There are no shortcuts and no "hacks". The only way out of obesity is through proper blood glucose regulation.
2. Should I only eat egg yolks and not the whites?
It is unnecessary to eat egg yolks on their own, just like it's unnecessary to eat egg whites on their own. Eat food whole, as nature intended and do not alter it.
3. Are carbohydrate restricted diets ineffective, because blood glucose rises when carbohydrates are reintroduced?
Only in the anti low carb world would this even be considered a logical expectation. Carbohydrates will always rise blood glucose. All foods rise blood glucose. Carbohydrates simply cause a higher and more prolonged rise. Carbohydrates rise blood glucose in the healthy as well but the healthy are able to sustain blood glucose regulation, in spite of these rises. Over time though, the rises eventually degrade insulin function and they become unhealthy too.
The definition of effectiveness is the remission of metabolic abnormalities; no longer living under the threat of diabetes; prevention (not delay) of diabetic complications; maintaining a healthy weight and living a life free of health problems, treatments and loss of mobility. Carbohydrate restriction can achieve all of these, so it is completely effective.
Effectiveness is not defined by eating a piece of cake and not seeing a rise in blood glucose. That is impossible. The purpose of carbohydrate restriction, as an intervention for metabolic dysfunction, it's not meant for you to be able to eat candy again. Candy is not food.
4. Will not eating carbohydrates make you insulin resistant?
Someone who has been on a low carbohydrate diet, for a very long time, can see their blood glucose rise abnormally when they eat carbohydrates. This is known as "physiological insulin resistance" and it's an extremely complex topic that goes well beyond the scope of my blog and of which little is understood. Low carbohydrate diets have simply not been studied long term, in a large population, to know every nuance associated with its effects.
A lot of people make the claim that having no exposure to glucose causes "intolerance of glucose", but gluconeogenesis negates this premise. The body makes its own glucose, so you are exposed to endogenous glucose daily and your body is not responding negatively to it. Furthermore, metabolic abnormalities have been reversed by restricting dietary glucose, so the disease process can be halted. Everything is going in the right direction and this blood glucose rise only seems to happen when a fattening carbohydrate (grain and sugar), which you shouldn't be eating anyways, is re-introduced. What's causing this physiological insulin resistance?
The widely accepted explanation is that this effect is caused by "adaptive glucose sparing". It is a protective response of the body, as it adapts to a limited supply of glucose, only acquired through gluconeogenesis, and spares any excess, exogenous glucose for the brain. In order to do this, the rest of the body refuses to accept the incoming glucose and you will see blood glucose temporarily rise.
Another explanation is that the enzymes used to metabolize glucose are temporarily low, from lack of exogenous glucose exposure. They need time to build back up, so the initial exposure leads to temporary high blood glucose levels, as there aren't sufficient enzymes to break glucose down. After a few days of carbohydrate exposure, this effect disappears. It is believed the same thing occurs when the diet becomes predominantly fat based. The "keto flu" would be the result of the body's lack of fat metabolizing enzymes, so the inability to break down this fat, causes unpleasant symptoms until you become "fat adapted".
Still another explanation is that the body is in a catabolic state of low insulin. It would be extremely easy for the body, in this state, to quickly break down dietary carbohydrates into glucose, causing temporary high glucose levels, until insulin "catches up" and slows down glucagon.
I don't favor any explanation over the other. For all I know, they are all true and physiological insulin resistance is a little bit of all three. What we do know is that this condition is not pathological. In other words, it is not a disease state and does not lead to disease.
Another thing we know, very well, is that carbohydrate centric diets, at least in the context of Western society, do and will lead to metabolic disease. That's a fact. Everything in between is left for interpretation by the blogosphere, but does nothing to better your health. So, it's best to stay focused on what's actually known.
5. I have reached goal weight, but believe I can lose more. My body refuses to continue cooperating though.
What we deem to be our ideal weight and what our bodies want to do can be completely different. The body knows how much weight it needs to loose.
As long as your waist measurements are healthy, there is little else you can do to force the body to continue losing fat. At this point, people are usually trying to lose subcutaneous fat, but this fat is protective and some people tend to have more of it than others. These differences are caused by gender, age and genetics.
