LCHF Bible

All about LCHF diet and much more

Copyright 2013 Jorgen J.

Table of Contents

Introduction

LCHF diet

What is LCHF diet?

Understanding the body:

The basics of LCHF diet

Things to now on LCHF diet before considering it

Is LCHF diet safe?

LCHF diet and other diets

Swedish governmental organization on LCHF diet

Experts: LCHF the most effective regimen

Getting started with LCHF diet

LCHF for the first time/symptoms

Celebrities and LCHF

Reviews and true stories

LCHF and weight loss – when nothing happens

Recipes that support LCHF diet

Breakfast ideas:

Breakfast recipes

Eggs and sausage muffins

Ham and cheese frittata

High – fat yoghurt with nuts and fresh berries

Lunch and dinner ideas:

Lunch and dinner recipes

Chicken legs wrapped with prosciutto

Salmon chowder

Pork chops with thick creamy sauce

LCHF salmon kebabs

Dessert and snack ideas

Dessert and snacks recipes

Chocolate balls

LCHF waffles

LCHF rich dark chocolate cake

LCHF snacks

Tortilla chips bites

LCHF butternut squash chips

Bacon wrapped jalapenos

Introduction

In nutrition a diet is the sum of food consumed by humans or other organisms. Since we are

talking about humans, by diet we will mean a human diet. The word diet implicates an intake of

certain food for health improvement or even weight loss.

There are many types of diets, like vegan, vegetarian, Paleolithic, raw-food diet etc. but only

few of them actually support natural way of living and eating.

LCHF or less carbohydrates more fat is new type of diet. This diet actually allows you to eat

real food and still to improve health and loss some weight. Now, this may sound too good to be

truth, but this diet definitely does the trick when it comes to health improvement and weight loss.

This method has long time of usage, around 150 years long period and today scientist have

shown that it has positive results and that it works.

LCHF diet

What is LCHF diet?

LCHF diet, like mentioned in introduction is type of diet that supports consumption of

natural fat, but it forbidden carbohydrates. This diet place a strong focus on fats, as primary

source of energy. This type of diet includes natural food, with bits of dairy. Diet is dominate with

natural fats and animal proteins, but if also includes carbohydrates and specifically those from

vegetables that grow above ground.

LCHF diet is consisted from small amount of industrially processed food, but you still

should avoid bad additives and go for all natural and organic. The main point of LCHF diet is to

swap traditionally large amounts of carbohydrates, those that can be found in sugar and starch, to

natural fats. This may sound strange, entire concept of fat intake, but natural fats like animal,

dairy and unprocessed fats can and will be actually great for health.

In order to understand entire concept of LCHF diet, you should first know some basics about

human body, especially aspects of digestion and mainly digestion of carbohydrates.

Understanding the body:

All the carbohydrates you eat and consume, no matter are they starch or sugar, they all will

be transformed in glucose or sugar. This sugar is then transported out to the entire body via vein

vessels in the small intestine and it is being used as energy in the cells of the body. Something

like a fuel. A large doses of cell fuel, or in this case sugar, signals to the pancreas to exudate

insulin. Higher levels of glucose mean that larger amounts of insulin will be exudate. The

excessive levels of glucose will be converted to fat and will be stored in adipose tissue. Now you

know where does all that fat comes from.

LCHF diet advises to cut down carbohydrate intake and if you do so, then the levels of

insulin and glucose in the body will decrease and as a result you will activate natural body’s fat

burning system. The body will take all necessary energy from stored fat and it will use it as cell

fuel instead of the sugar from carbohydrates. This way you will start to lose some weight and

actually feel better.

Eating a higher amounts of fat will make you feel full faster, and you will not get hungry

quite fast like you would when eating carbohydrates. There are also studies showing that the

body does not store energy in form of fats as much as energy in form of protein and

carbohydrates. This would then reject the old idea that a calorie is a calorie always, no matter

where it comes from, and that a diet of 1000 calories per day of fat, will make you lose weight

faster than if you consume 1,000 calories per day from proteins and carbohydrates.

Today, most people are eating too many carbohydrates and it leads to constantly high levels

of insulin. This causes that the body is receiving a constant signal on the energy storage and it

leads to fat storage in adipose tissue and at the same time excess amounts of glucose (sugar)

transforms in fat molecules which are also stored.

The low carbohydrate intake is primary on LCHF diet. Recommendations on how much

carbohydrates you should intake vary, but the majority of studies have shown that you should

consume around 5-10 %. The protein you eat should be natural, high quality, and the amount of

protein should be between 15 and 20%. Thus, the amount of fat is then indicated between 70 –

75%.

The basics of LCHF diet

LCHF diet is not just another diet. If followed properly you will notice amazing results in

form of weight loss, health improvement and many other. Just like any other diet, LCHF diet has

its own rules and basics. Like mentioned before, LCHF means low carbohydrates and high on

fats, natural of course. As you can see carbohydrates are not welcome in this type of diet and

there are plenty reasons for it.

In order to understand them better hers is what carbohydrates do to your body:

Carbohydrates can be found in different amounts in many types of food such as cereals,

vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts the processed food. All the food we eat like proteins, fats,

carbohydrates are in certain amount used by our body, but some of them are not used

immediately, but they are stored for later use. Finally, any form of carbohydrates metabolized by

the body transforms in a glucose, a simple form of sugar. As you can see, carbohydrates are

acting like sugar, and therefor if you lover sugar intake but you remain on same carbohydrates

intake, you will have no results. In fact studies have shown that whole grain muffins or bowl of

oatmeal have same levels of carbohydrates just as a cup of soda or a handful of candy. The

fructose in fruit and carbohydrates in vegetables are recognized in the same way, but can and

will be processed by the body faster.

