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Our Keto Journey Part 5: Important Tweaks We Made For Keto Success

Dr. John Bianchi — Sun, 20 May 2018 21:35:09 +0000

In previous posts, Barbara and I have talked about our goals and successes with the ketogenic diet. In my last post, I showed you the simple strategy we use to configure our macros for the diet.

You’re now familiar with what a keto diet is and how ketosis affects your body. You’ve established why you want to go keto (e.g.. weight loss, help in treating a specific health condition, or enhanced physical performance). And you’ve solved the mystery of macro calculation.

So now you’re ready to dive right into the keto diet, right? Well, not so fast. Slow down a bit.

You’re not going to just jump into a lake without knowing something about the depth of the water or its temperature. So it is with the keto diet. Even after knowing what your daily macronutrients should be, there are still several other important things about the Keto diet that you need to know.

You might have heard some of the horror stories from people who’ve tried keto. Some report that they experienced the dreaded “keto flu”. Others complain that their strength training suffered horribly, some are hungry all the time, and others complain that they just can’t find good keto recipes.

In this post, I’ll show you how Barbara and I avoided most of the problems associated with the ketogenic diet and how we quickly corrected a very annoying unexpected problem.

First, let’s get some preliminary stuff out of the way.

Preliminary Stuff

Nothing I’m about to tell you should be construed as medical advice. It’s simply our experiences with keto and information from keto experts.

Before Barbara and I went keto, we had a complete physical and blood panel. There was no medical reason preventing us from trying the keto diet. Also, even though we wanted the health benefits of ketones, we weren’t using the diet to treat any specific disease.

As I’ve said in the past, if you’re going to go keto, make sure you’re healthy enough to do it. If you’re using keto to treat a specific disease (type 2 or type 1 diabetes, hypertension, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer) or if you’re taking meds for a condition, make sure you do it under the supervision of a doctor who understands low-carb diets.

Okay, let’s get to the important nuances of a keto diet.

What Does High In Healthy Fat Mean?

A ketogenic diet is characterized as a low-carb (<30 grams net) high-fat diet. It’s called high fat because a majority of your macros will come from fat. Fat comprises about 70% of Barbara’s diet and mine.

However, just because a keto diet is high in fat doesn’t mean that Barbara and I can eat any kind of fat we want. Most of our fat comes from meat (grass fed when possible), butter, olive oil, coconut oil, salmon, sardines, avocados, eggs, and cheese.

I’m a big advocate of quality extra-virgin olive oil. I probably enjoy a good EVOO as much as some people enjoy a fine wine. See my olive oil post: The Extraordinary Health Benefits Of Extra Virgin Olive Oil You Need To Know.

The fats we avoid like the plague are highly processed seed oils (corn, vegetable, soybean, etc.). See my post on the dangers of soybean oil.

Most of the fats we eat are saturated. The mainstream medical community still has this perverse antipathy to saturated fats. However, saturated fat is not your enemy.

Crucial Things We Had To Be Aware Of Concerning The Keto Diet

Before Barbara and I went keto we did a ton of research. One thing we were concerned about was the dreaded “keto flu”.

The Keto Flu

Some people who jump right into a keto diet often report experiencing symptoms like fatigue, headaches, irritability, and muscle cramps. These symptoms have become known as the “keto flu”. But this isn’t really the flu. Experts relate that these symptoms are a result of the body moving away from carbohydrate metabolism to fat metabolism.

The transition away from carbs allows the kidneys to work more efficiently whereby they excrete more sodium and water. Also, a keto diet eschews high sodium containing processed foods. If you were consuming a lot of these foods prior to keto, their removal from your diet may contribute to sodium depletion.

A simple fix for the “keto flu”, or to avoid it altogether, is to maintain the proper intake of sodium and water.

Barbara and I never experienced the “keto flu”. One probable reason is that we had a gradual transition to keto. We were paleo for many years, then switched to low-carb, and then to keto. By the time we went keto, we were already somewhat fat adapted. So apparently our sodium intake was adequate.

Also, you have to make sure you get enough water when on keto. Generally, we drink at least 6-8 glasses of water per day. This seems to be adequate for us.

Here’s something important. It’s not uncommon for some people to lose significant weight (2-10 pounds) very quickly on a keto diet. This initial weight loss is most likely due to the loss of water. A low-carb diet will reduce stored glycogen which results in water loss. Weight loss should become steady after this initial period of fat adaption.

Barbara and I experience this rapid weight loss when we first went low-carb, but not when we went keto. Our weight loss on keto was gradual and sustained.

Let’s explore the recommendations for sodium, potassium, and magnesium intake in more detail.

What Should Your Sodium Intake Look Like On A Keto Diet?

Dr. Phinney recommends that most individuals on a keto diet consume at least 5 grams of sodium a day. This should be sufficient to avoid the “keto flu”. Caution: This does not mean 5 grams of salt. Table salt has a chloride component which reduces the amount of sodium.

A teaspoon of table salt has about 2.3 grams of sodium. Doing the math means you’ll need at least a little over 2 teaspoons of salt a day.

No, that doesn’t mean you have to dump all that salt onto your food.

You’ll get some sodium naturally from food (pickles, etc.) and some from salting your food. If you don’t think you’re getting enough sodium, you can get even more from bullion cubes or broth.

In my case, and it’s something Barbara finds utterly disgusting, I’ll put some pink Himalayan salt in the palm of my hand and just lick it up. I learned this from Dr. Mercola who said he does it 6-8 times throughout the day.

Caution On Sodium Intake

Some individuals should exercise caution when adjusting salt intake. Individuals with persistently high blood pressure and fluid retention and people taking NSAIDs should be wary of raising their sodium intake until their conditions resolve. See here. Also, people performing heavy work or physical exercise in the heat may need more sodium.

