By 2014, I had enough. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I was experiencing pain in all my joints and an increasingly bad attitude. Getting out of bed in the morning became a chore. It took about 10 minutes for me to move without a limp because of painful plantar fasciitis. At that time I was 46 years old and my cholesterol levels were off the charts. I was on track for Type II diabetes, my blood pressure was consistently pre-hypertension and my doctor had made me promise that I'd try the medications if my numbers didn't change.
A bunch of other really weird things happened around that time. I almost went deaf (twice!) because Sudden Sensorineural Deafness Syndrome. A virus attacks a nerve in your inner ear, and if not treated within 14 days, you go deaf. An amazing doctor in Denver, Dr. Hogle, treated me within the short 14-day window of treatment and I saved my hearing. But the aches and pains continued, Every couple months I'd become really sore from a bone spur or from extremely sore buns, something called "sacrolitis." Quite literally, a pain in the ass. The ear thing may have just been a virus. Or was it an autoimmune attack?
Why am I getting old so damned fast? In the picture below I’ve got a couple pounds on me but let's be honest, this is normally not the kind of obesity that leads to the kind of discomfort I was experiencing.
Winter 2014 in Santa Barbara
Normal diet, pre-diabetic, in pain, but wanting to be cool
I was falling apart! I was taking 10-14 Advils a day. I was taking steroids like Prednisone every few months to reduce some flare up. The worst was a recurring problem in my arms, hands (and sometimes feet). My hands and arms fell asleep every night and I'd wake up many times to pump blood back into them. The tingling and pain in my arms was unbearable. It hurt like hell.
I did X-Rays, MRIs, everything. I was getting bone spurs and degeneration, some doctors thought it was arthritis, but somehow everything looked relatively normal. It sure didn't feel normal.
I logged on to the Internet and started biohacking. I was already on a "gluten light" diet but the Internet told me to try it 100%. Going gluten free requires family commitment, and my partner Paige agreed, and so I committed for 3 weeks in early 2015. Within three weeks of going off of gluten, my waist shrunk from 36" to 32". It was wild. Not even much weight loss, just a pound or two --- but the inflammation was really different. More importantly, the tingling in my hands and arms was greatly reduced.
Winter 2015 in Amsterdam at Wim Hof's program
not yet keto, but was gluten free for three months here
I continued on a gluten-free, Paleo-esque diet for about a year, and the tingling in the arms and hands was greatly reduced. But it kept happening. Every time it would happen I'd stay up and do more research about it. There are so many things that could cause tingling and pain: pre-diabetes; a pinched nerve; carpal tunnel; peripheral neuropathy; Raynaud’s disease; etc. I got a 23 & me, and I researched my family history.
I didn't grow up with my father (he died in the early 90s) but I learned that he had Ankylosing Spondylitis, a really bad arthritic condition. In his case, new bone grew through his spine (sometimes called "bamboo spine") and it froze the movement in his back and affected him up through is jaw. Basically, A/S is a really bad autoimmune disease that caused the joints in my dad's back to fuse together and for a lot of other bones and joints to either fuse or stop working as they should.
The Internet told me that there's a high correlation between A/S and a blood disorder called HLA-B27. So I tested myself for HLA-B27. Yes, I have that. No, I don't have A/S. But this blood marker, HLA-B27 is associated with lots of other autoimmune conditions.
So my theory: find a diet to treat the broadest number of inflammation-related autoimmune conditions. That's where I found the ketogenic diet, and I've been on that diet since April 2016.
I feel great. And my excess weight and inflammation just came right off me. Here’s a shot of me exactly two years after the previous one --- this is in November 2016.
Winter 2016 in Helsinki
On keto diet for 5 months at that point
So where next? I can’t exactly explain why the ketogenic diet has been so effective for my health issues, but I know that it has. My painful arm and hand tingling went from nightly (regular diet) to 3x/week (gluten free) and now, on keto, once every 4-6 weeks. I have virtually no joint pain unless I do some silly jumping, impact, or running. These things just don’t work for me any longer.
Winter 2017, San Francisco
20 months on keto
Also, I went from handfuls of Ibuprofens daily to none, ever. Watching my cholesterol and triglyceride levels come into focus was really satisfying. My blood pressure is back to my levls from college and I’m overall snapped back into shape.
Diet can be like religion. Everyone needs to choose for themselves. For sure, this is the most anti-social pain-in-the-ass diets around. There’s no pasta, no ice cream, no beer (yes, I can drink vodka). :)
Ultimately, keto keeps my inflammation down and it’s kept me feeling good now for 18 months. I’m sticking with it.