Living Low Carb (63 page)

Neptune Krill Oil

Neptune krill oil (NKO) is a relatively new supplement that shows tremendous promise in the treatment of PMS. It’s basically a fish oil, a low-temperature extract of the abundant Antarctic krill (
Euphausia superba
). Reportedly, it has an ORAC value (antioxidant rating) of 378—more than 300 times that of vitamins A and E and 48 times greater than most fish oils. A recent study evaluated the effectiveness of NKO for the management of PMS in an outpatient clinic. In 70 patients, a significant improvement was found after 3 menstrual cycles. The authors concluded that NKO can significantly reduce the emotional symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.
⁸²
The dosage is 3 grams a day. You can also take NKO together with the 3 products I have been successfully using for PMS with my clients for years: B6, magnesium, and GLA.

CLA

There have been some very promising studies on CLA, a fatty acid found in grass-fed beef, lamb, and dairy products from grass-fed animals. A substantial amount of research has shown it to reduce the incidence and size of tumors.
⁸³
But a pretty impressive amount of research has shown that it also helps with fat loss. Best of all, the type of fat it seems to impact the most is abdominal fat, the most “dangerous” and metabolically active fat on the body. In one study on middle-aged men with metabolic syndrome, there was a significant decrease in abdominal diameter in the group given CLA supplementation for four weeks.
⁸⁴
Research at Ohio State University has found that CLA delayed the onset of diabetes in rats and helped improve the management of type 2 diabetes in adult humans.
⁸⁵
Another study on human subjects, published in the
Journal of Nutrition
in 2000, showed that CLA reduced body-fat mass in overweight and obese subjects.
⁸⁶
CLA appears to also have anti-inflammatory properties. The dose that seems to help with weight is at least 3.4 grams daily, and one study got good results using twice that dose.
⁸⁷
Again, the results won’t be dramatic or magical, but the supplement could certainly help, and its many other benefits—e.g., to the immune system, for inflammation, and possibly as an anti-cancer agent—make it worth considering.

Of Possible Use

Gymnema Sylvestre

Gymnema sylvestre
is an herb with an interesting double relationship to sugar. In Sanskrit,
gymnema
means “sugar destroyer.” If you place it on the tongue, it blocks the sensation of sweetness! But if you take it internally, it seems to help control blood-sugar levels, at least in diabetics. It may well turn out to have a place in the supplement regimen of those trying to control blood sugar and increase insulin sensitivity.

Hydroxycitrate (Hydroxycitric Acid)

Hydroxycitric acid, an extract from the plant
Garcinia cambogia
, is often sold and promoted as a weight-loss aid. In animal studies, it suppressed appetite and encouraged weight loss, and it has also been suggested that hydroxycitric acid interferes with the body’s ability to produce and store fat. But a lot of human studies have been very disappointing. It does, however, have its supporters, among them vitamin expert Dr. Shari Lieberman, who argues that some of the disappointing studies were badly designed. As far as I’m concerned, the jury is out on this one. I haven’t personally seen much success with it, but I’m willing to be proven wrong.

Banaba Leaf Extract (Corosolic Acid)

Banaba leaf extract contains a compound called corosolic acid, which has been used for centuries as an aid to weight loss and blood-sugar control. Corosolic acid is used routinely in the weight-loss protocol of Dr. Alan Schwartz, medical director of the Holistic Resource Center in Agoura Hills, California, and it is now beginning to get some attention nationally for its ability to lower blood sugar when taken in the range of about 48 milligrams a day. A very thorough discussion of the actions of corosolic acid and the research so far can be found in the September 2000 issue of
Life Extension
, the magazine of the Life Extension Foundation. The article is also available online:
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2000/sep2000_report_blood.html
.

