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Islets of Hope healthy living for persons with diabetes | ||||
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Written by Lahle Wolfe, low carbing since 1996 Sources References (1) Cyclical Ketogenic Diets Part 1; Copyright Lyle McDonald '96 Join an IOH Low-Carb Support Group Plans Designed to Be Ketogenic in Nature Carb-Controlled Plans that Could Induce Ketosis Depending on How You Follow Them Carbohydrated Controlled Plans Low-carb diet information sites Lahle's Important Tips for Low Carb Baking Tips & Advice for Successful Low Carb Living Carb & Nutrition Calculators - A Must See! Did you know? Online low carb lingo from alt.support/diet: "The numbers that are often at the bottom of a persons post (180/150/130) stand for: starting weight/current weight/goal weight; some people will also note the date they started on a plan or an abbreviation of the diet plan they are using. "LBM lean body mass, everything that's not stored fat. "Whoosh" Many people will not see a difference on the scales for a period of time and then "whoosh" they suddenly have lost several pounds overnight. So why "whoosh" and why do we experience a loss in size but not on the scales? We'd all like to know these secrets and often theorize about them on the NG. "Whoosh Fairy" - The mythological character that brings on a "Whoosh". The Whoosh Fairy has mythological friends known as "Kvetch", "The Fat Dragon" among others. "
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Diabetes & Low Carbohydrate Diets
Ketosis Warning Signs Low-carb diets, as already stated, are diuretic in nature. This is especially true if you are on a ketogenic low-carb plan. You need to pay close attention to your body, especially while in ketosis. Headaches, leg cramps, insomnia, dizzy spells, or irritability are just some of the warnings signs you are too heavily into ketosis or losing too many electrolytes, and potassium. You Should Not Go "Cold Turkey" Off Ketogenic Low-Carb Plans Aside from the scale climbing disproportionately to your carbohydrate caloric consumption, suddenly going off a low-carb diet can be dangerous. Going directly from ketosis to high carb is foolish and going off too fast can cause serious health problems -- even death. Diabetics who enter into the deadly state of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) are slowly rehydrated; their blood sugars brought down slowly, over time, not all at once. Why? Because too much, too fast can have fatal consequences (read about the dangers of, and treatment for, DKA). DKA and benign dietary ketosis are not at the same thing, but they have a similar effect on the body in that they deplete glycogen, burn fat, produce ketones, and drain the body of potassium and electrolytes. Suddenly rehydrating the body and replenishing glycogen too fast can literally cause heart failure. (By the way, this leads me to state my personal opposition to why persons on insulin show never go on a ketogenic diet without their doctor’s knowledge and direct supervision. You’d never know if you were in DKA or ketosis when that stick turned purple and handling things the wrong way could have a fatal outcome.) Non-ketogenic diets are safer and easier to wean off and back into another way of eating. To understand the difference between ketogenic low-carb and non-ketogenic low-carb plans, please see our Low-Carb Section. If you are on a ketogenic diet, plan to use a non-ketogenic plan before going off low-carb completely. How Should I Quit My Low-Carb Diet? First, be sure that you want to. Another pitfall to low-carb dieting is that it fools the body once, maybe twice, then your body wises up. Since low-carb was probably not your way of eating before, going very low-carb is new territory for your body. It has not learned how to store fat from a high-protein diet – yet. The longer you low-carb the more your body adjusts. You will find that low-carb plans work great the first time, good the second time, but that going off and on them they become less and less effective for you. Eventually, you may have to stay in ketosis all the time to lose weight on low-carb. If you have decided to try low-carb to manage your blood glucose, lower your triglycerides, or for other health reasons, stay on it until you have met and maintained your health and weight objectives for at least 1-2 more months to maintain your results. Then, ease your way into some other lifestyle. Your body needs to readjust s.l.o.w.l.y. Help! Get Me Out of This Low-Carb Place! You can do several things to ensure your transition from low-carb to some other way of eating works for you, not against you. Plan ahead. Know when you are going to switch from low-carb and know what you are going to do instead. Don’t just start eating everything in sight or suddenly increase your daily carbohydrate intake. Ketogenic low-carb plans advocate slowly increasing carb intake only a few carbs per week (usually about 5 grams per day) to see how your body reacts. Don’t go from low-carb straight into an entirely new way of eating. Develop a bridge between the two plans. Here is one example of going ketogenic to the total opposite end of the spectrum, Weight Watchers:
Note: It is difficult to go from ketosis into a high-carb plan without disasterous results. The longer you have followed a low-carb (especially ketogenic) plan, the longer and harder it will be to go back to another way of eating. Be patient with your body during this transitional period and know that some who low-carb, may never be able to go "back."
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