The non-starchy vegetables do provide phytochemicals and we may benefit from them. We do not need to eat carbohydrates as the liver is able to create the necessary carbs using protein (and partially fueled by ketones). Vegetables aren’t a necessity, it was observed in the early Inuit, although they ate organ meats which have a lot of vitamins and minerals.).

Even in disease, this would typically be the way we subsisted (with few if any carbs, usually not enough to bypass the fat/ketone metabolism). Remember the body may go into repair mode when food is scarce (why intermittent fasting may be beneficial).

Eating carbs when one has a disease may be more detrimental than beneficial due to glucose swings. Another example of detriment is in the case of cancer, where it is observed that tumor cells are fueled by glycolysis (a process that requires a lot more sugar than most cells). The hypothesis is that while a majority of cells adapt to lypolysis/ketones, the liver produces only sufficient glucose for the tissues that require it, and no more (starving off the cells that use glycolysis).

Also, I’m intrigued by the all-meat diet. I’m finding low carb not effective enough in terms of weight loss and am curious if I’ll finally see a difference with all meat, all the time … I guess I’ll have to experiment and see.

Hi Gazelle–

Please keep me posted on how you do if you decide to try the all-meat diet.

Best–

MRE 

Thank you for a superb post. It has clarified my own construct of human metabolism. I have been low carbing for 5 years now and my own experience is that the even on a diet of 30-60 grams of slow carbs, I feel a little sluggish, but on a virtual zero carb diet I feel much better.

I don’t know, but despite everything I have learned over the past 5 years, there remains an inherent fear or confusion, that surely I need some vegetables everyday, I can’t eat all this fat and protein, can’t be good for me.

Reading the comment from deirdra, that if you eat more fat, you lose more weight and stop carb carvings is very true. The extra fat seems to signal the mitochondria to burn it more efficiently including stored fat. But we still have this societal conditioned fear that all this fat (and heaven forbid, saturated fat) can’t be good for you. I still struggle with this most days.

The picture of your bougainvillea is absolutely beautiful. Once again thank you for all you do.

Best regards,

Tahir.

Thank you for the great question that inspired the post.

Cheers–

MRE 

When photosynthesis finally did evolve, the oxygen it polluted the sea, and eventually atmosphere, with wiped out most life on earth, including many of the photosynthetic organisms.

I don’t believe that, even after small percentage of life able to survive in an atmosphere full of oxygen pollution had spread, the photosynthetic ones were ever “most” life on earth.

I need some help with the Protein Power LifePlan long term, and I guess a comment on this wonderful piece is as good a place as any to post it.

Myself, my husband and our daughter have been on the lifeplan for three and a half years now. We are finding weight maintenance harder and harder. We have cut out dairy products– the high fat cheese, sour cream and coffee cream. We eat more chicken breast, fish and low fat pork and beef. We usually grill or steam the meats. We eat lots of vegetables. Our diet is organic, with grass fed beef. Our alcohol consumption is very modest, and has gotten to the point of a glass of dry red wine per day. Essentially, we eat at the Intervention Level most of the time. We have pretty much stopped “honey tree” days except for Christmas and birthdays. Honey tree days make us REALLY sick. we don’t eat “low carb” breads and the like. We all run and do slow burn weightlifting. Unless we are working hard, i.e. putting up firewood, doing home construction, we slowly but surely store fat. What do we need to do to curtail this? Obviously, ketosis, the efficiency or lack thereof, must be part of this problem. None of us is fat or over weight really, but the 5 pound creep happens. You and MD have been on this so long you must have dealt with this too. any help would be appreciated. robyn

Hi Robyn–

MD and I stay on a pretty much intervention level most of the time.  But the 5 pound creep happens, even to us.  When it does, we do one of the following depending upon our mood and circumstances: we turn to an all-meat diet, which is incredibly effective; we turn to a few shakes per day and one meal a la Thin So Fast; or we fast intermittently, eating a low-carb diet on the eating days.

These regimens work well for us.  We lose the few pounds we’ve picked up and go back on our regular low-carb fare.

Hope this helps.

Cheers–

MRE 

You didn’t. The Doc’s way was fine. But you did get in print.