Stavia's Vegetarian very low fat trial

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Mel
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Re: Stavia's Vegetarian very low fat trial

Post by Mel »

I am curious to find out whether Stavia's low fat high carb diet was beneficial or not to her blood work and brain (concentration levels, memory)?

Stavia: did you return to high fat (healthy fats), low carb? This is an old thread from 2017.
Orangeblossom
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Re: Stavia's Vegetarian very low fat trial

Post by Orangeblossom »

Hi just wondering how this went...been reading more on low fat / low GI

Sounds interesting

http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/80928/1/Fi ... 5B1%5D.pdf
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Jan18
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Re: Stavia's Vegetarian very low fat trial

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Stavia wrote:Hi kimberlamb - no I never did it properly, it was just far too hard to work out the macros to fit with what is optimal for me. The protein was really difficult to get to 60 grams (which I find best for me) while keeping the carbs low enough and the fat high enough. All whole food vegetarian protein sources come mixed with a significant amount of carbs. I did start, but just couldnt keep the carbs low enough to stay in ketosis with whole food. And I wasnt going to just eat coconut oil or processed pea protein. I try really hard to only eat whole foods and it became apparant that my intent was impossible.
I can see how a traditional vegetarian/vegan diet works - it is easiest to do it with a diet that is low fat/high carb. And how they have become linked. But I need a bit of ketosis to be cognitively at my best.

But if anyone has tried...


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Hi Stavia,
I understand the issues with trying to eat certain protocols. I get exasperated on a regular basis, as my functional medicine doctor keeps telling me to go completely dairy-free and lower the refined carbs (the ONLY refined carb I sometimes eat is a thinly sliced piece of real sourdough bread from starter, not grocery-store produced, toasted with my eggs in the morning). And the only dairy I usually take is 2 T of organic half and half in my one cup of morning coffee, and sometimes half to one ounce of feta in my eggs. No other refined carbs or dairy.

Because I have (or had) insulin resistance (haven't been tested for a while but went down from 16 to 8.9 I think last lab showed) I have to cut the carbs down drastically, including no starchy vegetables or fruit other than small amounts of organic strawberries and blueberries. No beans or legumes. No grains. Keep saturated fat as close to 9 grams or less as possible.

And since my uric acid has increased to the point of gout (presumably from my intermittent fasting, but no gout attack, just as Jason Fong says happened with his gout patients) she says I have to eat a low purine diet -- no tuna (the only fish I'd eat other than wild Alaskan salmon) and limit the vegetables I eat the most which are broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, mushrooms. Yet other sources say there is no proof that vegetables are deleterious as far as purine issues. (I eat spinach, arugula and romaine daily, as well as olive oil and half an avocado. I eat a little chicken breast, salmon, and once in a very great while a little grassfed ground beef.). I figured out I ate way too many nuts in a 2-3 day period in January and ended up with a really bad diverticulitis attack...so I'm gingerly easing back into an ounce of walnuts a day....it was cashews that did me in, as we all know they are really beans, and it was my own fault!)

I feel there is almost nothing left -- the same very few things over and over -- since I embrace all of the no's Gundry lists for Apoe4's, too. And I've read that almond flour is dangerous if you consume too much, too! (What is too much?!) I spend hours and hours researching recipes, without much success.

Everyone says a Mediterranean diet is supposed to be best for us. But I find many of the recipes heavy on carbs (beans, chickpeas, hummus, potatoes...)

It is the diet protocol that gives me the hardest challenge.

(There is a positive note to this post is that since our mandated stay-at-home coronavirus order, I've been forced to cook more and have lost 12 pounds more. I seem to be kind of stuck here, though. I track my food on cronometer.com, keeping within my 70-20-10% and 1050-1350 calories. When I'm really adherent, my ketones are between 0.8 - 1.7, usually on the lower end. )

I read I shouldn't even take small quantities of resistant starches in order to solve the insulin resistance.

Since our coronavirus lockdown, my source of aerobic exercise (pool) is closed. I still need my second knee replacement, but I try to walk 30-40 minutes a day in pain regardless, as I need something! Exercise with this knee issue is difficult, though I hope when elective surgeries are permitted again, it won't always be.

My hardest challenge is finding/learning recipes with the approved foods which actually taste good. My functional medicine doctor's reply to that is an insultingly trite, "Food should not be joy." Food should absolutely give pleasure, although of course not become self-medication. To suggest we need to be eating food that has no taste value is contradictory to helping people change eating habits.

Still (and forever) asking for food help, if anyone would care to weigh in?
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Re: Stavia's Vegetarian very low fat trial

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Hi all,

I'm vegan (whole foods plant based) and eating high carb and fairly low fat. I fast for about 13 hours over night, with a longer, approximately 36 hour fast once a month or so. My fasting insulin is 1.8. Fasting glucose is 85, and my A1c is 5 (these numbers are from Feb 2020). I eat three meals a day and avoid high glycemic foods in the evenings. When I eat something high glycemic, I make sure it's in the morning when our insulin is the most sensitive. I don't eat after 7 pm, unless it's unusual circumstances.

