MY LOW-CARB DIET

 

In this post I want to talk to you about why I follow a low carbohydrate (HC) diet, what it means and what it entails.

It is interesting to know where some food customs and myths adopted for years come from, why most people think that fat should be avoided at all costs, but instead having muffins for breakfast is fine.

I would also like you to know why many people still believe that eating a lot of foods rich in carbohydrates is the best way for our body to obtain energy.

I don’t know if you know what prompted me to create this page and to study dietetics, about 10 years ago, for health reasons, specifically because of the diagnosis of gestational diabetes, I realized that I had to change my lifestyle.

Within that big bag, as something essential was diet in addition to physical exercise, of course is.

I started looking for information, bought books, followed nutritionists and scientists who spread the word about nutrition, I put all my interest into it, and I investigated until I understood what the keys to eating properly are.

I realized that I was doing everything wrong, I realized that the idea of ​​a “healthy diet” that had been sold to us was completely wrong.

 

A low-carb diet consists of reducing the intake of that macronutrient with respect to a “balanced” diet

 

Being aware that you have been deceived for years is very disappointing, and realizing that getting out of that vicious circle is still complicated more.

 

 

In my eagerness to learn, I started with the most basic, food groups, how each of them affects our body and how much we really need.

That’s how I came across the “low carb”, that is, low carbohydrate diets, or rather, that’s how I found the diet that has made me feel truly well.

I’ve left behind the unexplained tiredness, the listlessness, the drowsiness after meals, the bloating, the fluid retention, the extra kilos and the lack of motivation.

I’ve left behind all that was a burden, and I’ve gained strength, energy, vitality, a desire to do things, better rest, a better mood and, in the end, happiness.

Don’t think it wasn’t hard to get there, I had to dodge the large amount of erroneous information paid for by the industry that could be found on the networks and that still today, continues to circulate uncontrolled.

I also had and continue to have to dodge the opinions of many health professionals who continue to profess their stagnant ideas, incapable of updating themselves and looking beyond the that they were told in classrooms more than 40 years ago.

Luckily, today there are magnificent professionals who work as Senior Dietetic Technicians (TSD), Dietitians-Nutritionists (D-N), and there are also doctors, pharmacists, biologists, biochemists, etc. who spread the word about the latest advances in nutrition, capable of guiding us on the right path.

 

The low-carb diet is one that reduces the amount of carbohydrates from the total recommended daily intake.

 

That first approach to “low-carb” diets fascinated me, it was about reducing the consumption of all those foods that I had been told were essential for health and energy, and that were painted at the base of the famous food pyramid.

Yes, at the base, were those foods that, supposedly, could not be missing in your day to day, curious, right?.

Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, all those “basics” that it seems you cannot do without, well, little by little I learned that yes, you can do without them and that they can be replaced by other much healthier carbohydrates.

Therefore, it does not mean forgetting about those foods forever, you may put them aside for some time, and maybe at some point you decide to consume them with the necessary moderation, when you really want to, to enjoy them by selecting their origin and always prioritizing quality over quantity.

It is not about avoiding the consumption of HC, it is about not consuming them in excess, how do you do that? Very simple, by favoring the consumption of carbohydrates from vegetables, fruits, greens, legumes, nuts and seeds.

 

 

 

And as I was saying, there are some carbohydrates that are healthier than others, vegetables, legumes and fruits are carbohydrates, so you cannot and should not do without them completely.

Remember, you need carbohydrates, but you need less of it than you think, and you need fats in addition to proteins, vitamins, and minerals.

 

The demonization of fats began in the 1960s.

 

Fats have been the enemy to beat for years. Why? The answer is not simple, but I’ll try to explain it to you in a few words.

The sugar industry, in favor of its own interests, began to pay for supposedly scientific studies in the 1960s that linked the consumption of saturated fats with cardiovascular disease and that exempted sugar from all blame.

Then began a campaign by the sugar industry to praise the virtues of this “white poison”.

That’s when the demonization of fats began, which never stopped increasing. In this article from The New York Times, it perfectly explains what happened. I recommend that you read it; it won’t be difficult to understand and it’s very enlightening.

Here is an excerpt from it and the translation below.

“The Harvard scientists and the sugar executives with whom they collaborated are no longer alive. One of the scientists who was paid by the sugar industry was D. Mark Hegsted, who went on to become the head of nutrition at the United States Department of Agriculture, where in 1977 he helped draft the forerunner to the federal government’s dietary guidelines. Another was Dr. Fredrick J. Stare, the chairman of Harvard’s nutrition department. The Harvard scientists and the sugar company executives who collaborated are no longer alive. One of the scientists paid by the sugar industry was Dr. Mark Hegsted, who went on to become head of nutrition at the United States Department of Agriculture, where in 1977 he helped draft the federal government’s dietary guidelines. Another was Dr. Fredrick J. Stare, chairman of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard.

 

Are you surprised? Top-level scientists spreading the benefits of foods like sugar, writing the United States government’s nutritional guidelines in favor of the consumption of sugar, flours and industrialized cereals and demonizing fats.

 

The low-carbohydrate diet is a good tool for weight loss.

