Low-Carb Life 2024
Well, it's Sunday.
Sunday is the day I write whatever I want.
I hope you'll join me for a relaxed read.
It's been about a year since I started my low-carb life.
I do feel a bit of guilt, at least.
...I do feel it, but lately I've been eating sweets here and there.
Yesterday, I even had a McFlurry. That's not good.
This is completely unrelated, but McDonald's fries are delicious, aren't they?
Some people say, "McDonald's isn't a burger shop, it's a french fry shop," and I completely agree.
I saw a popularity poll for McDonald's menu items on a site called "Minna no Ranking," and even there, the McFry Potato took first place, far ahead of the second-place Chicken McNuggets.
Still, first place is fries and second is nuggets. (lol)
Things I'm careful about
That said, I try not to drink sugary beverages.
Until last year, I drank a ton of energy drinks, but for the past year, I've only been drinking black coffee, tea, or sugar-free sparkling water. (I say that, but now that I think about it, I do drink Coca-Cola Zero at McDonald's...)
Also, I try not to eat beef bowls or ramen.
Especially beef bowls... I consider those a lump of carbohydrates. After all, the bottom of a beef bowl is rice, right? Carbohydrates break down into glucose, and the meat on top must be seasoned with a considerable amount of sugar to get that flavor.
Oops, my apologies if anyone in the beef bowl industry is reading this.
I actually like beef bowls, I'm just refraining from eating them. Same goes for ramen, sorry.
The mechanism of fat accumulation in the liver
The purpose of my low-carb life isn't to lose weight, but to reduce fat in my liver. Therefore, I believe the most inconvenient thing for me is "a rapid, large secretion of insulin."
The liver is called the "body's chemical factory"; it converts glucose in the blood into a substance called glycogen for storage, and when blood glucose is low, it converts glycogen back into glucose and releases it into the blood (though it does more than that). However, when glycogen exceeds a certain amount and can no longer be stored, the liver tries to store glucose by converting it into neutral fat.
Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas. The pancreas secretes insulin in response to glucose concentration, and since insulin works to keep blood sugar levels constant, it promotes the liver's uptake of glucose from the blood.
My goal with low-carb is to mitigate that spiral.
The effects of one year are showing
My weight, which dropped by a maximum of 11kg since starting my low-carb life, is currently in the middle of a rebound and has gone back up by about 1kg. That said, it's still hovering around minus 10kg, so I'll consider that okay for now. Well, the goal isn't to lose weight, but to lose liver fat, after all.
My liver function (specifically ALT, which was particularly bad), which was rated B in last year's health checkup, has successfully returned to an A rating this year. Thanks to that, my body feels lighter, and running is easier. (Though I don't run much.)
Also, I stopped getting hangovers.
That must be proof that my liver function has normalized. I didn't notice because I don't go out drinking that often, but even when I think "I might have had a bit too much" this year, I've been able to wake up feeling refreshed the next morning.
Let's cherish the small triggers
When I think about it, it was a vicious cycle.
I cut back on sleep to work, ate high-carb meals for a quick fix, drank about two energy drinks a day to compensate for the lack of sleep, and as a result, damaged my liver. It took years for that to show up in my health checkup results.
The liver is a silent organ.
Until the year before last, I was living my life normally and didn't think my health was particularly bad. Of course, I didn't have any life-threatening symptoms, but I'm sure my liver was definitely damaged. Even though I don't drink that much alcohol.
No matter what you do, a trigger is important.
But that trigger, well, it doesn't really lead to action unless something desperate happens, does it...
Thinking that again, I am drinking black coffee this morning as well.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Thank you for reading until the end.
I have listed the articles I have written so far in a sitemap.
Please, take a look.
<<A person who thinks scientifically>>