My LCHF 80/20 Eating Rule  

All plant food that can be consumed by human is carbohydrate food. 

Carbohydrate food is any food that when digested is converted into sugar. However, there are many types of sugar. They are:

1. Single sugar component

a) Glucose—This can be metabolized by any cell and is the main source of energy together with fat.

b) Fructose—Thiscan only be metabolized by the liver cell. Fructose comes from many fruits, honey, berries and most root vegetables. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose).

c) Galactose—This is a component of milk sugar lactose and is found in plant cell membranes and in many tissues.

2. Two sugar combinations

         a) Sucrose is a combination of glucose and fructose

         b) Lactose is a combination of glucose and galactose

         c) Maltose is a combination of two glucoses

3. Multi-sugar combinations in the form of fiber that is digestible

a) Glycogen in animal meat

b) Starch in plant, grains, rice, Basmati rice, root vegetables

4. Multi-sugar combinations in the form of fiber that is indigestible

a) Soluble such as beans, nuts, oats, oat bran, rice bran, legume, barley, citrus fruits, apple, strawberries, peas.

b) Insoluble such as wheat bran, husk, whole grains, cereal seeds, skins of many fruits and vegetables.

It is vitally important to know that the entire bloodstream of an adult contains only about 5 – 7 liters of blood. Out of this 5 – 7 liters there is 100mg/dL of sugar. It can be mathematically calculated to be 7 gm of blood sugar in the entire blood stream.. This 7 gm is equivalent to a spoonful of sugar. Also know that when we have one and a half teaspoons of sugar in our blood, we are medically considered to have Type 2 Diabetes!!  The question we need to ask ourselves is: Why continue to add so many teaspoons of sugar into our diet? A can of Coca-Cola contains 10 teaspoons of sugar. When we eat a meal of 3 servings of carbohydrates it is about 45 gm. This is equivalent to 10 – 15 spoonfuls of sugar!!! Listen to Dr. Eric Westman presenting The Science Behind Low Carb High Fathttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCGDAwp-y0o

Wikipedia states the following: Blood sugar level “of 75 kg with a blood volume of 5 liters, a blood glucose level of 5.5 mmol/L (100 mg/dL) amounts to 5g, equivalent to about a teaspoonful of sugar.”

I find it difficult to grasp what glycaemic index or glycaemic load or calories or grams of the food that I eat means. It is much easier and faster for me to understand it when it is calculated as equivalent to teaspoonfuls of sugar. For example, seeHow many teaspoons of sugar are in our food? By Dr David Unwin.  https://youtu.be/sa7ggkDatps or https://phcuk.org/sugar/

For those who are interested to know how Dr David Unwin converted the Glycaemic Index and Glycaemic load into equivalent teaspoonfuls of sugar, you can download it in his paper in VOL 1, NO 1 (2016)

https://insulinresistance.org/index.php/jir/article/view/8

Food	Equivalent teaspoonfuls of sugar
Honey, 100g	17.6
Raisins, 60g	10.3
Brown Rice, 150g	10.1
White Rice, 150g	9.1
Potato, boiled, 150g	9.1
Apple Juice, 200ml	8.6
Cornflakes, 30g	8.4
French Fries, 150g	7.5
Coco Pops, 30g	7.3
Small Baked Potato	6 to 8
Spaghetti, 180g	6.6
Banana, 120g	5.7
Wholegrain Barley 30g	5.5
Bran Flakes, 30g	4.8
Oat Porridge, 150g	4.5
Mini Wheat, 30g	4.4
Sweet Corn, 80g	4.0
Rye, 80g	4.0
Grapes, 120g	4.0
White Bread, 30g	3.7
Brown Bread, 30g	3.3
Oatmeal, 30g	3.3
Pita, Wholemeal, 30g	2.9
Raspberry Yoghurt,100g	2.4
Apple, 120g	2.3
Watermelon, 120g	1.8
Nectarines, 120g	1.5
Strawberries, 120g	1.4
Pear, Peas, 80g	1.3
Apricots, 120g	1.1
Milk,125ml	1.0
Broccoli, 80g	0.2
Cabbage, 80g	0.1
Eggs, 60g	0

