Low Carb Diet and Intermittent Fasting Increase Risk of Binge Eating! | Educational Video | Biolayne 

Have never binged harder than on keto. Never felt guiltier. Now I just eat a ton of carbs and keep the fat low and god almighty its amazing for both my physique and psyche.

My cycling coach convinced me to do Keto with the idea of being a fat adapted endurance athlete. It destroyed my gut, caused me to fall into a depressive state and ultimately caused me to leave bike racing on the local level because I was unable to train well enough to compete with my teammates. I will NEVER advise either of these diet methods for anyone. Period. I should have known better. The best day I had that year was after I ate oats in a moment of clarity and could magically climb hills again.

As a psychology student, this was really interesting! The authors have put it very well with the choice of their words!

You the man! Caught you on The Huberman podcast 5 days ago. I’ve probably watched over half your content now. I’ll I gotta say is thank you. Felt the passion from this video.

I follow a lower-carbohydrate diet. At a birthday party for one of my kid's friends they came around and offered cake. My son said, "My dad can't eat cake." I immediately corrected him saying, "No, I can eat cake. But I often choose not to. This time, I choose not to. Another time, I may choose to do so."

What great advice. I experienced the same bing eating yoyo diet on low carb as well. But once I recognized the problem rather than trying keep trying to fight it I embraced it. What I do now is low carb for 2 weeks then I switch to a low fat approach. I maintain the same calorie deficit. And with a window of only 2 weeks by the time I get bored or start getting cravings its time to switch it up. SO it keeps me focused and at the same time I know there is a change of diet just around the corner. What I do is, keep the same protein intake. I just swap the fat and carb intake. Works for me and prevents bing eating.

LOVED this! I'm a personal trainer and nutrition coach (NOT a registered dietician, I'm certified through precision nutrition. always have to make that distinction clear.) I find it fulfilling to help my clients see that the solution is NOT to find "keto/low-carb" snacks to binge on, but to identify the source causing the binge. (i.e. the over-disciplined restriction) The bottom line I've continued to repeat with nutrition---As long as protein and calories are accounted for, it DOES NOT MATTER for fatloss. That means you can create whatever real diet works FOR YOU. Second rule, the only foods that are "off limits" are foods that do not work for the individual. For example, if you have a peanut allergy, DONT EAT PEANUTS! I personally choose to abstain from gluten due to how it flares up my Hashimoto's symptoms. The appropriate times to look at lower carbs is for clients with taste preferences for lower carbs, or a client with diabetes where caloric restriction on it's own isn't safe enough for them. I also just saw a post from Stacy Sims talking about studies on low carb diets affecting gut microbiome in both men and women. (did not verify with due diligence of reading actual study) The client I worked with yesterday is looking textbook now. She's post menopause, has been adopting keto and struggling with binging, and suffering a whole host of symptoms showing gut issues, hormonal issues and struggling to lose body fat specifically in her midsection. (read-gut microbiome directly effects circulating estrogen and body comp) I've been really excited hearing her shift from being judgemental of her "binges" into being curious, and simply observing what meals make her satisfied mentally and physically, and what meals cause the binge. After one week of no food rules, she's ending up binging less, and it's because she literally can have whatever and however much. She didn't have to restrict herself to stop, it happened naturally as she noticed what she wanted and didn't want. She gets to relearn which foods she likes, not which foods were "safe to eat". She gets to learn what she WANTS to eat, not what she CAN/CAN'T eat. I feel rewarded when I see how the compassion I have for others leads them away from the road to disordered eating and into peace, health, and confidence in their body. Because THANK YOU, Layne, for that end piece about the mortality rate of disordered eating. Your passion really shines there and speaks to the power of what well-educated coaches can do in the industry. Lives are on the line, it's not just a diet.

Layne, thanks for being the voice of reason on this. It all seems obvious, but we rarely put it together so well.

I lived this in 2017 after losing 96 pounds eating keto. So much restriction and feeling like I had to look away and keep certain foods out of the house. Also very difficult social situations. I'm on a weight loss journey again now, with the help of a bariatric PA, to lose my post pregnancy weight and yeah it's hard but doable. High protein, moderate carb, lower fat is working 💪

Great advice, great channel ❤️👊🏽🇬🇧

IF for me did the opposite of "binge eating". It improved my insulin resistance, got rid of hunger craving that happen when I go back to nibbling and foraging all waking hours. With IF, I can easily stay on my maintenance cals and stay lean as hell and my strength in the gym and muscle mass is now better. I've never had this much muscle until now. I love what IF did for me.