If you’re healthy and concerned that consuming 5 grams of sodium is dangerous, this 2014 study should allay your concerns. After observing 100,000 individuals, it found that the lowest mortality risk occurred at 5.0 grams of sodium per day.

Urinary Sodium and Potassium Excretion, Mortality, and Cardiovascular Events O’Donnell, M et al. N Engl J Med 2014 371:612-623

For Dr. Phinney’s sodium recommendations, see here.

Let’s take a look at potassium.

What Should Your Potassium Intake Look Like On A Keto Diet?

Potassium is another important electrolyte to consider on a keto diet. It is generally recommended that you get at least 1000-3,500 mg of potassium daily. If you’re on a well-formulated keto diet, you should get enough potassium from foods like raw spinach, avocado, mushrooms, salmon, steak, and pork loin.

To be on the safe side, occasionally we’ll sprinkle some of this potassium salt on our meat. Caution: it tastes rather blah.

What Should Your Magnesium Intake Look Like On A Keto Diet?

Magnesium is a mineral that many Americans are deficient in. According to a 2011 report in the Journal Nutrition, 45 percent of American adults do not get the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) amount of magnesium from their diet.

Barbara and I were already aware of the importance of supplementing with magnesium well before we went keto. We were taking 200 mg/day.

However, It’s recommended that individuals on a keto diet get between 300-500 mg of magnesium per day.

Since we were getting 200 mg from our supplements and the rest from our food, we thought we were okay. We found out the hard way that we were very wrong.

Constipation: A Side Effect Of A Keto Diet

After a few weeks on the keto diet, I developed constipation. This was the first time I had this problem since before going on a paleo diet years ago. Suggestions to eat more fiber and drink more water were not helpful as I was already doing that.

I read that upping my magnesium intake might help. So Barbara and I increased our magnesium to 600 mg/day. Literally, overnight the problem disappeared and never returned. What a relief that was!!! This is the magnesium that we use.

What About Micronutrients?

Since Barbara and I were on a paleo diet for at least 5 years, we were already eating a lot of whole foods and we continued doing this on our keto diet. We eat at least 3-6 portions of above ground leafy and cruciferous veggies daily. This ensures that we get a good supply of micronutrients.

Maintaining A Good Omega-6 To Omega-3 Fatty Acid Ratio On A Keto Diet?

An important nutritional parameter Barbara and I seek to maintain in our keto diet is an optimal omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acid ratio. These fatty acids are essential fatty acids. That means that even though our bodies need them to function properly, our bodies cannot produce them. We must, therefore, get them from our diet.

Omega-3 fatty acids are recognized as promoting healthy cells and having beneficial anti-inflammatory properties. Several studies had been performed that show they help in reducing the risk of heart disease. See here, here and here.

Omega-6 fatty acids are important for maintaining cell wall integrity and providing energy for the heart. However, when the omega-6 level is elevated, they become pro-inflammatory in a negative way.

Increased omega-6s have been associated with chronic inflammatory diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, CVD, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer’s disease. See here and here.

More importantly, for health concerns, is the proportion of omega-6 to omega-3 you get from your diet. Here’s why.

Today’s research suggests that a healthy ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 should fall between 1:1 – 4:1. However, with today’s Western Pattern diet this ratio has now increased to between 15:1 – 16.7:1. See here and here.

This ratio does have health consequences. For example, a ratio of 4:1 was associated with a 70% decrease in total mortality, a ratio of 2-3:1 suppressed inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and a ratio of 5:1 had a beneficial effect on patients with asthma, whereas a ratio of 10:1 had adverse consequences. See here.

In order to maintain a good omega-6 to omega-3 ratio on our keto diet, we do these three things:

Consume foods higher in omega-3. This means eating more fatty fish like salmon and sardines. We eat salmon almost once a week. Sardines are a big staple for us. We have them for lunch at least 5 days a week. These are the best.
Eat pastured or 0mega-3 enriched eggs.
Reduce our omega-6 intake by avoiding processed foods.
Avoid processed “heart healthy” PUFA vegetable oils high in omega-6. Obviously, this is contrary to what the FDA, USDA, and American Heart Association have recommended. However, it is consistent with what research tells us about the danger of PUFA oils especially when they are subjected to high heat.

An Additional Supplement To Our Keto Diet

In my last post, I included a sample of what we eat during a typical day. You may have noticed that MCT oil was on that list. MCT oil is not essential to a keto diet, but if you’re looking to up your ketone production, it may help.

MCT Oil

Remember one of the main reasons for us going keto was so that our bodies would be in a state of ketosis. MCT oil is a supplement that is known for increasing ketone production in the body.

It’s a medium chain triglyceride oil that is derived from palm kernel oil or coconut oil. Upon being ingested, MCT oil passes directly to the liver where it is metabolized into ketones.

MCT oil has been reported to help with metabolic syndrome, and to increase cognition in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s patients.,

Also, since your liver converts MCT oil directly to ketones, it won’t store the oil as fat. The newly produced ketones, therefore, are an instant source of energy for our bodies.

Anecdotally, individuals had reported increased clarity and energy after consuming MCT oil. You can add my name to that list.

This is the MCT oil we are currently using. I pour one tablespoon into my 12:00 PM green tea, and I’m good for the day. There is no change in the taste of the tea, but the consistency is a little oily. It is oil after all.

For more on the benefits of MCT oil, see here. It’s important to note that you don’t need to consume MCT oil to be in ketosis.

