First time in remission with ketogenic diet

What do you do to target inflammation? Also, where do you buy MAF? From gcmaf.se?

 

What are your thoughts on naproxen compared to ibuprofen?

 

The keto diet is highly anti inflammatory - It takes 3-6 months to start feeling effects of lowered inflammation - after one year even my eyesight improved.
I was on keto one year before I tried the MAF - and I suspect that if I had tried it earlier it wouldn't have worked. I also kind of follow AIP diet (autoimmune protocol) except I do eat seeds and nuts! Also I take turmeric-meriva and Collagen powder twice daily, which eliminate the residual arthritis pains.

I'm planning on helping my mild-ME daughter do a keto diet for a year, then introducing the MAF - more closely following my protocol.

I get the MAF from Dr Enlander - they will ship it anywhere. The original one worked after 3 months of extreme sleepiness - but the improved formula never got me out of the sleepy stage - or perhaps after 6 months I was ready to throw in the towel -i the new formula also stopped me from responding to caffeine so I had no recourse to boost my energy or brain when it was needed. I'm back on the original formula. There is also a product in cream form for GcMaf as well that I think can be purchased on eBay. gcmaf.ce looks to be selling injectable GcMAF, I think, which we can't bring into the US, so is not an option for me. but I found one that works - and one that didn't and probably won't try others unless my situation changes.

 

This thread has been very interesting to me and I have begun some tentative steps towards cutting carbs right down (already pretty low most days). I hope I can follow through with it. I'm not sure I can handle testing ketos on top of everything else, but I'm taking a one step at a time approach. I'm hoping that gradually educating myself and trying out different things I can eat and cook will get me there. I would be lost and fail if I didn't have easy alternatives that suit me under my belt. I'm not good with recipes.

I want to look into which foods provoke inflammation and which are anti inflammatory - anyone got any suggestions for good straightforward sources of information? Lists or similar?

 

@Skycloud

Besides the keto diet, there is also the AIP (auto-immune protocol). the low Histamine Diet, and the Low-Oxylate Diet. It''s pretty overwhelming - I have tried some of these for myself and my severe ME daughter.

There are so many foods to eliminate that it might be easier to start with low carb - then move into keto i(f you want to) (eliminating grains, legumes, dairy, soy & vegetable oils). You can buy urine strips for testing - they are inexpensive and easy to use. It takes time to adapt to keto - your body needs extra water, salt, potassium & magnesium. The dairy can be added back in later to see if you have a reaction (I found I get phlegmy)

Then you can experiment with more eliminations.

Sorry that I didn't answer your request for lists - they're easy enough to find on google - I don't have any charts on hand - though I have some good ones for keto (Wahl's diet and carb content of foods) if anyone is interested...

 

Thanks for that @Kafka. I am low carb already (apart from indulgences from time to time) so hoping it won't be too hard. My cognitive problems just make taking things like this on so darn difficult. Will def. look into urine strips - didn't think of those. Dairy makes me phlegmy too and don't telrate gluten so have not been eating those for a couple of years already.

No problem - I'm really just looking for easy info. because I find reading lots of text and remembering what I've read difficult. I'm sure I'll find some on my own but I'm grateful for suggestions recommendations. Will have a look at Wahl's protocol.

 

I've read that urine strips aren't very useful because as your body transitions more fully into ketosis, it gets more efficient at using the ketones for fuel and doesn't expel so many.

 

This is more difficult than it sounds... I never read her book - and there is little to no info on line! There is also a Wahl's Paleo Plus facebook group that is very helpful for eating and recipe suggestions..

I've attached easy reference charts

and here is a link that I found helpful for low carb veges

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/vegetables

@Sasha

Urine strips work well enough in the beginning - after a while they are not as accurate - recently when I was out of keto (blood) my urine strips were telling me I was in keto... I have recently switched to blood only.

Edited to add - Had trouble uploading the second screenshot and will post it in a separate post when I am able...

 

Thanks @Kafka and @Sasha

My fitness pal - which I already use - and the diet doctor link are good for where i am now right now i think

(i just found my way onto the USDA website nutrient search. search result ? 31 pages just for vegetables
tmi )

 

Here is the other link in case anyone else is interested in Wahl's..

@Skycloud
Glad the link was useful. My fitness pal is a great tool!

 

I started a keto diet two days ago. I have just received my keto blood testing kit. My blood glucose measurement is 4.7 mmol and my ketones measure 2.1 mmol. That gives me an HKI of 2.2, putting me in "high ketosis".

I am quite surprised it has happened so quickly. I have had some carb cravings, but nothing serious. Other than that, I have barely noticed anything.

So... I guess that is a good thing? Should I still be expecting keto flu?

 

Hi Cheesus - If your keto readings are below .6 then you are in keto. I think it would be hard to get into keto so quickly unless you were fasting.
Keep it up - hopefully you don't get any keto flu symptoms - keep hydrated and lots of salt

Kafka

Edited to add - disregard this post - senior moment alert

 

Thanks Kafka. That is a little confusing. When you say my keto readings, do you mean my GKI? The GKI scale mentioned at the beginning of this thread and also elsewhere online indicates a much broader scale, all the way up to 9. Where did you get that 0.6 figure from?

Edit: Sorry, just realised that you quoted the actual ketone reading. From what i see online, you want more ketones for entering ketosis, not less?

 

@Cheesus

Wow had a total senior moment there... lol you're so right! Can't blame brain fog cause I'm in remission...

 

Haha okay. I was seriously baffled for a moment there. Anyway, i have since calibrated the monitoring device i bought, which i didn't do prior to my initial test. I will test again later to see if the results still agree.

Definitely seems odd to have happened so quickly!

And congrats on the remission I am very pleased for you. Without me scrolling all the way back through this long thread, was it the keto diet that did it for you?

 

Thankyou for the congrats!! I feel very lucky. My daughter got severe ME when I found my remission - but I have energy to take care of her.

3 parts for me (it's been 3 years on and off so I've got it tried and tested)

Being in Ketosis

Lower Inflammation from Keto diet (inflammatory events like surgery, antibiotics, etc take me out)

Macrophage Activating Factor (MAF) in probiotic form - which I get from Dr Enlander (only old formulation works for me - not the new improved one)
I started this a year into keto diet, which is when remission started.

So sorry about the confusion my addled brain caused you

I'm impressed that you got into keto so fast!

 

@Kafka great! That is awesome to hear.

I calibrated my device and tested again. I got more or less the same results as the first time, indicating high ketosis.

I guess i just have good metabolic flexibility. I'll keep going and see if that ketosis deepens or what.

 

Can't remember if I mentioned on this thread the first of these two BBC R4 programmes, which is about low carb diets:

https://www.s4me.info/threads/bbc-r4-the-food-programme-series-on-diet-and-health.6895/

 

3 week update - I stopped trying achieve a keto diet. I have IBS-C and low motility and it's not been manageable for me.