# Ketogenic Diet



## Purrfessor (Jul 30, 2013)

Hey guys if you haven't heard there is a diet becoming more popular in recent times. There is a lot of controversy with it since it defies the rules of health that we believed in for a long period of time already. But the truth is that it's a sound diet.

The ketogenic diet works by putting you in a state of ketosis. This is NOT ketoacidosis that diabetics get, it's ketosis. It's a state that burns fat instead of carbohydrates for energy. What you do is eat next to zero carbs and what your body does is look to burn fat as fuel. If your body is not used to it there would be transition period. This means your diet consists of only fat and protein. So what people eat is things like bacon, cream cheese, etc. Oh and more bacon. And they lose weight.

An example I believe that is mentioned in the video is of a marathon runner on the keto diet who ran the whole marathon while not eating anything. On a standard carbohydrate diet, people need to put more and more carbs into their bellies to burn as fuel since our bodies don't store carbs like it does fat. Typical marathon runners eat while running just so they have the energy to finish.

Just thought I would share a good video explaining the diet for anybody interested, because there is a lot of stupid stuff on the internet if you type in "keto diet" lol.


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## He's a Superhero! (May 1, 2013)

What is done to prevent hypoglycemia with this extremely low carb diet?


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## Purrfessor (Jul 30, 2013)

He's a Superhero! said:


> What is done to prevent hypoglycemia with this extremely low carb diet?


The diet was actually originally (of modern scientific times) designed specifically for people with diabetes. The insulin resistance in diabetics can actually be reversed by not throwing glycogen into the blood. 

Hypoglycemia isn't an issue because the body isn't using glycogen as energy, rather it's burning fat. The whole point of the diet is to stop your body from prioritizing using glucose as energy. You also consume a small bit of carbs regularly. Anything less than 10% of your caloric intake should be net carbs in order to be in ketosis. 

As far as weening yourself off of the carbohydrate based diet, your body stores a bit of glycogen in the liver and muscles so you can maintain a balanced state of blood sugar as you are transitioning. 

The keto diet is not a casual diet however. You have to monitor your keton levels much like you would monitor your blood sugar. You have to eat the right % of protein and fat. Like 20-30% protein and 70%+ fat. It's not as simple as changing what you eat. You have to really understand what you are doing.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

Keto diet is unnecessarily restrictive for the average person. It's useful for treating stuff like child epilepsy but other than that it's a lifestyle that very few people can maintain for life, and we don't really know if it is truly healthy since very few people do it for decades.
If you want to follow a healthy diet, try to do what traditional healthy populations do. For example the Mediterranean diet, or Okinawan diet. These are diets we know to provide health benefits and stand the test of time.


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## Purrfessor (Jul 30, 2013)

Red Panda said:


> Keto diet is unnecessarily restrictive for the average person. It's useful for treating stuff like child epilepsy but other than that it's a lifestyle that very few people can maintain for life, and we don't really know if it is truly healthy since very few people do it for decades.
> If you want to follow a healthy diet, try to do what traditional healthy populations do. For example the Mediterranean diet, or Okinawan diet. These are diets we know to provide health benefits and stand the test of time.


There are way more reasons to be on a keto diet than just epilepsy treatment. Many bodybuilders are on it because it's a way to maintain a low body fat %. Wrestlers can be on it so that they don't have to run a million miles just to change a weight class. An obese person can be on it to lose 100+ lbs without feeling like they are on a diet since you can eat tons of delicious food. 

Its a diet for people to look at to see if they would benefit from it in their lives. And it's not unhealthy either. Lots of people are on the diet and feeling great - better even. But yeah if all you want is to be an average healthy person then the benefits of the Keto aren't relevant. But if the diet is appealing for any of a number of reasons then it's important to look into and not be afraid of, because it can really help out your lifestyle.


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## Red Panda (Aug 18, 2010)

Stelliferous said:


> There are way more reasons to be on a keto diet than just epilepsy treatment. Many bodybuilders are on it because it's a way to maintain a low body fat %. Wrestlers can be on it so that they don't have to run a million miles just to change a weight class. An obese person can be on it to lose 100+ lbs without feeling like they are on a diet since you can eat tons of delicious food.
> 
> Its a diet for people to look at to see if they would benefit from it in their lives. And it's not unhealthy either. Lots of people are on the diet and feeling great - better even. But yeah if all you want is to be an average healthy person then the benefits of the Keto aren't relevant. But if the diet is appealing for any of a number of reasons then it's important to look into and not be afraid of, because it can really help out your lifestyle.


