Metabolic Health
Here’s What Happened When I Replaced Carbs with Healthy Fats for Two Decades.
Ten remarkable health benefits of using healthy fats for energy sources based on my years of experience.
The Power of a Single Nutritional Shift
This article reflects two decades of experience depicting my health transformation with a single nutritional shift (from glucose to fat metabolism), making a robust health and fitness impact with no side effects.
As a result, I experienced ten metabolic and mental health benefits outlined in this post.
Unlike claims from my friends, colleagues, and family members, cutting carbs did not slow down my metabolism.
Instead, it had an adverse effect. My metabolism significantly increased.
Of course, cutting carbs and reducing protein without eating healthy fat will harm metabolism. But healthy fats will have a protective effect due to hormonal advantages.
My solution might not apply to everyone, as some people tolerate carbs better than others. Nevertheless, it was an eye-opening moment when I learned to be carb-intolerant. I did not even know such a thing existed.
More interestingly, when I learned carbs were not essential, I got distressed and angry with biased literature and lost my trust in sloppy nutrition scientists of the past.
Ironically, even though some fats are essential and carbs are not, some nutritionists adamantly demonize fat. They try to encourage people to consume more carbs with hypothetical scenarios, fearing that their metabolism will slow down if they don’t consume carbs.
If anyone doubts the benefits of saturated fats, I refer to Nina Teicholz’s award-winning book titled “The Big Fat Surprise: why butter, meat, and cheese belong in a healthy diet.”
Nina put a decade of intensive and diligent research effort into debunking misinformation that caused havoc in the metabolism of millions of people globally.
I hope you gain insights from the ten benefits I gained by shifting from sugar to fat-burning metabolism at a high level.
1 — I lost 50 pounds of visceral fat in the first two years.
I was overweight at the onset of type II diabetes with excessive visceral fat in my younger years. The primary cause of fat accumulation was refined carbs and refraining from healthy fats.
Like many people in my younger years, I had a fatphobia refraining from saturated fats with the fear of cholesterol. But, ironically, my bad cholesterol was much higher than nowadays when I consume saturated fats in order of magnitude.
Cholesterol is essential for every cell in the body. If we don’t consume it, the body will manufacture it with its own resources. And it would create even more than what we consume. I believe our bodies are smarter than nutrition scientists of the last few decades.
I shared my perspectives on the cholesterol paradox in a story titled Cholesterol Paradox and How It Impacted My Health Positively.
I used to exercise more, even running long distances but never was able to tap into belly fat.
My bulging belly always stayed and even grew bigger while I lost precious muscles when over-exercising and consuming refined carbs as an energy source with frequent and multiple snacks.
When I switched from carbs to healthy fats, consuming more fat, I lost at least 20 pounds in the first year. Then each year, gradual fat loss continued.
It was sustainable because I never got back the 50 pounds I lost over 20 years ago.
2 — My muscle quality increased by 60% in two years.
Our hormones play a critical role in improving muscles.
When I was eating refined carbs and refraining from healthy food over 20 years ago, my testosterone levels were much lower than my current levels.
Ironically, I was younger and supposed to have more testosterone, but it was not the case. In addition, my growth hormone was lower, and cortisol (stress hormone) was elevated.
Why do they matter?
Because growth hormone is anabolic and cortisol is catabolic for muscles. When I increased growth hormone and testosterone and reduced cortisol, my muscles grew, but not too much. I gained lean muscles.
After a year, a DEXA scan indicated 40%, and after the second year, it showed a 60% improvement in my muscle quality.
3 — My inflammation markers decreased, and back/joint pains disappeared in three years.
My inflammation markers were extremely high when I consumed too many refined carbs to get energy and refrained from healthy fats.
As a result, my body inflamed at such a young age and created autoimmune conditions. Living with arthritis was not fun.
When I entirely cut carbs and replaced them with healthy fats in the first year, my inflammation markers significantly dropped. Debilitating back pains and joint pains diminished.
Each year, I felt better living without inflammation and pain.
After a decade, all symptoms of arthritis disappeared. My joints got more functional. I did not need anti-inflammatory medication and painkillers.
4 — I gained a 60% testosterone and 180% growth hormone increase in the first year.
The most significant hormonal benefit of replacing carbs with healthy fats was increased testosterone and growth hormone, which contributed to reducing my elevated cortisol.
I owe my testosterone boost mainly to healthy fats. However, the significant impact on a growth hormone was due to time-restricted eating, which healthy fats allowed me to do.
Fasting with a ketogenic diet can significantly increase growth hormone, as documented in the body of knowledge. In addition, fasting can change brain chemistry favorably. I wish we could package fasting as a therapeutic tool.
5 — My body became exceptionally insulin and leptin sensitive in a decade.
When consuming excessive carbs and not eating healthy fats, my body became insulin and leptin resistant in my younger years. In addition, my waistline indicated metabolic syndrome.
Living with insulin resistance made me closer to becoming a diabetic at a young age. In addition, being leptin resistant was causing emotional eating adding more fuel to the fire.
