Any concerns with teens doing this?
 

I started LC last year. Now my 17yo son started (because his chem teacher is doing it.) It's been about 2 weeks and he's stuck with it so far. Did anyone here start young? Any special concerns I should know about? I try to cook more veggies for him. He eats more protein and less fat than I do at this point.

Just thought I'd ask...

My daughter, then 16, did low carb with me and lost 15 lbs in two month. Her only issues were when she was with her friends, they ate all crud and sometimes it made her feel "left out". Now she is 22 and although does eat carbs, definitely eats much much less and opts for more healthier versions of her favorite foods (i.e. whole wheat pasta). She has maintained her weight loss and then some. So, I think a teen can do it and if he is active, as my daughter was, up the protein for him. He will benefit from it. My daughter had more energy and succeeded in her Volleyball and Swimming.

I don't have kids, so I don't have personal experience with this issue. My only concern would be that the focus should be on adequate nutrition, including adequate protein, and not letting calories go too low (since kids who are only moderately heavy may "grow into" their weight when they have a growth spurt). But I'd be thrilled to have my kid eating a healthy diet of meats, dairy, vegetables, and fat, instead of sugary, carby junk.

Just a thought: you might consider introducing your son to some of the paleo literature. That's more "cool" than saying you are doing Atkins, and there's a big paleo community out there on the web, many of whom are young and male. And there's a focus on doing healthy amounts of exercise, too, in the paleo world, which is also good for teens. Mark's Daily Apple Blog and books by Mark Sisson would be good places to start.

When I think of all the junk out there he could be eating, what parent wouldn't like to see their child eat more of the non-junk? It's the way many of us used to eat when we were teens before so much worthless "food" became available.

I think it was mentioned here that eating LOW CARB HIGH FAT is really bad for you, if you are eating more than 150 carbs a day...so if the kids aren't doing low carb by the book they could get " iffy" or even dangerous results. This is what I get out of what was mentioned in another thread.
Now if they are just cutting out junk I don't think there would be a problem...just have to be careful not to have too much fat with carbs.

is he obese? if so, it's wonderful for him. not so much if he's not overweight!

I wouldn't call it low carb if it was 150 grams or more! but yes, you have to be careful of fat if you are NOT low carbing.

I posted a thread about this last week, here is some of it:


"My oldest daughter, now 16; inherited this obesity problem from me. She is definitely insulin resistant! Just wanted to let you know that she continues to get healthier and healthier. For those who aren't sure how to get the last stubborn pounds off? Take it from a girl who couldn't lose a SINGLE POUND just cutting calories, she is now 5'9 and 150 pounds, BMI of 22, size 4 jeans. She runs 7-8 miles every other day, does 100 pushups every other day, counts out her calories on a tracker daily to about 1200-1500, and keeps her carbohydrates consistently at 30-40.

She is the kind of girl who would easily be morbidly obese by now if she had taken a different tack...just a note to let you all know what it takes for someone with an unfortunate metabolism. A LOT of tracking of carbs and calories, persistence, and lots of exercise.

She grumbles about not eating pizza and cookies, but she likes shopping at forever 21 better than treats."

My girls recover from colds and flu very fast, they are strong, healthy, normal weight and get good grades. Lots of people ask "how did you raise such amazing girls" and I want to say...I don't feed them bread...but people act weird when you say that :D

Also I know other teenagers (boyfriends/friends of the girls) who have emotional troubles, get sick often, suffer from acne, are obese or painfully thin, weak and lack stamina, have problems with cavities or teeth structure... and the one thing they have in common: they live on grain carbohydrates.

My girls live on eggs, meat/poultry, fish, full fat dairy, tons of vegetables, some fruits, and about 5-6 times a year they eat treats.

So to answer your question I fully believe a low-carbohydrate diet is the optimal diet for young humans!

I don't think there is ever anything wrong with people of any age, learning to eat properly...which means whole, unprocessed foods, healthy fats, and leaving out all the junk food, sugar, wheat, starch and grains, which are mostly fillers with little to no nutritional value. I think that a child, teen or adult filling up on healthy veggies, low glycemic fruit, meats and good fats A) won't have room for junk and B) will be getting more vitamins and minerals and nutrition than his or her peers who eat potatoes, pasta, bread, or rice with every meal and processed foods for snacks.

My two cents.

When you think of the alternative (junk food), the answer should be clear.

Learning to eat well can never start too young.

I started when I was 15, and lost 50lbs...it sure was nice to be skinny going into high school, and I felt great. That is all! =)

I started when I was 17 and 355 pounds with horrible sleep apnea. After a year, I was 18 years old, 215 pounds, no more sleep apnea, and a cute date to my senior prom. I found out that as a teenager I was able to build muscle easier after losing, could work out more frequently, and had an easier time keeping the weight I lost off. College can hurt when you're a freshman because you're in charge of a lot of what you eat on your own, so if a teenager can start it before they go off to a university, all the better.

I seemed to grow more muscle, and grow taller after I did low carb as a teenager (taller than anyone on either side of my family) so I know it didn't stunt my growth at all. It's a perfect time in someone's life to try and learn good habits for a lifetime of healthy eating.

If your son is a healthy weight or very fit or underweight, he should not go into ketosis. It has something to do with the brain needing about 45-50% more energy than the adult brain and it cannot be compensated with ketones. However, if your son is overweight/obese, the only way to fix it is low carb. I started low carb when I was 15 and didn't know anything about it, just that I had several friends who were seeing Dr. Atkins and I had been to his office with them and would do anything to lose weight. I had many eating disorders at the time, so low carb was more healthy than how I had been eating, for sure. My cousin is now 18 years old, he was very overweight much of his childhood. He started working as a chef and reading about low carb when he was 16 and he dropped a ton of weight, got really healthy, high energy, etc., and he is doing awesome now. His brain has not suffered, either, as he got a very high GPA at his first semester at a well-known technical university. He went from a D student to an A student on low carb, and got fit and healthy :)

I first tried Atkins when I was 17. I am pretty sure I grew two inches that year!

This is true of my daughter, who has a straight A average at her IB school, she qualified for a national merit scholarship through her psats and is now courted by top colleges in the US...certainly not having problems with thinking on lowcarb. ;)