I first came across the Ketogenic diet when Tim Ferriss author of The 4-Hour Body, entrepreneur, and startup investor mentioned it as a treatment for Lyme disease and then forgot about it until recently. I am on Keto for two weeks as of now. For those of you who are not familiar, it is fueling your body with fat instead of carbohydrates.
Sounds bizarre and counter-intuitive? What about all those products in shops that say low fat this and that? When fat is removed carbs and sugar in those products go up. Carbohydrates are broken down into sugar. That triggers insulin that allows cells in our body to absorb blood sugar for energy or store it as fat for energy later.
Over time as we age our metabolism slows down. Maybe it is our lifestyles of moving around less, sitting jobs, sitting at the screens all day, and bad habits of overeating. This is how we store fat and it can lead to many health problems such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes etc.
How does Keto work? When carbohydrates and sugar are kept very low and proteins at moderate levels, we are consuming a lot more fat. Fat is turned into ketones in our liver. In the process ketones power the cells in our body instead of glucose. For those who are trying to lose weight, Keto is great in combination with fasting since the body is encouraged to use up the fat it has stored.
How does it look like on my plate? Instead of pasta, rice, potatoes, and other starchy, carbohydrate-rich foods, it is now Keto veggies, cheese, meat, fish and nuts. Keto veggies would be spinach, broccoli, zucchini, avocado, mushrooms, and asparagus. Cheese would be brie, Camembert, and mozzarella. Meat would be beef, chicken, turkey, and pork. Fish would be salmon. Nuts would be almonds, Brazil nuts, and walnuts.
Oh, and my favorite snacks are olives and crispy seaweed with sea salt! ^^ Oh, oh! And, coffee and caffeine are important too. For me black coffee or heh… I know I know you will shake your head here Monster. White one. Sometimes. Certainly not every day.
The first week on it I felt low on energy which is said to be normal. The body freaks out a bit where did all the carbs go? The second week I got a common cold for 3 days. Not sure if it had anything to do with Keto flu some people experience, but then last three days I feel super energetic, focused, awake. No fuzzy brain. I don’t even feel hungry most of the time just a tiny bit strange sometimes which also probably is my body adapting.
So… the awkward part. Peeing on sticks for science, lol. The cheapest way of testing if you are in ketosis and also the least reliable way is urinalysis test strips or Keto sticks. The best way probably would be blood testing if you are into pricking your fingers on a regular basis. It is to give you the idea if the range of foods you consume are doing the work required to produce ketones.
Why did I turn to Keto? Well, I and carbohydrates have never been friends or much compatible. Lately, I also suspect arthritis developing in my joints. Depression, fatigue, fuzzy mind and tiny hand tremors. All these should improve if I manage to do this right.
Some useful materials on Keto:
Dr. Sarah Hallberg’s TED talk on Reversing Type 2 diabetes
Dr. Peter Attia on Ketosis
Dr. Stephen Phinney on Nutritional Ketosis and Ketogenic diets video series
KetoSchool benefits of Keto
I am still learning and probably some things in this post are not accurate. In case some of you do Keto and have some corrections or advice, I would deeply appreciate it.
Sounds bizarre and counter-intuitive? What about all those products in shops that say low fat this and that? When fat is removed carbs and sugar in those products go up. Carbohydrates are broken down into sugar. That triggers insulin that allows cells in our body to absorb blood sugar for energy or store it as fat for energy later.
Over time as we age our metabolism slows down. Maybe it is our lifestyles of moving around less, sitting jobs, sitting at the screens all day, and bad habits of overeating. This is how we store fat and it can lead to many health problems such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes etc.
How does Keto work? When carbohydrates and sugar are kept very low and proteins at moderate levels, we are consuming a lot more fat. Fat is turned into ketones in our liver. In the process ketones power the cells in our body instead of glucose. For those who are trying to lose weight, Keto is great in combination with fasting since the body is encouraged to use up the fat it has stored.
How does it look like on my plate? Instead of pasta, rice, potatoes, and other starchy, carbohydrate-rich foods, it is now Keto veggies, cheese, meat, fish and nuts. Keto veggies would be spinach, broccoli, zucchini, avocado, mushrooms, and asparagus. Cheese would be brie, Camembert, and mozzarella. Meat would be beef, chicken, turkey, and pork. Fish would be salmon. Nuts would be almonds, Brazil nuts, and walnuts.
Oh, and my favorite snacks are olives and crispy seaweed with sea salt! ^^ Oh, oh! And, coffee and caffeine are important too. For me black coffee or heh… I know I know you will shake your head here Monster. White one. Sometimes. Certainly not every day.
The first week on it I felt low on energy which is said to be normal. The body freaks out a bit where did all the carbs go? The second week I got a common cold for 3 days. Not sure if it had anything to do with Keto flu some people experience, but then last three days I feel super energetic, focused, awake. No fuzzy brain. I don’t even feel hungry most of the time just a tiny bit strange sometimes which also probably is my body adapting.
So… the awkward part. Peeing on sticks for science, lol. The cheapest way of testing if you are in ketosis and also the least reliable way is urinalysis test strips or Keto sticks. The best way probably would be blood testing if you are into pricking your fingers on a regular basis. It is to give you the idea if the range of foods you consume are doing the work required to produce ketones.
Why did I turn to Keto? Well, I and carbohydrates have never been friends or much compatible. Lately, I also suspect arthritis developing in my joints. Depression, fatigue, fuzzy mind and tiny hand tremors. All these should improve if I manage to do this right.
Some useful materials on Keto:
Dr. Sarah Hallberg’s TED talk on Reversing Type 2 diabetes
Dr. Peter Attia on Ketosis
Dr. Stephen Phinney on Nutritional Ketosis and Ketogenic diets video series
KetoSchool benefits of Keto
I am still learning and probably some things in this post are not accurate. In case some of you do Keto and have some corrections or advice, I would deeply appreciate it.
Sources: Ketogenic diet; Ketosis; Carbohydrates and insulin
Song of the day: Grimes - We Appreciate Power