CHAPTER 10

Frequently Asked
Questions

I
n this chapter, I’ve posed and then answered the questions that I see most often on my Web site, as well as those I’m asked most frequently in seminars and workshops around the country. I’ve also incorporated the questions that I’ve seen come up time and time again on Internet sites dealing with low-carbohydrate diets. The questions are organized into categories, such as Losing Weight on Low-Carb, Food and Drink, and Exercise. If you have a question that’s not answered here, you’re always welcome to post it to me directly through my Web site,
http://www.jonnybowden.com
.

Losing Weight on Low-Carb

How Long Will It Take Me to Lose 10 (or 100) Pounds?

There is absolutely no way to know the answer to this question. A lot depends on how much you have to lose and how you respond to your program. Everyone is fundamentally different on metabolic, genetic, and biochemical levels, and each body responds differently. Even people on identical programs are likely to experience different amounts of weight loss on different timetables. Rule of thumb: in the first week or so of a low-carb diet, you may lose a bunch of weight—maybe even 7 to 10 pounds if you are considerably overweight—but eventually you should settle in to an
average
of 2 pounds of weight loss per week, more or less. Don’t be discouraged if your weight loss is less—many other things could be going on. And even at the rate of 1 pound a week, you’ll still lose 50 pounds a year.

Is a Low-Carb Diet for Everyone?

Memorize this and tattoo it behind your eyelids: no single diet is for everyone. The Bantu of South Africa thrived on a diet of 80% carbs, and some groups of Eskimos thrived on a diet of nearly zero carbs. However, here in America and in most industrialized nations, it’s fairly safe to say that nearly everyone would benefit from a
lower
-carb diet than is currently the norm. And
everyone
would benefit from changing their carbs from the highly processed, sugarladen, fiberless fare of convenience, fast, and packaged foods to what we might call “real” carbohydrates—things you could pluck, gather, or grow.

How low in carbohydrates you personally need to go must be determined by trial and error. If you are a basically healthy person looking to stay that way and weight loss is not a real issue for you, the best template to start with is the one advocated by Barry Sears, which is approximately 40% of your food as carbohydrates, 30% as protein, and 30% as fat. Interestingly, this is very close to what many of the plans discussed in this book—among them the Atkins diet, Protein Power, and the Fat Flush Plan—recommend for maintenance after your weight target has been achieved. Sugar Busters! recommends this proportion from the beginning, although the authors don’t credit it to Dr. Sears. And no less a luminary than the renowned Harvard epidemiologist Dr. Walter Willett has said, without actually mentioning the Zone diet, that a diet containing 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat may well be the most healthful alternative to the moribund USDA Food Guide Pyramid’s recommendations.

Once I Reach My Goal Weight, Can I Add Carbs Without Gaining Weight?

Posts on Internet bulletin boards respond to this type of question with the acronym YMMV, which means “your mileage may vary.” Translation: everyone responds differently, so try it out. All of the classic programs basically suggest adding carbs back in a controlled and measured way until you discover for yourself the “magic” amount that allows
you
to maintain your goal weight.

Should I Weigh Myself Regularly?

Yes. The scale is a great way for you to check in with reality, as long as you know how to use it right. You need to learn
not
to beat yourself up about the number. You need to understand that water retention can mask fat loss. You need to understand that body composition can change with weight training exercise, and that you could be losing fat while gaining muscle (which would not necessarily show up right away on the scale). And you need to understand that everyone loses at a different rate. You may go for a period of time with no change whatsoever and then all of a sudden have a “whoosh” of weight loss. That said, the scale
will
keep you honest.
Eventually
, the scale will reflect fat loss. It will tell you—in combination with other cues, like how you’re feeling and what your measurements are—whether what you’re doing is working or not. If you want to figure out your critical carb level, you’ll have to use the scale at some point to find out whether additional carbs are slowing you down. Many people have been delighted to find out that they actually could have a few more carbohydrates than they previously thought, and that it didn’t slow down their weight loss appreciably or, if they were already at their goal weight, it didn’t cause them to gain. But you’ll never know any of that if you don’t watch the numbers.