The problem with glucose is that is actually poisonous if it is just floating around in the

bloodstream and the body in that case activates defense mechanism. All glucose that is not used

immediately is stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles. This would be all okay except that

our organism has a limited amount of glycogen receptors. If these are full, the body has only one

option left: to store all excess glucose in the body in form of saturated fat.

To make things even worse for inactive carb addict, when the body senses glucose in the

blood, the pancreas that produces hormone insulin, releases a signal to the body to store glucose

as glycogen. When glycogen receptors are full and cannot do this anymore, the body's thinks

how cells do not get the message and is starting to create more insulin. If this happens for a

longer period, the cells develop resistant to the presence of insulin, which causes a vicious cycle.

The body releases more insulin and then it is trying desperately to inform cells to obtain the

absorption of toxic glucose. The presence of excess insulin in the blood is then even more toxic

and damages the receptors on these cells. Finally, insulin allows glucose an access to your fat

cells to get it out from the bloodstream, or we can put it in other words - fat is not stored as fat in

the body, sugar from carbohydrates is stored as fat.

To avoid this problem you should follow LCHF diet. Here are some basics and what to eat

while you are on this diet:

- Dairy products - For example, milk, sour milk, sour cream, yogurt, cottage cheese and

cream. Cheese is perfectly acceptable to eat. So choose natural products that are not

sweetened.

- Butter: It must be real butter and not margarine. Margarine is chemical product and does

not belong on this list.

- Eggs: Eggs are low in carbohydrates and they contain natural proteins and fat. All forms

are good, cooked and fried.

- Fish. Try to eat oily fish, as much as possible. Fish is full with is proteins and good fats

such as omega-3.

- Seafood: All types of seafood are ideal.

- Meat: All types of meat are good; pork, lamb, beef etc. Just choose whatever you like

- Meat products: You can also consume meat products, just keep an eye on so they do not

contain too many carbohydrates.

- Poultry: Chicken and turkey meat fits well in a LCHF diet.

- Vegetables that grow above ground. For example, asparagus, broccoli, squash and

spinach. All kinds of green salad goes well.

- Fruits: Choose apples, oranges, strawberries, pears, blueberries.

- Nuts and seeds: Almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds etc.

- Fats and oil: Coconut oil, olive oil, cod fish liver oil and of course natural, real butter.

NOTE: If you need to lose weight, be careful with the cheese and nuts because they’re easy

to overeat on. Don’t eat more than one piece of fruit per day.

Maybe to eat:

This list contains food that you maybe can eat and it all depends on your entire health, your

activity and if you do not need to lose your weight you can afford to eat some more carbs.

- Tubers: Potato, sweet potato and some similar

- Non-gluten grains: Rice, oats, quinoa and some others

- Legumes: Lentils, pinto beans, black beans etc.

You can substitute these with dark chocolate – with 70% cocoa and some wine, but you

have to choose dry wines without added sugar or carbs. Dark chocolate is rich and wine are

rich in flavonoids and can have some positive effects on your health, especially heart. Still

do not overdo with chocolate and alcohol because you will hinder your progress.

- Sauces: Sauces and meat go together naturally and the sauce usually gives that extra

taste. When buying sauce keep an eye on the proportion of carbohydrates.

Food to avoid and reasons why:

Here is list of food that you should definitely avoid. This food is not suitable to eat, whether

you are on LCHF diet or not.

- Sugar - soft drinks, fruit juices, agave, candy, ice cream and many others. Sugar is

considered as unhealthy because it provides you with empty calories and it does not

contain any essential nutrients. Since carbohydrates are not welcome in LCHF diet,

sugar is unwanted here. SPECIAL TIP: Avoid all fruit juices and sugar-sweetened

beverages, sugary treats and dried fruit. Agave syrup is no better than sugar.

- Gluten Grains - Wheat, spelt, barley and rye. Includes breads and pastas. There are

certain amount of people that do not react quite well on gluten, although they do not

suffer from celiac disease. Whole wheat also happens to have a very high glycemic

index, leading to the blood sugar “roller coaster” that makes you crave another high-carb

snack soon after eating. SPECIAL TIP: If you exercise and don’t need to lose weight,

there is no proven reason to eliminate healthier, non-gluten grains like rice and oats.

- Trans Fats: “Hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” oils - they are unsaturated fats

that have been chemically modified to increase shelf-life and make them solid at room

temperature. SPECIAL TIP: Avoid artificial Tran’s fats as if your life depended on it,

because it does.

- High Omega-6 Seed- and Vegetable Oils: Cottonseed-, soybean-, sunflower-, grape

seed-, corn-, safflower and canola oils - Often portrayed as health foods, seed- and

vegetable oils like soybean and corn oil are extremely unnatural for the human body as

we didn’t have access to them until very recently in evolutionary history.

