The FastDay Forum

I have terrible carb cravings, particularly for doughnuts, and that's without being on steroids! That must be so hard, I really do feel for you.

Have you tried smoothies with protein powder? A friend is a low carber and swears by her protein shakes for breakfast, as the novelty of a cooked breakfast soon wore off. How about beans, pulses, dairy (of course low fat dairy can be high sugar).

Lots of good info/advice about low carb and fasting over at LowCarbFriends. You might check it out.

Have you read any of Zoe Harcombes stuff? She writes a lot about carb cravings and suggests eating "real" food, with a good amount of fat such as olive oil, grass fed butter and cheese, and she suggests brown rice as a filling and healthy carb. and is very keen on live yogurt (plain, wholefat, no sugar). She explains in depth about how we become addicted to carbs, especially the bad ones, and if you can go cold turkey on them you start being able to feel fine eating from the other food groups. There is a big emphasis on vegetables.
I know that when I eat carbs like brown rice, quinoa etc. I can only eat a limited amount, but give me a piece of white French stick and I will polish off the whole loaf! Her message is basically that it is the processed, refined mainly white carbs we should all avoid, especially sugar, and we should eat food in its normal state (not low fat) as that usually has to have all sorts of nasties added to it to make it taste half way decent. Good luck

I try to stay under 100g carbs a day. Sugar is basically carb, so the very sweet fruits (banana, mango, grapes) are best avoided, but I eat lots of berries - blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, as well as melon. Most veggies are fine, they have carbs for sure, but not many. Avoid teh starchy ones like potatoes and sweet potatoes.

A typical day's menu for me is;

B - eggs, greek yoghurt with berries, cottage cheese, smoked fish
L - soup and salad, tuna
D - chicken or fish with loads of veg, small portion of rice or pasta.
Snacks - nuts, cheese

[carorees]

I don't think a low carb diet need be high protein and if you remember from Dr M's programme it is important to keep protein intake down in order to lower IGF1. However it seems that it is really only the animal protein we need to worry about so your dislike of meat is no problem. My feeling is that really we should have well over half of our plates full of vegetables, a little amount of a protein source like meat etc a little of a starchy food and a little fat and then fruit for dessert. Of course I don't live by that...but I believe that's what we evolved to eat. I'm probably wrong but when we find that too much carb is bad, too much fat is bad and too much protein is bad then all that's left is vegetables and fruit!

Low carb is usually high in fats and oils and moderate protein - the Swedes for example call it LCHF for low carb high fat. Protein over 35% of calories is usually regarded as "excessive" so something like 35P / 15C / 50 F down to 35P / 5C / 60F probably covers the range (the latter would be Atkins induction or similar).

Fruit is sugar which is a simple carb, no way around it. It may have the best PR on the planet but fruit is not your friend if you're trying to avoid carbs, sugars or fructose.

Green leafy things that grow above the ground are generally low carb and low GI - broccoli, cabbage, green beans, leeks, asparagus, cauliflower etc.

Some berries are fairly low carb - raspberries for example.

70% or higher (85, 90%) cocoa solids dark chocolate is usually less than 20% carbs - 4 grams for two one inch squares of Lindt etc.

I think you're right about fruit - I don't each much, but yesterday pigged out on grapes, and today had a hard fast, maybe because of having the fruit sugar yesterday?

I feel your pain, izzy - literally, as I suffer with osteoarthritis and other inflammatory problems. Like you I used to be very fit, walking long distances, going swimming etc - it's a big deal to get as far as the Co-op these days!

I'm trying low carb combined with IF as I've heard good reports of its effectiveness for people with compromised metabolism due to hypothyrodism (resulting from auto-immune inflammatory thyroid disease).

A friend pointed me in the direction of an article which appeared in one of the daily redtops - a new study that has recently been carried out in America using a combination of Aspirin and Omega-3 which have shown encouraging anti-inflammatory results. Apparently, the two work synergistically to trigger the chemical production of 'resolvins' which neutralise the results of inflammation that contribute to diseases such as arthritis, strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, dementia etc.

Here the study is reported in Arthritis Research: http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/news ... ation.aspx

Unfortunately no human trials have been undertaken yet and so there is no dosage protocol, but I'm going to give it a go anyway in the hope that it halts the progress of my arthritis. Might be worth showing to your rheumatology nurse or GP on your next visit?

Good luck x

ps I like tripe but can't get it any more!

[carorees]

For the nerdy types, here is the PubMed abstract of the study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23438748 and here's a review of the resolvin story by the same author: http://www.jbc.org/content/282/13/9323.long

Izzy, I think it was mostly Marlene you were responding to there, not Caroline?

Thanks very much Marlene and Caraline for the info about the new research. Off topic, I have persistent posterior blepharitis (eyelid inflammation), which is irritating in itself (literally), and there is some suggestion that persistent blepharitis might indicate a predisposition to other inflammatory diseases. I might give some Eskimo-3 fish oil tablets + low-dose aspirin a try for a bit and see if the combination helps.

[carorees]

Yes, very large doses of fish oil can increase the bleeding time as does aspirin...this is the way it reduces the risk of heart attack. You can monitor your bleeding time...prick your finger with a sterilized needle, take a piece of tissue and blot up the blood, see how long it takes to stop bleeding. 1 to 3 mins is normal. If it takes more than 15 mins that's too long.

Interesting point. What I read here is that the quantities need to be very large to have any bleeding effect, far more than the two capsules /day I was thinking of trying. Views?

[carorees]

Yes re fish oil, not re aspirin. If you take an aspirin for pain relief it affects your platelets for about 5-7 days increasing the bleeding time. Daily 75mg aspirin will extend the bleeding time too.

There are negative aspects to everything, aren't there?

It would be very useful to know the optimal dosage of Omega-3 and Aspirin but I suppose until clinical trials on humans are undertaken this won't be forthcoming. I'm inclined to keep the aspirin at a low level initially in case it irritates my stomach. Also I prefer flax oil to fish oil as it doesn't leave a fishy after taste, is easier on the digestion and is a good, if not superior, source of Omega-3.

Point taken, Caroline, but 75mg seems to be the lowest pill dose, and as Marlene says, we don't know how much is the right amount. I realise the only safe dose is 0mg. Half a tablet per day maybe? Suck it and see! Persistent inflammation does seem like something that I should tackle. I had hoped that 5:2 might help with it, but it hasn't.

Thanks Marlene, but flax (linseed) although it has the Omega-3 doesn't have the DHA so it won't work for this purpose. Actually I am having some linseed meal already (just a little, in case that is dangerous too ). This Eskimo-3 oil does seem like a good one (I've ordered some), though there is an algae-based alternative called Nuique which also delivers the DHA.