What Are Net Carbs? What’s the Difference between Net Carbs and Effective Carbs?

There is none. Net carbs and effective carbs are two different phrases for the same thing. The idea is that fiber, even though it’s “counted” as a carbohydrate on food labels, isn’t absorbed, so it shouldn’t really be counted. To get the net, or effective, carbohydrate content of a food, simply go to the label and subtract the number of grams of
fiber
from the number of grams of
carbohydrate
. For example, 1 cup of raspberries has 14 grams of carbohydrate, but 8 of those are from fiber. Subtract the 8 grams of fiber from the 14 grams of
total
carbohydrate, and you get the number of net carbohydrate grams per cup: 6.

What Is the Minimum Daily Requirement for Carbohydrates?

Zero. There is no biological requirement for dietary carbohydrate in human beings. You would die without protein and you would die without fat, but you can live just fine without carbohydrate. I’m not suggesting that you should—just that you can.

Low-Carbing and the Body

Why Am I Getting Headaches during the Induction Phase of My Diet?

Headaches are a frequent side effect of switching abruptly from a high-carb to a low-carb diet. One of the reasons for this is that your body and your brain need to adapt to using fat and ketones as a primary fuel source after being accustomed to using sugar. Your brain can certainly use ketones, but it takes a few days to make the adjustment, during which you may get a headache. It usually goes away by itself, but one thing you can definitely do is drink more water. In fact, if you don’t drink enough water, you may get a “ketone headache” even
after
your body has adapted to the diet. The other thing you can do is up your carbs by 5 to 10 grams a day until you’re feeling better, then lower them gradually. Preventing some of the side effects is one reason for doing a three-day transition from your previous way of eating into this new low-carb lifestyle.

I’m Getting Leg Cramps, Especially at Night. Why?

This is almost always due to a mineral deficiency, particularly potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Remember that insulin tells the body to hold on to salt and water. When your insulin levels fall, especially during the first week on your low-carb diet, the kidneys will release that excess sodium—and you will begin to lose a lot of water. This will usually result in a loss of potassium as well, and one of the symptoms of potassium loss is muscle cramping (as well as fatigue). Dr. Alan Schwartz, medical director of the Holistic Resource Center in Agoura Hills, California, recommends taking one or two potassium supplements (99 milligrams) with each meal, especially in the first week of your low-carb diet. Magnesium supplementation is also a good idea.

Note: nuts help prevent potassium and magnesium imbalances. While you have to watch your intake of nuts during the weight-loss phase of your program, they nonetheless are chock-full of these valuable minerals.

Does a Low-Carb Diet Cause Kidney Problems?

No. This is one of the great myths about low-carbing, but it is exactly that: a myth based on an incomplete understanding of the facts. It is true that people with preexisting kidney or liver problems should not go on very high-protein diets, but it is
not
true that either high-protein diets or lowcarbohydrate diets in general
cause
kidney problems. If your doctor tells you otherwise, ask him or her to show you the research that confirms that finding. Your doc will not be able to, because there is none. There is not even a problem with protein in the diet of diabetics, who are frequently given to kidney problems. “There is no evidence that in an otherwise healthy person with diabetes eating protein causes kidney disease,” says Frank Vinicor, director of diabetes research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
¹
(For a more detailed explanation, see
chapter 6
).

Is Low-Carbing Good for Diabetes?

It is not only good; it is
essential
. “Diabetes is a disease of carbohydrate intolerance,” says physician and diabetes specialist Lois Jovanovim, chief scientific officer of the Sansum Medical Research Institute in Santa Barbara, California. “Meal plans should minimize carbohydrates because
people with diabetes do not tolerate [them]
.”
²
(Emphasis mine.) Dr. Richard Bernstein, author of
The Diabetes Solution
and a diabetic himself, has been fighting the medical establishment over this since the 1970s. “What is still considered sensible nutritional advice for diabetics can over the long run be fatal,” Bernstein writes.
³