- These fats contain an abundance of Omega-6 fatty acids, but we need to get Omega-6

and Omega-3 in a certain ratio to ensure optimal functioning of the body. Eating too

much Omega-6 and too little Omega-3 can lead to inflammation, a leading cause of

many modern health problems. SPECIAL TIP: Avoid excess Omega-6 fats from seed-

and vegetable oils. Increase intake of Omega-3 from fatty fish or cod liver oil instead.

- Artificial Sweeteners: Aspartame, Saccharin, Sucralose, Cyclamates and Acesulfame

Potassium. Even ingredients that are calorie free can still harm you and this may be

especially applicable to artificial sweeteners. SPECIAL TIP: Use Stevia instead.

- “Diet” and “Low-Fat” Products: Many dairy products, cereals, crackers, etc. SPECIAL

TIP: Be smart and read labels. Even foods disguised as health foods often turn out to be

little healthier than processed food.

- Highly Processed Foods: If it looks like it was made in a factory, don’t eat it. Foods that

are highly processed are low in nutrients and high in unhealthy ingredients and artificial

chemicals. SPECIAL TIP: If the ingredients list contains more than five ingredients or

something that you don’t understand, than it’s probably bad for you.

Things to now on LCHF diet before considering it

LCHF diet, if can call it a diet is actually a lifestyle and a way of eating for life.

Reasonable question is why LCHF? Here is a simple answer to that question:

- LCHF diet does not support carbohydrates and human body does not actually need high

carbohydrate food at all.

- Sugar and grains are toxic to human body, and LCHF diet does not support that as well

- A diet Low in Carbohydrates and High on Fats lowers your risk from many diseases,

like heart diseases, obesity, high blood pressure etc. and diet high in carbs increases your

risk of the mentioned diseases

When you read all these benefits and start to notice them on your organism, why to stop

with LCHF diet? If something is good for you continue with and enjoy in all benefits that

LCHF diet can offer you. Like mentioned earlier, LCHF is not just some diet it is way of

eating for life and for entire family.

Like with all low carb diets, the goal of this diet is to lower intake of carbs in organism. This

way you will reduce sugar levels on low. With low blood sugar, there is less insulin and less

insulin means less fat stored in your body. This will have positive effects on weight loss,

because body will start to burn body fat instead carbohydrates.

Beside this there are other health benefits:

- Diabetes – some subjects on LCHF diet after certain period have stopped to use

medicaments

- Allergies – since certain food can cause allergies, like carbs, LCHF diet will also help

you with this problem

- Digestive problems – since LCHF diet forbids all poor dairy products, like skimmed

milk etc. and grains that manly cause digestive problems, LCHF diet that excludes these

product will help and lower all digestive problems

- Better mood – thanks to lower sugar in blood

To give a short resume, here is what you can expect from LCFH diet:

- Very effective diet for weight loss

- Eliminates food obsession

- Improves body energy

- Improves mood

- Reduces risk of numerous diseases, especially chronic

- Encourages fatty food, healthy fatty food that most people love

- Definitely the best diet for carbohydrate – sensitive people

Is LCHF diet safe?

There is plenty of strong scientific evidence now that low-carbohydrate diets are safe. How

could the Inuit Eskimos have thrived for centuries eating an essentially carbohydrate-free diet if

low-carbohydrate diets weren’t safe? The body requires zero grams of carbohydrate, so

removing carbohydrate from your diet will not harm you.

However, if you take medication for any chronic health problem, especially if you use

medications to control diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease, it is very important that

you work with your health care provider in the early stages of this diet to monitor your

medication dosages. This diet can have powerful (positive) effects on your chemistry, often very

quickly. Blood pressure and blood sugar can naturally fall towards more normal values even

within a few days, so medication dosages may need to be reduced accordingly to avoid

potentially serious medication side effects. Beside this LCHF diet is very effective because most

people lose more body fat, faster, and more comfortably on low-carbohydrate diets than on any

other diet tested.

There are many controversies on LCHF diet and “fat” is the key word in all discussions. As

believed saturated fat is bad for health, vein vessels, heart and many other. This old and

disproven theory does not work these day, because thanks to scientist we have now relevant case

studies that show how this old saying is not correct. Despite half a century of research there is

still no evidence that natural saturated fat (like butter, eggs etc.) is anything but completely safe

to eat. After many years of wrong accusation of saturated fast as bad and wrong, latest studies

have stunned the medical community. In a research analysis, scientist have discovered that there

is not enough proves that link saturated fats with heart diseases or stroke. Researchers say there

were even earlier clues that saturated fat didn't deserve its reputation as top dietary villain. The

decades-old "diet-heart hypothesis" -- the idea that saturated fat is bad for the heart -- was mostly

based on animal studies and short-term trials that looked only at people's cholesterol levels, not

at whether they actually had heart attacks As you can see, saturated fats are wrongly accused and

are not dietary villain as we used to think.

Eating less saturated fat doesn't seem to help your weight, either. A study in The New

England Journal of Medicine found that people on a low-carb diet shed pounds faster and had

better cholesterol levels than those on a low-fat diet, even though the low-carb group was taking

in relatively more saturated fat. This may be because people eating fewer carbs release less

insulin, which may reduce fat storage, control hunger, and influence metabolism in a way that

helps keep cholesterol in check.

Since pic fail of the fat-free craze of the '80s and '90s, we learned a lot. It was hoped that by

cutting fat from our diet, we would trim inches from our numbers. Instead, the opposite

happened: Because fat-free cookies, cheese, crackers and chips were missing the critical fat that

make us feed, we ate twice - sometimes three times - the usual portion. And since the producers

dumped extra sugar to make them taste better, we took in as many calories as we could and often

many more.

