Carbohydrates are highly addictive. We are conditioned as children to feed a carb addiction – most children consume large amounts of sugar daily. Sugars and refined grains are added to baby food, cereal, candy, and virtually all processed foods.
Carbs are so addictive because they trigger two hormones: dopamine and serotonin. These are pleasure and happiness hormones. This sugar addiction is real and it will literally control you to a point where you are completely out of control.
Over time, an addiction to carbs becomes stronger and stronger.
You may ask, is a Ketogenic diet, which means you are eating more fat, is that dangerous for your heart? The answer is no. It is not the fat that plugs up your arteries it is the sugar. Ketogenic diets are not dangerous if you do them correctly.
Second question, “Well, the more fat that you eat, the more fat you are going to burn.” That’s another myth because you could be burning the dietary fat and not your own fat.
Now, the whole concept of the Ketogenic diet is that you are having very low carbs, moderate protein, and higher fat. What we want zero sugar, unlimited vegetables. In fact, we need more vegetables because if you do this, ketones are acidic, and the ketones can potentially raise your pH, and you can end up with either gout, a type of arthritis, or kidney stones. The way to prevent that is to consume a lot of vegetables, and also lemon. Lemon actually prevents kidney stones.
The other key is to do not consumer sugar with fat. Why? Because it will increase insulin even more. We do not want to add the sugar to this eating plan at all.
The other point is you want to do this gradually. If you are increasing fats too quickly, it is going to overwhelm the gallbladder, and you are going to have right shoulder pain, and bloating, and things like that. That’s why I recommend that if you were going to do this, I’d recommend the gallbladder formula because that gives you the enzymes and the bile to help handle this fat in the transition. (Here is the link to the Gallbladder Formula https://shop.drberg.com/gallbladder-formula)
Adapting. It does take time to adapt to your body to fat burning. All these cells must change their enzyme structure, their machinery to handle this new fuel source because we are limited in the glucose, and we are increasing the fat, and it does take sometimes between 2 to 6 weeks to make this transition. The process, we are going to do this nice and gradually so your body can go right into it, and you will feel really good.
How much fat that you really need? Here is a list of fats that you can potentially consume. We did our calculations from an average of 1800 calories per day – and then 70% of that would be fat, then we measured the gram per meal.
On average, consume 20-40 grams of fat per meal.
FOOD AMT FAT CAL Per Meal
1. Heavy Cream 1 TBS 5g 51 6 TBS
2. Egg 1 egg 5g 74 3-4
3. Beef (80%) 3 oz 16g 213 3-6 oz
4. Coconut Oil 1 TBS 14g 120 2 TBS
5. Brie Cheese 3 oz 28g 300 3 oz
6. Almond Butter 1 TBS 10g 100 3 TBS
7. Olive Oil 1 TBS 14g 119 2 TBS
8. Bacon 1 slice 3g 43 3-6 Slices
9. Pecans 10 nuts 20g 196 15 Nuts
10. Macadamia Nuts 10 nuts 21g 204 15 Nuts
11. Peanut Butter 1 TBS 8g 94 3-4 TBS
12. Almonds 10 nuts 6g 70 3-4 TBS
13. Avocado 1 whole 30g 322 1
14. Ice cream (No Sugar) 1 cup 22g 200 1 cup
Heavy cream, one tablespoon is five grams of fat. An average person needs between 20 and 40 grams of fat per meal on a Ketogenic diet. 40 grams for someone who is really large who has been doing it in a while. 20 grams is someone smaller, and they are just starting out. We are going to calculate this midrange at 30 grams just to give you an average.
Heavy cream. You can make all sorts of things with heavy cream, i.e. whipping cream. Eat five grams, which is six tablespoons per meal right after the meal as your fat. The fats could allow you to go longer so you are not as hungry, and it is not going to increase insulin. It is exactly what we want.
You may only be doing two meals. If you are concerned about calories, do two meals, especially if you are not working out. You will find that once you adapt, you can burn your body fat as a fuel source, and you can go a long period of time without any hunger.
Now, egg is five grams of fat. One egg is five grams. You need three to four eggs per meal. Sometimes, people do two or three. That is fine because you can combine these other foods. If you can, get pasture-raised organic eggs.
Now, let us get to the beef. We got three ounces is 16 grams, about three to six ounces of beef. Try to find beef that is 80 to 85% lean, not 90% lean. I like the 80%, but it is hard to find it. If you can, get buy grass-fed, organic beef.
Then, we get coconut oil. One tablespoon is 14 grams. Double that, and have two tablespoons. Now, you can put that on your vegetables. You can make little treats. There is all sorts of recipes you can make, but that is the amount of fat that you would need per meal.
Brie cheese. Have three ounces, which is 28 grams. Brie cheese is very high in fat. Three ounces for a meal would give enough fat, but this also has the protein, so you could kill two birds with one stone. I do a lot of cheese.
German cheese. Just less than half of this is three ounces. A piece that is a little bit bigger than the palm of your hand, but half should be three ounces.
Almond butter, one tablespoon is ten grams. That would be three tablespoons of almond butter that you would consume. You can do that right after a meal. That would be your fat.
