Category Archives: Ketosis

Ketosis, Travel and food

A geneticist experimenting with ketosis

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A friend referred this video to me a few days ago by Jim McCarter, a geneticist who has been self-experimenting with ketosis for about a year now.  He, too, has found it to be very beneficial for his overall health, and with his exercise routine.  Unfortunately the video doesn’t show all of his slides, but it is less than 10 minutes and he speaks in a way that is easy to understand.  I encourage anyone reading this to also watch his video.

A point I think he makes particularly well is the need to moderate protein input when trying to stay in ketosis.  Too much protein results in our liver converting the extra protein into glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis.  Of the struggles I’ve had with staying in ketosis, I think consuming too much protein is one of the more common ones.

We have been conditioned to eat meat that is low in fat, yet most of that meat is high in protein.  Think chicken, turkey, lean cuts of beef, etc.  When eating in a restaurant or even trying to buy meat in a grocery store, the focus is always on low fat.  My husband and I try to counteract all of the protein by cooking the meat in grass fed butter or olive oil, but on an average day we still take in more protein than we need to.  Even the Quest bars we enjoy are really high in protein, and not very high in fat.

We have come to rely more on the snack bars made with SuperStarch from the folks at Generation UCAN and less on low carb bars that are high in protein.  UCAN just released a cinnamon swirl snack bar with SuperStarch that will be arriving on my doorstep in a few days.  It reportedly has no chocolate coating that would melt, a challenge we had with taking the chocolate peanut butter snacks on a long ride – they turn into a gooey mess.

I hope you enjoy the video, and if you are trying ketosis, hang in there!  Like anything new, there can be some rough patches but if you are willing to push through those, you, too, may have your eyes opened to a whole new way of living – with sustained energy and less reliance on food.

 

Ketosis

Staying keto-adapted through Thanksgiving

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Ah, the holidays.  Cookies, pies, fudge…all the temptations are there.  This was my first Thanksgiving in a keto-adapted state, and we were hosting my mom and aunt so I knew it could be a struggle for me.

Surprisingly, it was no struggle at all.  First of all, I planned ahead.  I found a low carb pumpkin pie recipe, and made that for a dessert option.  I planned to have green beans with our turkey, even though we would also have mashed potatoes and stuffing.  We skipped bread altogether, and my mom and aunt were totally supportive of all of this.

But we did have cherry pie, which is our absolute favorite.   Jonathan and I took very small pieces, and that was enough.  Needless to say it was the longest a pie has every lasted in our house!

We also didn’t deprive ourselves of mashed potatoes and stuffing, but we controlled our portions – just a small amount of each.  And we rode our bike that morning.

We ate around 3:00 pm, and I did not eat another meal that day so I would have adequate fasting time through the next morning.  The next day I checked my ketosis levels and I was over 1.0 mmol, which definitely surprised me, since we I had eaten more carbs than usual during the meal.  I think limiting the carb portions, exercising, and then fasting from early evening through noon the next day kept my ketosis levels up, though.

The other challenge was my mom’s spaghetti sauce and how to enjoy it without pasta.  She makes the best spaghetti sauce in the world.  So I learned how to make zucchini boats so Jonathan and I could enjoy the spaghetti sauce without the pasta.  I have to say it was a very tasty alternative!

I’ve learned that the keys for me to stay successful with ketosis are  portion control (if I’m eating carbs) rather than complete deprivation, continuing to fast as long as possible through the next day, and staying active, even if it’s just walking (we did a lot of that over the weekend).  Even though I wasn’t able to ride my bike much due to plans with family, I still felt great and I feel a lot more confident about going into the Christmas holiday.

 

Ketosis

A great explanation of nutritional ketosis

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My goal is to stay in a state of nutritional ketosis at all times.  To get to a state of nutritional ketosis, your body must become keto-adapted, hence the name of this blog.

I’ve tried my best to explain both in this blog and verbally to others what nutritional ketosis means, but I recently ran across a great blog article that explains it far better than I ever could.  The post is appropriate named, “What is nutritional ketosis” and I hope you enjoy reading it at least half as much as I did!

Diet and Dementia, Ketosis

Fat and cholesterol

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It’s a little humorous to watch some people recoil when they learn about all of the fat I eat.  It’s usually followed up with a question about my cholesterol, or with a comment about how my arteries are going to “clog up.”