I have no comment other than "Thank you for this"

Thank you for this! I hope this goes viral!! ❤

Very useful video. Eating disorders are not something I have direct experience with though friends have had trouble with their kids. It’s very tough and should be taken very seriously. This kind of info helps. Thanks Layne.

thanks man, really. im not positive i have an ED but i think im prone to developing one. i do have a habit of eating my feelings and binged a lot as a kid cause we were so poor. obese, diabetic, arthritic psoriasis on my knees and elbows... trying to educate myself about nutrition & health feels like a steep tightrope in a lot of ways, always felt cautious about keto and praise when i see lists of intense rules. i do think ill incorporate keto-like aspects & IF, but this vid helped me reframe my values.

Low carb keto, and carnivore triggered the worst binges for me.

Defininitely subscribing

Carbs became the enemy when Fats become their friend!!! Makes no sense why people cut out food for not reason.

I don’t believe in ‘going on a diet!’ I believe n eating according to my goals.

I coulda said all this from just personal experience in the low carb world. Humanity will see eventually. Science will catch up. Maybe not in this lifetime but high carb low fat is the way to go. Your body and metabolism, your mind and everything else runs better on tons of carbs. And I mean tons. You just gotta give it time. Constantly having full glycogen and redlining leptin does work to increase your metabolism and reduce appetite long term. Mark my damn words lmao.

Then wont the same be said about Fat and those on a low fat diet?

I just listened to SBS latest podcast talking about mindfulness, and this topic seems linked with the mindfulness while eating topic. kinda cool

Just like any other calorie restriction method.

Legend!

Wow, regular Layne video, trucking along, one second to the next shotgun to the head oh btw this industry is the devil, goosebumpy Anime moment, pretty hype, waiting for next episode!

Dose makes the poison and mindset determines the trajectory.

Well, I wonder if this could be generalized... Like if you try to avoid saturated fat, you end up binge eating it, and that's why food recommendations suchs as low fat or high fiber don't work and cause binge eating, gulit and mental problems..

This was exactly my n=1 experience.

I’ve been in ED treatment for two years now, and that black and white thinking is still a bear. My grandma sent me my first diet when I was seven. While I still carried baby fat, I was incredibly active and wasn’t binge eating. The next few years, I continually got the message that my body wasn’t ok, no matter how active I was. (I was a forward in soccer for crying out loud!) Binge eating started in middle school. And when you eat to regulate your emotions (all emotions, not just sadness), it’s hard to trust that you can manage life any other way. My ED therapist says that it takes 5-7 years to recover. When shame is reinforced at every turn, I understand why. The industry created fat phobia and continues to make a lot of money as we pass this from generation to generation. Thank you for shedding light on this.

I would suggest the study didn't pick the brightest of people. Low carb is a fantastic way to control blood sugar and if u binge eat the very things you want to avoid you should never do it. Without any evidence I think generally low carbers should be OK - it's the keto people that could binge as it's really restrictive < 50g. Doing low carb correctly and only eating higher amounts during workouts is a brilliant way to eat personally.

Just me I have been doing low carb high protein since 2020. No sugar as well. I do not get cravings even if I eat a cookie or pasta etc on occasion as long as I have eaten my protein grams for the day. Protein for me controls my cravings and binges.

Oh my god, when I was eating the recommended diet, if I was having pasta for dinner, I would have 2 plates with four or 5 slices of bread. If I was eating a sub, I would have a whole sub Etc I would overeat. I would do three meals a day with snacks in between. When I started Keto with intermittent fasting it got rid of my cravings for sweets I learn to eat in moderation and if I do a cheat day which I do one once a week if it's pasta it's a third of a plate with two slices of bread if I have a sub it's half a sub. If anything, I have gotten control over my overeating. Lastly, there are no more desserts for me because keto helped me kick the sweets addiction I also don't drink alcohol anymore. So I guess I don't fit into these studies narrative.

I hate the whole "carbs" idea. broccoli, fruit, rice and donuts are not the same foods. carbs are not equal

🎉

Moderation is the most forgotten word in the world

The point you made about mindset can’t be emphasized enough. When cutting, I prefer to eat low-fat, high-carb, BUT it isn’t because I think “dietary fat is bad and makes you fat!” It’s because, “This feels like the least restrictive way for me to be in a deficit, since most foods I enjoy tend to be higher-carb and lower-fat anyways and my training benefits from carbs.” And when I implement refeeds, diet breaks, or move into a maintenance/bulk phase to have more calories, I include some more fatty stuff I might have been craving in moderation. When I get a craving, I also have found success by not saying, “I CAN’T have this food, it is BAD.” But instead saying, “I don’t want this food now because it doesn’t align with my goals, so I’m CHOOSING not to eat it. However, this isn’t forever, and I can include this food in the future in moderation.”

