Monday, June 29, 2015

My Approach To LCHF

Over the past several years I have found that I have taken several different approaches to the low carb high fat (LCHF) diet and kind of put them all together to create what ended up being a complete and perfect plan for me and one that also seems to work best for many.  

In my "Revering Diabetes" facebook group we direct most new members to Dr. Eric Westman's "No Starch, No Sugar" plan because he has a great video and a food list that goes along with it.  It is an easy place to start and is very understandable to most.   He does not recommend limiting protein for diabetics which is something that I think is hindering the fine tuning of blood sugar control for some.  I think that protein does need to be limited.

I also point people to Dr. Richard Bernstein's plan which is a bit higher carb and focuses more on blood sugar control with "the law of small numbers" for glucose control.  His books and lectures are more directed to the type 1 diabetic.

Rosedale, Volek & Phinney fine tune the ketogenic diet at a more scientific level where fat, protein and carb ratios are more regulated and fine tuned for better blood sugar control and lower insulin levels.  Lower insulin levels have been shown to reduce inflammation in the body, lessen free radical damage, slow the aging process and reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and Alzheimers disease's

I have spent over 4 years of N=1 experimentation on myself.  In the process I have shared this in my three facebook groups of over 10,000 other diabetics.   I believe wholeheartedly in the plan of attack against diabetes that I have chosen to use and to teach.   A scientifically formulated ketogenic diet works if you DO the work.   It is not exactly the same for everyone.  We all have different levels of insulin resistance and so the diet should be tailored to each person.  It is still very basically the same for most.   5% carbs, 15-20% protein and the remaining 70-75% fat is what works for most.  It is proven over and over again to do so.  I do agree that there are exceptions.  In some cases gut health, enzymes, hormones and nutritional deficiencies may be hindering the process or a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes may have been an incorrect diagnosis.   You then need to get more testing for LADA (type 1.5).   All of these things have to be addressed for those who are not successful after doing LCHF correctly.

Fasting seems to have come in to vogue now with the popularity of Dr. Jason Fung and his protocol as well a the lesser known Roy Taylor's very low calorie diet that mimics gastric bypass surgery. Both of these can be useful for the diabetic for blood sugar and insulin control.  Some seem to prefer these methods instead of working out the ratios of the ketogenic diet for themselves.  Others find that it is the final step to getting optimal control of diabetes where they are looking to be in a completely non-diabetic A1c range of under 5.0

I wanted to address this mainly so that those following in my facebook groups could understand that my approach is not simply that of Westman or of Volek and Phinney or Rosedale.   I lean towards Volek and Phinney's "The Art & Science Of Low Carbohydrate Living" because it brought me to a new place in my level of blood sugar control and it did so in a matter of days.   It is a book that I recommend for any who want to understand the science of how and why the ketogenic diet works and what mistakes keep it from working.

I suggest the following websites for more information on the science of the LCHF Ketogenic diet.

Ellen Davis's Ketogenic Diet Resource is a great place to start.

Here are some others:

Ruled Me
Cave Man Keto,
Second Opinions, UK
Ron Rosedale , MD
Dsolve.com
Mendoza.com

Keep fighting the good fight!









1 comment:

  1. Hi, Sandy! Is there a way I can ask a few questions about the FB group before deciding whether or not to try joining it? Rebecca

    ReplyDelete