Today, when we know a lot more, we can say that a key to successful living is not to eat less

fat, but to eat the right fat and thanks to new results and studies, we can now tell how saturated

fats are not dietary villain and that name generously transfers to a carbohydrates.

As a conclusion of this chapter, we can say how LCHF diet is very safe because it forbidden

carbohydrates and stimulates intake of natural healthy fats and in the benefit of this great diet,

there are numerous studies that show this diet as perfectly safe and healthy.

LCHF diet and other diets

In this chapter we are going to compare LCHF diet with another planetary popular diet,

Mediterranean. Mediterranean diet is found to be quite healthy, but here is what we came across

when comparing these two:

- The traditional Mediterranean diet is characterized with high intake of fruits, nuts, olive

oil, vegetables and cereals, a moderate intake of fish and poultry and minimum intake of

animal products like dairy, meat, processed meat etc.

- Compared to this LCHF diet is characterized by a high intake of NATURAL fats

including olive oil, but some other as well, such as butter and coconut oil. LCHF diet

also supports a high intake of vegetables, but reduced intake of fruits and forbids intake

of cereals. Now, you may be wondering why low on fruits? Fruits are actually candies,

natural of course, but still candies. Perhaps you did not know, but medium size apple

contains equivalent of 3 teaspoons of sugar. This sugar is in its natural form and fruits

are valuable source of minerals and fibers, but vegetables are too and without any sugar.

LCHF diet also does not supports grains and cereals. Although it is believed that they are

healthy and rich with vitamins and minerals, cereals and grains are not welcome in

LCHF diet. Reason for that is fact that humans are not adapted to consuming cereals and

they are full of toxic anti-nutrients (lectins, gluten and phytates) that we don’t have the

ability to deal with. Lectins bind to insulin receptors and the human intestinal lining and

cause leptin resistance, which as regular readers of this blog will know, accelerates

metabolic syndrome independently of obesity. Here is perfect example on how to

substitute breakfast cereals with something healthier: a breakfast of eggs and butter is

packed full of Vitamins A, B, D, E and K, along with iron, zinc, calcium, lecithin, iodine

and more. Adding some unrefined salt adds a further 84 minerals and a fried tomato a

healthy dose of vitamin C. Better than cereals in so many ways.

- When it comes to mutual suggestions, both diets support a moderate intake of fish and

poultry, and low intake of wine/alcohol. Still, another difference is obvious when it

comes to red meat. While Mediterranean supports low intake of meat and other animal

products, LCHF diet supports them strongly.

- The health concerns around meat and eggs, particularly in relation to cholesterol, are

unfounded and indeed animal proteins and fats, like eggs and butter, contain many of the

nutrients missing in modern Western diets. With the Mediterranean diet, around 25-35%

of calories come from fat (8% or less from saturated) compared to around 70-80% on

LCHF. With the latter, the body learns to use fat for fuel instead of sugar. If fat intake is

too low, this cannot occur, so regardless of whether you are carbohydrate sensitive or

not, if you want to become a fat burning machine, for endurance performance, weight

management or improved cognitive function, LCHF rather than the Mediterranean diet is

the way to go. Remember though, fat intake should only be high if carb intake is low –

high intake of both is not OK and that is what LCHF diet is supporting.

Swedish governmental organization on LCHF diet

Experts: LCHF the most effective regimen

There is no proven increased risk of cardiovascular disease by strict low carbohydrate diet.

LCHF diet is also most effective for a six month term to lose weight for people with obesity. It

shows a new SBU report which is expected to result carb offered as one of several default

options in health care.

Hardly anyone has been able to escape the recent big fat war between representatives of low

carbohydrate diets and school medicine message about the benefits of a low fat diet.

After two and a half years of work today unveiled the Swedish Council on Medical

technology Assessment, SBU, a major review of the research in trying to find answers to the

question of how the various dietary guidelines can help obese people to lose weight .A wide

selection of the country's leading experts have analyzed thousands of studies which a large part

of the past ten years. The controversial result is in more than one way a prestige victory for the

contested low carbohydrate diet.

- Low carbohydrate diets, even the strict, giving greater weight loss at six months for

persons with obesity, compared with low fat diet.

- This is done without the researchers pinpointed some negative effects on blood lipids

while the weight remains lower.

- There is no whatsoever evidence that low carbohydrate diet would increase the risk of

heart disease.

- There is no evidence that even low-carbohydrate diet high in saturated fat would lead to

increased risk of heart disease. As the research base is limited in this respect, according

to the SBU, yet be cause for some caution with too much saturated fat.

- “The most important result I think, is that we have not found any evidence of increased

health risks as a result of low carbohydrate diets”, says Jonas Lindblom, Project

Manager at SBU. He points out that this has been a recurrent concern. As recently as last

summer, several professors went out and warned that a worsening of cardiac health

among younger women could be due to carb - diet. Other researchers responded to this

with rather relating it with changes in smoking behavior in this group. ”We did not find

any support in the research for low carbohydrate diet would lead to poor heart health or

increased mortality”, says Jonas Lindblom. SBU does not usually give any own dietary

recommendations, “however, a reasonable interpretation of our report should be to

healthcare in the future also offer low carbohydrate diet as an option for patients with

obesity”, says Jonas Lindblom.

