low carb diet

[Flattlander]

Quite some time ago, I decided to go on a low carb diet. I had been reading and studying Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and had seen how some of the ideas correlated with some of the ideas of the low carb diet so I studied it and decided to try it. I'm not really going to go into the concepts of it and how it works, at least in this post, maybe later if anyone asks. I'm also not saying that Sally Fallon or Nourishing Traditions recommends a low carb diet. I just saw some similarities in the some of the ideas presented. Any way...

Over a period of time, I lost weight and got to a nice weight that I was happy with. I also noticed many health benefits that I was having. Someone would complain of something they were experiencing and I would realize, hey I don't have that problem anymore.

Well, here is a good way to really notice the benefits of something you are doing. Stop doing it. Many things occurred in my life that were difficult and challenging, one after another after another and when I had decided that the camels back had finally broken, I went off my diet and went carb crazy!!

In about two weeks time, I had started gaining weight, I was getting bloated and constipated, I had heartburn, I was gassy. I was even getting very ditsy again. Foggy feeling and having difficulty concentrating and remembering things. Also, the acne. I started getting those painful pimples on my face again. It really didn't take long for all these things to come back. So...I have gone back on my diet! ( Something that I also noticed, my blood sugar was always steady. I knew that because my dad is diabetic so I would take my blood sugar at various times to see how it was affected when I ate or didn't eat, however I didn't test it before my diet to know if it was fluctuating then). (I do know that if one is diabetic this is a very good way to keep it under control).

I know that most of the benifits are because I do not eat ANY refined flours or sugars of any kind. I eat natural sweeteners in moderation. I prefer stevia as it seems the safest and has no carbs. I also don't eat any whole grains which normally, there's nothing wrong with them, except that many people can't tolerate them. Also, they have to be prepared properly to make them digestable (ie soaking or sprouting). And I also eat mostly whole foods and lots of vegetables.

But since I quit, and experienced all I was missing, I am eager to stay on it from now on. It's worth not getting to eat certain things, because the benefits are so great. Also, once you kick your carb addiction which only takes a few days, you don't crave that stuff so much anyway. And there are many good, healthy and yummy other things to eat.

Just wanted to share my experiences with everyone.

Stacey

[wantfreeenergy]

I always find it amazing how something so simple as a change in diet can have such a huge change on the physical body. Even though it's so common to know that the fuel we feed ourselves dictates how we will feel, I'm nevertheless amazed time and again.

I recall reading from the internet and also hearing on youtube videos that around 70-80% of the population is gluten intolerant.

Here's a nice video I just found. YouTube - Is Bread Killing You? Gluten Intolerance, Nutrition Health

From experience currently, I've been eating what's been in the house for the past week. And it's been lots of pasta pretty much everyday. I feel full, but not satisfied. It feels like I really need some nourishment. Actually what I crave right now is a HUGE salad that I make real simple with tomato, cucumber, romain, spinach, carrots, onion, celery, red bell pepper, any other veggies, with garlic/vinegar/oil dressing. MMMM "but I've been reading/hearing that oils are bad too, and we should simply be getting em by eating the nut, the seed, or the olive or whatever."

I made some juice about two weeks ago. I Cleaned up the juicer and then remembered I wanted to put my wheat sprouts through it and add it to my drink. Well after putting a couple handfulls through it nothing came out. So I took it apart and all the sprouted wheatberries that I put in their now looked like a mass of glue. I tossed it. It just didn't seem right to swallow glue.

I used to think grains were necessary for energy. But when I went on a juice fast for 11 days I had WAY more energy than before the fast. Matter of fact I've been contemplating another one, but this time I wanna do a juice feast. I wanna get my GI tract back to new and get those villi unclogged so that I can really begin nourishing my body.

I've also heard that mucous forms around toxins that gets packed into the GI tract when one eats something that wasn't designed for the body. And when I turned those wheatberry sprouts through the juicer into a paste that looked like glue, that's exactly what I thought of.

[ImBill]

I've slowly been changing my diet, too. My wife does all the cooking, so even though I put bugs in her ear, she still fixes stuff I wouldn't choose to eat if it were up to me. I did get her to stop microwaving any of my food, so that was a positive step. Anyway, my point is that I've started eating organic bread & cereal, dried fruit, nuts, and lots of fresh fruit during the day when I have complete control over my diet. I've even managed to get her to try fixing spaghetti with organic whole grain noodles. What I've noticed is that regular bread, even the multi-grain stuff, just doesn't do it for me anymore. We had lasagna at my daughter's house a couple of nights ago with the frozen garlic bread and there was nothing appetizing about it at all. It just felt like eating to be eating with little enjoyment or satisfaction that I was eating something nutritious and/or delicious. You're right in your observation, it doesn't take long to notice the difference.

[HiggsBoson]

A lot of the low carb stuff makes a lot of sense.
If you have read Sally Fallon another good place to look is
The Weston A. Price Foundation
In indigenous cultures most of the time a high carb meal is only eaten after expending a lot of calories ie. digging up a yam with hands or a stick, and it is no problem, after all the hard work the muscles have expended a lot of their glycogen stores and need a recharge. A small amount of energy is stored but this is usually burned off looking for or catching the next meal.
In western society we drive to the shop (mostly) and expend only a small amount of energy to get our meal and don't need the glycogen recharge, so the extra energy is stored as fat.
On the flipside Dr Atkins died young practising what he preached so common sense is needed in any dietary regimine, but Sally Fallon exposes many myths and will help put you on the right track.
Dr weston price wrote an excellent book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration which is the basis for much of Sally Fallons fine work.
Keep an open mind and don't blindly accept TV or newspaper propaganda, I prefer to believe sources that have no financial interest in the subjects they preach and are not funded by big business.