Is anyone doing Keto Mediterranean?

#1

I’m trying to find a version of Keto that doesn’t make me ill. I know a lot of people say “Oh, it’s just your body adjusting,” but I have health problems that may be a contributing factor in why I’m not feeling so well on keto.

The one thing I’ve changed a lot is FATTY MEAT. I used to eat mostly chicken, fish and seafood with occasional pork chops when they were cheaper. Now I’m eating all this fatty red meat and it’s really irritating my GERD. I took my GERD meds this morning before I ate about 1/2 pack of bacon, eggs with cheese cooked in butter and bacon fat and now my heartburn is horrendous!

I tried the Mediterranean diet awhile back, and made the same mistake everybody else does, eating too much fruit, pasta and bread. You really need a lot of willpower not to overeat on that diet! I mean, calories are still calories.

I was looking at the Keto Mediterranean diet and I think that may be a good choice for me. I can basically eat anything I want, just have to count carbs carefully. I’m going to go for 50 carbs instead of 20, because I’m not sure eating that much fish and seafood with mercury in it is so great for you.

So I’ll keep on using some of the Keto tricks, pork skin flour to make salmon patties, but I really do need to be able to eat my sardines on crackers. I figure on the days I crave sardines and crackers (10 crackers 22g carbs), I can eat extra low carb the rest of the day and with 50 carbs, I will be fine. It’s little stuff like this that I really miss a lot.

Just wondering if anyone else is doing this kind of keto Mediterranean WOE…

#2

interesting post.
hmmm…

I say one thing…have you ever done the Keto plan without any GERD meds.

dump all those pills or whatever and 'just eat and ‘see those’ real life body functions without being on ‘pills’…just asking cause I think when one wants massive changes the pills still be taken could easily change all your results you get from the better food to the ‘taking’ of the pills ya know.

just a chat on it.

if it was me, and I am not you and not your med issues, but if GERD then if not medically connected to other issues for my medical treatements of xyz and more…I would go rouge and dump ALL pills that are not real Dr prescribed for life threatening issues and start a new ya but that is kinda how I would roll.

get off it all, then re-evaluate your body and life ya know but also remember time is required for healing/body repair/hormone changes so it ain’t gonna be some overnight correction of the entire body system and alot of us suffer thru crap to get to the ‘best we can be’ so…

again just an overall chat on it all :slight_smile:

on this: but I really do need to be able to eat my sardines on crackers.

HAHA ya don’t do ya really? :slight_smile: :slight_smile: only saying this cause I use my eating of my sardines when I want them as a dessert to a meal…more it is like my carnivore meal was great but my body is saying, hound down all that good in those sardines, your body wants those nutrients…again this is me chatting me ya know but could show you some ways forward maybe.

kinda thinking of let go off that box you are in, allow new and wild rogue choices to come into your life in your eating, FEEL those changes, dump the OTC meds or even some prescribed ones if not life threatening or cut them down alot kinda way to find you moving forward. If we stay the same and hold onto what we do, we can’t change. won’t happen.

#3

I’m not going to explain my medical issues to you, suffice to say, I can’t “go rogue” without causing my body further damage. I will say I have lupus, and that isn’t going to go away with diet, although I’ve managed to make it much better by certain dietary changes, like cutting out all sugar.

I wish I could be like you, but I’m probably older and sicker, so I have further to go. Have never been a “going rogue” kind of person anyway. I’m a rules person. Always have been, always will be.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

A lot of researchers believe that the problem with GERD is not that the stomach has too much acid, but that it actually has too litte. The idea is that the gastric sphincter needs a certain amount of acid in the stomach to help it remain closed. If this idea is correct, then drugs such as proton-pump inhibitors are exactly the wrong way to treat GERD.

You might try discontinuing the med and adding some vinegar to your diet, as an experiment. It would be interesting to see if that makes a difference or not.

#5

Trust me, I’ve tried everything including taking digestive enzymes with Betaine Hydrochloride. I’ve done the vinegar, eaten acid foods, etc., long before I finally went to a gastroenterologist. He said I have plenty of stomach acid, but the belly fat is pushing against my stomach and the hiatal hernia is allowing the acid to get out of my stomach. If I can’t lose this belly, I’ll need surgery, which barely ever really works.