In the longer term effect on weight seems to wane and differences from other diets blurred.

One probable explanation is that adherence declines with time. A likely consequence of the SBU

report is that health care in the future more active will offer low-carbohydrate diet for the obese

patients who so desire for short-term weight reduction.

SBU report relates to effects on persons with obesity, with a BMI over 30, mainly in respect

of weight, but also health. The review does not apply to links between food and health in the

general population.

All different investigated diets leads to decreased weight, which motivates a wide range of

variants of the dietary guidelines. Advice on strict low carbohydrate diet has so far been very

rare in healthcare. The benefits in the short term, both the moderate low carbohydrate diet with a

carbohydrate intake below 40 percent of the total energy intake , and strict low carbohydrate diet

where carbohydrate intake provides more than 20 percent of the total energy.

The strict low carbohydrate diet also leads, according to the analysis, in the short term to

improved glucose levels for people with obesity and diabetes, and to marginally decreased

triglycerides .In the long run there are no differences in efficacy between weight loss tips on

strict and moderate carbohydrate diet, low-fat diets, high protein diet, Mediterranean diet, diet

with a low glycemic load diet or a high proportion of monounsaturated fats. Advice on higher

intake of dairy products or reduced intake of sugary drinks can also lead to weight loss.

SBU also notes that there are still major gaps in knowledge, and that the long term effects in

individuals with obesity are better documented for the Mediterranean diet than other diets,

including low fat and low-carb diet.

Getting started with LCHF diet

If you decide to give a chance to this diet, here are couple advices: First one is definitely to

consult with your doctor and to make sure is this diet ideal for you. When you finish with this

formal things, you are ready to try LCHF diet.

Getting started with mentioned diet is quite simple. There are not complicated routines, tasks

and some unfamiliar food.

Getting started with mentioned diet is quite simple. There are not complicated routines, tasks

and some unfamiliar food. You even do not need to count calories or weight and measure food.

You will never go hungry but you eat until you are satisfied.

As mentioned and explained earlier, the basic principle of LCHF diet is to avoid eating

carbohydrates, like pasta, bread etc. and other food that is rich in carbohydrates, especially empty

carbohydrates like sugar and instead eat proteins and fat.

When it comes to fat, it should be, preferably, animal origin that can be found in meat, fish

and real butter.

If you want to try strict LCHF diet you should try with food that contain no more than 5%

carbohydrates per 100 grams. It is also important to eat enough food and enough fat and eat until

you are full. If you get hungry between meals eat some cheese with butter or a piece of brie

cheese.

When you start to avoid carbohydrates it will be very common to feel hungry all the time in

first days of LCHF diet. Do not worry about it but eat without thinking about how much it is.

Hunger feelings stabilize after a while when the body is accustomed to.

How much to eat varies from person to person, but here is what you should follow:

- 75% fat - The bulk of the energy in food come from fat. The fat should preferably be a

natural animal fat, alternatively, coconut oil, canola oil or olive oil used. It is essential to

take in enough fat, usually people eat too little fat and too much protein.

- 20% proteins - about 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. Some tend

to indicate 0.5 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight - the lower figure if you are

extremely overweight, and higher if you exercise a lot.

- 5% carbohydrates - Many people who eat LCHF in order to lose weight tend to stay

under 20 grams of carbohydrates per day.

LCHF for the first time/symptoms

When the body will change from carbohydrate to fat running operation, you can experience

a lot of postmenopausal like symptoms. It is important not to give up. Symptoms are usually over

within a few days or a week. Sometimes it may take longer, up to a couple of months.

If you previously had eaten large amounts of simple carbs the symptoms from the shift in

diet can become severe if you completely stop everything at once. Then you can begin to

gradually wind down on carbs to ease transition problems. There are those who argue that you

get over the symptoms faster if you stop with the carbs instantly, a gradual transition means that

you will never enter into ketosis - the conversion of body fat to use. This varies from person to

person, and here you get to know your way.

The most common conversion symptoms are: Fatigue - weakness, sweat, difficult to

concentrate, bad breath, metallic taste, headache, palpitations, constipation, and leg cramps.

Advices and tips:

It's very common for many people to experience lack of energy after a few days and if this

occurs it's best to just endure. The feeling when it goes on is incredible, many feel as though as

they cannot carry on.

Constipation can often be improved by increasing the amount of fat in the diet. It is also

important to drink enough water. It is also important to remember that when you take the carbs

away you don't have to take go to the bathroom as often as you did before you removed the

carbs.

Cramps in the legs is common in the early stage and can get better if you take magnesium

supplements. Many will also be helped by drinking more water. Seizures are possible due to the

start of peeing a lot and thus you lose a lot of minerals in the body. This usually wear off after a

while.

Celebrities and LCHF

Reviews and true stories

The LCHF diet consists of meats, cheeses, fats, and some leafy green vegetables keeping all

carbohydrates to a minimum, and avoiding sugar, white flour, and starchy vegetables. Low carb

followers claim to eat as much as they want of the allowed foods and still lose weight, or

maintain their ideal weight. Many low carb dieters see it as part of a healthy lifestyle that keeps

them lean and fit.

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Stacey Keibler, and LL Cool J are just a few of the celebrities who

swear by the Low Carbohydrate way of eating.

