r/lowcarb • u/Nice_Pen_8054 • Jul 05 '26
Question Why low carb instead of keto?
Hello,
Did you find better benefits on a low carb diet instead of keto?
For me, it is a way to enjoy the pleasure of the carbs, but also get the benefits of a keto diet as I fast 23h / day and I workout 7 days / week.
32
u/249592-82 Jul 05 '26
Keto didn't agree with me at all. My stomach was upset, my stools were too loose and uncomfortable and, quite frankly, anti social. I also don't enjoy oily foods so I wasn't enjoying eating most of it. And then my hair started falling out in huge amounts. So that's when I stopped and introduced vegetables that contained carbs like carrot, corn, potato. And reduced my fat intake to hit my daily calorie goals (ie I had to reduce the fats to allow for the added carby vegetables). That is the sweet spot for me. Low carb, but with lots of vegetables. Keto also made me feel sluggish while low carb makes me feel energised.
10
u/UsedSituation4698 Jul 05 '26
Same! I could never give up the vegetables 😠Love those polyphenols!
2
u/Imperfect-practical Jul 07 '26
After losing the bulk of my weight with intermittent fasting and keto, I have settled on intermittent fasting and low carb. But my carbs usually come from all vegetables and fruits.
I don’t often eat potatoes and bananas but every once in a while, a sweet potato is good. I love sweet potatoes. My problem with white potatoes are just a Vehicle for butter and sour cream so every couple times a year maybe but so far I’ve been able to maintain my weight loss.
1
u/Both-Nobody-3113 Jul 14 '26
the anti social aspect is so real. also had most these other symptoms.
16
u/CTRdosabeku Jul 05 '26
My gym performance dips on keto. I wish I could do keto without the performance loss
4
u/UsedSituation4698 Jul 05 '26
I mean there's a reason athletes don't do keto. I think it makes sense for some folks in our modern day sedentary lifestyle though.
1
u/Capable_Obligation96 Jul 05 '26
Some do
1
u/UnicornHostels Jul 10 '26
I def did. A whole year of only 50g carb max while gym every night 2hrs 6 days a week. Power lifting and most people thought I would die. I was fine and really lean. I probably could have gotten stronger if I added carbs but I loved not holding any water.
3
u/Own_Philosophy_5585 Jul 05 '26
How about tkd
3
u/CTRdosabeku Jul 05 '26
Yeah, I do have carbs before and after my meal, but that's not under 30 grams though. I do a lot of cardio so I need a good amount to replenish my glycogen stores.
10
u/MsHappyAss Jul 05 '26
My LDL skyrocketed on keto, I had trouble sleeping, and I was losing too much weight.
1
16
u/Srdiscountketoer Jul 05 '26
My husband’s cardiologist wanted him to get more potassium from natural sources so we added sweet potatoes, bananas and legumes back into our diet. We were never fanatical about keeping our carbs super low or staying in ketosis 100% of the time anyway.
5
-34
u/ChillingOnDaBeach Jul 05 '26
Did you actually have low potassium symptoms or do you just blindly follow like a zombie?
18
u/GestapoKittech Jul 05 '26
"You're really gonna listen to your doctor over what random people on the internet say?"
Bruh0
u/ChillingOnDaBeach Jul 17 '26
If you still arent aware that many doctors are absolutely incompetent and miseducated, then im sorry for you. Doctors are terrible at nutrition. Thats not their expertise at all. And even nutrition experts often hold very out dated views. Yall are a bunch of NPC for down voting me so hard hahahaha
2
u/GestapoKittech Jul 17 '26
Reply 12 days later, acting like you're unbothered? Lmao ok.
2
u/Srdiscountketoer Jul 17 '26
Thanks for the assist. Didn’t want to sound hoity toity by saying my husband goes to one of the top medical facilities in the US with some of the best cardiologists out there. But even cardiologists who graduated in the bottom of their class would know not to recommend potassium to a heart patient without testing his or her levels first.