You don't have to go Keto to not feel hungry on a diet, just a higher protein would be ok. Bodybuilders and wrestlers are not the average person which was my point. 

I don't think we can tell if it's healthy for the heart and other organs for life because there haven't been enough people who maintain keto diets for life. If you have any such studies please share.


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## soop (Aug 6, 2016)

Most people reverse diet out of it after a few months from what I thought. I tried it for a week. I have no fat to burn.


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## Purrfessor (Jul 30, 2013)

soop said:


> Most people reverse diet out of it after a few months from what I thought. I tried it for a week. I have no fat to burn.


There has to be reason to be on the diet. It's not a "oh I'm going to eat kale because it's healthy and I want to be in shape/healthy" diet but more of a "I have specific goals that this diet can help with" diet. There are different diets for everybody and I'm posting this for people who are interested in what the diet can do so that 1) people don't go on the diet just because, and then off it after a few months because it wasn't what they they thought and 2) so people don't dismiss the diet like it's a theoretical idea. There's been research going on for decades and this doctor in the video I shared has been part of that research. Not me. I'm not a doctor *looks at @Red Panda *


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## Candy Apple (Sep 10, 2015)

I've heard about this recently, I don't really know much about it but it sounds interesting. I've watched a few videos from "stephanie Keto person" on YouTube. She's got some energy to her! xD


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## Vivid Melody (Apr 25, 2011)

I remember hearing about this diet in the past but it was in relation to it helping people who have cancer because it starves cancer cells (if I'm remembering correctly)? I found it interesting.


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## Purrfessor (Jul 30, 2013)

Vivid Melody said:


> I remember hearing about this diet in the past but it was in relation to it helping people who have cancer because it starves cancer cells (if I'm remembering correctly)? I found it interesting.


Yeah it's super interesting. There are so many possibilities with this diet that I love hearing every story about what it does for people individually. It's making a big impact.


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## sweetraglansweater (Jul 31, 2015)

Stelliferous said:


> The diet was actually originally (of modern scientific times) designed specifically for people with diabetes. The insulin resistance in diabetics can actually be reversed by not throwing glycogen into the blood.


That's not true. The origins of Keto are in epilepsy. Doctors noted that epileptic patients seizures reduced dramatically when they took out all carbs/sugars. They didn't know why but the correlation was extremely strong. Of course the weight loss that resulted was phenomenal, which is where the dieters took it. 

Keto has been connected to resolving insulin swings within people who are hypoglycemic, pre diabetic and even Diabetic (II). It is also connected -in a good way- with healing people who have IBS, autoimmune and other gut issues. It's similar to the GAPS diet but obviously takes it to another level.

Personally, I've done Keto before. I have pretty bad problems with my immune system among other things and this diet, by far, was the most constructive.

The first 48 hrs of 'switching' onto ketone burning is wicked hard. Your gut basically releases poison into your system, which is a bit like having a drug reaction. I was slayed on the couch for several hours. I had irritability big time. I wanted to bite my elbows off and die. You pee a ton in the first 72 hours. It's your body just releasing the ketons and going to town. It's definitely not a diet for people with kidney problems as it will put undue strain on them.

After the 48th hour the results were...incredible.

My thinking went sharp. My memory, which is notoriously bad from "brain fog" (autoimmune inflammation), was crisp, clear and very fast. 

My joint pains went down to nothing. I live in a state of pain almost every day.

My sleeping improved (I have severe insomnia).

My gut, which has a lot of problems from IBS, calmed down and was able to digest.

More importantly, I had no cravings, I was able to last between meals without energy dips (no hypoglycemia as I had before. I erradicated my hypoglycemia). My color came back (I have anemic tendencies) and my swelling from edema went down. 

I have secondary adrenal fatigue (Pituitary related from TBI) and the most phenomenal result was having sustained energy. It was great. I never felt better.

Within 2 weeks I dropped 7 pounds (most of it water weight). In a month I lost inches.

The bad part of this diet is you have to have the fastidiousness of a hawk. Once you break for 24 hrs your body goes back to normal burning and ketosis stops. I've heard from athletes who've tried it that ketosis is great for marathon like sports (distance running, hiking) but it fails in burst energy (sprints) and that they had problems getting that extra "kick" when they wanted to burst. 

It's not for everyone. Most people don't need this diet. If you are just trying to drop a dress size don't do this diet...the weight will just come back.

However, if you have severe medical problems (IBS, autoimmune, Addison's/Cushings, epilepsy, Diabetes 2, hypoglycemia, insulin resistance probs, fatigue, joint pain/inflammation etc) this diet is worth a try. It even helps with depression (scientists have linked depression with inflammation). 