Beside celebrities there is also endless list of people exploring and enjoying in health

benefits of LCHF diet. With just simple google searching, you can easily find really inspirational

and true stories on LCHF diet. Some bloggers have also shared their pictures with readers, so

you can actually see “before and after” LCHF diet.

There are also numerous positive reviews on mentioned diet, or should we say lifestyle, and

here is one, perfectly well explained:

LCHF1 (Low Carb High Fat) on the other hand is very fat friendly. (Immediately my brain-

washed mind said "that can't be healthy!") LCHF prefers you to cut down on Carbs and Sugars

significantly, cut them out entirely if possible. Replace the carbs with fat as your energy source.

This theory is backed up by new science that proves our body burns fat as energy far more

efficiently than carbs, and it is a whole lot healthier for our body when it does.

This theory means... Eat as much fat as you want! Obviously you need to have a healthy

balance of protein and veg, but do not be afraid of fat! Your body needs it.

The primary reason for the fat intake is because it makes you fuller for longer, and thus you

end up eating less. The research shows that people on LCHF eat 1000 calories less a day!

Without calorie counting or an eating plan!

So for me... I'm loving it. A common day looks like this:

- Coffee with heavy cream in the morning (no sugar, cream over milk because there is less

lactose and carbs and the fat helps make me feel fuller. My wife has full-cream milk though.)

- Bacon & Eggs for breakfast, no toast.

1 http://www.jamespreston.org/2013/03/the-perfect-diet-lchf.html

- I only start getting hungry at 1pm, which is a salad packed with chicken, bacon, Gouda,

mozzarella.

- A snack of Brazil & Macadamia Nuts in between lunch & dinner, or some Greek Yoghurt

(high fat, no sugar!) and Cream.

- Some beef/fish/chicken/pork and veg for dinner. (Steak is my five!) All fat remain firmly

on the cut!

- About 1, 5 - 2 liters of water a day. I'm not strict.

You may say that you should rather eat smaller portions more regularly, but that is based on

the theory that Carbs should be our main source of energy. It's also practically impossible in

today's busy lifestyle.

I feel much less hungry than before. And I know I am eating less in total. I don't have drops

of energy (so common after lunch!) and I actually feel more focused.

This all after 8 days! Oh, and I lost 2.1kgs in my first week! This is by far the easiest diet I

have ever been on. I can eat most of my favorite foods (except bread rolls) without having to

worry about how much is too much etc. I can eat till my heart's content!

(JUNE UPDATE: I have now lost 7kgs after 13 weeks!)

This is just one example of how effective LCHF diet can be and if you just take a look of all

those gorgeous bodies, that look the way they do, thanks to LCHF diet, you will see and realize

that it just may be perfect for you.

LCHF and weight loss – when nothing happens

As explained earlier, LCHF diet can do many good things for your organism and one is

definitely weight loss. Still if you do not follow LCHF diet properly, you will not experience all

benefits. Here are main reasons of NOT losing weight on LCHF diet. If you find that just one is

describing you, that may be the reason why those extra pounds stay firmly attached to your body:

1. You are eating hidden carbs. You have to stick to LCHF diet basics and rules when it

comes to carbohydrates. Failing to comply 100% with a low carb high fat diet will, in

worst case give you the opposite result, since the body will try to hoard the little sugar

that you do present to it.

2. You are eating too little. Practically all other diets stipulate that you should only eat so

much of this, and so much of that whereas with LCHF you can eat quite much more.

Many people do the common mistake of trying to skip a meal since it will speed things

up a bit. Not so. If you skip a meal you will put your body in starvation mode and it will

try to keep everything it gets.

3. You are eating chocolate and peanuts. Yes, we have mentioned that dark chocolate is

healthy, but in small quantities, just like peanuts, but the fact is that you should beware

of these two. It’s true the carb is less than for light chocolate, but peanuts often have a

coating that is filled with carbs and a chocolate bar that tastes good without any sugar at

all hasn’t been invented yet. So ease up on the chocolate and peanuts.

4. You are eating too seldom. Many think that sticking to only three meals a day is the

trick. Stop thinking that. If you instead try to never get hungry (which should be quite

easy after a while since LCHF diets have a tendency of decreasing the hunger feelings

due to a lower blood sugar level) by eating in-between meals consisting of fruits (not

bananas), an egg, some nuts or something else that doesn’t have any (or very little) carbs

in them, you should be able to keep the body burning fat all the time and in a more

steady pace.

5. Women avoid fruits, men avoid beer: It is hard to give up on fruits especially for ladies.

Yes fruit is healthy, filled with vitamins and fibers, but also with sugars. So avoid fruits

and choose vegetables instead, because you will get all vitamins without sugar. When it

comes to men’s, you should take easy on beer. Beer is full with barley malt that bloc

burning down the fat, just like any other type of sugar.

6. Medicaments can effect on entire weight: Many drugs can affect body weight. Of course

if it is possible to make changes in therapy, you should talk to your doctor. Insulin

injections are probably the worst for weight gain, especially high doses. Insulin

requirements may be reduced by using LCHF diet, which facilitates weight loss. Type 2

diabetes can be treated and tablets metformin that do not lead to weight gain and may

reduce the need for insulin. And other types of medications for diabetes can lead to

weight gain as well as various types of pills that affect the raising of insulin.

Cortisone tablets is another drug that often leads to weight gain, especially in high doses.