Some Cautions When Consuming MCT Oil

If you’re not adapted to eating coconut oil, then you will have to proceed slowly when consuming MCT oil. Some individuals experience mild gastric distress. It’s recommended that people start with one teaspoon of MCT oil.
Remember that MCT oil is a fat and as such its calories will comprise your overall daily calorie total. So if you consume 1 tablespoon of MCT oil, that will be about 14 grams of fat. If you don’t take this into consideration, then you may consume more calories than you’re expending during the day. Which means your body will store the excess fat and you won’t lose weight.
Since MCT oil will produce ketones, people claim that you can up your carb intake and still be in ketosis. But I take MCT as insurance for producing more ketones not so that I can cheat with carbs.

There’s one more diet tweak I’d like to mention.

Fasting

Many people who practice a keto lifestyle engage in fasting. If you refrain from eating, your body will have no choice but to consume its own fat for energy. Thus you will lose weight. Also, because no carbs are being consumed, your body will produce ketones.

Fasting will also aid in bringing your body into a better state of insulin sensitivity.

However, I have tried prolonged fasting (more than 24 hours), but it doesn’t work for me. I’ve found the stress on my body is too much for me to handle. Barbara coped better with it, but she also found it stressful.

Since we were not trying to lose humongous amounts of weight, we decided not to incorporate it into our keto regimen.

For everything, you want to know about fasting, visit Dr. Jason Fung’s site here.

There’s also some controversy in the keto world about the dangers of a loss of muscle mass when fasting. Dr. Phinney says it’s possible while Dr. Fung says it’s not. The jury is still out on this issue.

While we don’t fast, we do engage in delayed onset eating.

Delayed Onset Eating

While we don’t do prolonged fasts, we do practice delayed eating. We generally finish eating about 8:00 pm and don’t eat again until at least 12:00 PM the following day. That gives us a 16-hour fast period every day. Eating this way should produce better insulin sensitivity and more ketones.

I’m never really hungry until about 12:00 PM so I’ve experienced no problems with this practice. At 12:00, I’ll have a couple of eggs, bacon or a sausage, some greens, green tea, MCT oil, and a scoop of collagen, and I’m good until about 4:00 PM. At 4:00, I’ll have a sardine salad, EVVO, greens, almonds, more green tea, some avocado, and maybe some blueberries. Then at 7:00, I’ll have whatever Barb is cooking up for dinner.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Going forward, we’re concerned with 4 things:

Maintaining our waist measurements
Increasing muscle mass
Optimizing body fat percentage
Continuing to produce ketones

In order to accomplish these goals, we’ll stay on a keto diet. We don’t eat a lot of refined carbs, potatoes, or rice so that won’t be difficult. Some keto experts state that when individuals who have been on a keto diet become fat adapted they can up their carb intake.

I don’t anticipate doing that at the moment.

In order to gain muscle mass, I probably will up my protein intake to 0.8 grams per pound of lean muscle mass. That means I’ll consume about 104 grams of protein a day.

I may also slightly increase my fat intake. But I have to be careful here because I still have a bit more body fat to lose.

Barbara is completely ecstatic with the diet. She’s just about hit her target weight and has boundless energy. Keep going, girl. 61 is the new 41. She may up her protein a little, but for now, she is happy where she is.

Do You Strength Train And Walk?

While the keto diet is a healthy diet, it’s not everything you need for a long, healthy life. Strong muscles and moving often are also important.

If you already strength train, keep getting stronger. If you don’t but want to, here is the easy method Barbara and I use.

And keep walking. It may be one of the best exercises you can do.

That’s it! Oh, wait, no, it’s not. Remember, we have over 50 delicious low-carb recipes for you to check out. See them on our home page.

If you’re someone who needs more keto info, see the ketogains.com Reddit FAQ page here. Also, check out Mark Sisson’s new book, The Keto Reset Diet. It contains a wealth of information on the keto diet.

Okay, that’s definitely it for this post. We love to hear your comments. Have a blessed week!

P. S. If you’re looking for low-carb recipes, get a copy of Barbara’s newly released eBook Bursting With Flavor: 50 low-carb and gluten-free recipes designed to delight your taste buds. This isn’t just any cookbook. It’s filled with her tastiest and healthiest recipes. You’ll be able to walk into your kitchen excited to easily cook a new meal each day.

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Our Keto Journey Part 1: The Keto Diet Is Hot! Here’s Why

Dr. John Bianchi — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 21:09:57 +0000

Barbara and I have been on a ketogenic diet for about six months, and we are absolutely amazed at the results. I’ve lost inches. She’s lost inches. And we’re both full of energy.

To tell you the truth, the diet wasn’t even that difficult to configure or stay on. From our perspective, it wasn’t restrictive at all.

In this series of posts, I’ll tell you why we’re doing keto. You see, not everyone does it for the same reasons. Barbara and I have some similar goals, but at the same time, we have some very different reasons for going keto. I’ll also detail how we configured our macronutrients (carbs, fats, and proteins), our experiences with it, and some practical things we learned that you must do if you’re going to do this diet.

I’ll also answer questions like:

Do I have to check my ketones every day?
How much fat can I eat?
Will too much protein throw me out of ketosis?
Can I still lift heavy on this diet?

In today’s post, though, let’s take a 10,000-foot view of the ketogenic diet.

The Ketogenic Diet Is Hot

The ketogenic diet seems to be the newest fad diet. However, doctors have used it to treat epilepsy for over 100 years.

Today, nutrition experts are recommending the diet as a healthy way of eating. Several leading researchers like Doctors Westman, Phinney and Volek have written best selling books showing how the keto diet can be used to treat a number of physical ailments and also provide a healthy diet for millions of people.

