How I Ended Up on a Low Carb, High Fat Diet and Stuff I've LearnedAlong the Way [Part I]

Recently I saw the ABC's Catalyst program about the low carb, high fat diet,  "Low Carb Diet, Fat or Fiction".  It is an informative and well-rounded report.  You can watch or download it here.  It runs for about 29 minutes.

I didn't set out to go on a low carb, high fat diet, but in my pursuit of a processed-free, nutrient-dense diet, I realise that's actually where I have ended up.

Initially when doing the detox program that kick-started my journey and healing process, I went gluten-free for two months.  I chose to reintroduced gluten into my diet after that, but on a greatly reduced scale.

I thought that my diet wasn't too bad but I decided that I would stop eating all refined carbohydrates; so nothing that contained any refined sugar or flour. I used to mostly eat wholemeal bread but I made a decision to only eat wholemeal bread, pasta and rice.  

I stopped eating sandwiches because I wanted to lower my gluten intake and increase my intake of plant foods.

Eventually I stopped eating pasta too because even the wholemeal version is a fairly refined food.

Next I decided to stop eating all commercially baked bread, opting instead to make my own so that I could control the ingredients.  So using organic wholemeal flours and no refined sugar, vegetable oils or soy.  This was because of things I had learned about the dangers of GMO (genetically modified foods), vegetable oils and unfermented soy, and also about the correct preparation of grains, that is, that they should first be soaked and/or fermented, like the process used to make sourdough bread.  When I occasionally eat oats, quinoa or rice these days, I soak them overnight first to aid digestion and increase nutrient absoption.

I had also learned during that initial detox program that including fat with every meal/snack would help me to feel full and help my body to absorb more nutrients from the plant foods I was eating.  So including things like avocado, nuts and seeds, extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil, unrefined coconut oil and coconut milk.  Later I added organic butter to this list.

I opt for free range and grass-fed meats where practical and don't worry so much about the fat anymore.

I also went dairy-free for a while at the beginning of my journey but now I choose to eat an organic natural plain yoghurt for its probiotic benefits and, as mentioned above, I also eat butter. I cook with butter and often put in on my vegetables to increase nutrient absorption and, it tastes great!  I have a little cheese occasionally, usually goat's cheese, but not too often as I feel this effects my sinuses.

I don't drink milk because I understand that the process of pasteurisation pretty much destroys all of its nutritional benefits, so why bother?  I've previously posted on the topic of dairy consumption [To Dairy, or not to Dairy, that is the Question?] and quoted some people who raise some valid issues about why we in Western Countries have high rates of osteoporosis when we drink so much milk?  Apparently the problem here is the processing which kills the enzyme needed for our bodies to absorb calcium.  I grew up on a farm drinking milk fresh from a cow every morning.  If that were available to me now I'd drink that because raw milk, as God intended it, has many nutritional benefits especially for healthy gut bacteria and our immune system.  You can read more about that here or listen here.

A low carb, high fat diet of course goes against the traditional nutritional advice of the past half a century which has told us to reduce fat and eat more carbohydrates.  I once visited a dietician and the advice given included eating four to six servings of grains or cereals every day.  I remember at the time working out what that would amount to and thinking that I simply could not eat that much!

Now I focus on maximum nutrition from whole natural foods and that seems to equate to less carbs and more fat.  All I can say is that this diet is working well for me.  I haven't had the migraines now for about eighteen months and I don't really get any sort of headache anymore.  My weight is good and stable and, if you're wondering about my cholesterol level, I had that checked recently and got a very big thumbs up from the doctor who told me to "keep doing whatever it is you're doing"!

This post is already quite long and I want to tell you more about stuff I've learned in my journey so far, so next week I will post part II and will include more links to sources of information and I encourage everyone to do your own research too.

~ take every opportunity to put the good stuff in ~

This blog is about me, what I'm doing, what's working for me, and what's not. It includes my experiences and opinions. It is for general information only and is in no way intended to replace the advice of a health care professional.