 

In 1967, a study was conducted on the relationship between sugar consumption and the risk of coronary heart disease. This study was funded by the International Sugar Research Foundation (ISRF).

But when the results showed that a high sugar diet is associated with high blood lipid levels, the ISRF withdrew funding and did its best to keep them secret.

In the 1950s, Professor John Yudkin raised concerns with the government and the food industry about the excessive use of sugar in foodstuffs and its detrimental effects on public health due to high daily consumption.

He was dismissed by his medical colleagues and industry representatives as eccentric and crazy, and his conclusions were said to be false. Their demonstrations were silenced and the idea that fat was responsible for everything continued to be promulgated.

 

 

This happened for years, in the 70s fat was already considered the culprit of all diseases, and in the 80s, the proliferation of “fat-free” and “light” foods, etc., filled the supermarket shelves.

 

If you remove the fat from a food, it loses its appeal. What does the industry do to fix this? Add sugar.

 

If you are older, you probably remember that all the supposedly healthy products were “light” and “skimmed”, then came the “fat-free” which is still around and now the industry has decided to focus on “fat-free”, with vitamins and minerals, with omega 3 fatty acids, and as always, behind both “fat-free” and “fat-free” is everything they don’t want us to know is there.

In the 80s they convinced us that we should eat skimmed yogurt and milk, then came the famous 0% M.G. which still appears on many packages today, but stop and think… if you remove the fat from a product, it becomes less palatable and less appetizing, so what can be done to make it tastier?

The answer is very simple, increase the amount of sugar it contains, sugar in all products, from dairy products to processed meats, sugar in bread, sugar in pastries, sugar in sauces, sugar everywhere and in a thousand ways.

Sometimes, it is obvious that some products contain it, but other times, no one would say it, it is the famous “hidden sugar” or hidden sugar, the one that floods, for example, fried tomato, Frankfurt-style sausages and cooked ham, which also contain a large amount of salt, sounds crazy, right?.

 

Low-carb diets favor the use of fat as a source energetic.

 

This happens with the products we consume every day, and we have to stop and think about it to find solutions.

 

What does a “low carb” diet consist of?

Broadly speaking, it is one in which the distribution of macronutrients changes with respect to “balanced” diets, decreasing carbohydrates and increasing proteins and fats.

This changes depending on what we want to achieve and the needs of the individual. We can reduce carbohydrates more or increase proteins. A possible distribution would be the following:

Carbohydrates 35%

Proteins 15-20%

Fats 40-50%

With this distribution of macronutrients, our body, by not having enough carbohydrates as an energy source, will begin to use fat and there will not be an excess of carbohydrates that will accumulate in adipose tissue and muscles.

When we consume many carbohydrates, the pancreas secretes a lot of insulin that prevents the use of fats as fuel and causes it to accumulate.

 

Excessive consumption of carbohydrates favors the accumulation of fat in adipose and muscle tissue.

 

Where the carbohydrates we consume come from matters a lot, eating chips is not the same as eating carrot and celery sticks, and both are carbohydrates, but they won’t affect us in the same way.

 

 

A plate of stewed lentils with vegetables is not the same as a plate of paella, and although you can afford a plate of paella from time to time, when, lentils provide carbohydrates of a better quality than the starch of white rice.

A slice of white bread made with refined wheat flour is not the same as a slice of 100% whole wheat rye sourdough bread.

That is why you should not think… “I have a donut mid-morning and then I don’t have dessert to compensate”, sorry to disappoint you, but it does not work like that, the kcal of a donut are not worth the same as those of an avocado, and the fats of both foods are not comparable either.

The best way to avoid hidden sugar and poor quality fats is by cooking at home, buying fresh foods as they come from the field and transforming them ourselves.

Avoid consuming ultra-processed products, learn to prepare your meals, your snacks, your breakfasts, forget about opening bags and packages and put on your apron, with organization you can.

 

If we cook at home, we avoid hidden sugar, excess salt, and the use of poor-quality fats.

 

Cooking allows you to control the ingredients; that’s your greatest power, don’t you think? Besides that, you can also do other things:

• Exercise.
• Fast.
• Hydrate yourself properly.
• Get enough rest.
• De-stress.
• Try to be happy.

Are you in?

 

 

Estudios científicos:

• Bolla, A. M., Caretto, A., Laurenzi, A., Scavini, M., & Piemonti, L. (2019). Low-Carb and Ketogenic Diets in Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. Nutrients, 11(5), 962. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11050962

 

• Goldenberg, J. Z., Day, A., Brinkworth, G. D., Sato, J., Yamada, S., Jönsson, T., Beardsley, J., Johnson, J. A., Thabane, L., & Johnston, B. C. (2021). Efficacy and safety of low and very low carbohydrate diets for type 2 diabetes remission: systematic review and meta-analysis of published and unpublished randomized trial data. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 372, m4743. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m4743

 

Recetas que se ajustan a este patrón alimentario:

• Crumble de salmón sin harina.
• Caldo de huesos.
• Hummus de alubias rojas.
• Pudin de café.
• Arroz de coliflor con carne y verduras.
• Crumble de fresones sin azúcar.
• Espagueti de calabacín.