Even longtime primal lifestyle blogger Mark Sisson recently released a “how to” book on the keto diet (it’s excellent by the way). And if you browse Amazon’s nutrition bestseller list, you’ll see several keto cookbooks there.

The keto diet is hot — no question about it. But what exactly is it?

What Is A Ketogenic Diet?

Simply put, a ketogenic diet is a diet that puts your body into a state of nutritional ketosis. Wow, that didn’t tell you a lot, did it?

Okay, let’s make it simpler. Nutritional ketosis is a condition where your body uses fats and ketones rather than carbohydrates (glucose) as an energy source. This metabolic state happens when your intake of carbohydrates is sufficiently limited to the point where your liver begins to convert fat tissue and dietary fats into organic compounds called ketones. These ketones can be used for energy in other parts of your body especially your muscle and brain.

Contrary to what has been taught for decades fat and ketone metabolism is a much more efficient source of fuel for your body than carbohydrates. Here are a few reasons why:

Carb metabolism produces more reactive oxygen species (free radicals) than fat. The less of those disease causing free radicals floating around your body the better.
Ketone body metabolism produces more ATP (energy) within mitochondria and less damaging free radicals.
Less free radicals mean less tissue inflammation
Energy-wise fat yields more bang for your buck. Carbs yield 4 calories per gram while fat yields 9.
Carbs are burned more quickly than fat. Therefore, if your diet consists of predominantly carbs you will need to continually eat carbs to continue fueling your body. However, since carbs are broken down into glucose, constant consumption of glucose will spike your blood glucose levels. In turn, this will signal the constant secretion of insulin which can lead to insulin resistance and subsequent disease. Fat on, the other hand, doesn’t induce insulin secretion.

Mark Sisson compares the burning of carbs to fat as burning kindling as compared to a slow, long burning log. You’ll get quick heat from the kindling but the log will keep you warmer a lot longer.

Switching To Fat Burning

A keto diet causes your body to switch from burning carbs for energy to fat. This fat comes from two possible sources. One is from the fat you consume. The other is from your own stored fat reserves. Yes, that’s that dreadful stuff hanging around your belly and thighs. In the process of fat burning, ketones are produced.

So far, we have seen three very important aspects of a ketogenic diet. First, your carb intake is kept low. Second, fat is your body’s primary fuel. And three, in the process of fat metabolism, ketones are made in the liver.

I would like to add here that being on a keto diet does not mean that your body can be fueled by any dietary fat. It’s strictly limited to healthy fats (no processed industrial seed oils, margarine, etc.).

Let’s take a look at why someone would want to go on this ~~insane~~, healthy diet.

Reasons For Going On A Ketogenic Diet

There are some good reasons for going on a ketogenic diet. Some are better than others. You’ll see what I mean later on.

Managing Epilepsy

Traditionally, a ketogenic diet has been used to treat epilepsy. Doctors find that it has a remarkable ability to lower or even eliminate seizures in epileptic children. See Charlie’s story.

Physicians believe it’s the ketones that produce the amazing results in epilepsy, but they’re not sure how.

Possible Management Of Other Diseases

Many people are experimenting and finding success with the ketogenic diet for conditions such as:

Migraines
Parkinson’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease –— There have been several studies done showing the positive effects of increased ketone levels and improvement in memory and cognitive abilities in individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease. See here, here and here. Researchers are not sure why they see improvements among patients with Alzheimer’s Disease when on a ketogenic diet. One theory is that Alzheimer patients often have impaired glucose metabolism in their brains. Therefore, energy from ketones is more efficient. Two other reasons are the possibility of reduced hyperinsulinemia and reduction of inflammation.
Multiple sclerosis
Cancer
Type 2 and type 1 Diabetes
PCOS
GERD
Cardiovascular disease (CVD)

An important note here is that some of the above conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease, CVD, PCOS, as well as gout, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, benign prostate hyperplasia/hypertrophy (BPH), vertigo, tinnitus, and Ménière’s Disease seem to be driven by hyperinsulinemia.

Since a ketogenic diet is extremely low in carbohydrates, insulin levels should fall. Thus the success of the keto diet for these conditions may be more related to lowering insulin and not necessarily to the higher ketone levels.

This means that if you were using the diet to solely correct hyperinsulinemia, you wouldn’t have to go crazing trying to constantly check your ketone levels. You could actually go out of ketosis and still derive health benefits by lowering insulin levels. In which case, you may not even really need to be on a ketogenic diet but simply an adequate carb restricted diet.

Reduction Of Inflammation

Inflammation is not always a bad thing. It’s our body’s way of responding to pathogens, tissue damage, and irritants so that our body can heal itself.

However, when inappropriate chronic inflammation gets out of hand, disease can occur. Chronic inflammation has been associated with several diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, MS, Alzheimer’s Disease, some cancers, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s Disease, hypertension and, obesity.

The Ketone Inflammasome Connection

In 2002, researchers discovered that a structure within human cells called an inflammasome is responsible for initiating the cascade of inflammatory effects. When an inflammasome recognizes a threat such as toxins, bacteria, viruses or even too much glucose, it binds to caspase-1 and triggers the release of cytokines. These small proteins continue to mediate the inflammatory process.

However, if an inflammasome (there’s only one per cell) remains abnormally activated, then cytokines can run wild causing a chronic inflammatory state and even some of the diseases I mentioned above.

Are you with me so far? Good. Here’s where it gets interesting.

Researchers are now doing studies to see if targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome can help in reducing chronic inflammation and thus disease.

Researchers believe that modulating the NLRP3 may help in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance, rheumatoid arthritis, epilepsy, and some neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s Disease, ALS and, MS.

