Fat and your body

Most people wonder what triglycerides are. Triglycerides are the fats as they are stored in your body. That stuff you want less of. It is a flag for you when your triglycerides are high, as that means there are lots circulating in your blood stream, and most likely you are in the process of storing them. They have to be broken down to get out of your cells, and that happens when you have used up (or don't have) glucose in the blood stream to burn as fuel for your body. So that is how a low carb diet burns fat: it absolutely will get fuel from wherever it can get it. And that will be the protein in your diet, and the fat stored in your body.

My husband has lost 30 pounds in the last four months on a low carb diet. He wants to lose another 10-15 lbs. He eats less than 50 g of carbs a day. I have lost 15 lbs and stay under 100g of carbs, which is one third of the recommended daily allowance in Canada. I'm sure I used to eat a lot more carbs before I knew to count carbs.

His triglycerides are now low compared to last year. His is more of a Meditteranean diet, I guess, but it is pretty low carb. We used olive oil. His HDL is good, and so is his LDL. Mission accomplished, and he walks on a treadmill. His family has high blood pressure and stroke as risk factors.

I was happy someone pointed me at "Good Calories, Bad Calories" or GCBC as its known. I recommend it.

Fat percentages in "optimal" diet still not settled

We know that the amounts of fat and carbs in the optimal healthy diet has not been settled. Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard Department of Nutrition says, "(W)e have found virtually no relationship between the percentage of calories from fat and any important health outcome. But what does seem important is the type of fat and the form of carbohydrate." (Harvard World Health News) He goes on further to explain how the message of substituting unsaturated fat for saturated fats got mixed up with substituting carbohydrates for fats. What's more controversial is when he says that the view that all complex carbs are good is not substantiated by any data, and is inconsistent with historical knowledge that the type of fat is a critical factor.

I personally have gotten fat by eating lots of carbs, thinking they were "OK". My friend lost 60 pounds on a low carb diet and I thought she was crazy. She pointed me to Gary Taubes' book "Good calories, Bad calories" and I learned a bit about endocrinology and have been researching more. I now try to stay away from potatoes, rice, bread, crackers and sugary things. I've had good success and have been able to reduce my metforming dose. I am careful about what kind of fats I eat and stay vigilant with saturated fats. I must admit I eat a lot of eggs.

When you learn more about how your body works, you wonder how you have gotten by all these years. I am looking at endocrinology texts now, and reading sources like medical journals. Of course there is a lot of money to be made (and has been made) from low fat foods. Obesity will cost health systems lots in the future until the message changes from Heart Associations and nutritionists.