When I cut carbs and replaced them with healthy fats, my body became insulin and leptin sensitive, preventing me from overeating and causing metabolic and mental health issues like brain fog at a young age.
6 — My elevated cortisol normalized in a year.
Living with elevated cortisol was a terrible experience in my life. It was an indicator of my chronic stress affecting almost all aspects of my health and well-being.
When cortisol levels were high, I couldn’t sleep. It further increased my stress and cortisol levels. It was a catch-22 situation.
When cortisol levels are elevated for a prolonged time, it is impossible to lose belly fat. If we attempt to cut calories by eating less and exercising more, the penalty is heavy as we end up losing our precious muscles.
7 — I gained six-pack abs and eliminated loose skin.
I never had abs in my younger years. I thought my genetic makeup would not allow it.
Besides, some healthcare professionals made me believe it because I was running 10 km a day by cutting calories but still not losing belly fat. I thought belly fat must be in my genes.
Gaining six-pack abs only happened the first time in my life after my mid-life crisis, almost after a decade when I entirely cut carbs and started eating healthy fats.
And of course, time-restricted eating contributed to it and helped me eliminate my loose skin through autophagy, initiating the benefits of fasting.
Until my early 30s, I was chubby and experienced a dozen complex health conditions. Gaining abs was an indicator of my good health and fitness.
By the way, I am not into aesthetics. I don’t even have a personal Instagram account to show my body with selfies.
8 — My anxiety, brain fog, and mild depression disappeared in a year.
I firmly believe that my mental health issues were significantly caused by excessive carbs elevating my blood sugar and making me insulin resistant.
I studied the effects of insulin resistance on the brain, reviewing its impact on neurodegenerative disorders like dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease. During those studies, I also noticed the effects of insulin resistance on anxiety, brain fog, and depression.
Even though I had a sharp mind in my teenage years, my mental faculties diminished in my early 20s when consuming too many carbs and did not eat healthy fats due to misinformation.
When I cut the carbs completely and replaced them with healthy fats, symptoms of anxiety, brain fog, and depressive thoughts disappeared.
9 — My mood changed to a more joyful one.
The hormonal effects of healthy fats by removing carbs enhanced my mood. My brain gained a neurochemically advantaged position.
My joy and improved mood were primarily due to the effects of ketosis on the brain, increasing BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor).
Furthermore, reduced inflammation, diminished pain, increased energy from fat stores, and improved mitochondria significantly affected my mental energy, enhancing my mood.
10 — I gained unlimited physical and mental energy even if I didn’t eat food for long.
The best contribution of healthy fats was making my body fat adapted. When the body becomes fat-adapted, it uses stored fat as energy. As long as we are not anorexic, the body fat is almost unlimited as the body regulates it meticulously.
Another benefit of a fat-adapted state is going into ketosis quickly. For example, when I did not eat for 10–12 hours, my body started producing ketones as I did not consume carbs, so glycogen stores quickly emptied.
After glucose, the brain can utilize ketones BHP (β-hydroxybutyrate) as an energy source which is, in fact, cleaner than glucose in the brain.
So even if we don’t eat any carbs for years, the body can still create the required glucose through gluconeogenesis and continue running with supplemented ketones from the liver.
I used the term “unlimited” because even if we don’t eat for a long time, we can still have energy. So my point is we are not limited to eating food to get energy.
Conclusions and Takeaways
I am a flexible and open-minded person. However, based on my knowledge and substantial experience, I don’t believe anyone can change my beliefs about the importance of healthy fats for our metabolism and mental health.
I have no association or affiliation with any fat production companies.
Through years of diligent investigation, I have not come across a single study demonstrating the harmful effects of healthy fats.
Many studies attacked healthy fats, but those fake studies were biased with ulterior motives, mainly sponsored by nutrition companies as documented by rigorous scientists and caring journalists like Nina Teicholz and Gary Taubes.
Sadly, some of our naïve and trusted scientists have become a catalyst on this serious matter affecting the health of millions of vulnerable people with misinformation.
Unfortunately, despite debunked hypotheses, some people still refrain from healthy fats, believing they cause fat gain and heart disease.
Healthy fats might mean different things to different people. However, based on my experience and reviews, my definition includes omega-three fatty acids (DHA/EPA), saturated, and monosaturated fats in balanced ratios. Here is my experience with Omega-3 Fatty Acids for the Body and Brain.
I documented my battle with carbs and fiber from a different angle.
I documented my experience with healthy fats in this short story.
Here is my perspective on cholesterol.
Choosing a zero-carbs eating regime with a ketogenic lifestyle supplemented with time-restricted eating one meal a day has been the best decision so far, considering the benefits and not experiencing any side effects.
The only takeaway from this piece is not believing false information and claims and diligently searching the body of knowledge with the help of qualified medical professionals who understand the importance of healthy fats and the harmful effects of refined carbs.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
Here is a glimpse of my fat loss journey.
Here are my perspectives on hormones that I have been studying for many years.
Here’s What Happened on One-Meal-a-Day After 15 Years.
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