So you might be saying, “What does all this have to do with the ketogenic diet?” There is evidence that one of the ketones produced by a ketogenic diet, beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), can reduce inflammation by modulating the effect of the intracellular NLRP3 inflammasome.

Researchers from this study came to these conclusions about BHB,

These findings provide insight into immunological functions of metabolic signals such as BHB and suggest that dietary or pharmacological approaches to elevate BHB, without inducing the generalized starvation response, holds promise in reducing the severity of multiple NLRP3 mediated chronic inflammatory diseases.

Here is another study suggesting the same effect of BHB on the NLRP3 inflammasome and inflammation.

Okay, since, a ketogenic diet increases the ketone (BHB), and BHB reduces the activation of NLRP3, then it’s possible that increased ketones in the body can reduce the chronic inflammatory response associated with the above conditions.

On to the next reason people go on a ketogenic diet.

Fat Loss On A Ketogenic Diet

A big reason individuals go on a ketogenic diet is for its ability to promote fat loss. Here’s the rationale.

Since a keto diet is extremely low in carbohydrates, insulin levels will drop dramatically allowing fat to be released from fat cells. Now, because you are not burning carbs for energy but fat, excess fat stores can be used for energy. Thus, you lose fat and weight.

This process is in accord with the hormonal theory of weight gain that suggests obesity is primarily due to the prolonged over secretion of insulin.

The Hormonal Theory Of Weight Gain

After you consume refined carbs and sugar, your digestive process converts them into glucose. This glucose then enters your bloodstream.

When your body recognizes the glucose in your blood, your pancreas secretes insulin which removes glucose from your blood and transports it to cells for immediate energy. If the cell has sufficient energy, the cell will convert the excess glucose into glycogen or fat as a store for future energy needs.

If you continue to over-consume carbs, insulin will continue to pack glucose into muscle and fat cells where if it’s not needed for energy, it will be converted to triglycerides (fat). This means you get fatter.

If you continue to over-consume carbs for a long time (I’m talking about years here), insulin will stay chronically high which will have the effect of locking fat into cells. This means you get even fatter.

Insulin Resistance

If insulin stays chronically high, your cells may develop a resistance to insulin. This can lead to all kinds of problems like type 2 diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome. If insulin resistance continues long enough, your cells may resist the effect of insulin to store glucose. This means that excess glucose may end up in your liver. Eventually, your liver will convert the glucose first into glycogen and then into fat and then presto chango you have fatty liver disease.

This is a simple explanation of the hormonal theory of weight gain. If you’re a biochemistry nerd like me and want to discover the detailed science behind the theory, see this excellent series of posts by Amy Berger of Tuitnutrition.com.

Now here’s something I mentioned before. If you have insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, or metabolic syndrome, then a ketogenic diet will help with these medical conditions. But since the goal here is to reduce insulin levels by reducing carb intake, the thing that’s making you better is carb restriction, not ketones.

As they say over at Ketogains.com, if your goal is to lose fat you’ll want to chase results, not ketones. This means that your success will be measured by inches, pounds, blood glucose, and insulin numbers.

So if you want to use a keto diet to lose fat, you don’t have to go crazy making sure you’re producing at least 0.5 mmol of ketones per day. However, if you’re concerned with the adverse inflammatory effects caused by hyperinsulinemia, you may want to make sure you’re in ketosis.

The Elimination Of Brain Fog

Many people who go on a keto diet say they experience increased clarity of thinking. While this evidence is anecdotal there are two scientific theories which may support the claim.

Excess Ammonia

It is known that excess ammonia in the brain can cause brain fog and other cognitive problems. It is also known that glutamine synthetase cleans up excess ammonia in the brain.

This study shows that ketosis increases the production of glutamine synthetase. Therefore ketosis increases glutamine synthetase which reduces ammonia in the brain which reduces brain fog.

Neurotransmitter Imbalance

An imbalance between the neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA within the brain can cause neurodegeneration. This study showed that ketosis can bring these two chemicals into balance by clearing glutamate and increasing GABA. This is also a proposed reason why a keto diet works for epilepsy.

Now, if you want the ketone benefit of a ketogenic diet, there are some important things to know.

How Can You Tell If You’re In Ketosis?

Keto diet experts Dr.s Phinney and Volek state that a person reaches a state of nutritional ketosis when the concentration of ketones in your blood is at or above 0.5-3.0 mM. Here’s the rub though. The only way to know that you are absolutely in ketosis is by using a special meter that tests your blood.

This is somewhat invasive as it means you have to draw some blood from yourself similar to what a diabetic does when they check their blood glucose levels. Personally, I have never done this nor do I plan to.

A less accurate way to tell you’re in ketosis is by using a urine strip. However, this will only tell you that you have some excess ketones but not how much. More on ketone levels later.

How Do You Get Into Ketosis?

Dr.s Phinney and Volek recommend eating <50 grams of carbs and a moderate amount of protein daily to achieve nutritional ketosis. However, these recommendations can vary according to the individual. Others keto advocates recommend that net carbs (carbs – fiber) be kept to a maximum of 30 grams.

Some people can achieve ketosis with slightly more carbs though others may need less. Also, individuals may not see ketones in their blood immediately. For those who have not already been on a low-carb high-fat diet, it may take 1-2 weeks for ketosis to begin.

Protein and fat intake are variable, depending on the goal of the dieter. I’ll go into more detail later on what comprises a well-formulated ketogenic diet (macronutrient and micronutrient content).

Going Into Ketosis Without Consuming Fat (Fasting)

If you consume no food, you will eventually burn up your stored glycogen reserves. Once this happens, your body will then turn to its own stored fat for fuel. This will eventually produce ketones. This is one goal of those who practice prolonged fasting.