Unfortunately this is usually a necessary remedy for the one who gets it, but it is important to

adjust the dose so that it does not take longer than necessary. Local use in the form of creams or

nasal spray has no effect on body weight.

Beside mentioned, here are some other that may effect on weight and therefore reduce

benefits of LCHF diet:

- Neuroleptics against psychosis

- Certain antidepressant medications

- Some contraception pills

- High blood pressure drugs

- Medications for epilepsy

- Remedies for allergies

7. You are not sleeping enough: Sleep is incredibly important for overall health and studies

show that a lack of sleep correlates with weight gain and obesity. A lack of sleep can

make us feel hungrier. It will also make us tired and less motivated to exercise and eat

healthy.

8. You are not eating real food: A low-carb diet is about more than just lowering your

intake of carbs. You have to replace those carbohydrates with real, nutritious foods.

Throw away all processed low-carb products like Atkins bars, they are not real food and

they are NOT good for your health. Stick to meats, fish, eggs, vegetables and healthy

fats if you need to lose weight. Also, “treats” like Paleo cookies and brownies can cause

problems even though they’re made with healthy ingredients. They should be considered

as occasional treats, not something you eat every day. What is also important is to eat

enough FAT. If you try to cut back on carbs AND fat, you will end up ravenously

hungry and feel like crap.

9. Be patient and have realistic expectations: At the end of the day, weight loss takes time.

It is a marathon, not a race. Losing 1-2 pounds per week is a realistic goal. Some people

will lose weight faster than that, others slower. But it’s also important to keep in mind

that not everyone can look like a fitness model. At some point, you will reach a healthy

set point weight, which may be above what you initially hoped for. It is important to

have realistic expectations. Weight loss takes a long time and not everyone can look like

a fitness model.

Recipes that support LCHF diet

Breakfast ideas:

- Eggs and bacon

- Omelet

- Boiled eggs with mayo

- High-fat yoghurt with nuts and seeds

Breakfast recipes

Eggs and sausage muffins

Ingredients:

- ¼ cup sour cream

- 12 eggs

- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

- 16 oz. pork sausages, cooked

- 1 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preparation method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and greasy 12-hole muffin tin with cooking spray.

2. Spoon the cooked sausages into greased muffin tin, to ½ full.

3. Whisk the eggs, sour cream, salt, pepper and ground cumin.

4. Spoon on top of sausages until almost full. Sprinkle with grated cheese.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until eggs are slightly golden.

6. Leave on wire rack to cool and gently remove from muffin tin. Serve while still hot.

Ham and cheese frittata

Ingredients:

- 9 eggs

- 5 oz. chopped ham

- 2 springs chopped cilantro

- ½ cup sliced button mushrooms

- ¼ cup thick yoghurt

- 3 tablespoons water

- 1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Preparation method:

1. Beat eggs, water and yoghurt until well combined.

2. Stir in chopped ham, cilantro and button mushrooms.

3. Grease small baking dish with cooking oil and pour prepared mixture in.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden at 180C/350F.

5. Serve while still hot.

High – fat yoghurt with nuts and fresh berries

Ingredients:

- 2 cups high-fat yoghurt

- 1 cup whipping cream (40% fat)

- ¼ cup chopped walnuts

- ¼ cup chopped almonds

- 1 tablespoon flax seeds

- 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds

- 2 tablespoons coconut flakes

- ¼ cup fresh blueberries

Preparation method:

1. Whisk high-fat yoghurt with whipping cream in a large bowl.

2. Add rest of ingredients, except blueberries.

3. Mash blueberries with fork in small bowl.

4. Spoon mashed blueberries over nuts and yoghurt mixture. Serve and enjoy.

Lunch and dinner ideas:

- Fish, meat and chicken with veggies and rich sauces

- Stews, soups and casseroles with low-carb ingredients

- Always drink water with your meal and sometimes a glass of wine

Lunch and dinner recipes

Chicken legs wrapped with prosciutto

Ingredients:

- 8 chicken legs – around 2, 5 lb.

- 2 teaspoons dried basil

- 8 slices prosciutto

- Freshly ground red pepper – to taste

- 2 tablespoons butter

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and slightly grease baking tray with butter.

2. Season chicken legs with dried basil and pepper.

3. Wrap each leg with a single slice of prosciutto.

4. Place chicken legs to prepared baking dish and bake for 45-50 minutes.

5. Serve while still hot.

Salmon chowder

Ingredients:

- 4 salmon fillets

- 2 cups full-fat cream

- 1 ½ cups water

- 1 teaspoon saffron

- 1o asparagus stalks, cut into 2 inch pieces

- 1 small bunch of broccoli, cut into florets

- Freshly ground pepper – to taste

- 1 lemon zest

Preparation method:

1. Pour the cream, water and saffron in medium size sauce pan. Heat over medium high-

heat and let it simmer for 7-10 minutes.

2. Slice salmon fillets to bite-size pieces and add to sauce pan. Let it simmer for 5 minutes

or until salmon is cooked.

3. Add asparagus and broccoli florets and season with freshly ground pepper. Stir in lemon

zest.

