When many people think of low carb diets they imagine they must be very high protein. Whilst the elimination of the majority of carbs almost inevitably leads to a correspondingly high consumption of protein foods such as meat, fish and eggs, the majority of the calories in a high protein diet, so called, should actually come from the fat in those proteinaceous foods.
So the high protein low carb diet is based around meat, fish, eggs, poultry, cream, butter, olive oil, coconut oil, lard, and nuts. Great salads can be enjoyed including a drizzle of olive oil. Lovely "full English" style breakfasts can be indulged in - bacon and eggs and high quality sausages, fried in olive oil or coconut oil. Lovely dinners of duck, goose or rib eye steak can be had, succulent and tasty, with green leafy vegetables.
A high protein diet is not about counting calories and depriving yourself, in fact you should eat until you are satisfied, but that doesn't mean busting at the seams! It is still a good idea to be aware of your eating and to only eat until you're no longer hungry, not wait until you are so full you can't move. The combination of protein and pure fats ensures it is almost impossible to really overeat. If you kept on eating the way you might do with carb and fat laden foods like ice cream, cookies, potato chips or cake, you would feel pretty sick much sooner. Hence the idea is that the diet will be calorifically self-limiting anyway.
Ketosis is something you strive to achieve on a high protein low carb diet. The state of ketosis is not a dangerous one (do not confuse it with a similar-sounding condition, ketoacidosis). It is what happens when your metabolism, in the absence of excessive carbs, turns to burning fat for energy instead of carbs. This means that the liver produces chemicals known as ketones, made from fat, and you burn these for energy instead of glucose and glycogen. Ketones cannot be stored again as fat, so they are excreted in the urine. Test strips can be used which reveal the presence of ketones in the urine and confirm whether you are in ketosis, and achieving healthy weight loss.
Make sure you don't avoid good fats on a high protein diet, so that you feel fuller for longer, and encourage ketosis and the burning of fat for fuel. Some Doctors believe that the consumption of excessive protein puts strain on the kidneys but not everyone agrees with this. As long as you don't go low-fat as well as high protein low carb, you should be OK for healthy weight loss.