Increasing Ketones Through Supplements

There are supposedly two ways to increase your ketone levels with supplements.

Consume exogenous ketones. I haven’t had experience with these and I don’t know how effective they are.
Consume MCT (medium chain triglyceride) oil. MCT oil is broken down directly into ketones in the liver. I do take MCT oil, and I’ll give more on my experience with that in an upcoming post.

Who Shouldn’t Be On A Ketogenic Diet?

If you have any kind of debilitating disease you should always consult with your doctor before beginning a diet. That being said some individuals should be cautious before entering into a keto diet.

Pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding and children. Because of the differences in caloric intake necessary in these populations a strict keto diet might be contraindicated. See here, here and here.
Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetics must be careful of going into ketoacidosis. Since a keto diet increases ketones this is a concern. Type 2 diabetics must be cautious on any low-carb diet because the limitation of carbs in conjunction with insulin-lowering medications can cause hypoglycemia. See here.
Hypertensive Individuals. Low-carb diets are effective for lowering blood pressure. Therefore people who go ultra low-carb and are on antihypertensive meds should guard against low blood pressure. See here.

There it is. I know I promised you a 10,000-foot view of a ketogenic diet, this was more like a 5,000-foot view. And, yes, I know there are still a lot of unanswered questions. I’ll get into our use of the keto diet next time.

The post Our Keto Journey Part 1: The Keto Diet Is Hot! Here’s Why appeared first on Gluten Free Homestead.

Why This Healing Smoothie Recipe Is My Daily Green Smoothie

Dr. John Bianchi — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 04:04:19 +0000

A good green smoothie should taste fresh, creamy, and satisfying; not like a chore to get through. This healing smoothie recipe blends whole fruits and greens so you keep the nourishing fiber while creating a smooth, refreshing drink you’ll look forward to.

Let’s take a quick look at why this smoothie is worth adding to your routine.

This healing green smoothie is one of the best ways to start your day. It’s loaded with nutritious organic romaine lettuce, kale, carrots, celery stalks, strawberries, an avocado, and a Granny Smith apple.

For a powerful combination of fruits and vegetables to supercharge your well-being and boost your energy, blend them all together.

Oh, and once you get into the habit of making smoothies like this, it becomes one of the easiest ways to add more fruits and greens to your day.

Be sure to check out our complete lineup of smoothie recipes; each one is crafted to support your well-being, including the Radiant Skin Smoothie and the refreshing Joint Soothing blend!

As I have written in my previous post: Journey to Health, I suffered for many years with ill health. Even though I began eating gluten free, I was not getting significantly better. Then about 2 ½ years ago, I introduced some significant changes into my health plan.

Links are affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission if you buy the item at no extra cost to you.

One of those was a consistent program of juicing. A friend, who had just had bypass surgery, mentioned that he was following a new diet. He had just purchased a Vitamix and was starting a program of whole-food juicing.

So, I decided to buy a Vitamix as well and began incorporating green smoothies into my diet.

Green smoothie benefits

The Vitamix is technically not a juicer but a blender. It blends the entire ingredient, retaining all of its nutritious fiber and benefits. Many juicing experts prefer to juice their vegetables and fruits as they believe nutrients enter the blood stream faster.

If you’d like, you can read some of the differences between juicing and blending here.

This recipe is for the green smoothie that I make each morning. It yields about 42 ounces. I usually drink about 30-32 ounces during the day, and Barbara drinks the rest.

In order to obtain the maximum benefits, most experts who advocate juicing suggest that fresh juice should be consumed within 4 hours of making it. I try to do my best within 6-8 hours. It’s a lot of juice.

I recommend buying only organic vegetables and washing all vegetables in filtered water before getting started.

Disclaimer: Please note that I am not a practicing medical professional but just sharing with you what is working for me. I am in the process of healing and will keep adjusting what I’m doing. I highly recommend you seek out professional advice for yourself and only use my tips as a starting point.

Ready to blend your way to a creamy, fiber-packed green smoothie? Here’s my step-by-step guide with beautiful photos so you can follow along easily.

How to make my healing green smoothie

*Free printable recipe card is available at the end of the post.

Step 1. First, toss in four to five romaine lettuce leaves. Romaine is packed with nutrients and is high in Vitamins A, K, and folate.

Step 2. Then add in three large kale leaves. You can use any kind of kale. Kale is another leafy, green vegetable loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and compounds believed to prevent cancer.

However, it is a good idea to rotate green vegetables so sometimes I substitute with bok choy. Many people don’t like to juice spinach or Swiss chard in their raw form because of their high oxalic acid content. Oxalic acid has a tendency to prevent the absorption of some nutrients.

Step 3. Like the saying goes, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” so I make sure to include an apple in my smoothies. I use one large Granny Smith Apple, cut up into slices with the seeds removed.

Granny Smith’s contain more malic acid than red apples. Malic acid appears to be beneficial in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Also Granny Smith apples have a lower sugar content than other varieties like Red or Golden Delicious.

This is important for people concerned with their glycemic index.

Step 4. Now pour in three cups of filtered water.

Step 5. Next, cut up about one cup of carrots. Make sure to wash the carrots and brush clean. Feel free to adjust the amount of carrots as desired.

Carrots help prevent macular degeneration, reduce the risk of cancer, and slow aging. However, if you consume too many carrots, you can end up with an orange tint on the palms of your hands.

Step 6. I add six medium strawberries. Read about the benefits of strawberries here. You can also watch this TED Seminar on the cancer fighting ability of strawberries.

Also make sure to include two celery stalks and half of an avocado (of course remove the skin and pit!). Celery soothes the nervous system, regulates the body’s alkaline balance, and aids digestion.

