Ok i’ll be talking about my progress as well as some more information about the low-carb diet.
According to studies (there are studies for nearly every kind of diet, but the evidence behind low-carb diet is one of the best and most scientifically-backed up ones), for a long, long time, (10000 years is considered very short) humans mainly subsisted on animal foods, with some vegetables, fruits and nuts mixed in. Going by evolution, we have evolved into a species which subsists mainly on animal foods.
Now animal foods are made up of fat and protein, and are also very nutritionally dense. Because its very rich nutritionally, there ought to be no problems with vitamin or mineral deficiencies if one mainly subsist on animal foods (70-100%). Fat is often blasted as something that causes all sorts of problems like heart disease etc. However, the research i’ve read says otherwise
Leaving protein out of the equation, you get your calories either from fat or carbohydrates. When taking carbohydrates, they have to be converted into sugar. With the increased levels of sugar, insulin has to be produced. Studies on centenarians show that diets, lifestyle and habits differ, with the oldest woman at 122 being a smoker and alcoholic, but one thing that is consistent is that they all had low levels of insulin. Also, insulin is a fat-storage kind of chemical.
Hence, when you take carbohydrates and it converts into sugar, much of the excess is converted into fat due to the insulin produced. Fats however, do not trigger any insulin response, and hence, are not stored. As such, you won’t get fat unless you eat copious amounts of fat and fats like transfat and polyunsaturated fats. Transfat is artificial and is a really bad fat. Saturated fats however, are completely fine.
So what about carbohydrates? Basically, they are nutritionally unnecessary. Proteins are the building blocks of our body, whereas fat is required for the healthy functioning of the body. The brain is made up of nearly 70% fat! Your body’s desired fuel is fat, not carbohydrates.
The low-carb diet i’m going on is one with minimal carbohydrates and unlimited protein and fat. As the researchers point out though, fat is highly satiety-inducing, meaning you get satisfied quickly, so you won’t consume copious amounts of it unless you pair it up additives or carbohydrates. Also, it targets animal foods which are nutrition dense, and hence, is overall a very simple diet to follow.
I decided to go on this diet only recently, and today is day two. I’ve decided that i will approach it gradually, cutting out the main carbohydrates of meals such as rice, noodles, and all those starchy foods. However, when there’s no food at home, i’m going to eat my carbohydrates, in the form of healthier options like fruits. I’m telling my mom about it and her response seems to be good, probably because she already heard of some of it from her other friends, so i’m hoping she’ll buy more and more foods that support my diet which isn’t hard really. Also, this allows me to make a smooth transition since my body has time to adapt.
Here;s what i ate today and yesterday
Yesterday
Chicken chop with some lettuce, plus a bowl of bubo hitam
Vegetables, meatballs, luncheon meat, in a soup
One stick of milk chocolate because i was feeling a bit dizzy because i played some intense football and my body probably hasn’t addapted to the diet after two meals!
About 200 grams of low-fat yoghurt
A little bit of horfun, but i mostly ate the veggies, meat, and prawns in it
I felt hungry at night, so i ate a piece of bread with lots of butter on it. Also had a fruit-vegetable juice.
As you see, the first day i still ate quite a bit of carbohydrates, probably 800-1000 calories worth. A low-carb diet usually has about 200-300 calories worth of carbos. I estimate that on a normal day, i’d eat about 1500 worth of calories in carbohydrates. Still, it was a pretty significant shift in the foods.
Today, this was what my meal consisted of
A “healthshake”, 90 calories all of them coming from fat
Two bananas, totaling about 200-400 calories in the morning because i was hungry and had not much foods
Snacked on about 100 grams of almonds
Then i ate a mix of squid, chicken, vegetables and egg with no carbohydrates
At night, i had a fruit-vegetable juice drink
I felt a little bit hungry so i ate a slice of wholemal bread with lots of butter
Today my calorie intake from carbohydrates is more like 500-600. I felt fine, no serious hunger cravings, although i wanted lots of water. I felt i had slightly more energy than usual, and continued doing my exercises with no problems. I’ll be hoping to reduce my carbohydrate intake to around 200-300, leaving them for snacking (:!
This diet is much easier to employ than the raw food diet. I can go nearly anywhere and request a meal without the starchy component. I don’t think i’ll feel “left out” seeing i can gorge of meat, fat and all that tasty stuff. The only thing i’ll feel left out is sugary foods, but even then, i can snack on them as long as it comprises of a minimal component of my diet.
