Eat More Fat! The Nutritional Ketosis Challenge continues... page 201

[demuralist]

I didn't know he ever mentioned high fat?

[eKatherine]

I think all of the books suggest it when they say not to restrict fat, because it is satisfying. But I don't think any of them get into LCHF as being a basic principle of the diet.

[Rosemary 231]

I think all of the books suggest it when they say not to restrict fat, because it is satisfying. But I don't think any of them get into LCHF as being a basic principle of the diet.

It's called something like "A New Diet for a New You". That may be all wrong but it was mentioned in relation to low carb, high fat.

[Pebbles67]

It's called something like "A New Diet for a New You". That may be all wrong but it was mentioned in relation to low carb, high fat.

Yes. This is a new book written by Phinney and Volek. The same guys who wrote "The Art and Science of low carb living".

[Primal123]

Slept 11 hours last night! I cant believe it I generally average 6-7. I am guessing it is because I am fighting off a sore throat the last three days. This morning the scale was the same as yesterday morning which is good as last week it kept creeping up. Despite my extra sleep last night today I did not feel like I had a ton of energy but spent the morning reading the paper, drinking cold care tea etc... after lunch I felt I should do some exercise so I turned on Netflix and did 40 minutes on my nordic track like it was nothing then I did some plank progressions. I felt like I could keep going with the exercise but decided to keep it at that so I didn't over do it. In the past I used to keep myself at a very muscular size 8 walking and using my nordic track. Hoping it helps me speed up my weight loss right now as I'd really like to get rid of some of this fat that is hanging on.

I have not been tracking my food for the past couple weeks but think I'll do that this week to see where my numbers are falling. I do know it's definitely high fat very low carb but I think it would be good to do a few days to see what protein and fat is looking like.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and that the week ahead is productive and enjoyable.

[OzK]

If my stomach wouldn't have started hurting, I would probably still be stuffing my face. Stupid emotions.

I absolutely, absolutely hear you. The single biggest thing to conquer, I think (and I speak as a fellow emotional eater) is to once and for all make the connection that stuffing our faces does not in fact fix anything. But that's hard.

Keep going!

[Pebbles67]

The importance of Sodium

Phinney and Volek recommend 5 grams (5000mg) of sodium every day for a person in ketosis. Most of us get 2500-3000 mg in our regular diet if we add salt. Therefore they recommend supplementing with 2 servings (cubes or equivalent measurement) of commercial bouillon/broth.
On My Fitness Pal, you can go to settings and set the program to track sodium intake. Last month when I got into my fourth clean week I suddenly felt exhausted. I had stopped supplementing sodium. This lethargy and dizziness weakened my resolve and sent me into a four day long binge. I am just now getting things back in line. From now on, I am going to make sure i am getting 5 g of sodium. Today was the first day I tracked sodium intake.

I’ll let P & V speak for themselves on this issue:

“…it had been known for decades that both total starvation and severe carbohydrate restriction increase excretion of sodium by the kidneys. Known technically as ‘the natriuresis of fasting’,… In Dr. Van Itallie’s study, he gave his subjects 1.3 g/d of sodium, and those on the low carb diet lost a lot of body water (presumably due to the natriuresis effect). It is also very likely that they were constantly light-headed, dizzy, and easily fatigued given this combination of a low carbohydrate diet and a very low sodium intake. In contrast, Dr. Hoffer’s subjects were given 5 grams of sodium per day, and there was: a) no difference in water weight loss between his two diet groups, and b) his low carb subjects had no headache, no dizziness, and their endurance performance (assessed in a separate concurrent study) was as good or better than the subjects given the mixed diet. With severe sodium restriction (like 1.3 grams per day, combined with the natriuretic effects of carbohydrate restriction), the body responds first by mobilizing any excess extracellular fluid (which is why bloating disappears) and then by contracting its circulating volume. It is this contracted circulating volume that causes dizziness, headache, and ease of fatigue. At some point, when confronted with this low sodium intake plus carbohydrate restriction, most people’s defense mechanisms can’t maintain normal mineral balances. So the body’s next level of defense is for the adrenal gland to secrete the hormone aldosterone, which makes kidney tubular cells excrete potassium in order to conserve sodium. That is, the body wastes some of its intracellular potassium in order to cling to whatever sodium it can. However unless there is copious potassium coming in from the diet, this excess urinary potassium comes from the body’s potassium pool inside cells. Two things then happen. First, nerve and muscle cells don’t work well,
leading to cardiac dysrhythmias and muscle cramps. Second, because potassium is an obligate component of lean tissue, the body starts losing muscle even if there’s plenty of protein in the diet. Clearly none of these effects of sodium restriction are desirable, particularly when one is trying to lose body fat while retaining as much lean tissue as possible. Luckily, if in the context of a low carbohydrate diet you give the subject/patient a total of 5 grams of sodium per day (for example 2-3 grams on their food and 2 grams as broth/bouillon), none of these bad things happen.”


Phinney, Stephen; Volek, Jeff (2011-07-08). The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living: An Expert Guide to Making the Life-Saving Benefits of Carbohydrate Restriction Sustainable and Enjoyable (p. 151). Beyond Obesity LLC. Kindle Edition.

PS 1) If you have high BP proceed with caution. NK should naturally lower BP, but add sodium slowly. 2) 1000mg salt does not necessarily equal 1000mg sodium. 3)The above symptoms can come at any time during the NK journey, not just at the beginning.

[252dlp]

Yes, emotional eating is what got me to where I am today...and you are right, didn't fix a thing and only made me feel worse. {sigh}}

I have not been tracking my food for the past couple weeks but think I'll do that this week to see where my numbers are falling. I do know it's definitely high fat very low carb but I think it would be good to do a few days to see what protein and fat is looking like.

I like to track normally, but hadn't been very diligent about it for the last year. When I finally decided to get back to it, it was an eye opener. I was WAY overeating protein, which I really didn't think I was doing.

[demuralist]

Pebbles, thank you so much i have been lax on that will start tracking it now.

[Bifcus]

Pebbles,

Thanks for the information about sodium. Very timely as those are the symptoms I have been experiencing. I thought I was getting heaps of salt on my food, but obviously it's not nearly enough. That explains the nut cravings.

I won't do the boullion cubes as I don't trust their contents, so will need to find a way of getting more in. Maybe I'll just eat it off a spoon.