The People's Diet: The Ketogenic Diet (Update)
Transforming my body from a sugar-burning machine to a fat-burning machine with the ketogenic diet
History
For those new to the ketogenic diet I know this all sounds like something you've heard before: bold claims of a new dietary fad. But the ketogenic diet isn't new at all. Fasting as a means of entering "ketosis" has been used to treat epilepsy for over 2500 YEARS! Since the 1960s it has been used to treat obesity and diabetes and there is promising research which indicates that it could be used to treat a wide assortment of disorders like headaches, neurotrauma, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, sleep disorders, brain cancer, autism, multiple sclerosis, acne, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and even bipolar disorder.
What is it?
The Ketogenic Diet is much like any low carb diet in that you consume very few carbohydrates, more protein, and even more fat. But the ketogenic diet is unique with respect to its goal: to alter the physiology of your body so that it burns fat for energy instead of carbs over the long term. According to WebMD, "For healthy people who don't have diabetes and aren't pregnant, ketosis usually kicks in after 3 or 4 days of eating less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. That's about 3 slices of bread, a cup of low-fat fruit yogurt, or two small bananas. You can start ketosis by fasting, too."
What is ketosis?
Once you have entered ketosis (i.e. your body has switched from using glucose for fuel to fat) the continued consumption of a ketogenic diet will keep your body in ketosis for as long as you want and convey to you a series of benefits. While the diet is very effective for weight-loss, that's not why I'm doing it. Ketones are a fundamentally different way of fueling your body and one need only look at the staggering diversity of ailments which it is used by doctors to treat to begin to suspect that it's not medicine ... it's just a healthier way of fueling your body and just as importantly your mind.
The Steemit Diet
The reason I think this is a great diet for the Steemit community is, first of all, that all of the evidence indicates that this is a healthier diet than the "glucose-adapted diet" we all consume. Using ketones as fuel is cleaner (it doesn't produce free radicals and in fact fights them) and it produces more ATP per unit of oxygen consumed so you produce more energy, especially in the brain where it also leads to an increased production of mitochondria (your cell's power plant). Probably most importantly it avoids many of the pitfalls of a diet filled with sugar. I think a lot of Steemit users care a lot about making sure their brain is functioning at max capacity, but at the same time I suspect many also spend a great deal of time sitting in front of a computer screen. The ketogenic diet (and ketosis) might be just the thing for both increasing your physical and mental energy while controlling your weight. I want the Steemit community to be the best in the world, body, mind, and spirit and the ketogenic diet seems scientifically proven to be a potential aid toward accomplishing that.
An Open Diet
But what I also love about this diet is that it seems to come from The People. It's been around forever, and so doesn't belong to anyone. Unlike the glucose-adapted diet, most recipes call for organic and locally grown meat and produce because of its higher concentrations of fatty acids, meaning that the massive corporations which factory-farm animals, pump them full of hormones and corn, and which have been unjustly enriched by decades of government subsidies, are left high and dry.
The fact that there's really nothing to patent is probably the very reason that the pharmaceutical industry is so uninterested in it, even though it has proven remarkably effective at treating very complicated and debilitating diseases with little to no side effects. For this reason, this dietary movement had to come from the bottom up with pioneers like Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Dom D'Agostino by making their research widely available and experimenting on themselves. D'Agostino's academic studies found that taking exogenous ketones could eliminate the need for fasting to enter ketosis at which point intrepid biohackers began DIY production of these ketones until supplement companies began producing them. While I am not usually one to recommend supplements (due to their general ineffectiveness), in this case the fact that these are supplements benefits us by decreasing the cost and speed at which they are able to come to market since they are not regulated as a drug (despite having proven medical uses).
I, like many people, have high hopes for Steemit and believe that just using it literally makes you smarter. Imagine that combined with the power of the ketogenic diet? Steemians could be a force to be reckoned with!
In the video below I provide an update on my progress and what it's like to be on this diet for 4 days
Here is a photo of my ketone test strip showing that I am in ketosis
Sources
- History of the Ketogenic Diet
- Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets
- WebMD: What is Ketosis?
- The fat fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous>
Let's say you try it out for a few days and don't like it or cannot continue. Will it be easy for your body to return to its previously carb-burning state? What are the long-term effects of this?
Yes, your body goes back into sugar burning mode (glucose-adapted) very quickly. Pretty much the moment you start consuming anything more than a tiny bit of carbs, your body will revert to using glucose. This is why it's so important to maintain the ketogenic diet. Think of glucose as the body's "go to" energy source, the moment it senses any is available it leaves fat-burning mode so that it can use the glucose and save the fat for use at a later time. You can't really store glucose, so your body prefers to use that and store fat basically in case of emergencies.
There is little evidence of long-terms effects, though there are early indications that it will help fight cancer and age-related degenerative brain diseases. As far as downsides, there are risks associated with doing this improperly. If you are healthy and consume a healthy diet (providing all the vital nutrients humans require) that is ketogenic, the potential for long term harm seems negligible. If you are ill then the diet can be dangerous, so obviously one should always consult with a medical or health professional before embarking on something like this, whether you're healthy or not. I am not licensed professional and I am not giving medical advice.
for the most people it isnt the best decision to run their body on a pure ketongenic diet concering their personal goals. Nontheless it is really interesting to follow you through your experience.
Your documentation is detailed and reflected. this is a very rare experience.
Do you also count and document your actual convertion and timing of energy in terms of calories and the balance of your nutritional supply ?
I can answer that one. Yes. I was on it for over a year. It does work well and you do feel healthy, but gradually I just couldn't face the food any more. And I have unfortunately regained all my weight as carbs are addictive. Your body adjusts back very quickly.
because the human body likes to use carbs !!!
the ketogenic diet isnt very usually useful to to reach long term better body constitution or to run your body on top performances.
It really have some advantages because of high level body fat processing !
But the usecases for a diet like this are very individual and preferably medically supervised !
Agreed. I learned that low carb is healthier than no carb. At the moment I haven't been watching my diet though. :(
it is about the right balance ! but this can be very individual.
like most things in life :)