If I have one video to share for the rest of my life it would be this one.

I did low carb for about 6 months in the past and I'm still all f*cked up in the head from it.

My limited experience with low carb led me to absolutely crave toast. Not ice cream not cake toast. That ain’t normal. 😂

Family barbecues increase the risk of binge eating.

One of my favorite Layne Norton lines is "Carbs make you fat because insulin bro." Describes so much of the less informed mom and pop as I like to call them low carbers.

I can confirm this is 100% true for me. I was on IF for about 6 months and then decided to add keto. To cut a long story short, I ended up with BED. I am now trying to get back to normal eating. After that, I will tackle the weight loss aspect. If only I knew what I was getting into when I started keto. The IF itself was fine, the problem was the carb restriction.

Thank you for the information. I have felt like such a failure because doing keto/carnivore and ADF and other extreme forms of IF didn’t work for me because of my need to binge on foods I wasn’t allowed to have. Now it all makes sense and I understand that I am not a failure. Thank you Layne. You are healing my diet brain and helping me conquer this problem once and for all! ❤

What a significant study, and great summary by Layne. Critically important info for most of the population.. likely to be lost to the bulls$@$t influencers creating the exact problem the study covers.. Keep fighting the fight Layne. Al Gore's rhythm

Well I mean you could say that everyone doing IF binge eats, because they need to! If you require 2500kcal but only have 4-8 hours of eating time per day then your meals are going to look like binge eating to a person not doing IF!

this study was done by giving surveys to mostly 22 year old females. probably doesn't apply to most of laynes audience

I wonder if there is some selection bias? Maybe they already have trouble binging carbs, so they try to cut carbs? Then end up binging anyway?

I fuckin' love carbs!

Explains my binge eating I guess

I’ve struggled with binge eating for more years than I can remember. Each time I’ve been on too strict of a diet, I’ve lapsed into binging. When I’ve not set ridiculous limitations, I’ve done better.

It looks like this study was designed to put down LC and IF. It must be compared to other diets. It's no surprise that people on ANY diet based on restrictions could give up and binge. And actually most of the 'dieters' do. But if there was an individual flexible approach according to a person's eating behavior and habits, then we could see much more success rate. That's how nutritionists and dietitians work 1 on 1 and get their results. One diet can't fit all. Anyway, thank you for this video. All these videos based on studies are so fun to watch!

Not true for me! Low carb with healthy fat has helped me normalize my weight for the first time in my 70 years of life. And believe me, I've tried everything. It's been at least 5 years since I went on keto. Now I'm low carb. And as long as I eat enough healthy fat I don't have a problem with binge eating. And I tell you honestly, I used to eat until it hurt and then - even then I couldn't stop. I'm 70 years old and I'm finally in a good place with food thanks to a low carb healthy fat diet.

This has been my experience. I got down a lot of weight with OMAD but my weekend binges pushed my surplus up too high. Now, I am eating pretty much all the time and including the binge cals in my tracking. It helps. The all or nothing binge thing is seductive af.

Sitting here drinking some sugary hot cocoa. Thanks for being reasonable. I was a binge restrict orthorexic low carber for too long. My weight is finally stable with intuitive eating and just moving more.

Wow! This hit home with me and makes me feel so good about myself. Six years ago, I weighed 230 pounds. I quit drinking alcohol and went on a super-low carb diet. I lost some weight but, never hit my goal of 160 pounds or slightly lower. My wife is a baker and we always have some treat around the house. I was driving myself insane trying to stick to what “I was told” I “needed” to do to meet my goal. This life was making me unhappy and putting a lot of mental stress on me. I am, for the most part an 18-6 I.F. Eater. Sometimes that schedule doesn’t work out. I quit beating myself up over that FACT. I really began watching my caloric intake. When I did consume baked goods or pretzels, etcetera, I don’t binge on said foods. My life changed for the better. I am now going on eight-months of maintaining 159 pounds and weigh myself twice a week at the same time on those given days. This has both simplified my life and taken any guilt out of the equation. The best part of this whole scenario is that when people ask me, “what do you eat to stay so lean”, I can answer, “anything I want to”. I will add that I “exercise” on average, two-hours a day. (Resistance train and hike or bicycle six-days a week) I am happy, not obsessed with any part of my routine and am off the “cocktail” of statins and blood pressure meds. BTW, I will be 61 years-old next month. I have really never felt better, both physically and mentally. Thanks so much for this video!