Green smoothie with avocado

Avocados are loaded with potassium and heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids. I have not found it necessary to add sweeteners to this drink.

Avocado gives this green smoothie a creamy texture and adds fiber and healthy fats that help keep it satisfying.

If you still have avocado on the counter, don’t let it go to waste. Barbara’s homemade guacamole is delicious with her skinny low carb taco bowls recipe, and our friend’s avocado feta salad is another fresh and simple option.

Pro tips and recipe notes

I have the Vitamix Professional Series 500. For one thing, I have found it’s best to put heavier ingredients on top as they weigh everything down.

Also, the machine comes with a plastic tamper to press the ingredients down to facilitate mixing. And it has a smoothie setting that is automatically timed.

If your final drink is too thick, adding more water should do the trick. Feel free to customize anything else according to your tastes.

This green smoothie has been an important part in helping to improve my general health and allowing me to regain a sense of what it means to feel well.

With its refreshing taste and the knowledge that I am getting a super infusion of beneficial nutrients, this green drink will continue to be a staple of my health plan.

Enjoy, friends! Have a happy and healthy week!

P.S. Recipes like this healing smoothie are just the start. In Barbara’s course, she shows you the simple approach she uses to make dinnertime feel comforting, delicious, and stress-free even on the busiest nights.

More nutritious recipes for you

How To Cut And Cook Spaghetti Squash: Your Ultimate Guide: Video and step by step photo guide for the unique squash that, when cooked, separates into long, noodle-like strands. You’ll love this delicious, nutritious, low carb alternative to pasta.

How To Make Super-Nutritious Sauerkraut Every Time: In this post, you’ll learn about the many important benefits of sauerkraut. I’ve included a step-by-step guide with recipe tips, beautiful photos, and a video showing how to make it. You’re going to love this sauerkraut. There’s nothing like the taste of homemade.

Quick Pan Seared Pork Chops + ButcherBox Review: This review includes a recipe with the secret to tender, juicy chops.

How To Make Beef Bone Broth And Why It’s Good For You: You can use bone broth as stock for your favorite soups or gravies (or even serve it as a refreshing broth). It’s so nutritious and easy to make.

3 Tips To Make Healthier Potato Salad: This is the potato salad trick that makes the side dish more nutritious.

How To Make Delicious 24-Hour Probiotic Yogurt: This is one of the most popular recipes on the blog with step by step pictures and tips to make nutritious homemade yogurt.

Healing Green Smoothie Recipe

My Healing green smoothie is loaded with organic romaine lettuce, kale, carrots, celery, strawberries, avocado, and Granny Smith apple.

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Total Time 10

Servings

Calories 69kcal

Author Barbara Bianchi

Equipment

Vitamix

Ingredients

4-5 large leaves of romaine lettuce
3 larges leaves of kale
1 large Granny Smith apple cut into slices with seeds removed
3 cups of water
1 cup of chopped carrots
6 medium strawberries
1-2 celery stalks
½ avocado peeled and pit removed

Instructions

Place lettuce leaves, kale leaves, and Granny Smith apple slices in Vitamix (or blender).
4-5 large leaves of romaine lettuce, 3 larges leaves of kale, 1 large Granny Smith apple
Add three cups of water.
3 cups of water
Chop up one cup of carrots and add to Vitamix.
1 cup of chopped carrots
Next add strawberries, celery stalks, and avocado.
6 medium strawberries, 1-2 celery stalks, ½ avocado
Blend on smoothie setting.
Pour into glasses and enjoy.

Notes

Use only organic fruits and vegetables. Wash all ingredients in filtered water. Cut ends off all vegetables. Add more water to final drink if it is too thick.

Nutrition

Calories: 69kcal | Carbohydrates: 10.2g

The post Why This Healing Smoothie Recipe Is My Daily Green Smoothie appeared first on Gluten Free Homestead.

Gluten Free Living: Battling Cross Contamination

Barbara Bianchi — Sat, 13 Dec 2014 05:19:06 +0000

Learn about gluten free living and battling cross contamination especially with gluten containing products manufactured on shared equipment.

Why is gluten free living so tricky?

Today my dear husband, John, is visiting the blog with an article about the issue of cross contamination especially with gluten containing products manufactured on shared equipment.

Everyone who suffers from celiac disease has at one time or another feared that they might have ingested some gluten through cross contamination.

While the slightest amount of gluten ingestion can cause some to have severe overt symptoms, others may be experiencing internal damage and not even be aware of it. (I wrote about this here.)

Therefore celiac disease sufferers must always be on guard against cross contamination. After a commitment to a life long diet of gluten free (GF) foods only, the avoidance of cross contamination may be one of the most difficult endeavors for those with celiac.

Our family of 6 is divided right down the middle concerning the disease. Three of us have non-celiac gluten sensitivity and three of us don’t.

Ten years ago when two of our sons and I found out that a GF diet was essential to our health not everyone in the house immediately decided to eat GF.

Because of this, Barbara immediately realized she would have to change her entire way of preparing and cooking food.

In order to prevent us from being contaminated by gluten she immediately segregated toasters, cooking utensils, storage areas, counters for preparation, etc.

She then gave strict orders to everyone in the house on how and where they could prepare food. Yep, a knife that was used to cut a wheat hard roll in half could not then be used in the mayonnaise jar.

What a blessing to have such an understanding wife!

What about cooking? Ah ha. In order to make everyone happy she slowly began to develop the tastiest recipes using only GF free ingredients. Eventually her cooking took on a 100% GF nature.

Even our teenage son who is non-celiac finds her food delicious. Since everyone in the house is now GF we don’t worry about cross contamination from each other’s food but that doesn’t mean that we are free from the worry of cross contamination.

