Is it REALLY necessary to have a lot of fat in a low carb diet?
I am trying to break my plateau, and in doing so I've decided to switch over from a low fat/high carb diet to lower carbs. (not severe like 20-30g a day, just lower by about 20-25% from what I've been consuming) The problem is I also want to stay low fat (no more than 30g a day), but in staying low carb it's extremely difficult and my food choices are greatly limited. It feels like all I can eat are veggies, egg whites, and chicken/turkey breast.
Does it really have to be one or the other? Would increasing fats for the time being wreck any progress I've made on the low fat diet?
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Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution explains it very well. He specifically said not to try doing his plan low fat. Basically, on a low carb plan like Atkins...since you aren't consuming all the carbs of the average diet, and you are consuming low carb foods such as meats, low carb veggies, salad, eggs & cheese...your body burns the fat you are eating for fuel instead of the carbs. Contrary to popular belief, fat doesn't make you fat, nor does it cause high cholesterol etc. Books like Gary Taubes Good Calories, Bad Calories and Dr. Malcolm Kendrick's The Great Cholesterol Con explain this exceptionally. http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/skinny.html
What would happen if/when I resume a more normal diet and and cut back fats again and slowly increase carbs again? Would I have a bunch of excess fat just laying around on my body? Or is that all burned off because of the low carb intake?
What would happen if/when I resume a more normal diet and and cut back fats again and slowly increase carbs again? Would I have a bunch of excess fat just laying around on my body? Or is that all burned off because of the low carb intake?
I'm sorry if I sound stupid or ignorant to you!
It really sounds like you need to read the book that Kim mentions. What low fat diet are you coming from?
Location: NW New Jersey But, My Heart's In Pittsburgh!! GO STEELERS & PENGUINS!!!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Esmeralda
What would happen if/when I resume a more normal diet and and cut back fats again and slowly increase carbs again? Would I have a bunch of excess fat just laying around on my body? Or is that all burned off because of the low carb intake?
I'm sorry if I sound stupid or ignorant to you!
Resuming a "more normal diet"...cutting back on fats & slowly increasing carbs is what the following 3 phases of Atkins (On Going Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance and lastly Lifetime Maintenance) accomplish if done correctly. This is all fully explained in Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution.
Combining low fat with low carb is dangerous and shouldn't be attempted (it can result in what is called rabbit starvation).
I agree with everyone who says read the book, but also google "rabbit starvation" because it gives you a real understanding of why it is dangerous to restrict both carbs and fat.
I did low carb and low fat for a while and my hair started to fall out. I slowly increased each without any weight gain, now I do 150-200 grams of carbs a day and 50-70 grams fat a day. Don't know if thats considered high/low whatever, but it has kept the weight off and not only am i in the best shape I have ever been in, I'm also at the llowest body fat percentage I have ever been at. I can cut carbs if i need to, but cut my fats and someones getting hurt. I get crankyyy.
Combining low fat with low carb is dangerous and shouldn't be attempted (it can result in what is called rabbit starvation).
I agree with everyone who says read the book, but also google "rabbit starvation" because it gives you a real understanding of why it is dangerous to restrict both carbs and fat.
I googled "rabbit starvation" last night and I have never heard about this before. I really enjoyed reading the article it is very informative. I love animal fat but for the longest time I would cut off the fat and eat low fat everything. But now since I limit my carbs I get to eat fatty meats like bacon, steak, I can eat the whole egg, etc. I also did not know that Indians relied on the fatty pieces of meat, I was just under the impression that they ate low fat. And also to read that they had better health then we do today it was a eye opener but thanks for mentioning rabbit starvation
I also googled it, and maybe I didn't read the right stuff but I was extremely confused still on what it actually is and WHY it's bad.
It's bad because it can kill you (perhaps faster than eating nothing at all would).
The name came from the fact that when American settlers in the wagon trails were unable to find anything to eat but rabbits, many of them died, often before having lost enough weight to normally die of starvation. As a result, it got the name "rabbit starvation". Rabbits you see are a very lean source of protein - there's almost no fat at all on a free-range wild rabbit.
The modern equivalent would be the ******* plan (which I believe will be censored, because it's not a plan that anyone at 3FC would want to endorse). But basically a lady named Kim decided to create an Atkins-like diet that was extremely low calorie and low fat. It turns out Kim did not lose the weight she said she did, so either didn't follow her own diet, or at least not for very long (she had faked before and after pictures) and she made tons of money creating this diet, that was so dangerous some of her followers died, or were severely injured by the diet (with permanent organ damage of the kidney, liver, and heart).
The symptoms are pretty horrendous and severe (severe diarhea, intense headache, feeling very weak, basically intense flu symptoms - and even the flu can be deadly) and can start to show up within only about a week, if the fat content is low enough.
The flu symptoms would be good enough reason for me, but the death and organ damage sort of clinches it. Flu doesn't really seem so "scary" to us today, but diarrhea can and still does kill fairly quickly, if medical attention isn't given promptly.
"Rabbit starvation is the form of acute malnutrition caused by excess consumption of any lean meat (e.g. rabbit) coupled with a lack of other sources of nutrients..."
Thanks, kaplods. That cleared up some of my confusion. lol I'm blonde!
My only concern now is that in trying to reduce carbs, I eat too much fat. 50-70g a day sounds like a lot, but I mean this is coming from someone who's been on a low fat diet for forever and I probably don't even know what the healthy non-diet recommended amount even is. Any suggestions of macro-nutrient percentages for a 1,500 calorie diet?
I think trial and error is the still one of the best way to determine which style of eating is right for you (providing you can keep a level head and aren't so thrilled by rapid weight loss that you can convince yourself that you feel great even though you're on the bridge of collapse). Experiment until you find the percentage and calorie level that allows you to lose weight while feeling the best. but keep in mind some of the best nutritional advice out ther - like choosing unsaturated fats and the more fruits and veggie servings the better (even the FDA admits that 5 servings a day should be seen as a minimum not as the ideal).
All of that being said, I don't know where I ran across them online, but I stumbled upon a couple metabolic typing diet questionaires online, and filled them out for fun. Both times my answers put me in the low carb diet category. I believe the proportion they recommended was 60/40/40 (fat, carbs, protein).
I can't tell you if this is "good" or not. Nor what the minimum and maximum of any of the macronutrients should be. I personally use an exchange plan I found on hillbillyhousewife for their 1500 calorie low carb exchange plan (and then tweaked it a bit to allow a few optional exchanges per day for flexibility and an average of 1800 calories).
Personally, I am very fond of exchange plans, because some of the balance is built in. I can't avoid an entire food group nearly as easily (I still struggle to get in dairy, but I eat a lot of high calcium veggies and take calcium supplements).
1gram of carbs is around 3-4 calories 1gram of fat is around 9 calories. if you cut back on carbs you need to up your fat to maintain an overall calorie balance.
do remember though that during ketosis fat doesn't burn completly. hence the ketones. so on a low carb diet you do NOT need to run a calorie deficit i.e in vs out. as if you consume 2000 calories but only X% lets say 90 (figure unknown) your only running on 1800 calories so you'll lose weight
however don't drop to far below the 20g net recommended for the first phase. carbs are required for the burning of fat in the kreb cycle.
Why are low carb diets high in fat?
Any suggestions of macro-nutrient percentages for a 1,500 calorie diet?