When we are healthy the food we consume are metabolized well and we have no health issues. But when we eat too much carbohydrate and snack too often, then our body doesn’t metabolize the food properly.  Firstly, the excess fructose in the liver cannot be converted into energy but becomes fat to be stored as fat in the liver, giving rise to fatty liver. Secondly, the cells in the body cannot absorb the excess glucose in the blood stream and these are then converted into fat to be stored all over the body. We become obese, over weight and develop a belly. We thus become unhealthy.

I have fatty liver, type 2 diabetes, liver cancer, cirrhosis, chronic dry cough, hypothyroid, hyper-tension, belly fat, gum and teeth problems, sleep apnea and constipation. Having listened to the many videos in my Type 2 Diabetes article, I believe that many of these diseases could be caused by lifestyle and diet. But there are too many diets to be considered and they tend to be confusing. 

I want to burn the fat in my liver and belly and to lose weight, so I decide to go for intermittent fasting and low carbohydrate and high fat diet (LCHF diet). Seehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-carbohydrate_diet , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable_oil and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_fat. 

I have simplified the diet for me to focus on. 

My LCHF 80/20 Eating Rules are: 

Food I Avoid 

1) Fructose-—Avoid corn syrup fructose. Don’t take sweet fruits. I took a small cup of papaya and in 15 to 40 to 60 minutes the glucose level went up from 4.2 to 5.8 and level at 4.9 mmol/L. 

2) Sugar—Table sugar, all processed and refined sugar such as cereal, canned fruits, carbonated drinks, fruit juices, ketchup, creamy dressings, muffins, cakes, candy, jams, ice-scream, and desserts. These foods metabolize into very much more than one equivalent teaspoonful of sugar and/or fructose.

3) Starch—Avoid potatoes, sweet potatoes, white rice, cassava, tapioca, yam, corn, wheat, maize, root vegetables. These foods metabolize into very much more than one equivalent teaspoonful of sugar and/or fructose.

4) Simple carbohydrates—Avoid processed food based on flour, such as bread, pizza, pasta, chips, cookies, biscuits, doughnuts and noodles. These foods metabolize into very much morethan one equivalent teaspoonful of sugar and/or fructose.

5) Oil—Avoid all hydrogenated vegetable oil except extra virgin olive oil and organic coconut oil. 

6) Processed Fat—Avoid sausages, glazed meats, bacon, deep fried foods, margarine.

7) Additives—Avoid sweeteners, aspartame, maltodextrin, dextrose, polydextrose. 

8) Bulking agents and fillers in food.

Food I Take (LCHF)

1) Low Carbs (LC) food to take

 Fruits—I take avocado, green kiwi, star fruit, sour sop, dragon fruit, custard apple, guava.

 Raw nuts like macadamia, pecan, walnut. 

 Seeds like flax, chai, hemp and pumpkin.

Green leafy vegetables like Swiss chards, baby spinach, arugula, kale, lettuce, bok choy.

Bitter vegetables like bitter gourd, mustard green, asparagus, parsley.  

Non-starchy fibrous vegetables like olives, broccoli, peppers, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, mushroom, okra, zucchini, tomatoes, onion, garlic, turmeric.

Fiber like beans, oat bran, legume, barley, peas, wheat bran, husk, skins of many fruits.

All these foods metabolize into very, very much less than one equivalent teaspoonful of sugar and/or fructose.

2) High Fat (HF) food to take in moderation—grass-fedmeat, oily fish, seafood, chicken, turkey, tallow, lard, ghee, grass-fed butter, goat cheese, mozzarella cheese, eggs, bone broth. 

Understand that our bodies are dynamic and we react differently to the food we consume at different times and from one another. What is OK at one period may not be OK at another. And what is alright for one person may not be all right for another. We should thus experiment and adjust to the carbohydrate and fruits that suit us at that particular period. 

         Written on 15 November 2019