Things They Didn’t Teach Me at School
I was sitting in class during a module dedicated to Type 2 Diabetes, as a part of my bachelor’s degree in Global Nutrition and Health. The teacher was outlining the nutritional guidelines for Type 2 Diabetics, as described in the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations — a diet based on 45-60% carbohydrate, 10-20% protein, and less than 30% fat. Wait — WHAT??!!! I raised my hand, and asked the question, “If Type 2 Diabetes is a disease where people are increasingly intolerant of carbohydrates, why would you feed them up to 60% carbohydrates as a part of their diet?” (Yes, I was “That Guy” in class.) The teacher kind of hemmed and hawed, and basically answered that we are bound to sticking to the government’s guidelines. A fire was lit inside me. It’s funny that my passion during that education was lit, not by what I was being taught--but by what I was NOT being taught. That experience sent me off on a huge adventure, reading research, listening to podcasts--finding out that there was a whole other world out there. I discovered a growing low carb movement that was showing more and more incredible results in Type 2 Diabetics, and other chronic disease sufferers, as well as impressive results in weight loss for the general population.
So What is Low Carb/High Fat? What is Keto?
Well, that question is not so easy to answer. There is a lot of research out there, and it is challenging to get a consensus on what comprises keto or low carb. Some definitions include:
Less than 50 grams of carbs per day (5-10% of total calories), and fat as high as 90% total calories
Less than 50 grams of carbs per day, regardless of other macronutrients
Some focus on macronutrients: 5% carbs, 15% protein, and 80% fat of total calories
There have been studies of “low carb” diets where the carbs of been anywhere from 30-100 grams per day
Oh — and they’re talking about total carbs per day not net carbs, which is total grams of carbs minus total grams of fiber in the carbs. You will also hear people talking about trying to keep net carbs below 20 grams per day. You will also hear people using the terms “low carb” and “keto” interchangeably, which isn’t quite correct. All ketogenic diets are low carb, but not all low carb diets are ketogenic. Well, you get the idea. There are many scientists defining low carb or keto in different ways — and then when you add all the dieticians, nutritionists, and personal trainers in the world on top of that — then you have a real mess.
One Thing We Can All Agree On
The ketogenic diet is one in which carbohydrates, and to some extent protein, are restricted enough to force the body to rely primarily on fat as fuel, thereby increasing the production of ketone bodies. Those levels of ketones can be measured in the blood. You are in ketosis when your ketone levels are at or above 0.5 mmol/L. There is no debate about that. The tricky thing is, those ketone levels are harder for some to reach than others. We are all different. Different levels of carb restriction is needed in different people in order to reach ketosis. The good news is, if you restrict carbs, it works great for weight loss, if you restrict them even more, it works even better. So there is actually a pretty large spectrum of strategies that could yield good results.
Learn By Doing
The next step for me, was to try it on myself. My goal was to actually NOT lose weight. I mostly wanted to see how I felt, and see how it affected my training (at that point I was training to be a competitive Masters CrossFitter, and was training 1.5 hours a day, six times per week). I wasn’t prepared to actually measure my blood ketone levels, so I decided to aim for 20 grams of net carbs per day. I tracked all my food and exercise on an app. One thing I found out quickly — I eat a lot of food. I was eating around 4000 calories per day, and much to my surprise — I lost 2.5 kg in the first week. Many experts will say that was all water weight, because when you restrict carbs, the body dumps a lot of water. That may be true, but my experience was that the weight never came back on. At the end of eight weeks, I had gone from 92kg to 83kg, and had to abandon my experiment, for fear of losing too much weight. As I mentioned earlier, I was trying NOT to lose weight. I balanced my calorie intake and energy output carefully, I even forced myself to eat when I wasn’t hungry in an attempt to not lose more weight — but it just kept coming off.
Results
A summary of my personal findings:
Effortless weight loss, without ever feeling hungry
Better sleep
Clearer, sharper thinking (no foggy brain in the afternoons)
An immediate increase in aerobic capacity, that was noticeable to my training partners
A decrease in my power and overall strength (my 1RM deadlift decreased by 20%)
My whole family was annoyed that I wouldn’t eat the same food as them
I have a six-pack!
In Summary
I found the low-carb/high fat diet a very effective weight loss strategy. Since my experiment a few years ago, it has become my “go-to” diet strategy with clients. What I love about it for clients, is that you don’t have to go hungry. Does good old-fashioned calorie restriction work for weight loss? Sure — but have you tried it? As a part of my education, I had to restrict my calorie intake to 1500 calories per day — just for a weekend. Misery. And my family was pleading with me to abandon the restriction, based on my perpetually sour mood. It wasn’t pretty. My mood was actually enhanced by the low carb/high fat diet, and I have found this to be consistent with my clients that have tried it. From a performance standpoint, my cardio went up, my strength went down — so you can make your own choice there, based on what your personal training goals are. Is it the Holy Grail when it comes to overall health? No. As many of you know, despite being extremely healthy and eating relatively low carb over the last few years, I had a heart attack this past year that almost took me out for good. There are some bullets you just can’t dodge. However, the research is really pouring in about the health benefits of a low carb/high fat diet.
The Center for Metabolic Health
A low carb/high fat diet has been proven to be an amazingly effective nutritional therapy for Type 2 Diabetes and other chronic diseases. With the restricted carbs, comes lower insulin levels, which has helped Type 2 Diabetics greatly reduce their medications, and in many cases, reverse their disease. My friend, Bjorn Baldvinsson and I founded The Center for Metabolic Health as a health coaching company that gives intensive one-on-one help to T2D patients and other chronic disease sufferers — guiding them and supporting them in their adherence to the low carb/high fat diet. We have seen amazing results. If you are interested in learning more about The Center for Metabolic Health, or want to take a deeper dive into research on the low carb/high fat diet, follow the link below to our new website, designed by Lennart Viðbjørg.