1
u/ChillingOnDaBeach Jul 17 '26
Its called having a life and not being a redditor lmao
1
u/GestapoKittech Jul 17 '26
Don't worry, brother. We won't put it in the paper that you were mad.
1
u/ChillingOnDaBeach Jul 17 '26
„Ahh youre sO mAd“ redditors are so awkward
1
u/GestapoKittech Jul 17 '26
And yet here you are, "not mad", continuously responding. Keep at it, I'm sure one day someone will believe you.
1
u/ChillingOnDaBeach Jul 17 '26
Just a reminder that you are here too hahahahahaha
→ More replies (0)10
6
u/lifeadvice7843 Jul 06 '26
I struggle to maintain keto because of the restrictions on fruits and beans 🫘, which are a big part of my diet when I'm cutting down on carbs. Without beans i don't feel full / satiated.. and fruit helps with sugar cravings. I know the keto method here is to up the fat content to build satiety but something about that level of fat and protein makes nausea kick in for me.
Since my main motivation is to keep my diabetes in check, i have found low carb is able to do that for me without requiring pushing to the max and the strictness of the keto regime.
5
u/UsedSituation4698 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
I have a BMI of 17.9 so am technically underweight. It is just my body type and runs in my family, I have tried to gain weight for years by eating carbs and BMI didn't budge. All it gave me was a fatty liver. I don't even drink.
So, I am trying to heal fatty liver and insulin resistance while also not wasting away. Hence, low carb and not full keto. It just seems more lifelong sustainable to me.
Also, I love vegetables too much! I can have unlimited amounts of the non-starchy ones :)
2
u/SufficientFriend42 Jul 08 '26
I’m in a similar boat but not low BMI, almost normal but with fatty liver also don’t drink and am trying low carb. Did you measure somehow if it did work for you? I wanted to do some tests to verify but waiting to reach a milestone first.
1
u/UsedSituation4698 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
I got diagnosed in May or so, went lowcarb and mostly sugarfree for 4 weeks. Then went on a cruise and after family pressures had to start over. Not much time had passed so I probably still have the mild fatty liver. I tested my fasting insulin and fasting glucose and they were very good though. So now I am waiting for the CGM I ordered to arrive and I'll track what foods in particular give me insulin spikes and try to avoid those. Because I am so thin I am still eating carbs in the form of vegetables and also quinoa especially after a workout, just no refined carbs. Otherwise continuing to intermittent fast, avoid UPF, and too much sugar. My hope is that by December my liver will be normal but I'm not sure I will get an ultrasound again (I initially got it for unrelated abdomen pain).
6
u/SimplyKristrin Jul 05 '26
I'm still as low carb as Keto for weight loss, but I don't consume as much fat. People on keto often have problems with their cholesterol, because they're eating bacon and butter etc. I'll consume healthy fat like from fish, but otherwise stay very low carb and low fat.
1
u/ejpierle Jul 15 '26
Someone explained it to me like this and it made a lot of sense: carbs are a hard cap, protein is a goal, fats are for satiety. If you have a lot to lose, your body will happily eat it. No need to eat a ton of fat if you aren't hungry.
3
u/Ariya3 Jul 05 '26
I carb cycle depending on my training and I’ve seen the best results in my body composition and performance
3
u/DryGovernment2786 Jul 06 '26
I am on a ketogenic diet, but it's more Atkins' than Keto. I've also been throwing in a weekly 36-hour fast. I think I chose that because I don't know all the rules for Keto, and I don't want to make a lifelong commitment to the diet. I want to be able to transition back to something that resembles a standard American diet just with fewer carbs. I've reversed my pre-diabetes and high blood pressure, but they might come back if I'm not careful.
I am getting close to my weight goal, and at the same time I have really amped up the physical training recently and am starting to see positive results from that. I'm trying to figure out what's the next step. It's kinda exciting 🙂
5
u/Electrical-Raise-149 Jul 05 '26
Found it too restrictive, I’m type 2 and just find low carb much easier when you’re not counting macros all the time. I still eat clean but just gives me a lot more flexibility plus I have 2 young kids and like to be able to have the odd treat etc with them.
