First time in remission with ketogenic diet

A recent low carb study engaged in outcome switching to obtain the desired result.

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/11/28/476655

 

If anyone in the UK wants a free blood keto testing kit please let me know.

 

I’m interested

 

Really sorry, Keela. Someone on Phoenix Rising beat you to the punch I didn't think it would go that quickly.

 

Lol! No worries. Thanks

 

not wanting to put a downer on things but something to be aware of (it was being discussed on Radio2 yesterday):
"A painful disease once known for afflicting wealthy kings is making a comeback, and fad diets like keto may be partly to blame"

https://www.businessinsider.com/gout-symptoms-treatment-how-common-2019-1?r=US&IR=T

 

Of course there will be many stories. There might be a few food lobbies with vested interests in keeping the status quo with how the population eats.

An alternative view: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/side-effects/gout

 

Not directly related to Keto but didn't know which thread to put it on.

I caught some of this program (didn't watch it all) but it was interesting, particularly the stuff on resistant starch and the exercise test that the presenter did.
It's available on iPlayer

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0b5y6c0/the-truth-about-17-carbs

 

It's interesting re-reading this thread, I think.

I did keto for a good, long while, but I struggled sometimes to get the macros right (I was eating too much protein) and over-compensated by adding in too much coconut oil. As a result, I definitely gained weight towards the end when I slackened off.

When I was doing keto, my cholesterol and fasting glucose levels were better. I wasn't over the references ranges. I now don't seem to get the awful blood sugar dips I used to get, either, and that's a benefit that seems to persist (mostly; see below).

Reflecting back on things, I wonder if those of us with certain diabetes-like symptoms but without clinical results to match actually have co-morbid metabolic syndrome, and that it's that responding to keto.

I definitely store weight around my middle, and have a family history of diabetes and related things like polycystic ovaries. I think the American CFIDS charity (I forget the name) highlighted metabolic syndrome as a common co-morbidity, though I haven't seen it referenced elsewhere.

I'm still not eating huge amounts of carbs anyway (maybe two slices of small toast every other day, the odd sweet potato, a bit of butternut squash), but I do let myself eat potatoes, pasta and bread again, in moderation. If I eat sugary things, though, I do feel wretched for a bit afterwards.

Do I think it helped me? Yes, a little, but only for the metabolic syndrome-type symptoms. It hasn't really impacted anything else. Obviously, YMMV and this is all strictly IMO. I know others who've not responded well at all (e.g., the high fat content can be hard on your gut; especially if you get IBS-D symptoms).

Also, it can be hard to plan around, especially if you're away from home, and the calculating and weighing isn't really ME-friendly.

 

I also meant to add, I've read a few things recently that suggest that even diets of moderate-to-low carbs (say, 100-150g per day) can have a beneficial effect without going the whole hog. It might just be what we've known all along: that starchy foods are better than simple sugars at keeping our blood sugar levels even.

 

I’m still eating keto/low carb. Have been eating this way about 15 months now, have lost about 15lbs without feeling hungry (this was weight I had recently gained), and my weight has now been stable for the last 8 months, again without having to feel I am actively curtailing the amount I eat.

I had been on a downturn physically when I started keto, and that dip reversed in the first few months on keto. I had hoped the upward trend would continue, but in reality it has not really given me extra stamina from the approximate wobbly level of functioning I’ve had over the past 3 or 4 years. Who knows if keto has actually helped, but this way of eating seems to suit me, so I’m continuing.

In truth, I’m probably more “low carb” now than strict keto. I don’t eat bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, root veg, most fruit (other than a few berries) or anything with sugar in the recipe. However I take milk in my coffee (milk is actually quite high in lactose), and enjoy eating nuts as a treat. I don’t track my carbs in any meaningful way either.

 

I think that's probably the best way to do it. Any diet has to feel intuitive/satisfying, or you won't stick to it.

 

This! I really don’t react well to sugary foods.

I also did some blood sugar testing a couple of years back and reckoned I was pre-diabetic. I have done a few spot blood sugar tests since starting keto/low carb, and the readings are now much better.

 

It helps me with my post meal symptoms that come on from carbs so pretty good. Those symptoms where pretty brutal and I suspect it was nothing to do with gut problems or diabetes but problems with using glucose for energy. One of the reasons I believe this is because I can significantly attenuate symptoms by taking MCT with carbs.

 

I've always wondered if the post-prandial symptoms are possibly something else, as they don't feel the same as the blood sugar dips. Maybe hormonal (to do with wakefulness, fullness, hunger, etc).

You could be right about a general difficulty with metabolising carbs in some cases, though as some of the research posted earlier in this thread has suggested, there could equally be a flaw in fat metabolism too.

Maybe neither is universal, but perhaps represent possible subsets?

 

I assumed it's just to do with energy being used on digestion and so less energy for other things?

 

It could be that too. I was remembering that Cort maybe wrote something about orexin and/or leptin after eating? I can't seem to find that right now.

It might none of these things, or all of these things in different people, and we might never know. But I think it's an interesting clue.

 

I think you're right. That's where I heard it.