1:41 - it is not society so much as it is other women in particular and this needs to be more widely known. Women could be so vicious to one another it is insane!

Growing up would I would hear my moms friends say they were on a diet. 2 things that stuck out to me: they were always over weight and they sipped on a giant sized Diet Coke.

Anecdotally speaking, when I was at rock bottom with my disorderded eating behaviors, I was forcing myself to follow low-carb and whenever I craved and wanted to eat potatoes, oats, fruits, and some other delicious treats (obv it has fat too) I would overeat and binge on them like a last supper and felt like a failure towards low carb which reinforced the binge and restrict cycle for me. Now I'm better than ever eating all da carbs and at my best health and well-being.

Did....low...carb...for...14...months,...lost...weight,..but...body...composition...was...terrible....I'll...never...do..it..again..

Would have been interesting to see the risk of binge eating for people following a normal diet.

The new one is young men using PEDs to build muscle. Which I believe stems from a sort of male body dysmorphia, quite unfortunate and the irony being women don’t really care what men look like (to a point). I believe they’d rather have caring male with a personality. Muscles are a bonus not a necessity.

Tried a bunch of things, but any kind of dietary restriction turns into an abusive relationship, so it's calorie counting and flexible eating for me. My only rule is I don't keep junk food in the house, I don't save anything for later, because later will always be now. If I want it, I'm gonna have to walk to the store and get it. Sometimes I will, but very often I can't be bothered.

My colleague once asked me what I did about food cravings. I told her I ate them, but just a portion, not a family pack. She was very surprised and confused so I had to explain how food rules (instead of guidelines) set you up for disaster.

Your content had seemed to be going through the motions over the past few months. The part of the video that discussed eating disorders and mortality was great and it's an issue that the industry has a lot to answer for. I hope to see you tackle this more and maybe collab or even debate on the matter. Serena abweh and josh brett would be 2 amazing people to collab with.

Bro, did you do that whole thing without saying what a low-carb diet is? The study says 30 to 130 grams/day. Neither they nor you say what that is as a percentage of daily calorie intake. Please?

I think the idea around this video is misguided. For an alcoholic relapsing on alcohol, would you blame the strategy of abstinence on their failure? Maybe you should just tell an alcoholic to drink in moderation, see how that goes?

At one point in time I was so petrified of carbs I wouldn’t so much as eat an apple. Then on the weekends I’d have a massive pasta dinner and red velvet cake. And guess what. I couldn’t lose weight. Now I eat fibrous carbs all the time and almost never crave sweets.

Keto worked fucking great for me… right up until it didn’t! I think that’s perfectly ok.

It's true. After 2 years of keto and carnivore I started to binge on junk foods.

The whole change society thing doesn’t really make sense to me… people are attracted to what they are attracted to, changing what people publicly say doesn’t change that. I also think a lot of the pressure actually comes from other women, very few men say to women they need to lose weight however women and women magazines suggest it all the time. If you can’t be bothered then don’t but just accept you won’t be as desirable as someone else who does, of course it is not all that matters by any stretch of the imagination but it is part of the equation, and that’s not even getting started on the health benefits when you eat well and are active, people should care enough to take care of themselves for themselves, not to look good for others, the rest will take care of itself.

I don't think it has anything to do with society women we want to have nice bodies because we want to not because of what society says society says a lot of things Society doesn't tell me what kind of body I should have I'm deciding that and most women do, where we go wrong is all the false unhealthy information out there After everything that's happened I now believe a balanced diet is best instead of going for an extreme diet that claims to be ultra healthy

Quantity of food makes you fat. I eat whatever I want but control the portion. I lost 130 lbs and have kept it off for over a year.

To diet without arbitrary rules you need to be a grown up. Most of us are still kids wanting a magic fix.

interesting info. I'm not surprised at all. About 10 years ago, I did intermittent fasting and paleo. I lost a lot of weight, but could not sustain the diet ultimately because of the restrictive nature of the diet. I don't mind fasting but I didn't like restricting food choices. Currently I'm as fit as I was then just by eating healthy with a caloric deficit but with no blanket restrictions, weight training, and walking.

in my opinion. Calorie counting with flexible dieting is the best way for long term fat loss. If I had to eliminate any foods from my diet. I will not last a week

God help all those who suffer with disordered eating thoughts and behaviors

i like bread

Jesus christ lane. Women wanting to go on a diet is not a society issue. Its a self confidence issue

Facts. 100% true. Any kind of restriction will make you more at risk to binge eat.

