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I'm really late to this 'party', but if there is anyone else still reading:
I eat LCHF/keto and have done for almost 2 years now. LCHF stands for Low Carb High Fat. I'm not intolerant to carbs or anything, but was overweight, sick and tired all the time and totally carb-addicted. I had pain and lack of mobility from osteoarthritis in my hip and fingers. That all cleared up with LCHF, which is an anti-inflammatory way of eating. I take a quarter of my previous hypertension meds now. I have much more energy and no pain now and this is why I continue to eat this way. It's scientifically sound and provides all the necessary vitamins, minerals, protein, fats and small amount of carb the body requires; not a fad thing. You do need to be all-in, the mistake people make is to only do it partially, which confuses your metabolism. You need to research it well and make sure you get what you need. As a nurse, I was highly sceptical, but sufficient scientific evidence convinced me.
I was also able to shed a lot of excess weight and my body seems to have stabilized at the weight it wants to be at. I don't watch how much I eat. I eat when I'm hungry, stop eating when I'm full.
Apart from not eating the obvious high-carb things like anything sugary, rice, pasta, bread and potatoes, there are other veges to avoid that are high carb. Fruit is out, it's full of sugar. Legumes and all grains are high carb, too. Generally all veges that grow above the ground are fine. Dairy, eggs, meat, fish, some nuts are fine. Plus you need a lot of *healthy* fats like butter, coconut, olive and other oils, though no seed (sunflower/canola) oils. This is what keeps you full.
Some people become fully fat-adapted, if their carb intake is low enough. That's not harmful, it's how we evolved to deal with famine. I'm not sure if I am in ketosis, but I seem to do fine on 40-50g of carbs a day. I can use some of that quota on a square or two of dark chocolate sometimes. You can bake bread with almond flour, as Empowers says. No artificial sweeteners, but there are natural sweeteners you can use.
It is NOT Atkins. Atkins was too protein-rich and bad for the kidneys. You eat a normal amount of protein on LCHF.
It's not for everyone, but it works very well for me, and if you are carb-intolerant, carb-sensitive or carb-addicted, it may be something to investigate.
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