Anyways, that's my experience. It's hard, especially if you travel or don't cook but if you have medical problems like I do you probably have to adjust your lifestyle anyways.


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## Purrfessor (Jul 30, 2013)

Weekend said:


> I've heard about this recently, I don't really know much about it but it sounds interesting. I've watched a few videos from "stephanie Keto person" on YouTube. She's got some energy to her! xD


Can you believe she is 50? She looks under 30!


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## sweetraglansweater (Jul 31, 2015)

It should be noted. Keto is NOT paleo.

You can eat too much protein and get carbs/sugar which inhibits the ketosis. Also, too much protein leads to gout. I know so called "keto-ers" who got gout and gallstone problems from being reckless with their meat consumption. 

You have to focus on eating healthy fats from a variety of sources, not just meat. And with the portion of carbs you ARE alotted you have to devote them to foods which containe important vits and mins, namely dark greens like kale. Retaining potassium levels is extremely important during ketosis, since water will be flushing out your system. 

The ketosis people who eat bacon and cheesecake are frankly, insane. 

A meal for ketosis might look like:

a small handful of dark green salad, can of tuna, one slice of tomato, 2 tbsps olive oil, a whole avocado, salt, pepper, vinegar

or

Small cucumber salad with hard boiled egg yolks, small portion of chicken breast with 2-5 slices of melted, low carb cheese (pending on weight/height/gender) in 2 tbs of coconut oil

Bone broth with coconut oil. Or a chicken soup with bone broth and oil and dark veggies, sans the carbs like potatoes. You can drink the mins and vits from the soup.

When you really look at the above type meal ^ it's just a healthy eating plus a load of fat thrown in, a modified Mediterranean diet if you will. 

You can also cycle on and off keto (for body builders) but you have to do a really good work out to "use up" all the carbs during your carb days. This is how athletes maintain the diet but also get that extra energy.


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## Purrfessor (Jul 30, 2013)

sweetraglansweater said:


> That's not true. The origins of Keto are in epilepsy. Doctors noted that epileptic patients seizures reduced dramatically when they took out all carbs/sugars. They didn't know why but the correlation was extremely strong. Of course the weight loss that resulted was phenomenal, which is where the dieters took it.
> 
> Keto has been connected to resolving insulin swings within people who are hypoglycemic, pre diabetic and even Diabetic (II). It is also connected -in a good way- with healing people who have IBS, autoimmune and other gut issues. It's similar to the GAPS diet but obviously takes it to another level.
> 
> ...


Yeah when you go into an anaerobic state (high heart rate) your body likes to use sugar as fuel. So sports with intensity that can get your heart rate really high in order to give you more of that short-term "kick", it's probably best to be on a carb diet. However, if you are in a steady-paced sport then it can actually improve respiration, fatigue, etc. MMA fighters are on it in order to last longer while being choked out on the mat for example. 

And it makes sense that if you want short-term high intensity action that you should use short-term, highly combustive fuel in the form of carbohydrate and if you want a slow, steady action then it's best to use a slow burning long-term fuel source in the form of fat. 

And thanks for the correction concerning epilepsy as the modern origins. I got facts mixed up from studying too fast.


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## Candy Apple (Sep 10, 2015)

Stelliferous said:


> Can you believe she is 50? She looks under 30!


Props to her! :hearteyes:


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## darkmatter (Jul 18, 2016)

I've heard a lot about this diet, but I'm not really sure how it's different than the Adkin's diet? From my research, I don't think it's healthy to eat that much meat, but to each his own. I used to get nauseous every time I would eat meat, so now I eat mostly carbohydrates, which make up 60% of my diet, and I'm very lean.


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## Amine (Feb 23, 2014)

Listen to Dom D'Agostino's interview on the Tim Ferris show. He talks about it for like 4 hours or something.


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## Purrfessor (Jul 30, 2013)

darkmatter said:


> I've heard a lot about this diet, but I'm not really sure how it's different than the Adkin's diet? From my research, I don't think it's healthy to eat that much meat, but to each his own. I used to get nauseous every time I would eat meat, so now I eat mostly carbohydrates, which make up 60% of my diet, and I'm very lean.


It's supposed to be a fat based diet, not protein. You don't have to eat much meat or any really. Just eat a lot of fat.


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## darkmatter (Jul 18, 2016)

Stelliferous said:


> It's supposed to be a fat based diet, not protein. You don't have to eat much meat or any really. Just eat a lot of fat.


Yeah but food that has the most fat are usually animal products, so you'll end up eating a lot of meat/dairy.


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