When a broken education system that produces non-critical thinkers with no nutrition/health knowledge meets a highly unregulated industry, the result is chaos. No light at the end of the tunnel :( Thanks for the awesome videos.

Excellent video and message here. I love that you break down studies and research design (didn't do as much here). However, it's so much nicer to see that you are passionate about helping people get good information so they can change their lives.

Okay you've definitely done some excellent videos in the past but this has to be one of the best! So many great lessons in this one. And yes I eat carbs!😎

Doesn't matter to me high carb low carb I'll still binge eat every now and then 😋

Personally, I found low-carb dieting to be very effective...in causing disordered eating.

It doesn't really surprise me about low carb dieting leading to worse eating attitudes. When I was a teenager and still living at home, my parents were both into the Atkins diet, and the number of times I can remember my dad making a disgusted remark about the serving size of pasta salad I'd taken or my mom constantly reporting her updated weight loss numbers... They're both heavier than ever now.

Yeah, this is a definite yes and no IF can be a poison pill or savior

I think the authors of the study have it backwards. It's not low carb and fasting that cause these eating disorders, it's that people with eating disorders, orthorexia and body dysmorphia are disproportionately attracted to intermittent fasting and low carb. We see the same thing among vegans. People who treat eating disorders professionally will tell you that the vast majority will be women and vegans are vastly overrepresented in their clients. Diet tribes allow people who are already prone to eating disorders, orthorexia and body dysmorphia to express those tendencies without feeling like a freak. It's a way to disguise your eating disorder as a healthy lifestyle. I've been low carb/keto for 7 years. It works really well for me as I moved into my 50s. Unlimited stamina, no longer feeling hangry, really even energy levels. But I'm also heavily involved in several Facebook groups devoted to this subject, and I see the anxiety and the OCD tendencies expressed all the time. But it's not the diet that's causing the problem. Anxious people with OCD and some body dysmorphia are an absolute perfect fit for a lifestyle built around restriction. So they're drawn to it. And then when they lock into the community of like-minded people, it enhances those tendencies.

I do fasting all the time and it makes me binge eat all the time

Too much cutting and editing, hard to watch

I've fallen victim to this. When I got down to 180 on IF and low carb, I started binging.

Seems the best diet is is to simply track your face hole content and keep it at a number that gives you desired outcomes.

OMG..the algorithms are horrible now. My stress is so high, as well as binging..Keto, carnivore, OMAD.🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Layne, I cannot thank you enough for shining a light on eating disorders. This study bears witness to the struggle of so many. Binge eating is a nightmare, primarily initiated by dietary restrictions and starvation mode existence. Until you listen to your body, and make sensible nutrition choices, binge eating will happen. Thank you also for dispelling so many insane fear, mongering diet myths permeating the Internet from “expert” influencers.

First time I went "on a diet" was post-partum. I have done a STRUCTURED diet exactly twice in my life. Both times successful. I've cut 5-15 lbs any number of times because of injuries, etc, but that's just "est a bit less and get back to exercising." Not really a DIET. If you're healthy, you shouldn't be "dieting."

yes it can. I have experience this myself. you just have to fight through it

Following IF+Keto lead me to my worst binge eating habits... Glad that this is in the past behind me

I got really lean doing intermittent fasting, started doing cheat days which quickly turned into binge days. I was able to get by for 7 months around 7-9% bodyfat with the occasional binge, however the last 6 months have been absolutely brutal binging every week at least. Started making my own ice cream at the same time which hasn't helped. Went from 5'11 135 to 180, now I'm trying to gently get back down to a healthy middle range. Fasting can be a dark road if you're a perfectionist/obsessive as I am.

I tried IF and Keto recently for scientific reasons (not simultaneously) and I can confirm my urge to binge was out of control. I think with Keto it's probably due to how boring the diet is, also the thing I wanted the most was fruit. With IF it was due to the limited feeding window and not being able to "turn off" my hunger. FTA.

So true I tried IF AND KETO THEN CARNIVORE AND IT MADE ME BINGE WHICH I NEVER DID BEFORE THOSE DIETS AND IT DID NOT HELP ME LOSE WEIGHT PERMANENTLY! I stopped all that and I’m healing my relationship with food now ! And I’m losing fat finally eating all foods in balance for me .

this is video literally described my eating habits..i started with keto and lost a lot of weight and then i was restricting carbs even when i stopped keto..as a result i started binging on bread and biscuits like crazy and gained a lot of weight..do what works for you and never deny yourself foods you really like, rather find healthier but still tasty alternatives.