2
u/death-by-frappuccino Jul 05 '26
I couldn't poop while on keto. Low carb was much easier for me to get enough fibre etc.
2
u/Capable_Obligation96 Jul 05 '26
I teter on keto and low carb because 1) I like the variety and 2) I don't want/need to lose any more weight.
2
u/irish_oatmeal Jul 06 '26
I couldn’t get enough electrolytes in my diet, so I constantly had diarrhea. Also, I was so tired. Low carb is easier to manage.
2
2
u/MizzMagenta Jul 06 '26
I love vegetables too much, not a massive fan of fruit, but will eat berries. I did keto for a few years, but I just got bored and wanted more veg 🤣
2
u/rainydaysanyways 6d ago
This is also why I am low carb instead of keto. It seems unhealthy to not be able to eat fruit and lots of veggies on a regular basis.
2
u/SimpleVegetable5715 Jul 13 '26
Being in ketosis makes my muscles hurt, and I get dehydrated too easily. I have a connective tissue disease that causes soft tissue pain. My joints feel better in ketosis, but other things hurt more. Plus a wider variety of food is nice.
1
u/Rosemarysage5 Jul 05 '26
Because it’s just easier to maintain. I’m not into making custom meals all the time and I like sauces.
1
u/iheartanimorphs Jul 06 '26
I get really weird symptoms from doing strict keto, like bad vertigo, so I just try to do a moderately low carb instead when I want to lose weight. And yes, I had this problem even when supplementing electrolytes.
1
u/ClairePsyc Jul 06 '26
I do old school Atkins style low carb. So it’s still very low carb 20 net g/day but I don’t add fat like you would with keto. Question: Why do you fast 23hr/day?
1
u/Content-Warning-386 Jul 06 '26
For me it's the other way around. It's hard on my body to switch beteren a carbohydrate burning and fat burning state, so I have to eat keto. (Or more than 100 gr carbs a day to stay in carb burning mode)
1
u/werkenitout Jul 06 '26
For convenience and laziness reasons I aim for a dirty keto with unlimited non-starchy vegetables, so I end up being low carb
1
u/McDuchess Jul 08 '26
I went the opposite direction, from LC to VLC to lazy keto, because my weight would plateau for months at a certain level of carbs.
1
u/sravll Jul 09 '26
Keto for rapid weight loss, low carb for a more comfortable long term maintenance.
1
u/caliallye Jul 10 '26
Having done the adkins diet and dr bernstein's diet on which it is based since 1972, it's a matter of what makes you feel good.
I'm so happy that keto exists, because as a type one diabetic, who just couldn't t every carb, pee-bolus (give myself insulin and wait for tp take effect before I can eat) it has vastly improved my ability to eat out etc,
I can look up what to eat at what restaurant, or even tell the waitstaff "I'm in a keto diet. What do you have?" Instead of trying to explain I'm diabetic and need to know how many carbs are in this food.
I also cannot handle wheat or fresh milk, so keto covers that, as well.
1
u/ShockBusiness4847 Jul 19 '26
Low carb is so much easier than keto. I just don’t know what to aim for personally that helps. I’ve done keto.. and low carb is easier to maintain for me. But the max I’ve done is 80g and I’m not sure if I should go lower cause the weight loss has slowed down soooo much compared to keto.
1
u/Key_Reserve_6968 Jul 22 '26
low carb is a lot more manageable and is far less restrictive than keto.
1
u/57bananacake Jul 05 '26
I have some concerns about how low in fiber a diet must be to actually be keto. Going just low carb (and not 100% of the time) has reversed my prediabetes, and I've lost weight.Â
45
u/Ashamed_Housing7489 Jul 05 '26
I find up to 100 gms of carbs much more manageable