What is the Low Carb Healthy Fat Diet Anyway?

The Low-Carb Healthy-Fat (LCHF) diet simply involves eating a lesser amount of carbohydrates and more natural, healthy fats. What is the benefit of eating such a diet, you may ask? Well, it helps you become healthier by helping you to lose weight, reduce inflammation, and help big time in the reversal of diabetes. It also decreases or eliminates the risk of other lifestyle diseases like hypertension, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, heart disease, etc. You have been told that fat is the main culprit behind these health issues, right? We have been hearing about the low-calorie, low-fat, and ‘eat less, exercise more’ theories for decades, but has it worked? Is this the right approach? The answer from my side is a big NO.

Let’s understand nutritional science better. There are three sources of energy for the human body:

• Fats: Fats are the most energy-efficient diet, even though they are slow to provide energy. Compared to proteins or carbohydrates, fat provides more than twice as many calories to the body. Any extra energy in the body is stored as fat since lipids are highly energy-efficient.
• Protein: A healthy body requires proteins to function appropriately. In addition to skin, hair, enzymes, cytokines, and antibodies, they are the crucial building blocks for several body parts.
• Carbohydrates (Carbs): Humans love eating carbohydrates the most, though it is the least energy-efficient. People love carbohydrates because they are great in taste and satisfy what is known as “emotional eating.”

Why Say No to Carbs?

Mainstream Food Pyramid recommends that we mostly have easy or non-complex carbs, a little protein, and very little fat as energy for our body. But the LCHF diet recommends we keep fats as the primary source of energy and keep carbs to a minimum. It boosts short-term fat loss and helps prevent weight gain as well.

The body gets fueled by the following distribution: 30% fat (the more, the better – effective), 45% protein (more or less to be in this range), and 25% carbs (the less, the better – effective). Why should we fuel our bodies in this “unconventional” way? Because when we eat carbs, they get digested and converted into glucose (sugar) which then gets transported throughout the body via our bloodstream.

Three things can happen with glucose:

• The energy it provides can be used immediately, or
• It gets stored as glycogen in limited amounts, or
• It gets transformed into fat. 

There should be minimal sugar circulating in the blood (less than a teaspoon, approx. 5 gm.). If there is excess glucose in the blood, it is dangerous. So the body has a mechanism to move the sugar out of the bloodstream. How does the body move sugar out of our bloodstream? The hormone called "insulin" makes it happen. 

Insulin is a:

• Blood glucose regulatory hormone
• Fat-creating and storage hormone

Insulin does 3 things:

• Moves blood sugar out of the bloodstream
• Converts excess blood sugar into fat
• Prevents the use of existing or stored body fat as the primary source of energy

The carbs we are eating are making us fat. As a result of constantly eating carbs, our body secretes a high level of insulin. If insulin is low, the body will use your stored body fat as fuel, but if insulin is high (because of the increased consumption of carbs), the body will use some carbs for energy and store the remaining carbs as fat. Therefore, stored body fat is not used for energy because carbs always get first priority to be used as energy. Carbs act as a metabolic bully; they block your body from burning fat and are always first in line to be used as fuel.

How can the body secrete less insulin? Eat fewer carbs, preferably from non-sugary, non-starchy, or unrefined sources. Most carbs (except some plant sources) create a high insulin response. To reduce insulin response, dark green vegetables are preferable for our carbohydrate intake.

• More and unhealthy carbs –> more insulin —> more fat storage
• Few and healthy carbs –> less insulin —> less fat

Carbs you Can say Yes to

Examples of food items that contain low-carbs that can be eaten in the LCHF diet include:

• Spinach and other dark leafy greens (saag)
• Different types of berries, such as strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries
• Carrots
• Brussels sprouts
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Fruits like apples, watermelons, and peaches

Fat Storage vs. Glycogen Storage

• The body has limited storage sites for carbs.
• There are unlimited storage sites for fat in the body.
• Even a thin person carries about a 2-month reserve of fat.

So, when you eat a high-carb meal, the body fills up the limited glycogen storage sites, converts the excess carbs to fat, and fills up the fat storage sites. That’s why most of it gets converted to fat when you eat a high-carb meal. So, you’ll feel hungry again in around 3 hours and eat another high-carb meal or snack. This happens about 5–6 times a day, resulting in more and more fat storage in the body. The conversion of glucose to fat is a one-way street. You cannot convert fat back to glucose.

Why Say Yes to the LCHF way of Eating? 

When you eat fewer carbohydrates, you burn more body fat and store less. Now there is no competition for fuel sources. The Randle Cycle explains this theory of competition between fats and carbohydrates well. Instead of manufacturing new body fat, you’ll burn existing body fat and thus reduce weight.

• 1 gram fat = 9 calories
• 1 gram protein = 4 calories
• 1 gram carbs = 4 calories
• 1 gram alcohol = 7 calories

Not all calories are equal. Try eating 200 calories from butter, 200 from meat, and 200 from rice. And see which makes you feel full. You can’t eat more than 30 grams of butter in one go, i.e., 270 calories. On the other hand, you can eat a cup (about 190 grams) of cooked brown rice; that’s around 760 calories. See the difference? Fat is a satiating form of energy that creates a minimal insulin response and helps reduce your food intake.

Eat these Healthy Fats

Examples of foods that contain healthy fats include:

• Meat and chicken
• Fatty fishes found in India, such as salmon, sardines, pomfret, mackerel, hilsa, rohu, and prawn
• Cheese
• Butter (not margarine)
• Avocado
• Natural oils extracted from olive, coconut, flaxseed, and avocado
• Nuts like peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and cashews
• Sunflower, chia, and flax seeds
• Eggs

Avoid these Foods

Foods to avoid in the LCHF diet are foods that are high in both carbs and unhealthy fats, which can mostly be found in ultra-processed foods.

• White pasta
• White rice
• White bread
• Baked items with high sugar levels, like cakes and pastries
• Candies
• Drinks that contain high sugar levels like juices, soft drinks, and energy drinks. Diet versions of these drinks should be avoided too.

Bottom line 

• On the LCHF diet, it is better to count carbs instead of calories.
• You don’t have to eat less; you just have to eat right. 

There are a lot of wonderful permutations and combinations that you can do with the LCHF diet, which both your taste buds and your metabolic system will enjoy!