But I don’t give anyone too hard of a time because that is exactly how I would have reacted a year ago, and prior to the hours and hours of research I’ve done on this topic.

Let me first tell you the books I’ve read, with a plea to anyone reading this to do your own research and reach your own conclusions.  Your health is too important to blindly believe anyone, including me.  Books I’ve read that cover this topic include:

“The Great Cholesterol Myth: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won’t Prevent Heart Disease,” by Johnny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S. and Stephen Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C.

“Cholesterol Clarity,” by Jimmy Moore, and Eric C. Westman, M.D.

“The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet,” by Nina Teicholz

“Grain Brain: The Surprise Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar – Your Brain’s Silent Killers,” by David Perlmutter, M.D.

I couldn’t possibly cover everything in these books, but I will outline some of the most interesting and compelling conclusions reached in them.

  1.  Our brain needs cholesterol to thrive.  It is a “critical brain nutrient essential for the function of neurons” according to Dr. Perlmutter. Cholesterol is an essential fuel for the neurons, which can’t generate significant cholesterol on their own.  They rely on delivery of cholesterol from the bloodstream by a specific carrier protein – LDL.  LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein, and Dr. Perlmutter asserts that there is “absolutely nothing bad about it.”  The fundamental role of LDL in the brain is to capture cholesterol and transport it to the neuron.
  2. When LDL becomes damaged and can no longer deliver cholesterol to the brain is when trouble starts.  What is the most common way it is damaged?  By glucose.  Dr. Perlmutter explains, “Sugar molecules attach themselves to LDL and change the molecule’s shape, rendering it less useful while increasing free radical production.”
  3. LDL has been labeled the “bad cholesterol” but it is what makes up the LDL that matters.  There are dense particles, and fluffy particles.  The fluffy, type A particles are harmless.  The dense particles (referred to as type B LDL) are not, and may be a risk factor for heart disease. It takes a particle test (not always widely available) to tell the difference.
  4. A better predictor of heart disease is the ratio of triglycerides to HDL. (Bowden and Sinatra).  The authors suggest a ratio of around 2.  Therefore, if your triglycerides are 100 mg/dL and your HDL is 50 mg/dL, your ratio is 2.  In “Cholesterol Clarity” the doctors interviewed there also suggest a ratio of total cholesterol to HDL as a guide to alert you to a problem.  If the total cholesterol to HDL ratio is 3, then there is no need for concern.  If the ratio is closer to 7, that indicates a problem.  The book also suggests keeping triglycerides below 150 mg/dL.
  5. All of the authors in each book concur that a high-fat (good fats), low-carb diet will improve HDL and triglyceride levels.
  6. Eating foods with cholesterol has a minimal effect, if any, on serum cholesterol.  (Teicholz)  You’ll find reference to several studies in “The Big Fat Surprise” where this finding was made.  When we do eat foods with high amounts of cholesterol, the body responds by lowering the amount of cholesterol naturally produced.

I think this is enough for one post, but as I re-read these books and others I’ll be sure to post more information that I hope others find helpful.

Ketosis

Experimenting with ketone supplements

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I recently learned about a company that makes ketone salts, which are in essence a supplement you can take that will put ketones directly into your bloodstream.  I purchased the only 2 types I could find on the market currently, KetoForce and KetoCaNa available at Prototype Nutrition.

Keto Salts

I then began the process of figuring out exactly what these supplements were and how to use them.  (Yes, it does seem backwards – most people would research first, then buy.)

Thankfully, others who are interested in nutritional ketosis have done the same research and have interviewed the maker of the 2 products, Patrick Arnold.  Patrick discusses how he came to make these supplements in his blog titled “Instant Ketosis?”  The professor referred to in his blog is Dr. Dominic D’Agostino, who has done some terrific work in the area of ketone therapy.  You can read more about him (including some exciting progress in the treatment of cancer using a ketogenic diet) on his blog.  And yes, I will be ordering his book, “Fight Cancer With a Ketogenic Diet.”

There are a number of podcasts where Patrick and Dr. D’Agostino are interviewed about ketone salts (sometimes referred to as ketone esters), and transcriptions of these podcasts as well.  Nourish Balance Thrive co-founder Chris Kelley interviewed Patrick most recently about his KetoForce and KetoCaNa supplements, and he interviewed Dr. D’Agostino about ketone supplements  in October, 2014. The transcript of that interview can be found here.  And, the Bulletproof Diet founder Dave Asprey’s interview of Dr. D’Agostino can be found here.

