Despite the fact that keto or ketogenic diets seem to have won the game in recent times, there were a few years in which low-carb diets (low carbohydrates) became very fashionable, especially among celebrities and influencers. The difference between the two is that keto restricts carbohydrate consumption to such an extent that it forces the body into ketosis. This occurs when the body begins to use fats for energy, generating what is known as ketone bodies, which only occurs when the carbohydrate intake does not exceed 5% of the daily total, that is, between about 15 and 20 grams. approximately.
However, in the case of low-carb diets, carbohydrate intake is around 70 grams, which causes, in the words of the doctor and nutritionist Nuria Monfulleda, from the Loveyourself center (Barcelona), "that we are subjecting the body , to put an economic simile, to a feeling similar to never making ends meet: one month and another and another and another... Obviously, the body reacts and asks us for the hydrates it needs in the most diverse ways ", assures the expert, who recommends a daily consumption of between 100 and 110 grams "so that the body can go calm and we can maintain a balanced diet in the long term."
The nutritionist Fátima Branco has the same opinion: "It is clear that the classic food pyramid, which promoted the consumption of carbohydrates as the basis of the diet, is obsolete, and that over time it has been shown that this excess can cause overweight and other problems. But from there to almost completely restricting them there is a stretch. Limiting carbohydrates to that point means that the body will ask us for it, which will generate anxiety and can lead us to binge on sweets at specific times. " Another problem with low-carbohydrate diets, whether they are keto or not, is that fruit intake is practically completely restricted, which, according to Branco, "can never be part of a balanced diet."
For Monfulleda, then, "the best thing is to follow a diet with a good intake of carbohydrates, which allows us to maintain energy throughout the day and can be done in the long term. If we wish, but only if we feel like it, this can be alternated with intervals of 14 days of keto from time to time: that is, restricting the consumption of carbohydrates to such an extent that our body is forced to generate new mechanisms to obtain energy and therefore the diet becomes more bearable ".
Monfulleda also recalls that before going on any diet "it is important to know where we are, what percentage of fat we have and what weight our body is comfortable at". In this sense, he points out that "sometimes it happens that people with a healthy fat percentage (a figure that depends on age, sex and other factors) make titanic efforts to reach a desired weight that the body resists, in such a way that any diet will be in vain if maintenance is not given, which is usually very hard. In these cases, each person must weigh whether it is worth it".
Without further ado, and with Monfulleda's reluctance towards a diet that "should never be maintained in the long term, although it can serve to deflate the body and lose fluids if done occasionally, for a maximum of one month", I began my fifteen-year journey very long days for a series of tables without bread, without pasta or rice or potatoes and hardly any fruit. A journey through the desert that, in addition to carbohydrates, also robs you of joy.
What does the diet proposed by Monfulleda consist of? Above all vegetables and grilled (white fish, blue fish, chicken and beef, without potatoes and, sometimes, with a small contribution of carrot). For breakfast, fresh cheese shake with a handful of blueberries and nuts, at mid-morning a few slices of ham or light cheese and a protein yogurt for snack.
Five meals a day, apparently satiating and, in essence, not so different from what anyone who follows a varied Mediterranean diet can eat on a daily basis. Monfulleda assures that "there is no standard diet that can be passed from one to the other, since the ideal is to try to adapt the meals to the lifestyle and preferences of each person, so that a breakfast that may work for you someone else could be a real pain in the ass. With any diet, it's important to try to get people to like what they eat. Otherwise, you'll always end up failing."
So let's start. The first day is bearable. It's Monday, we come from the weekend and the body seems to appreciate the breather. The second one is also going well, because the amounts are generous and the body seems to be happy with that dose of protein that, perhaps, it did not have. Monfulleda confirms it. "In general, we tend to eat more carbohydrates, which are immediate and easy energy for the brain, and inadvertently restrict protein, which should not happen. This is essential to maintain muscle mass and we must distribute it throughout the day, if possible at all meals. What happens? It's difficult to digest and our body tends to avoid it: nobody wants to eat a can of tuna a palo seco. But it's satiating and feels good, so the body Thank you for it", explains the specialist, who recalls: "in a few days you will have a smooth abdomen, since carbohydrates usually cause bloating. The phenomenon is as simple as when you put a piece of bread in a glass of water. Why? does it swell? Doesn't the same thing happen if you put a piece of beef in? Well, there's the explanation."