Olive oil. One tablespoon is 14 grams, do two tablespoons of olive oil. That is about 30 grams of fat. Put it on your salad. Some is going to end up in the bottom of your bowl. You may want to add another fat from the list.
Pecans. Ten pecans is 20 grams. If you do 15 pecans at the end of the meal or macadamia nuts, that would give you enough fat.
Ice cream. There are certain ice creams that have no sugar. You can make ice cream or get it from the store. One cup would you give 22 grams of fat.
Dr. Berg is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the author of the best-selling book The Healthy Keto Plan, and is the Director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media. He has taught students nutrition as an adjunct professor at Howard University.
Disclaimer: The content of this email or Post is not intended for the treatment or prevention of disease, nor as a substitute for medical treatment, nor as an alternative to medical advice. Use of recommendations is at the choice and risk of the reader.
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The first thing that will happen is you are going to lose your appetite for sugar when you completely stop taking sugar for two weeks. Why? Because every time there is sugar consumption, a hormone activates and pushes your blood sugar down, causing a low blood sugar situation (hypoglycemia to some degree). This causes you to crave sugar, but by getting rid of sugar from your diet, you get rid of the sugar cravings, too.
Hypoglycemia Definition: A condition caused by very low levels of blood glucose or sugar, which is common in diabetic people.
It is Valentine’s Day. What a day for a post on sugar. Let us see what we can learn about sugar.
Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology in the University of California and a pioneer in decoding sugar metabolism, says that your body can safely metabolize at least six teaspoons (28.6 grams) of added sugar from natural and manufactured sources per day. It seems like a lot, but did you know that a 3” apple has 18.9 grams of sugar.
The average American consumes about 32 teaspoons of sugar per day. Sugar is in most processed foods and drinks. It is in your coffee or tea. It is in pastries, cakes and cookies, sprinkled it over your breakfast cereal or your oatmeal. It’s hidden in sodas, fruit juices, candies, ice cream and in almost all processed foods, including breads, meats, and condiments like Worcestershire sauce and ketchup.
The best way to ensure you’re not consuming excess added sugars is to get in the habit of always scanning the ingredient list. Ingredients are listed by quantity from high to low: the closer to the front of the list a form of sugar is, the more the product contains.
Just because you don’t see “sugar” on the ingredient list when scanning a nutrition label does not guarantee the item is sugar or sweetener-free. Sugar goes by a slew of different names, hiding how much sugar is in the product.
On the Nutrition label the carbohydrate count per serving size is given as total grams, and then broken down into carbs from fiber and sugar. Sugar should be zero as often as possible (1–2g at most).
The Most Common Names for Sugar:
Basic Simple Sugars (monosaccharides and disaccharides):
Here are some of the effects that excessive sugar intake has on your health:
Sugar is a primary dietary factor that drives obesity and chronic disease development.
Sugar causes weight gain, abdominal obesity, decreased HDL and increased LDL cholesterol levels, elevated blood sugar, elevated triglycerides, high blood pressure, Hypertension, Lipid problems, Heart disease, and Polycystic ovarian syndrome.
One of the most severe effects of eating too much sugar is its potential to damage your liver, leading to a condition known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Your liver metabolizes alcohol the same way as sugar – as both serve as substrates for converting dietary carbohydrate into fat. This promotes insulin resistance, fatty liver and dyslipidemia (abnormal fat levels in your blood).
Fructose or high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It is found in most processed foods and drinks. HFCS is metabolized directly into fat.
Fructose causes superoxide free radicals to form, resulting in inflammation.
Fructose can directly and indirectly stimulate the brain’s “hedonic pathway” – creating habituation and dependence, the same way that alcohol does.
Sugar “feeds” the cancer cells, promoting cell division and speeding their growth, allowing the cancer to spread faster.
The metabolic theory of cancer holds sugar damages mitochondrial function and energy production, triggering cell mutations that are then fed by on going sugar consumption.
How to Manage or Limit Your Sugar Consumption
Your healthiest choice is to avoid or eliminate refined sugar from your diet by eating whole, organic foods, and carefully reading labels of any packaged foods you buy.
Avoid processed foods and beverages like soda. According to SugarScience.org, 74 % of processed foods contain added sugar stealthily hidden under different names. (See the list of names above.)
Severely limit your consumption of refined carbohydrates (waffles, cereals, bagels, bread, etc.) and grains, as they actually break down to sugar in your body, resulting in insulin resistance.
Keep your total fructose consumption below 25 grams per day, including that from whole fruit. Fruits are rich in nutrients and antioxidants, but they also naturally contain fructose.
Avoid artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose.
Increase your consumption of healthy fats, such as omega-3, saturated and monounsaturated fats such as organic butter from raw milk, (unheated) virgin olive oil, coconut oil, raw nuts like pecans and macadamia, free-range eggs, avocado and wild Alaskan salmon.
Drink pure, clean water. The best way to gauge your water needs is to observe the color of your urine (it should be light pale yellow) and the frequency of your bathroom visits (ideally, this is around seven to eight times per day).
