A re-education: The slow carb diet

After listening to all the doctors speak last Saturday I've been looking for ways to put their advice into practice. Since the online portion of the Daniel Plan doesn't say much in the way of how one should eat I decided to do a bit of research myself and discovered the slow carb diet.

In effect, its a diet that limits high glycemic (read sugary or sweet) foods (actually it forbids them) and encourages lean protein and veggies. If I am recalling correctly, this is exactly the kind of diet that Dr Hyman and Dr Amen were talking about: no sugar, no white starches and refined foods.

I looked around online and found that one of my most favorite authors (Timothy Ferris- author of the 4 hr work week and 4 hr body) actually lives his life this way and maintains 6% body fat, not to mention his rather extreme lifestyle. While Im not looking for 6% (in fact that's not even healthy or suggested for a woman) I would definitely like to lower it from the percentage that I am undoubtedly carrying. (I have a friend who has a bodyfat calculator- I'll use it this week and record the numbers.... look at me using the 3rd principal of real change: evaluation. lol)

What I like most about his method is the super simplified meal guidelines. Although they do lack a bit on the imagination. Actually, that's not the whole truth. Although I like the simplicity- what I like the most is the cheat day. Sunday will be cheat day for me! And then I dont have to worry about not eating doughnuts with my girls in the morning or having to skip my honeys amazing lasagna at night! Also this Sunday funday mentality will allow me to stick to the plan all the other days of the week!

One commenter on Tim's blog described what I could expect on the slow carb diet- esp at the beginning and I am appreciative at the realistic look. I've highlighted the parts Ive found to be the most informative. Here's a quote:

"Frank, this diet is very healthy. It contains lots of vegetables, healthy, lean proteins, and refined starches/sugars are almost nonexistent. Everyone can benefit from a diet like this. Eating this way will even out bloodsugar, provide lots of phytonutrients, is high fiber, and offers quite a few essential fatty acids.

I personally would consider this a method of eating that is sustainable for the rest of your life (which will also probably be a considerably longer life eating this way).

That being said, if you are suffering from type 2 diabetes or are borderline, you may want to restrict all carbs for a few weeks/months and then gradually move to this type of diet.

Also, someone who is extremely overweight/highly metabolically resistant might still not lose weight on a high-protein/moderate fat/slow carb diet. The reason being that protein can be converted to glucose (from what I understand). Fat however, cannot. Your body can burn fat directly. This is why some diets (like atkins) stress lots of fat in the beginning. You don’t want to be eating lots of lard, though. :) When your body no longer has any glucose left (this can take from two to six days because your muscles store a form of sugar for energy called glycogen), it will switch to fat burning mode full time. This may very likely be unpleasant at first, but you get used to it, and its temporary to fix your body’s insulin resistance. Contrary to some folks’ opinion (probably all carb addicts by the way), this state (ketosis) is not dangerous to a healthy individual. They mix up ketosis with a dangerous state caused by kidney failure called ketoacidosis. Not the same thing. Also, there has been no record of a low carb, high protein diet causing kidney failure in a previously healthy individual, ever.

Bottom line, if you are only moderately overweight (i.e. not morbidly obese), then this diet should work great for you, in combination with regular strength training and aerobic exercise. If you are morbidly obese, then I’d suggest looking at a diet like this as your long term goal. In my opinion, you want to start out much more restrictive on the carbs, eat lots of healthy fats and protein, and work your way up to this type of eating as your long term maintenance/lifestyle plan.

For more information, pick up Dr. Atkins’ book. I highly recommend it. Most folks seems to miss Dr. Atkins’ point that you want to start out with a highly restrictive diet and move to include slow carbs in phases. The highly restrictive diet helps to eliminate your sugar/carb cravings and increase insulin sensitivity. It kind of tears you down and builds you back up in a healthy way. By the end of the diet, you’ll be eating lots of berries, nuts, beans, and other healthy carbs, once you are moving towards life-time maintenance mode. It also stresses whole foods and lots of vegetables.

I’m not a doctor or a nutritionist, just someone who has had a weight problem their whole life, done a lot of research, and who is trying to be as healthy as possible."

I will start the slow carb meal plan tomorrow and let you know how it is going. For now, Im off to figure out my measurements for week one's log in.