Monfulleda also remembers that the first days it is normal to lose fluids, which means one thing that he always reminds his patients: do not pay attention to the scale, or at least not excessively. "What we should look at is fat loss, which is precisely calculated with an anthropometric scale, since the overall weight can fluctuate depending on factors such as whether we have gone to the bathroom, are ovulating, have our period, etc." Branco agrees and laments: "The worst part of my job is having to use the scale. Sometimes I feel like a teacher giving exams, but unfortunately it's the only way to keep track."
After a couple of days with an excellent relationship between me and my low-carb diet, comes the first blow. Life leads me to taste the menu prepared by chef Marc Gascons in Els Tinars (Girona) and not being able to escape from that "lock in" that at any other time would have been a pleasure. The initial plan on my part was to try to order a fish dish with a vegetable garnish, but I failed because Gascons had prepared a bespoke menu for us that he could not refuse under any circumstances. From lost, to the river: I didn't leave a crumb and, of course, I even drank the water from the vases without stopping thinking about Monfulleda's face.
That same night I called her to explain it to her. "It is very normal, it happens in all diets. We are social beings and there is always a moment when we are going to find ourselves in a situation like this. When this happens I always ask my patients what they do when they drop their mobile on the ground and the screen breaks a bit. Do you kick him around or pick him up and try to fix it? Well, the same with the diet, "he tells me on the other end of the phone.
The Loveyourself nutritionist points out that social life is usually the main impediment when it comes to following a diet, since on many occasions they are incompatible. "Managing social commitments that involve eating and drinking is something that you have to learn and that really depends on what the objective is. If there is a lot of weight left over and it is really necessary to get serious, you have to restrict your social life, there is no other option. Me I recommend taking the box with you, or having a Coca-Cola Zero and waiting to eat at home or, in the event that it is unavoidable, ask for a protein from the menu. In any case, if we have not been able to follow the diet, it is about not flog yourself and continue with what was prescribed the next day," he says.
So, following his recommendations, I continue the diet for a few more days and, little by little, my body begins to complain. I am more tired (a lack of energy that manifests itself, above all, when walking or climbing stairs, the unmistakable feeling that you are running out of gas), I am also in a worse mood and progressively I am beginning to have canine hunger as well. An unusual hunger, which I don't remember ever experiencing with the same intensity. A hunger that doesn't quite stop eating, a constant feeling of not being satisfied and a very annoying thought throughout the day: I spend the day thinking about eating, especially in the afternoons. "You are having a slow and progressive drop in sugar and this makes you lack energy and, obviously, in a bad mood," explains Monfulleda. "If you were on keto, the body would have suddenly dropped sugar and now you would be fine, because your body would generate energy in another way, whereas then all you get is to be in this permanent state that, unfortunately, is not going to go to better".
And then it happened: I ate a sandwich. It was 11 in the morning and the idea of holding out until that plate of green beans with carrots and chicken breast accompanied by medallions of goat cheese and a pinch of tomato was insufferable. It wasn't bad, but my body was starting to seriously resist me giving it more and more of all this.
There, Monfulleda explained to me later, my ruin began. "From the moment you ate that sandwich, you started to want to eat carbohydrates again and from then on, everything went wrong." Boy, did it go wrong: the last three or four days I was a lost soul who ate at 1 pm, snacked on my protein yogurt at 3 pm, and spent the rest of the day cursing my luck until it was time to eat dinner, to gobble up rather, some green asparagus with prawns that tasted like nothing to me. Fatigue and bad mood were increasing, and I would have sent everything to hell if it hadn't been for my duty to La Vanguardia, to Monfulleda and – a little less, why deny it – to myself.
I finish as I can, having introduced a little piece of bread and having stopped calculating the quantities like the first days and I arrive at the Monfulleda consultation around noon with a reservation already scheduled for days in an Argentine steakhouse, in which I think they are going to remember for a long time. "Why do people do this?" I ask, devastated. "Because we do a lot of nonsense to lose weight quickly. That's why I always say it: the best thing is to keep it, try not to gain it so you don't have to lose it later."
Despite the ups and downs, the sandwich and the Els Tinars tasting menu, I have lost 2.3 kg, of which 1.6 kg are fat, including visceral fat. Very good result, says Monfulleda, who takes the opportunity to talk to me about what, according to her, is another myth: the rebound effect, the fear of anyone who achieves rapid weight loss. "The rebound effect does not exist as such. If you follow a diet in which you consume fewer calories than you need, obviously you will lose weight. If you then continue eating the calories you need to maintain it, you will not gain it. The problem is that When there have been, as is your case, very restrictive carbohydrate diets or those that include foods that we do not like, it is normal that we end up binging, eating in one day everything that we have prohibited, but it is not a rebound effect: it is poor intake management," explains Monfulleda. Let them tell it, if not, to those of the Argentine grill.