I’m providing these links to allow you to dive into this research if you choose to.

After reading as much as I could about the ketone salts, I took Dr. D’Agostino’s advice and started slowly, with one cap of the KetoForce liquid diluted with water and lemon juice.  I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t upset my stomach, which it didn’t. I tested my blood before taking the KetoForce, and an hour later.  My results only increased by .1 mmol with one cap of the liquid.  The recommend dose is 3 capfuls, not to exceed 3 doses in 1 day.

The next day I took the recommended dosage of 3 capfuls.  My ketone levels more than doubled an hour later.  One of the advertised benefits is appetite suppression, and I did notice I wasn’t nearly as hungry after taking the ketone salts.  Make sure you dilute KetoForce with water and some type of citrus juice – I use lemon juice as it contains no carbs and makes the supplement palatable.  And don’t be afraid to use a lot of the juice!

My next experiment was seeing whether I noticed any improvement in performance on the bike.  Based on the recommendation of Pat and Dr. D’Agostino, both Jonathan and I took 3 capfuls of KetoForce before a long ride with steep climbing.  We noticed our energy was good, but we did not experience anything that felt much different than our usual pre-ride ritual of Super Starch after a ketogenic meal and coffee with butter and coconut oil.  Last weekend we planned 3 days of riding over the 4th of July weekend, with the first day being the toughest.  We tried KetoCaNa this time, and felt better than we had on this particularly tough ride that involved over 3 hours of continuous climbing, and about 4.5 hours of total ride time.

I can’t argue with the numbers and the fact that the supplements definitely increase ketone levels.  While the supplements are expensive, we will continue using them for longer rides – those over 3 hours – as it did provide us with a steady boost of energy. We may also experiment with taking a bottle with the supplement in it to sip on throughout the ride, combined with some MCT oil.

I have some concerns with the whole concept of being able to induce “artificial ketosis” but I’ll save that for another post!

 

Ketosis

Some clarity on ketosis

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I recently read a book that is appropriately named “Keto Clarity” (available for purchase on Amazon) as it truly provided clarity to me on what I was doing wrong with the food I was eating, and how to fix it.  I have read hundreds of blog articles and several books on the topic of low carb eating and ketosis, but it took this book, written by a layperson and low carb expert, Jimmy Moore, (with the help of a doctor) to really hit home some key points with me.

As a result of reading the book, I’ve made some  changes to  what and when I eat, and as a result my ketone levels have been higher and more consistent:

-I’ve become more comfortable with the belief that I don’t need to eat three meals a day, especially if I’m in ketosis.  I rarely eat breakfast now but instead do a “fat fast” from the night before (after drinking tea with heavy cream and coconut oil) until lunch or later the next day.  I have coffee with butter in the morning but no food.

-I learned in the book to try to eat a ratio of 4:1 or 3:1 (fat to carbs and protein) with each meal.  This made much more sense to me than trying to calculate how many grams of protein and carbs I should be eating daily.

-When in doubt, eat more fat.  Both my husband and I have struggled with hunger, and it now makes sense that the cause  was most likely too much protein and not enough fat.  So, we’ve bid goodbye to chicken for the most part, and are focusing on more meats, fish and nuts where we can get “good fat.”

For those of you wondering why protein needs to be lower, here’s a quick explanation:  Consuming high amounts of protein and low amounts of carbohydrates can cause a process called gluconeogenesis to begin.  Gluconeogenesis happens in the liver as a means to normalize and maintain blood glucose levels in the body – the liver actually creates glucose through gluconeogenesis.  We don’t want this to happen when trying to stay in nutritional ketosis because gluconeogenesis discourages the production of ketones.  When someone is following a low carb diet but struggling to stay in ketosis, excess protein is often the culprit, which I suspect was the case with me.

My ketone levels have stayed around 2.0 mmol right around lunchtime since paying closer attention to my fat to protein and carbohydrate ratio.   Fasting helps me maintain consistent ketone level, and it also helps me remember that when in ketosis I don’t have to eat.  Much of my “need” to eat is definitely mental.