I loved when you said..

I finally figured out that trying to "control" things was silly.  Our ancestors didn't control BG, Cholesterol, or anything else.  They ate their food and lived their life.   I also realized that I had no way to interrpret the data I was gathering.  If BG was 85 or 105 who knows what that means for someone eating a totally carnivorous diet?  My doctor is concerned because I have ketones in my urine at all times, again, so what?  He has no experince to tell him if this is "normal" for someone eating as I do.  The medical community has no idea if my cholesterol level and hdl/ldl ratio is good or bad as they have zero experience with someone like me.


It's true that many can benefit from controlled way of eating but that's only because what they were eating in the first place was not healthy to begin with. I'm trying hard to let go of all that control I was putting on myself and really live my life. And one day I will.

I've downloaded your pemmican manual and read it many times over. It's rather unfortunate that my current circumstances don't allow me to make my own batch because I'm so intrigued by the whole process. I'm so curious about it's flavour and how it would affect me. I might ask USWellnessMeats if they would ship some to Canada but I guess they wouldn't. Everytime I hear the word pemmican, it reminds of you and I wish so badly that I could try it.

Take care, Lex.

Good to hear back from you and that you're your pleasant self as usual

Are you back to the usual ratio or still trying out 80:20? I guess it's different
from everybody's physical needs. Just wanted to hear about your amazing
experiment. Keep in touch with the forum, Lex!

I have few quetions for zero-carbers Hope you would take few minutes to fill my curiosity.


1. For those of you who stayed low-carb or very low-carb for a while before going zero-carb, what was the difference that elimination of 20 or 30g carbs made to you?
2. Do you experience less carb craving, hunger, or obsession with food now that you're zero carbing?
3. How did your body composition change?
4. Did you lose or gain weight?
5. Does your weight fluctuate a lot now or is it stable?
6. Did you increase the amount of protein you're eating once you've gone zero-carbing?
7. If so by how much?
8. Do you mind sharing bout your transition period?

Craig, I know the amount of berries and plant you re-introduced is quite minimal to make a huge difference, however, how do you find them impacting you?
Do you have little more energy, or improved mood or opposite?

Gluconeogenesis has been such a topic of interest for me. It's obvious that since you're not an Olymphic athlete or a bodybuilder, 80g or so of protein you've been eating will be all used for bodily repair and building new muscles. And as a matter of fact, rise in BG after your single meal proves that GNG do take place. The quetion for me is whether ALL protein goes through GNG or only the excess ones after the amount for repair works and muscle maintainence has been secured?

Lex, would you be interested in maybe spreading your meal to 2-3 times a day just for a week or even a day or two to see if there's still a measurable rise in BG? Maybe same amount of glucose will still be produced and that you'll see BG rise of 8 three times a day rather than 25 from one meal or some different result. Maybe there won't be any rise in BG in terms of numbers on the machine because the muscles will immediately soak up the glucose produced.

Now, I'm a fan of the idea of intermittent fasting and prefer to have a one or two bigger meal rather than three or even six 'mini meals', however, I've wondered if too much of protein in one sitting actually increases the amount of protein going through GNG.. I absoultely understand if you wouldn't be interested in changing your protocol and that you'll be sticking to your present plan. If so, would you at least share your opinion on GNG? Some say all protein consumed goes through it, some others say that only the excess will be turned to glucose, and yet others insist that even in the case of excessive protein intake, the body doesn't initiate GNG unless needed, that is, when BG falls below what it is to be maintained at. Your readings seem to suggest that GNG definitely do take place, however, I do not know if it's taking place because all protein goes through GNG anyways or because your body is in need of it.

My thanks and respect for you, Lex

In GCBC, Taubes talks about how exercise and obesity doesn't necessarily go together.
He suggested that obese person may be more sedantary or have no energy/motivation
to move around due to insulin floating around their body all the time. That doesn't help
with circulation of free fatty acids throughout the cells, and the person is less likely to
have energy to move around.

