The rise in blood glucose, after a high carbohydrate meal, is not what causes metabolic issues. It's the drop in blood glucose that occurs later. By drop, I don't mean that blood glucose ever goes into a medical definition range of hypoglycemia. I mean a drop from 200 mg/dL, after a high carb meal, to 120 mg/dL some hours later. A blood glucose of 120 mg/dL is not anywhere near hypoglycemia, but metabolism responds like it is because it dropped from such a high rise.
This is not surprising, since the body always keeps a tight and narrow range in its blood glucose. It does not like large disparities between highs and lows. There is an 80 point drop from 200 mg/dL to 120 mg/dL. That is huge and would never occur under normal and natural circumstances. We did not evolve to handle drops in blood glucose of that proportion. The body is extremely sensitive to drops in blood glucose, not rises. It's the drops that adapt metabolism. The excess insulin release in response to such high postprandial blood glucose means insulin will be circulating in the serum long after blood glucose lowers, causing it to lower even further. This causes an aversion to any lowering of blood glucose over time. The body begins dosing blood glucose to counter balance the high insulin, keeping blood glucose abnormally high all of the time.
The difference between us and our ancestors, or hunter/gatherers today, is that they do not experience these disparities in blood glucose frequently enough or for any significant amount of time that would cause a pathological adaptation to occur.
2. Should protein always be kept very low?
We don’t concern ourselves with protein, on this blog, except to ensure you are getting an adequate amount. Therefore, we don't have hardline numbers for protein consumption, as it's dependent on the individual. Protein is the macronutrient of leanness, since it doesn’t contribute to obesity, making it the macronutrient of least concern. You can eat it to satiety, as it is also the macronutrient of satiation.
But, to ensure you are getting adequate amounts of protein, you might need to track it. Our recommended values are as follows:
- General - We use Dr. Naiman's recommendation - A recommended, daily minimum consumption of 1.0 grams of protein, per pound of desired body weight.
- Fat loss - We use Dr. Naiman's recommendation - Keep protein grams over your desired body weight (in pounds) and keep non-protein energy (fat + net carbs) under same target.
- Hyperglucagonemia (high postprandial blood glucose) - We use Dr. Bernstein's recommendation - A recommended minimum daily consumption of 1.0 - 1.2 grams of protein, per kilogram of desired body weight, divided into three meals as follows: Breakfast: 3 ounces protein, Lunch: 4 ounces protein, Dinner: 5 ounces protein.
- Genetic protein metabolism issues - We use the generic minimum recommended daily allowance (RDA) - A daily recommended minimum consumption of 0.8 grams per kilogram of current weight. But, a more appropriate value would be 1.2 grams per kilogram of current weight, since it has been shown that the RDA recommendation is too low and can cause future health issues. Remember to divide your daily protein allowance into two or three meals in order to reduce the stress on your enzymes, as most genetic issues with protein metabolism are the result of enzyme abnormalities.
3. Coffee should always contain an unlimited amount of butter.
If you don’t like cream or milk, you can use butter, as long as you don’t go over 150 grams of fat a day. If you’re stalled drop your fat intake closer to 50 grams a day, but no lower. Make sure you aren’t drinking coffee during your fasting times.
4. "Keto creamers" are best to use in coffee to maintain "ketosis".
The only “keto creamers” that exist are butter, coconut oil or cream, so do not buy any product labeled "keto creamer". Remember that the best "keto creamer" in the world is body fat.
5. Why are weight loss coaches suddenly experts in diabetes treatments?
A "culture of diabetes" has taken over weight loss circles. These people do nothing, but talk about metabolic syndrome, diabetes and insulin resistance constantly and mostly incorrectly.
Diabetes is increasing at epidemic rates, and all weight loss programs are aware of this, so they know the potential financial benefit in adding "diabetes reversal” to their weight loss claims. For this reason, most weight loss programs are now involved in some kind of "diabetes treatment". This is especially true of low carb weight loss programs. Obsession over "lower glucose" is their bread and butter, so this is something they will continue to do because it pays.
It's up to you to do your due diligence when researching any claim. Not treating metabolic problems correctly can cause worsening of the disease and push you back years from remission.
6. The low carb community is now saying that water is bad.
Drinking too much water can flush your electrolytes to low levels, worsening dehydration. But, I am pretty sure these low carb people are most likely discussing water intake in the context of "weight gain". They know drinking water causes weight to increase.
It’s a known hack that reducing water intake will drop your weight. Athletes practice this unhealthy "hack", all the time, in order to “meet weight requirements”. So, I suppose, the new low carb diet scam is to discourage people from drinking water, so it appears like the diet protocol is working. That's the same thing they did by extending fasting, to ridiculous lengths, in order to make it appear as though you are losing weight, while only getting fatter.
Don’t fall for this. It's dangerous. Drink to thirst, but don’t go thirsty.