How gradual are the keto benefits?

(Eve) #1

I have now been in ketosis for a year and noticed some benefits early on e.g. much less acid reflux, but l think that some of the real gut healing takes time - especially if there is are long-time issues to resolve. My arthritis hasn’t responded yet either. So l am curious what people’s experiences are regarding how long it has taken for certain benefits to emerge.

(Robin) #2

I started seeing some improvement in arthritis and inflammation on keto.
Then when I started eliminating veggies, I saw a huge improvement fairly quickly…. Maybe a couple months.

But as per usual… we are all different.

(Geoffrey) #3

I’m not keto but carnivore. My gut issues (IBS and Crohn’s) were cured in the first month. My inflammation and arthritis were drastically reduced in one month and almost nonexistent by the third month.
Maybe eliminate the foods that are causing inflammation in you?

(Bob M) #4

Yeah, you might have to do some further analysis. I’ve reached the conclusion that I can eat some plants, but they usually have to be well cooked or fermented.

(Chuck) #5

Just remember we are all different and what cures one person may be the reason for the issue in the next person. It is important to find what truly works for you. At first keto seemed to work for me then it all fail apart for me. With about a year and a half of experimenting behind me I am finally understanding my body. I am accepting that the scale is not the answer and that multi day fasting isn’t the answer. The answer for me is not eating highly processed food and fast food. That a limited intermediate fast of about 16 is great. That I cannot sugar from sugar cane, but that fresh fruit is great. Vegetables are also great as long as I don’t over do it. For me protein is important but again it isn’t everything. Good fat is also important but not in large amounts. I need the full gambit in the correct amounts.

#6

I didn’t notice any particular benefits beyond fat adaptation, that suddenly came after 7 weeks and my hunger never was the same again :smiley: Keto was a temporal part of my journey, I got even lower-carb habits than before so it was useful but I felt just like before that, I ate similarly (just half as much carbs) and I stalled the same.
For me, carnivore brought benefits, basically immediately. Then there are some that takes more time but those are subtle changes and I can’t even tell now what those are. I just notice that I keep changing for the better. But I eat differently now, I couldn’t eat much meat in the beginning and that surely makes a big difference on carnivore :wink: (On keto too I suppose. I did vegetarian keto. I don’t think the lack of meat was a problem directly, more like the inevitable higher carb intake. I know there are vegetarians who can eat very little carbs but it was impossible for me.)

I felt quite healthy even on high-carb and I did low-carb several years before keto AND my keto was too carby for me, that’s why I didn’t get benefits. And because my body is like that, I never have much energy, no matter how I eat.

It’s quite individual and I don’t only mean the person in question but the keto style. One can do it in many different ways and not all are good for everyone, to put it lightly. Of course one can do very unhealthy keto too. I experimented and listened to my body and when my mind/tastes were in some conflict with it, I trained myself out of it, mostly. When I make a really good change and my actual woe fits me, benefits come quickly. But there are problems needing time, we can’t expect that even the best woe solves all our diet related health problems immediately.

#7

Have you had your inflammation markers like hsCRP and Sedimentation rate checked at any point? The arthritis not responding is a little weird, that’s usually pretty quick.

Gut healing can take some time, but do you know what you’re dealing with specifically and have you done anything to help heal it? Lots of stuff can be done to promote gut healing. For many, simply not making it madder isn’t enough, but takes that, as well as giving it what it needs to rebuild

(Bob M) #8

Never heard of this one. It’s interesting:

Not too expensive:

I may have to get that next time.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #9

For me, the results have taken varying amounts of time. For example, the arthritis in my knees took at least six months and the loss of 80 lbs./36 kg before I could walk down the cellar steps without pain. The arthritis in my fingers only took about three months to resolve. And I used to get a sort of eczema on the back of my hands in the winter, which got better each year on keto, but this year, after four months as a carnivore, is the first year with no itchy, scaly patch at all. For reference, I started keto in 2017. Skin tags went away in a matter of months, and the acanthosis nigricans under my eyes has greatly improved (I’ve always had raccoon eyes and still do, so this is a relative improvement).

On keto, I found that there was a level of carb intake that caused my arthritis and joint stiffness to start to return, even if it was still low enough for me to remain in ketosis. Ordinarily I didn’t wake up stiff at all, and now even more so, since going carnivore. I had been wanting to go carnivore for a long while, and fortunately, my broken ankle gave me an excuse. My sister had, quite fortuitously, and also quite fortunately, been reading about healing on carnivore, so she encouraged me (and when she offers encouragement, she expects obedience, lol!)

At any rate, I found that my ankle healed surprisingly fast and well from the surgery, and the Lyme disease nerve pain has moderated to a level that is easily ignored. The corollary, however, is that my nails and beard have started growing so fast, that I have to trim my nails every week, and I am back to shaving almost every day. My fingernails had been badly messed up in 2016 from breaking my arms and the consequent surgery. It took at least till 2018 for them to grow out properly. And even though they grew faster and better on keto, on carnivore their growth has really taken off. Sometimes if I file down a rough spot or sharp corner, I find I have to do it all over again in a couple of hours because the nail has grown that fast!

(Robin) #10

That’s crazy!!! You could be a one-man toenail donor farm.
Think about it…

(Bob M) #11

That is fast. Super fast.

#12

Definitely worth it IMO, if CRP is like checking glucose, Sed Rate is like the A1C. Doesn’t go 3mo, but couple weeks if I remember correctly. Pretty much acute vs chronic inflammation.

(B Creighton) #13

Blood pressure dropped about another 10 pts - 1 year. It has been read as low as 100/64. This last week it read at 108/72 - but that was after an additional year of low oxLDL routine. Some of my blue veins have disappeared, and my big, bad varicose calf vein has stopped hurting.

(Eve) #14

Thankyou very much everyone for your insights. I sort of assumed that the arthritis was just one of those things l would have to put up with, but it seems that’s not necessarily the case. So l will take the advice and see if l can get the inflammatory makers tested. I have been doing alot over the last 3 years to sort out a gut symbiosis and leaky gut, working with a nutritional therapist. I think there has been some progress but l am hoping the keto diet will help even more.

(Eve) #15

The trick is to discover which are the inflammatory foods! I don’t eat ultra processed foods at all and am on good clean keto WOE. I do eat diary so wonder if that could be a culprit…

(Geoffrey) #16

True. That’s why I eliminated everything but fat, protein, salt and water. Then after becoming fat adapted I slowly introduced one item at a time to see what bothered me. I have identified some culprits that are forever banned.

(Eve) #17

How long did a banned food take to manifest the problems?

(Geoffrey) #18

Generally the very next day and the effects might last three days at times.
Now there are some foods that I will never reintroduce into my diet and that is sugar in any form. Seeds (that’s all forms of flour and nuts), seed oils and highly processed foods. I will not eat a vegetable but there are some that I will use for flavoring of my meats such as onion, garlic or mushrooms. Those have shown no ill effect on me. I tried a bowl of chili one time as an experiment and I hurt for three days following. Never again. Now was it the high amount of chili powder or was it the tomato sauce? I don’t know but I suspect the tomato. When I’m ready I’ll try some tomato and see what it does.

(Eve) #19

Interesting what you have found out. I’m not great with tomatoes either- it feels as if my stomach is ripped to shreds if l eat them, especially raw! Can’t do chilli powder either! I do eat sunflower and sesame seed butters though which don’t give any obvious issues . Plus they do taste nice.

(Bob M) #20

Could be “nightshade” issues.