Why people are telling you NOT to go on an LCHF Diet...
I know lots of people that need to go on a diet, but won't. The excuses are varied...some are very honest. But I want to focus on the critics of the Keto diet that very often will discourage well-intentioned people from trying something that might just change their lives.
1. Too Restrictive. I look at the two meals I'll be having today and I wonder what it is it may be lacking or if I will feel like I'm "on a diet". I'll let you be the judge of that.
2. Lack of nutrients. How many people know that eggs have ALMOST every vitamin and mineral we need? It's lacking vitamin C. How many people know that Bell Peppers have three times as much vitamin C as oranges? The next time your friend or doctor tells you to eat lots of fruit because "it's good for you" ask them these two questions. If they can't answer correctly, please don't listen to that person for dietary advice anymore, ok?
3. Too high in protein. Keto is low carb, moderate protein, high fat. Next.
4. Too low in protein. Unless you have some physiological (eg. Pregnancy) or otherwise extensive exercise regimen (I mean professional athletes) look up your protein requirements, pretty low. As Dr. Fung said this week, unless I see some North Americans walking around with Kwashiorkor/Marasmus I'm not gonna worry about this one. My plate has plenty of protein for me!
5. Too high in fat/saturated fat. Not too high. Just enough. What you may not know is that over the last decades this has changed drastically. ALL primitive diets were higher in fat (and no heart disease or diabetes). Just an aside, do you know which diet "miraculously" treats Fatty Liver Disease? I know because I'm referred these patients daily. There's no pill for it. It's an LCHF diet, ALT (liver enzymes) go down in a couple of months. Crazy? Crazy is thinking that dietary fat (healthy fats) would cause any of these modern Metabolic diseases to begin with, when people have been eating FAT for hundreds of thousands of years...
6. Too much cholesterol. My personal favourite. You need cholesterol. Look up what cholesterol actually is and actually does and not what your GP who has been taught by the Pharm industry tells you. I'll give you a hint: look at the precursor for vitamin D, hormones, digestive enzymes, look at the role of cholesterol for prevention of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Heart Disease, etc etc.
7. Our brain needs sugar. Unfortunately the most ignorant of all criticisms. I suggest going back to grade 9 science. Two essential macronutrients. Protein and Fat. Because...the body can make glucose (de novo gluconeogenesis), hence...not essential. And by the way, low carb, does NOT mean NO carb (but it could, is all I am saying).
8. And the classic, not enough FIBRE. This is for those of you who actually think that whole grains have tons of fibre...if 95% sugar and 5% fibre makes sense to you, more power. How about some veggies, avocado, and just for you, I've sprinkled some ground flaxseeds over my berries (berries are low in sugar, good source of fibre and tons of antioxidants).