4. Let it all simmer for additional 3-5 minutes or until veggies are tender.

5. Serve while still hot.

Pork chops with thick creamy sauce

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon real butter

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 4 pork chops, with bones

- 1 brown onion, chopped

- 1 cup dry white wine

- ¾ cup heavy cream

- ¾ cup chicken broth

- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, fresh

- Freshly ground salt and pepper – to taste

Preparation method:

1. Season pork chops with salt and pepper.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add butter and when slightly browned add pork chops to

skilled. Cook for 3 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan.

3. Add chopped onion into same skillet and cook until glossy and tender. Add ½ cup of

wine and bring to boil. Scrape a skillet bottom to release all those pork bits and flavor.

4. Stir in the chicken broth and add pork chops. Bring sauce to simmer and cook for 10-15

minutes, depending on thickness of pork chops.

5. Remove pork chops to a plate and cover with aluminum foil, so they stay warm.

6. Add rest of wine and increase heat to high. Cook until sauce reduces to half, for 3

minutes.

7. Add heavy cream and cook for additional 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in

Dijon mustard.

8. Place back pork chops and garnish with parsley, Let it stand for 5 minutes before

serving. Drizzle pork chops with sauce and enjoy.

LCHF salmon kebabs

Ingredients:

- 2 tablespoons chopped basil

- 2 tablespoon sesame seeds

- 1 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1 teaspoon sea salt

- ¼ teaspoon chili powder or crushed chili flakes

- 4 salmon fillets, cut into 1.5-inch pieces

- 2 lemons, thinly sliced

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation method:

1. Preheat grill to medium heat. Combine basil, cumin, sea salt and chili powder; set aside.

2. Set salmon dices and lemon slices on skewers; salmon must be at the bottom and as

finishing piece.

3. Brush prepared skewers with spice mixture on both side of skewers.

4. Grill salmon on preheated grill for 5 minutes, without moving around.

5. Turn on other side and grill for 5 minutes more.

6. Serve while still hot and with some thick yoghurt.

Dessert and snack ideas

- Nuts

- Olives

- Quality cheese

- Boiled eggs

Dessert and snacks recipes

Chocolate balls

Ingredients:

- 1 ½ cups hazelnuts

- 1 ½ cups coconut flakes + some extra to roll balls

- 1 cup sukrin

- ½ teaspoon stevia

- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

- 2 tablespoons strong coffee

- ½ cup real butter

Preparation method:

1. Place the hazelnuts in food processor and pulse until you have a coarse flour.

2. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix.

3. Finally add butter and coffee and mix until smooth.

4. Shape chocolate balls from mixture and roll in coconut flakes.

5. Set in refrigerator for a while before serving.

LCHF waffles

Ingredients:

- 4 eggs

- 2 cups thick cream

- 1 cup water

- 2 tablespoons psyllium husks or fiber husk

- Small pinch of salt

Preparation method:

1. Whisk all ingredients in a medium size bowl. Let it stand for 5-8 minutes.

2. Heat waffle iron and coat it with butter.

3. Scoop the batter to waffle iron and bake until golden.

4. Serve with some real butter cubes and fresh mashed raspberries.

LCHF rich dark chocolate cake

Ingredients:

- ½ cup butter

- ½ cup chopped bitter chocolate – 90% cocoa

- 2 eggs

- 1 cup thick cream

- 3 tablespoons sukrin

- 2 tablespoons cocoa

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/430F and line baking dish with parchment paper.

2. Melt the butter and chocolate over steam or heat in microwave for 20 seconds.

3. Whisk the cream and set aside.

4. In another bowl whisk eggs with sukrin, until fluffy and pale.

5. Combine egg mixture with cream and melted chocolate and butter.

6. Stir in vanilla extract and cocoa powder. You can add more cocoa powder if you want.

7. Pour mixture into prepared baking tray and bake for 6-8 minutes.

8. Cool before serving with thick cream.

LCHF snacks

Tortilla chips bites

Ingredients:

- ¼ cup egg whites

- 2 tablespoons almond flour

- 2 teaspoons ground golden flax

- 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan cheese

- Small pinch of salt

- Pinch of smoked paprika

Preparation method:

1. Whisk all ingredients together in a medium size bowl, until you have nice, smooth

batter.

2. Lightly spray non-stick skillet with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat.

3. Pour batter in skillet and using circular motions evenly distribute batter.

4. Cook for 1-2 minutes until lightly browned.

5. Carefully flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes.

6. Cut and serve as tasty snack.

LCHF butternut squash chips

Ingredients:

- 2 butternut squash with long necks

- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

- Pinch of salt

- Olive oil – to drizzle

Preparation method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Cut squash necks and peel them. Cut into thin slices, around 1/8-inch thick.

3. Boil large pot of salted water and add sliced squash. Cook for 2 minutes and remove

from boiling water. Set on kitchen towels to drain.

4. Arrange squash slices on parchment paper and coat with olive oil.

5. Sprinkle additionally with salt and top with grated cheese.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and crispy.

7. Leave on wire rack to cool before serving.

Bacon wrapped jalapenos

Ingredients:

- 20 fresh jalapenos, fresh

- 8 oz. creamy cheese, full fat

- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

- 2 pounds bacon

Preparation method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and place wire rack o baking tray.

2. Cut the jalapenos in half, lengthwise and remove seeds.

3. Combine smoked paprika and creamy cheese.

4. Stuff each jalapeno half with cheese and wrap with bacon. Secure with a toothpick.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. If bacon is not crispy enough for you, flip

them on other side and bake for couple minutes more.

6. Serve immediately.