Question about Ketosis and Carbs

Another vote for checking on low BP for the head-spinning. Look up orthostatic hypotension. It's super common after WLS, and most of us need to get off BP meds soon after surgery. It had me passing out a couple of times.

It could be the orthostatic hypotension (typically when you sit or stand up quickly) or it could be a bit of hypoglycemia, which would be from the low carb dieting. I couldn't afford that or the other potential side effects, so i just avoided the low carb diets. Unless one is diabetic or insulin resistant, they really don't offer any real advantage to our post-WLS weight loss. The trick is to concentrate on avoiding the junk foods that imay trigger cravings and impede weight loss rather than the fruits and veg that we should be having long term.

Dr Atkins started low carb dieting and taught that there is a 10% advantage with low carb diet. If you were to lose l10 pounds by diet and exercise, you can expect to lose 11 pounds in the same period if the diet is also low carb.

As one would expect from anyone promoting a diet of their creation - they're always going to put it into the best light to maximize sales.

Looking more dispassionately at it, things get more muddied, particularly when taken from a long term perspective. Many diets will lose "better" over some limited time. Low fat diets work similarly - if one severely limits 1/3 or more of their normal diet, that is a significant caloric loss and weight loss will result, at least until their tastes and diet adjusts and they learn how to eat around the restrictions, or they get the desired loss and things slip away as they return to their normal eating patterns, not having learned to eat sustainably, but only to "diet". Low carb diets a la Atkins, keto, paleo, etc. can indeed yield a somewhat better loss rate due to additional water weight loss from lowered glycogen levels that are maintained while dieting - which comes back as soon as those nasty fruits and veg are added back into the diet and glycogen levels return to normal. This is a major part of why most WLS patients experience some "bounce back" regain once they reach goal and work into maintenance.

If one has specific morbidities that a low carb diet therapeutically addresses (diabetes, insulin resistence, etc.), then you do what is appropriate, and should be advised by one's medical team. However, if one is jumping on a diet simply because they see others doing it, it's probably better to think again.

Good points, califsleevin. I asked my NUT which diet she recommends (now that I'm in maintenance). Her reply was "any diet you can successfully follow". Of course that doesn't mean a diet of candy, cookies and ice cream but you get the point.

A few things I learned about low carb dieting... take what you want and leave the rest:

• Low carb diets do seem to be helpful for me but there are so many factors that play into its success: water intake, exercise, etc.
• Keto strips are not always accurate - hydration levels can adjust the readings.
• Carb flu is real and can be hell if you've been eating a lot of carbs and it does take a couple of weeks to become "keto-adapted"
• If you're into intense exercise, you'll need more carbs to fuel. Finding that balance can be tricky
• The best source of keto information I've found is marksdailyapple.com

Best to you!