base (most important) level is “foundation” vegetables. Every stage also requires 12-15 NET carbs of foundation vegetables (12 if also eating nuts, 15 without). This daily net carb amount is supposed to be met after reaching the foundation vegetable net carb daily requirement.
The food lists for each stage also don’t allow for processed foods other than Atkins prepared foods (bars). (Whole) grains are the last level at the pyramid and only for people who’ve tested their bodies to be able to handle it, typically only on stage 4.
And in the book “the new Atkins for a new you”, they had a table of protein gram intake and the range it gave me wasn’t super high and came to about the same as what an online keto calculator gave me.
Helen Sosich says
HI, I am new at this, only three weeks , I am struggling to lose weight but I am so enjoying the real taste of food. My question is , does it take long for your body to adjust to low carb , high fat?……
Cheers Mollie
Tim O says
Atkins is misrepresented above…. Breads and grains are NOT encouraged that I have read (I read the whole book) and high fat IS recommended to get your body used to burning fat as fuel.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Thanks Tim for keeping me on my toes, I have amended it to ‘low carb breads’ as I do believe that many processed low carb breads were sold (and still are) under the Atkins name.
Reluctantexan says
I’ve been using Atkins since 1972 for weight control. It’s never easy, but I’m healthy @71. I don’t know how the program has changed over the years, but in the beginning there were no “bars, shakes and meals.” It was about eating real food and was (still is for me) LCHF. Please don’t do Dr. Atkins a further disservice. People have been maligning him for years.
Joy says
Indeed! Dr. Atkins was one the first to bring the advice of eating less carbs to a greater public. He got vilified and discredited for it for decades! After he died nasty rumours were spread that he died of obesity, while in fact the poor man died of a perfectly normal weight after hitting his head falling over.
Dr. Atkins advocated for people to eat good home cooked meals such as soups, salads and stews with plenty of veg. He warned against eating too much processed meats. He was also one of the first to warn publicly about the dangers of aspartame. In his books (the ones he wrote himself, not the ones published after his death) there is no mentioning of these fake low carb candy bars, shakes and such. Dr. Atkins never during his life endorsed such products.
This whole range of products sold under the name of the Atkins diet had nothing to do with him and the real Atkins diet. After the rights to the trademark name were sold (not sure if this was before or after his death) savvy business people saw commercial possibilities to sell dieters processed crap.
So please cut the good doctor some slack. Without him I for one would have never heard about carbs causing problems and would not be on a path towards better health.
The only criticism about the Atkins diet I have is that he did not stress the importance of eating plenty of fat as the LCHF diet does. When I was on the Atkins diet years ago, I ate too lean and got hungry between meals. Now I combine LCHF with IF and one meal a day keeps me going perfectly with loads of energy.
josh says
good piece here. I don’t like the term zero carb , because its virtually impossible to eat none. Even meats and animal products have some.
Bells says
Hi there, I recall many years ago when a book came out called “stop the insanity” and a crazy woman called Susan Powter made us all believe that sugar couldn’t turn to fat and only fat made you fat. We believed her and ate large quantities of bagels, bread, baked beans, sugar and pancakes (just like she told us to). She had books, talk shows and infomercials, she had photos of her before and how she’d gone from 250pounds down to 110pounds (god knows how she did that). My friend and I followed her like she was some sort of guru and never lost a single kilo, much to our dismay.
So when I see “fat doesn’t make you fat” I had a flash back to crazy Susan shouting “only fat makes you fat”. I know for sure low carbs works for me, but still I wait for the day it all comes crashing down and fat will be bad again and we’re all to start eating sugar haha. Although Susan Powter is actually quite insane herself, this not so new low carb revolution kind of reminds of those times back in the early 90’s 🙂
Having said that I’m loving your site, I totally believe in low carbs and cutting out sugar is the way to go and thanks so much for sharing you fab recipes and tips.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Oh my word, I have never heard of crazy Susan. She sounds like a right old chestnut! And yes I can see why eating copious amounts of bagels, bread and pasta won’t make you lose a single gram. The deal with fat coming back, is that the science has improved, the studies are there to back it up and the shoddy science of the low fat movement has been proven to be incredibly inaccurate. The fact that we are eating like we did a few generations ago, meat, veggies and healthy fats, is not a fad, the low fat movement was. Science can now show how our cholesterol carriers LDL, HDL etc are influenced by sugars and carbs. The science can now measure the particle size and number. Experts are bringing out new studies daily. The low fat movement was pretty much started by a few shonky trials and the wheat lobbyists. Take a look at the first video here to see more regarding how our current food pyramid came about. Enjoy, and keep the crazy Susan stories coming – love it.