There seems to be two schools of thought on insulin resistance. There's the one we are all familiar with, but then there's another version that advocates for eating plants and low fat and low glycemic. If you are interested in the latter approach, I recommend Neal Barnard's book Reversing Diabetes. See also his website and studies and a PDF.
e3/4 MTHFR C677T/A1298C COMT V158M++ COMT H62H++ MTRR A66G ++ HLA DR
circular
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Re: Stavia's Vegetarian very low fat trial

Post by circular »

Plumster wrote:Hi all,

I'm vegan (whole foods plant based) and eating high carb and fairly low fat. I fast for about 13 hours over night, with a longer, approximately 36 hour fast once a month or so. My fasting insulin is 1.8. Fasting glucose is 85, and my A1c is 5 (these numbers are from Feb 2020). I eat three meals a day and avoid high glycemic foods in the evenings. When I eat something high glycemic, I make sure it's in the morning when our insulin is the most sensitive. I don't eat after 7 pm, unless it's unusual circumstances.

There seems to be two schools of thought on insulin resistance. There's the one we are all familiar with, but then there's another version that advocates for eating plants and low fat and low glycemic. If you are interested in the latter approach, I recommend Neal Barnard's book Reversing Diabetes. See also his website and studies and a PDF.
Thanks for sharing your numbers Plumster. I'm not vegan and wasn't healthy when I tried it years ago, but it's great to see an example like yours for those who want to be vegan. Are you otherwise healthy too? No inflammatory issues? Just curious.
ApoE 3/4 > Thanks in advance for any responses made to my posts.
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Re: Stavia's Vegetarian very low fat trial

Post by Plumster »

Thanks for sharing your numbers Plumster. I'm not vegan and wasn't healthy when I tried it years ago, but it's great to see an example like yours for those who want to be vegan. Are you otherwise healthy too? No inflammatory issues? Just curious.
Hi Circular,

No, I'm not 100% healthy. I am dealing with CIRS from multiple past exposures. My c4a is now normal, but I am still looking for ways to rid myself of ochratoxins and gliotoxins, which are still high. CIRS and antibiotics messed with my gut causing likely SIBO (1 year ago, now treated), followed by low ferritin and low stomach acid. I'm 50 years old. So that's where I'm at currently: CIRS and low stomach acid. I take betaine HCL w. pepsin.

Which inflammatory markers were you wondering about specifically?
My hs-CRP is 0.2
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Mel
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Re: Stavia's Vegetarian very low fat trial

Post by Mel »

What is the update on Stavia's LFHC diet? After watching Forks over Knives and knowing people personally who have been on Whole Food Plant Based diets (not adding oil or fats to their food- unless it is in the food naturally), it appears to have helped with weight, blood markers, gut issues, and memory. This is the opposite of the HFLC, which others in this group believe helps the brain.

Are there people following the low fat, high complex carb whole food plant based diet and seeing success?
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Re: Stavia's Vegetarian very low fat trial

Post by floramaria »

Mel wrote:What is the update on Stavia's LFHC diet? After watching Forks over Knives and knowing people personally who have been on Whole Food Plant Based diets (not adding oil or fats to their food- unless it is in the food naturally), it appears to have helped with weight, blood markers, gut issues, and memory. This is the opposite of the HFLC, which others in this group believe helps the brain.

Are there people following the low fat, high complex carb whole food plant based diet and seeing success?
Hi Mel, there haven’t been any recent updates from Stavia. I don’t know how far back on the thread you looked , but I found this posted by Stavia on Jan 14, 2020. This was the last time she posted about her dietary experiments:

"no I never did it properly, it was just far too hard to work out the macros to fit with what is optimal for me. The protein was really difficult to get to 60 grams (which I find best for me) while keeping the carbs low enough and the fat high enough. All whole food vegetarian protein sources come mixed with a significant amount of carbs. I did start, but just couldnt keep the carbs low enough to stay in ketosis with whole food. And I wasnt going to just eat coconut oil or processed pea protein. I try really hard to only eat whole foods and it became apparant that my intent was impossible.
I can see how a traditional vegetarian/vegan diet works - it is easiest to do it with a diet that is low fat/high carb. And how they have become linked. But I need a bit of ketosis to be cognitively at my best.”


I think the reason why so many people here follow a low carb high fat diet is because, like Stavia, they find being in ketosis is helpful.
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Re: Stavia's Vegetarian very low fat trial

Post by Julie G »

I'm going to go to go out on a limb with an opinion re. a low fat vegan diet as an option for E4 carriers. While I have great respect for vegans (especially those who practice for ethical reasons) and believe that veganism practiced cautiously (heeding all of the warnings in "The End of Alzheimer's Program," chapter 12) may may work for some healthy people who aren't exhibiting symptoms, this dietary plan is NOT optimally suited for E4 carriers as it fails to meet many of our basic needs. My personal diet is heavily plant-based, but because I acknowledge the important role that animal products played in the evolution of humans, I chose to include some animal products rich in DHA, choline, etc. necessary for all cellular structure and function, but particularly important for neuroprotection.
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