Question:
Is 18 months of Ketosis bad for you?

I had the DS surgery in November of last year and have lost enough weight and am pretty much at my goal weight already. My doctor still wants me to eat only 25 carbs or less a day which is what I have been doing all along. I have also heard I need about 100 carbs a day. Which is it really? Is this something that not all doctors agree on so they treat their patients according to what they think is okay and won't hurt me? Or will this hurt me in the long run no matter what? I wouldn't mind continuing to lose weight that's why I had the surgery but I may have reached my "goal weight" sooner than some. I went from 280lbs. to 146lbs. a size 28 to a size 8 in 11 months! Any info?    — Rebecca R. (posted on October 14, 2003)

October 13, 2003
First of all congrats on reaching goal and the wonderful progress you made! Keep it up! <p>My understanding is that a DS needs lots more food of all kinds than an RNY. I (RNY) did max ketosis for 4-1/2 months which was about 10 or less carbs per day, but now am in a normal range. Me who loved what ketosis did for my body, cannot even imagine trying to live on 25 grams of carbs at 18 months PO. I guess the advantage would be if you truly do want to lose more weight it would help you get there, but it is awfully strict. I assume you must be eating lots and lots of protein in order to get in your food, unless when you talk about carbs you are only referring to refined carbs and not including veggies and fruit in that number. I include all carbs when I talk about how many carbs I eat. How much are you eating and of what? I'd be concerned that you are eating too strict for a DS and even an RNY at goal. I assume you know there is a YAHOO DS board and also duodenalswitch.com. These are the places that can help you the most as they are all people living with your particular surgery. I hope your surgeon is watching you closely with labs since your eating plan has been quite different than I see most DS patients have. Need to definitely watch for malnutrition. If you are still losing rather quickly then I'd start slowly increasing the carbs, but make sure the protein level stays way up.
   — zoedogcbr

October 14, 2003
Congratulations! You've done fabulously. I had RNY, not DS, so I don't know what your needs are. But, I'm wondering if your doc means 25 grams of REFINED carbohydrates or 25 grams of carbohydrates? If he's talking refined carbs, then this might be OK, but if he's talking about all carbs, I'd be worried that you're not getting in enough veggies, fruits and whole grains, which you do need to remain healthy.
   — Vespa R.

October 14, 2003
Congrats on the wonderful weight loss. If you are at goal weight I would think it would be more beneficial to eat healthier which would include lots of good carbs. A balanced diet, though heavier on the protein is still suggested. I'm not a DS'er, so pop over to a DS site (I'm sure yahoo has a group for DS'ers) and see what the consensus is there.
   — Cindy R.