Cheat Day While On Lchf And Intermittent Fasting
If I am on an LCHF and on alternate day fasting diet, is it better to have one cheat day a week, or not?
Thank you,Tony
Its not better to have a cheat day unless it allows you to follow a stricter diet otherwise. Some people do well, and others not. I dont recommend a cheat day in general.
Dr. Jason Fung
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Symptoms Of Keto Breath
Keto breath produces a distinct taste or odor in the mouth thats different from ordinary halitosis or bad breath. Some people describe keto breath as having a metallic taste. In addition to a funny taste in the mouth, keto breath can be fruity-smelling or have a strong odor thats similar to nail polish remover.
Are Gums With Xylitol Okay
Ever wondered the type of sugar in your fruits? Well, if it was the normal table sugar, I guess an apple a day would make the doctor to stay. There are natural sweeteners in fruits, and one of such is xylitol. Xylitol naturallyoccurs in birch wood, plum, strawberry, cauliflower, and so on .
- Xylitol has drastically lower calorie content compared to table sugar and is a healthier substitute. Over time, xylitol has been used as a medication and has been adapted to mire uses I’m modern times. Though less used than Sorbitol, xylitol is commonplace in sugar-free products and is quite suitable for use by diabetics , as it metabolizes independently of insulin.
- Xylitol is one of the biggest constituents of sugar-free gum and candies, just behind aspartame. It is recognized as safe for consumption , used in gums to treat tooth cavities , to prevent earaches among others.
So if you desire to chew gum during your ketogenic diet, you could munch on some Xylitol based gum as it does not kick you if your diet. One of thumb that can be applied is that anything that is safe for a diabetic is acceptable during your diet as it does not add little calories, insignificant when compared to sugar despite the similarity I’m their tastes .
You should take caution when consuming xylitol though, excess consumption makes it act as a laxative, and the EU Scientific Committee on Food stated ingesting 50g a day of xylitol can cause diarrheaand excessive consumption may induce laxative effects
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Using Sugar As A Sweetener
Real sugar comes in several different forms and shapes: white, brown, icing, demerara, confections, maple syrup, coconut sugar, date sugar, etc. This real sugar contains a double molecule of fructose and glucose. These molecules make sugar 100% carbs so that all sugars can negatively affect weight gain, blood glucose, and insulin response.
Therefore, on a keto diet, you should have to avoid every type of sugar. It will help to increase your progress. Many sweeteners may have an exact number of 100. This is the reason that all sweeteners are made from sugar.
To get the same sweetness of white sugar, you may experience the same effects of these sweeteners on blood sugar, weight, and insulin resistance.
Our Superstar Keto Teriyaki Sauce Ingredients
Traditional teriyaki sauce is made sweet and thick thanks to the combination of soy sauce and sugar, which, when reduced, create that signature consistency.
However, this recipe obviously doesnt use sugar so we had to do a little improvising. The ingredients we swapped in can actually be used in many keto sauces, and we definitely encourage you to experiment and see what you can create!
Xantham Gum
Ever wondered how to thicken a sauce without flour? Xantham gum. Just a pinch of this provides instant thickening power, without the usual carbs from flour. Thats exactly what you want for something like this thick, sticky Keto Teriyaki Sauce.
Weve even used xantham gum to thicken soup in the past! Check out this Cheddar Bacon Soup recipe.
Keto Sweetener
You definitely dont need sugar to add a little sweetness to your sauce. There are so many keto sweeteners you can find these days, from granulated blends to natural monk fruit.
Which sweetener to use? For this Keto Teriyaki Sauce recipe, we recommend a granulated sweetener that can be substituted at a 1:1 ratio for sugar. This will help to create a thick sauce.
We recommend Lakanto for our low-carb teriyaki sauce, which uses erythritol or an erythritol/monk fruit blend. Allulose could also be used, but it may harden when cooled.
Soy Sauce
Yes, you can have soy sauce on a keto diet! Soybeans happen to be quite low-carb, and we use soy sauces in many of our keto recipes .
Apple Cider Vinegar
Ginger and Garlic
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What Sweetener Is Sweetex
The main ingredient of Sweetex is sodium sacchari, the solid form of the non-nutritive sweetener saccharin. Saccharin is several hundred times sweeter than table sugar but unlike the latter, it has no calories. It typically used to sweeten hot and cold drinks, rather than baked goods or other foods.
Diet Myth Or Truth: Chewing Gum For Weight Loss
Can chewing sugarless gum really help you cut calories?
Chew on this: Chewing gum can be good for you. Not only can it freshen your breath, it can help you overcome cigarette cravings, improve your memory — and even help you lose weight.
Contestants on The Biggest Loser use it regularly, and studies have shown that chewing gum can help control cravings, manage hunger, and promote weight loss.
Still, dont get the idea that chewing a few sticks of gum a day is going to melt off the pounds. A few small studies have shown that chewing gum can help you shave calories. But this wont lead to significant weight loss unless you also follow a reduced-calorie diet and get regular physical activity.