Laura says
Reply to Bells…..I almost fell out of my chair when I read your post. I had forgotten, thankfully, about the lovely Susan! I too fell under her horrible advise back then but sadly she wasn’t alone. Thankfully the truth has come out but I do find my inner voice sometimes tsk tsking me when I read a high fat content lol
Bobbi says
No milk?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Sure you can have milk, but not as a drink as such. Add to coffee and tea in small amounts but milk has roughly 4% carbs so by having a 200ml glass equates to 8g carbs which would be a high proportion of your daily carbs. It all comes down to what your daily carb limit is.
Bobbi says
I thought 8 g is low. The nuts etc are more than that. I guess I’m confused as to how much is low carbs
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Yes 8g is low but you just have to allow for it into your days allowance and how many coffees or milky drinks you would have in a day.
bobbi says
what can I drink on the low carb
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Water, tea, coffee, just no juice or soda. take a look at these ideas for flavoured waters for home. work or the gym.
Sunny says
Hi. I was diagnosed with t2 approx 7 years ago. Initially I was told to control my diet and lose weight. No one told me to control my carbs. Tried to lose weight by better diet but nothing worked. Had been on diabex for about 3 years. Late in 2014 my doc told me he was going to start me on insulin injections as my t2 was getting worse. As I hate injections at the best of times I started researching online re causes and cures of diabetes. Came across the keto diet (Banting?). Started in Jan 2015. To date have lost approx 35 lbs and doc says I technically don’t have t2 anymore. Off the meds. Cholesterol levels are fine too. Doc can’t believe it, neither can the family. Keto works for me. Yes I miss carbs esp bread and the sweet stuff but have learnt to substitute. Hope to continue on keto as long as I can. Will probably introduce some good carbs in a while but will stay away from the poison!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Sunny that is a fabulous testimonial to how wonderful LCHF is. SO many people I know have had the most dramatic improvements since discovering that there is another way to the current food pyramid, you can lose weight, help reverse T2 and you can reduce medication simply by changing our way of eating. I am so happy you have discovered low carb as it is still not advertised widely. It is only through people stumbling upon blogs and websites. I am still flabergasted by how many carbs diabetics are recommended to eat every day, madness to tell people who are intolerant to carbs to eat more! For any other diabetics just learning about low carb, I get them to read Dr Bernstein’s book who is the most fabulous man who invented the BG meter and had to go back to med school so anyone would take him seriously. He is in his 80’s has T1 and fit as a fiddle. There are fabulous low carb diabetic groups popping up everywhere clambering to learn how LCHF can stabilise their BG. Thanks Sunny for taking the time to comment and I have no doubt you will inspire others here. Libby x
MLC says
Sunny
Thanks for sharing your story. I have been T2 for almost 20 years. As I was always a good little compliant diabetic I followed my doctor’s advice to eat 60 grams of carbs at each meal and 3-20 gram carb snacks everyday, I got fatter and fatter, had to go on insulin, got sicker and fatter and finally stumbled into LCHF while surfing the internet and things are getting so much better it’s unbelievable. Libby hope you don’t mind, but I want to mention to Sunny that I run a Facebook group called ‘Keto Sweeties – T2 diabetes LCHF Tips, Tricks and Support’ and if she’s interested in sharing her story and her successes with the women on there it would be great!
I love Ditch the Carbs, it’s been so helpful & educational. Really excited that low carb is getting out there – in large part due to blogs like this. Don’t ever doubt you are helping many of us. Thanks.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Thank you MLC. I truly believe I have helped more people in the last 2 years with my website than the last 25 years dispensing their medication – oh the irony.
kiruna51 says
Oops I meant ‘ net’ not total in my question. And I also see you recommend FPal.
kiruna51 says
Hi, am new to this keto diet but have been eating Paleo for 2 years. I have MS, but can still walk, but real exercise isn’t possible. I would like to lose my tum roll ( just need to lose about 7 lbs) and try the keto diet for even better health. I am struggling to keep my carbs low enough even though they are all veg. When you give carb values or refer to them are they net or total carbs, ie. 35g / 50 g per day? I am hoping it is total!! Also is there a particular app for initially helping with this counting – is Chronometer a good one? Thank you for your time.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com says
Hi Kiruna, well done for eating Paleo for 2 years. That would have really helped your health and well being by eating real unprocessed food. Great question about carbs. Here is a great article explaining net vs total. There is great debate over net and total. Some say the insoluble fibre shouldn’t count as it is not absorbed, others say the soluble fibre counts. Try both ways and see how it works for you.