You can certainly use exercise to tone and firm up, but once you reach your correct weight and waist size, let your body be. You don’t want to cause it undue stress by trying to become smaller. This can cause you to follow starvation diets or perform strenuous exercise, which can cause irreparable harm to the metabolism.
6. Can I eat junk food and desserts, as long as they are "keto" or "low carb"?
If your goal is to be as fat as the person giving you the recipe, then yes. If your goal is to be slim, then no. You can't eat junk and achieve better health. The Standard American Diet has already proven that.
4. Will not eating carbohydrates make you insulin resistant?
Someone who has been on a low carbohydrate diet, for a very long time, can see their blood glucose rise abnormally when they eat carbohydrates. This is known as "physiological insulin resistance" and it's an extremely complex topic that goes well beyond the scope of my blog and of which little is understood. Low carbohydrate diets have simply not been studied long term, in a large population, to know every nuance associated with its effects.
A lot of people make the claim that having no exposure to glucose causes "intolerance of glucose", but gluconeogenesis negates this premise. The body makes its own glucose, so you are exposed to endogenous glucose daily and your body is not responding negatively to it. Furthermore, metabolic abnormalities have been reversed by restricting dietary glucose, so the disease process can be halted. Everything is going in the right direction and this blood glucose rise only seems to happen when a fattening carbohydrate (grain and sugar), which you shouldn't be eating anyways, is re-introduced. What's causing this physiological insulin resistance?
The widely accepted explanation is that this effect is caused by "adaptive glucose sparing". It is a protective response of the body, as it adapts to a limited supply of glucose, only acquired through gluconeogenesis, and spares any excess, exogenous glucose for the brain. In order to do this, the rest of the body refuses to accept the incoming glucose and you will see blood glucose temporarily rise.
Another explanation is that the enzymes used to metabolize glucose are temporarily low, from lack of exogenous glucose exposure. They need time to build back up, so the initial exposure leads to temporary high blood glucose levels, as there aren't sufficient enzymes to break glucose down. After a few days of carbohydrate exposure, this effect disappears. It is believed the same thing occurs when the diet becomes predominantly fat based. The "keto flu" would be the result of the body's lack of fat metabolizing enzymes, so the inability to break down this fat, causes unpleasant symptoms until you become "fat adapted".
Still another explanation is that the body is in a catabolic state of low insulin. It would be extremely easy for the body, in this state, to quickly break down dietary carbohydrates into glucose, causing temporary high glucose levels, until insulin "catches up" and slows down glucagon.
I don't favor any explanation over the other. For all I know, they are all true and physiological insulin resistance is a little bit of all three. What we do know is that this condition is not pathological. In other words, it is not a disease state and does not lead to disease.
Another thing we know, very well, is that carbohydrate centric diets, at least in the context of Western society, do and will lead to metabolic disease. That's a fact. Everything in between is left for interpretation by the blogosphere, but does nothing to better your health. So, it's best to stay focused on what's actually known.
5. I have reached goal weight, but believe I can lose more. My body refuses to continue cooperating though.
What we deem to be our ideal weight and what our bodies want to do can be completely different. The body knows how much weight it needs to loose.
As long as your waist measurements are healthy, there is little else you can do to force the body to continue losing fat. At this point, people are usually trying to lose subcutaneous fat, but this fat is protective and some people tend to have more of it than others. These differences are caused by gender, age and genetics.
You can certainly use exercise to tone and firm up, but once you reach your correct weight and waist size, let your body be. You don’t want to cause it undue stress by trying to become smaller. This can cause you to follow starvation diets or perform strenuous exercise, which can cause irreparable harm to the metabolism.
6. Can I eat junk food and desserts, as long as they are "keto" or "low carb"?
If your goal is to be as fat as the person giving you the recipe, then yes. If your goal is to be slim, then no. You can't eat junk and achieve better health. The Standard American Diet has already proven that.
Junk food, regardless of the diet, has a pathological effect on blood glucose homeostasis and this is what you want to avoid.
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