Sugar-free gum is best because it is usually less than 5 calories per piece, compared to 10 calories for regular gum. In fact, diet plans like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and the American Diabetes Association consider sugar-free gum a “free food.”
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What Causes Keto Breath
Keto breath is what people often call the fruity smell that accompanies going into ketosis. You may also notice the same smell coming from your urine. What you can smell is acetone, a type of ketone body. In many ways, this odor is good news because it shows your diet is working, and your body is busy burning all that unwanted fat.
On the downside, that fruity-smelling breath can be a little unpleasant. Thats especially true if you work in a public-facing job, or your nearest and dearest isnt also following a keto diet other people tend to notice keto breath more than you will. Keto breath may also make your food taste a little off. It wont taste bad, but you may notice the difference.
So, why do you get keto breath? Good question!
When you reduce your carb intake to less than 50 grams per day, and preferably between 20-30 grams, your body starts using fat for fuel instead of glucose. Unfortunately, your brain cannot use fat for energy and converts fat into ketones, an energy source it can use.
Turning fat into ketones is a labor-intensive process. It takes a lot of fat to make relatively few ketones. This enhances calorie burning and leads to faster weight loss. In addition, in ketosis, your body gets very good at burning fat. Its like your fat-burning thermostat gets turned up to the max.
What Does The Science Say
According to the American Cancer Society, aspartame is broken down into phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol, which is toxic in high amounts, especially in people with rare genetic disorders .
A 2017 study that involved nearly 407,000 people found that aspartame was linked to an increased risk of heart disease and an enhanced body mass index .
One study even found that aspartame is a multi-potential carcinogenic compound whose carcinogenic effects are evident even at a daily dose of 20 mg/kg bw, much less than the current ADI for humans in Europe and in the United States .
This means that aspartame may increase your risk of cancer even if you eat lower amounts than whats considered a normal intake. Other studies have linked aspartame to the following cancers: liver, lung, brain, prostate, breast and central system cancers .
Other research shows that the possible dangers of aspartame dont stop with cancer. For example, one study found that aspartame alters your gut microbiome and can lead to glucose intolerance even in healthy people who dont have diabetes .
Another study found that aspartame was linked to metabolic syndrome, weight gain, heart disease, and diabetes because of the metabolic disorders it appears to cause .
There is even evidence to indicate that aspartame can affect your brain health. A 2014 animal study linked chronic aspartame intake to a distortion of neuronal function and an increase in brain cell death among some regions of the brain .
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Bump Up Your Carb Intake
Slightly increasing your carbohydrate intake can also eliminate keto breath. If you want to remain in a state of ketosis, only increase your daily amount of carbohydrates by a small amount.
Lets say youre eating 15 grams of carbohydrates per day. Try increasing your intake to 20 g per day to see if your bad breath improves. Then, use a ketone breath analyzer to measure your ketone level. Monitoring your ketone level is key to knowing whether youre still in ketosis after increasing your carbs.
Can You Eat Chewing Gum On Keto
Chewing gum can definitely be a part of a healthy keto lifestyle!
In fact, it is highly effective in combating ketone breath. When you just start out with the ketogenic diet, your body goes through a lot of changes aka the keto-flu.
At this point you are making more ketones than you can possibly utilize, which are expelled through the breath.
And as we all know, its not very pleasing to others!
Thats when gum comes in handy. It not only freshens your breath, but also keeps those sugar cravings in check!
A gum keeps your mouth occupied and signals the brain that you are already eating something. Honestly, chewing gum has kept me from cheating on keto a lot many times!
Whats more, sugar-free gum stimulates saliva production which directly benefits our tooth health!
Our natural saliva is rich in minerals that prevent bacteria growth within our mouth. These minerals neutralize the acids in plaque leaving no food for the bacteria.
But heres something you should know: Not all gum is created equal!
You have to carefully find out which one is actually sugar-free. Earlier I wrote about Tic-Tacs and their evil marketing strategy! The nutrition label says its are sugar-free when in reality, its just a loophole that they are exploiting!
You see, according to US Federal Regulation, if an item has less than 1g sugar per serving, it can be labeled sugar-free .
A single tic-tac has half a gram of sugar. And honestly, we always eat a handful at once!
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What To Look For In Chewing Gum On Keto
For finding the right kindsof chewing gum on keto, theres a few things youll want to always look for. One is the presence of certain types of sugar alcohols, and the other is the absence of bad alternative sweeteners. Let me quickly explain what I mean.
Sugar alcohols are generally keto-friendly because they have properties that are not digestible by the enzymes in our saliva and stomach, meaning that while they may be high in carbs, the carbs they bring in dont actually affect our blood glucose levels or state of ketosis.
Thats why its a general rule of thumb to subtract sugar alcohols when youre calculating your net carbs.
However not all sugar alcohols are created equal, and not all sugar alternatives are keto-friendly.
Some sugar free brands of chewing gum can still have things like maltitol, dextrose, and maltodextrin, which are all bad for the keto diet while still being low in carbs, mostly because of the spikes they cause in blood glucose levels.