What’s the big deal?

In Barbara’s recipe last week for coconut almond bark, she was careful to include almonds that were specifically labeled GF. Some who are new to a GF diet might think, “What’s the big deal? Almonds don’t have gluten in them.”

That’s true, but did you ever go to your supermarket and try to find almonds that are labeled GF? It’s very difficult if not impossible. Even the ones that are organic often state: May Contain Peanuts, Other tree Nuts, Milk, Soy, Wheat and Eggs.

As most who have been on a GF diet for a while know, this caution is probably there because the nuts may be processed in facilities that are shared with foods made with wheat.

Even something as innocuous as almonds may contain gluten. Cross contamination, what a bummer. (If you enjoy almonds or other kinds of nuts and are concerned about cross contamination check out nuts.com Their nuts are certified GF.)

Ok, we solved the problem with almonds, so how big of a problem could cross contamination be? After all, we keep a GF kitchen and make sure all the processed products we purchase and consume, like pasta and flour, are labeled GF.

We should be ok, right? Well, maybe yes, maybe no.

Gluten free labeling

When we purchase products labeled gluten-free, are they really always 100% gluten-free? We would assume that gluten free means 0% gluten right? Well, consider this. On August 5, 2013, the FDA issued a final rule defining the term GF. One part of that rule stated that foods labeled GF must contain less than 20 parts per million of gluten. This is the FDA’s reasoning on how they came up with 20 ppm:

In addition, some celiac disease researchers and some epidemiological evidence suggest that most individuals with celiac disease can tolerate variable trace amounts and concentrations of gluten in foods (including levels that are less than 20 ppm gluten) without causing adverse health effects.

The fact that the statement says “most individuals” and “variable trace amounts” is not very reassuring for many of us who need to be on a 100% gluten-free diet. The research the FDA relied upon just doesn’t seem to be overwhelming. I guess due to the paucity of research they had to pick some starting point and this was it.

However, this is important. The FDA does not check the manufacturer’s products to make sure they are adhering to the 20 ppm guideline. It is up to the manufacturer to maintain the integrity of its claim of GF. But how well are they doing in their attempt to bring us products that are GF, at least according to FDA rules?

Gluten free certification

In October 2014, Tricia Thompson MS, RD (publisher of Glutenfreewatchdog.org) and Suzanne Simpson, dietitian at the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University, published the results of a 3 year study concerning the amount of gluten actually found in gluten free labeled products. Click here for the study abstract.

The results of the study found that out of 158 labeled gluten-free free food products 95% of the products tested at less than 20 ppm gluten with approximately 87 percent testing below 5 ppm gluten. Those are not seemingly bad numbers but obviously there is room for improvement.

But here’s where the study gets interesting. The researchers state,

Approximately five percent of foods labeled gluten-free but not certified tested at or above 20 ppm gluten. Approximately four percent of foods certified gluten-free tested at or above 20 ppm gluten. There also were some certified gluten-free products that tested below 20 ppm gluten but tested above the gluten levels set by the certifying organization.

What’s interesting about the study is that 4% of certified GF foods tested at or above 20 ppm. Certified GF foods, as opposed to foods that are simply labeled gluten-free, are foods that have been tested for gluten by an independent organization. For example, the Gluten-Free Certification Organization tests facilities and products for gluten and will certify the product GF only if it contains less than 10 ppm of gluten.

You may recognize their logo.

Another independent tester is the Celiac Support Association. It will only certify a product gluten-free if it contains less than 5 ppm of gluten.

According to the results of the study, even though most of the certified GF products tested at less than 5 ppm of gluten, there were still some that tested above 20ppm. Therefore, even a certified GF product is not guaranteed to be gluten-free. However, if the independent tester does find that the FDA rules are being violated, it will notify the manufacturer of its results. If the product is retested and found to be still in violation, the FDA may be notified to encourage compliance.

You all probably want to know the brands that failed the test. Unfortunately, the report didn’t identify the brands that failed. It would have been nice for us, but would have probably wrecked the brand’s business.

What can we take away from this study?

In order to avoid cross contamination or falsely labeled GF products, it is probably best to consume unprocessed GF whole foods as much as possible. It is also probably the healthiest diet.

Sometimes though, we are going to want to eat foods that are processed. After all, if someone wants to enjoy GF pasta, it’s going to be processed. Even if the pasta is homemade, the GF flour is going to be processed. What to do?

What my family has decided to do is limit the processed foods as much as possible, and when we do have to use a processed product we try our best to make sure it’s certified GF. These products are often processed in a dedicated GF facility and are supposed to contain less than 10 pmm of gluten and often less than 5 ppm (see info on Bob’s Red Mill products).

I am not sure, but I believe gluten testing equipment is not sensitive below 5 ppm, so many of these products are probably 100% GF. If one is really concerned about a specific product, the glutenfreewatchdog.org provides information on the GF integrity of individual products. However, it is a subscription service.

Incidentally there were two other recent similar studies performed. You can see the results here. There was also a study conducted by the Glutenfreewatchdog a year ago. It has some results, which you can access here.

I hope this information has been helpful to all those who seek to maintain a 100% gluten free diet and also to those who don’t have the disease but care for those of us who do.

Oooooh…Barbara’s making one of my favorites tonight, gluten free chicken francese. Yum!

Read this next

5 Important Differences Between A Gluten Free Diet And A Paleo Diet

How Our Food Philosophy And Mission Developed

How I Overcame My Fear of Going Gluten Free

5 Essential Steps to Prevent Gluten Cross-Contamination In Your Kitchen here.

The post Gluten Free Living: Battling Cross Contamination appeared first on Gluten Free Homestead.