Add fermented foods to your meals, they provide detoxification support, which helps lessen the fructose burden on your liver. Some of the best choices include kimchi, natto, organic yogurt and kefir made from grass fed milk, and fermented vegetables.
Please see the original for the Footnotes and Citations for the scientific studies.
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Dr. Sarah Hallberg is the Medical Director of the Medically Supervised Weight Loss Program at IU Health Arnett, a program she created.
Her program has consistently exceeded national benchmarks for weight loss, and has been highly successful in reversing diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
In this video series, we’ll explore the causes of type 2 diabetes and how to reverse it. Please copy and paste this link into your address bar.
Treating type 2 diabetes—and why ‘eat less, exercise more’ doesn’t work
The history and safety of Ketogenic diets
Research on Ketogenic interventions for type 2 diabetes
Ketogenic meals and food options
1: How food affects blood sugar
Fat does not impact blood insulin levels. Carbs have a high impact on blood sugar, protein impacts them moderately, but fat? No impact!
2: Carbohydrate intolerance and insulin resistance
When someone with type 2 diabetes eats carbohydrates, it causes their blood sugar to rise above what is healthy.
In a person with carbohydrate intolerance, type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, the body loses its insulin sensitivity and more and more insulin is required to remove the excess blood sugar. As a result, blood sugar levels remain high and insulin levels are high as well, and these high insulin levels can make your body even less sensitive to insulin.
3: How type 2 diabetes became an epidemic
Soon after the U.S. government recommended new dietary guidelines with a low-fat, high-carb diet were recommended in 1977, type 2 diabetes prevalence increased dramatically. Fifty-two percent of adults in the United States had type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes as of the end of 2017.
4: Treating type 2 diabetes—and why ‘eat less, exercise more’ doesn’t work
There has been an explosion of drugs have been brought to market, and there are hundreds of lifestyle interventions to choose from.
The medication approach focuses on management of diabetes, not reversal. Taking medications for type 2 diabetes combats the end result, which is rising blood sugar, but does not address the root causes—insulin resistance and carbohydrate intolerance.
Most lifestyle interventions focus on eating less and exercising more. The problem with these programs is that they tend to be high in carbs, even if they are cutting back on calories. When you eat a high-carb diet, the resulting increase in your blood sugar triggers an insulin response in your body, and insulin blocks your body’s ability to burn fat. Insulin actively blocks the breakdown of stored body fat, meaning that as long as insulin is high, it will be very difficult to lose weight—even if you are eating very little.
The solution?Switch to a low-carb, high fat diet that won’t cause blood sugar spikes. By keeping your blood sugar down, you’ll keep your insulin levels down, and unlock your body’s natural ability to burn its stored fat. One type of low-carb, high-fat diet is called a Ketogenic diet.
*I (Dr. Hallberg) do not recommend making significant dietary changes without physician supervision, especially if you are on any medications.
5: The history and safety of Ketogenic diets
There are cultures who have thrived for centuries on high-fat, low-carb diets, such as the Masai warriors and Inuits. In the past 20 years, elite athletes, especially endurance athletes looking for an edge, have started adopting low carb and Ketogenic diets for improved performance.
6: Research on Ketogenic interventions for type 2 diabetes
Clinical trials have proven a low-carb, high fat diet to be significantly more effective than programs that encourage you to eat less and exercise.
In our clinical trial, Virta patients lost almost 12% of their starting body weight in 6 months—that’s nearly 3x the weight loss of commercially available weight loss programs.
And contrary to what you might have been told, low-carb, high fat lifestyles have not demonstrated an increased risk in cardiovascular disease. In fact, patients in our clinical trial also had a significant reduction (22%) in triglycerides, which are associated with risk for cardiovascular disease, in just 10 weeks.
56% of patients were able to lower their HbA1c to below the diagnostic threshold for type 2 diabetes, and 47.7% were able to reverse their diabetes—lower their HbA1c while eliminating their medications (excluding Metformin).
7: Ketogenic meals and food options
Breakfast samples: Scrambled eggs with cheese and sausage, bacon and fried eggs cooked in butter, cream cheese pancakes, full-fat yogurt with raspberries and almonds.
Lunch samples: Salads loaded up with meat or cheese, avocado, veggies and olive oil. Or a lettuce-wrapped burger or bread-less sandwich from any fast food outlet.
Snacks samples: Salted nuts and olives, salami and cheese, celery and almond butter or full-fat yogurt.
Dinner samples: Prefer to dine out? Try a lettuce wrapped burger from a fast food restaurant, a salad from Chipotle or surf and turf with broccoli from Applebee’s.
BONUS: Dr. Hallberg presented Reversing Type 2 diabetes starts with ignoring the guidelines to the medical community. It gives you more information on how to reverse diabetes 2.
Dr. Sarah Hallberg provides compelling evidence that diabetes 2 can be “cured”, and the solution is simpler than you might think.
It will be the same posting that I email, but you can search the Blog using key words. In the Blog I discuss the Ketogenic and GAPS (for gut health) diets, supplements and Super-slow High Resistance Training.
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