When evaluating if a gum is sugar friendly, the two most popular types of sugar alcohols to look out for are xylitol and aspartame. Generally xylitol fares a lot better than aspartame because it is more naturally occurring in fruits such as figs, raisins, and jackfruit, but both are okay for the keto diet.
Its a little harder to find in most gum and mint products as sugar alcohols are more popular, but if you come across it stevia is absolutely fine for keto.
Sweeteners To Avoid In Chewing Gum
Many sugar-free chewing gums contain artificial sweeteners and chemicals that can impact ketosis and cause other digestive issues.
When looking for suitable keto safe sugar-free chewing gum you want to avoid certain types of sugar replacements that elicit an insulin spike. Its the crash after one of these spikes that leads to cravings and makes it harder to stay on any diet.
There are many sugar-free alternatives that can cause an insulin spike and you want to avoid them. They include :
- Maltitol A sugar alcohol that can cause bloating, gas, diarrhoea and spike insulin levels
- Maltodextrin Higher on the GI list than even table sugar and can cause insulin spikes kicking you out of ketosis
All these have a high glycaemic index with some even higher than normal table sugar! You can view a table here with a list of all common sugar alternatives and their respective GI value.
One thing to be aware of is how much you consume. Most pieces of chewing gum are small, so even if they did contain bad ingredients they wont cause too many issues.
However, if youre like me and have quite a few pieces throughout the day then you need to be wary of these bad sugar replacements. Youve probably seen the warning on the packets about excessive consumption may cause laxative effects. Its these ingredients that elicit that reaction!
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The Humble Co Chewing Gum
The Humble Co. chewing gum is a Swedish company that produces chewing gum and other dental products. They are eco-friendly, made with recyclable packaging, they are aspartame-free, sugar-free, vegan, and dentist-approved.
It comes in a 19-gram pack that contains 10 pieces of chewing gum. The Humble Co. has 4 different flavors of chewing gum you can try and those are lemon, salty licorice, tropical fruit, and fresh mint.
The Humble Co. chewing gum contains the following ingredients: sweetener , natural gum base, natural flavors, humectant , anticaking agent thickening agent , glazing agent .
Where to buy: You can order from their official site or you can order from Amazon.com
Days On Keto And Lost 7 Pounds
Ok so i know this maybe water weight but OMG 7 pounds in 7 days thats encouraging and passed the weekend without falling off the bus no extra carbs no suger dont get me wrong had the cravings there not gone completly but i know i can do better on my carbs averageing 13g and there were a couple days were carbs were 20 is that to much? Iv been trying to count them and keep them very low to none at all but like anything its hard work just dont want to loose this momentum. Bulletproof coffe not my favorite but i have 2 cups every morning and im going to try to fast this week dont know if its a good idea since it my second week but thinking of giving it a shot im fairly new to this keto thing but liking it so far. Also thinking of hitting the gym again but mixed reviews on stressing the body while starting off on keto well this set one back? Also my protien still having trouble keeping it below 120g but work in progress This is a great forum great people great place to be. Thanks to everyone here
Im going to post my general information below that I provide to new ketoers but, lets talk about a couple things first. If you have any questions, feel free to ask anything.
Ok so i know this maybe water weight but OMG 7 pounds in 7 days
Yep, water weight. It will likely slow down and some might come back as you drink water but, its not worth obsessing over.
There are two phases to ketosis and a ketogenic lifestyle.
*20g net carbs max
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Chew Zellies Naturally Sugar
The flavor of Zellies Gum is said to be among the longest-lasting of all the keto gums on the market. It comes in a variety of choices like peppermint, spearmint, cinnamon, and fresh fruit. Like the other options on our list, its sugar-free and aspartame-free, along with being GMO-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan.
Nutrition : 2.6 Calories | 0g Fat | 1g Total Carbs | 1g Xylitol | 0g Net Carbs
What Sweetener Should It Contain
The most common sweetener that you will see mentioned in the ingredient lists of such sugar-free syrups is sucralose .
But is it really keto-friendly?
Sucralose is generally considered a safe sweetener choice for people who follow a ketogenic diet.
On its own it doesnt trigger insulin response, but its often accompanied by maltodextrin that may trigger such a response.
Even though there are sugar-free sucralose-based coffee syrups that dont contain maltodextrin, you shouldnt have too much of them.
There is evidence that sucralose has a disrupting effect on the gut microbiota, which is why you may want to avoid overdosing and stick to the recommended serving size, found on the syrups label.
It is overall better to opt for a keto-friendly syrup that contains natural sweeteners such as stevia, erythritol, or monk fruit, but it seems like there arent many products that are based on them.
Those that are, often contain other unwanted substances .
No matter what sweetener your keto coffee syrup contains, you shouldnt have too much of it, as it may cause digestive issues.
Furthermore, even though these syrups are marketed as zero-carb and zero-calorie this doesnt necessarily mean that they are free of carbohydrates and calories.
This makes it possible for companies to play around with their products serving sizes, making them unrealistically small, so that they can get the zero-carb label.
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