Maybe because of your higher fat plan, even less insulin is being generated by your body
and that you're motivation to add more variety of exercise to your routine I know you
didn't start running just because you were full of energy all of a sudden, but to faciliate the
transition. But the fact that you're enjoying your new physical activities and even planing
on adding more variety into it seems to be a good sign. Not that I want you to overdrive
yourself though.

I know that I should be more active, but knowing it and wanting to be more active is little
different, isn't it :?

Though your body may have not fully adjusted to eating 80% fat so that you don't feel as good as you used to be on higher protein mix, your lab result is even better than it was previously which I believe is an indication that your body is healing even further. I can't imagine what will happen when the body actually adopts to burn fatty acids and ketones more efficiently over the course of time! Maybe you'll get even more energetic and fit that I'll see you in marathon competition in the next Olympics

I know you took up jogging because you wanted to fast track the adaptation period by depleting glucose from gluconeogenesis, not necessarily for athletic purpose. However, I'm very moved to see you improving your performance and most importantly, enjoying yourself as you go on. I'm learning a lot from your experiment and certainly motivated by your determintaion.

By the way, are you going back to your former mix when the experiment is over? It seems that men do handle higher protein diet better when it comes to body composition and possibly energy, but fat seems to be the least stressful macronutrient for the body. Keep us posted!

I'm also of the understanding that running totally on fat for fuel is not a good strategy for longevity, but that a low carb ( 50g/day) or very low carb (less than 30g/day) diet that is high in fat but keeps the muscles and possibly the brain running on mostly glucose is more conducive to a longer life span.

Lex

I think Lex might be on the right track about this.

First of all, I would like members to know that I don't think dietary carbs are necessary by all means. There are many, including Lex and Inuits living few hours above me (yes, I'm in Canada ) who are in marvelous health without it. Every one on this forum knows that low carb, high fat, and preferably raw eating plan is lot superior. However, because there is no longterm study that compares levels of carbs, proteins, and fat that is optimal, we should be open minded about possibility of moderate amount of carbs of maybe 20-50g a day could be beneficial than no carbs at all despite the obvious harms they could do as well. As Lex mentioned in later post, life is all about trade-offs. Maybe carbs are so evil that we should do everything in our reach to eliminate them or maybe little bit of fructose is needed to metabolize dietary fats better. Those so called anti-oxidants are maybe indeed helpful that it may be worth eating few veggies and fruits or maybe the anti-nutrients in them do more harms than good. The point here is that because we're not the one who created the world, we would never know the absolute truth of one perfect diet that fits all.

I have an abusive history with carbs; I fear them and wanted to eliminate them from my life entirely. Unfortunately, I'm not as strong willed as Lex or Crag, so I tend to stay very low carb for few days then binge on carbs (..oh dear, I didn't want to admit this) when my muscles start to give out, I can't concentrate nor think clearly, and my sugar craving get so intense that I feel suicidal. So I have been doing CKD unintentionally, I suppose. I wish I could be more strict with myself that I would actually adapt my system to run on fatty acids and ketones, however, knowing that having a glucose-based metabolism may not be the end of the world makes me somewhat less miserable.

Interesting point is that Dr.K of optimal diet, who advocate very high fat eating plan, suggests enough carbs of 30-60g a day that will be used by brain, and good quality animal protein in moderate amount coupled with lots of animal fat. He insists that too much protein strains the body and that his plans focus on optimal health and well-being of the individuals rather than just weight loss or muscle growth. He has apparently cured many diseases including cancer and many reported tremendous improvement in terms of their health. Is his plan superior to any other WOE including high-protein, VLC, or zero-carb? We don't know. But I'm trying to stay open-minded about possibility of moderate amount of carbs from good sources may be beneficial and Lex's comment about possibility of the brain running on mostly glucose is more conducive to a longer life span could be true as well.