I don’t like cut and paste answers, Paul. You’ve given me this exact same answer elsewhere. Sometimes I think you are a robot. LOL

(Robin) #6

You do you. Since this is a keto forum, you’ll likely not find many with your same issues or needs.
As in most things, you’ll never know till you try. Fingers crossed for you.

#7

You don’t need to eat any red meat to do keto… And more carbs may or may not work for you. 50g carbs is definitely not keto for me and probably for most people…?

But definitely eat in a way that doesn’t hurt. Some difficulties may be unavoidable for some but too drastic changes aren’t always good. Maybe you will be fine with 50g carbs, keto or not, temporarily or long term… We don’t need the same level of strictness.

(Joey) #8

I’m really sorry to read how you’re struggling to resolve your GERD. It’s been a real issue with so many of us on this forum - and keto “magically” resolved it - that we naturally try to help with such advice.

Rather than pile on with the same advice offered above, I’ll note that what you’re describing sounds like your GERD is a “mechanical” issue - i.e., not a metabolic one. It’s unclear how a drug would correct that problem. And (although you’re not eager to hear this again), too much acid is rarely the underlying problem with GERD … it’s too little.

But I would suggest you focus as intently as you can on addressing what you’ve described as the body fat pushing against the stomach and perhaps you will require a hernia repair when the time is right.

Best wishes for some relief. :vulcan_salute:

p.s. - If you insist on eating crackers with your sardines you’re not doing yourself any favors. The idea in restricting carbs isn’t to see how much you can get away with - it’s to avoid eating things that aggravate your health challenges, like GERD.

Trust me: crackers are going to aggravate your GERD. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. If they’re more important to you than healing, so be it. :worried:

(Edith) #9

If I read and understood what GERD medications do correctly, they decrease stomach acid. Different medications do it by different methods, but the end result is less stomach acid.

Less stomach acid is NOT going to help you digest fats and protein. Since you have a mechanical issue, maybe try a small meal without the med and see what happens? Maybe because of your hernia, you need smaller meals for now?

I tend to be more of a paleo ketogenic diet. I can’t eat dairy. I eat meat, fruit and some leafy greens in small quantities once a day, and that’s pretty much it. I have also found that if I eat meat without any other foods, my stomach handles it better.

(Jane) #10

I don’t know what country you are in, but in the US we can buy Lavash bread, which is a low carb flat bread. I spray it with olive oil, season it, score it and bake the flatbread sheets. After crisping up out of the oven I break them into crackers for tuna salad, pimento cheese, etc.

#11

This is only my experience and not intended as medical advice but I find that if I eat wheat I get Gerd almost immediately, maybe within a day of having a meal or two with wheat (such as cheating with regular pizza, try not to but every once in a while). It is not the carbs but the wheat because we have a gluten free family member and if I cheat with his treats it does not happen also if I have almond flour bread I am ok. If I avoid wheat I rarely have Gerd. Strangely sometimes when I am fasting I will have a little or if overload my stomach with anything including too much water but that is rare that it happens. I also will try to take apple cider vinegar pills which sometimes helps. I hate drinking it even diluted but find I do not mind the capsules from Natural Factors

I eat very little fatty meat because I hate it. I generally eat only beef and chicken and limited seafood. I will make mock foods like Fat head pizza, cinnamon rolls keto, and keto pancakes. I eat more eggs and cheese than anything else except maybe cream

(Stickin' with mammoth) #12

My GERD disappeared completely when I got rid of all grains. It came back each time I experimented with grains again.

I miss a few grain-based foods but I don’t miss GERD, so I either use substitutes or I go without. The math is pretty simple, the rules are pretty clear.

Um…

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #13

I’m sorry I offended you.

Nevertheless, if you should happen to ask the same question a third time, in yet another thread, please don’t be surprised if I offer the same answer yet again in response. We get so many new members asking the same questions in different threads, that it can be difficult to remember that someone has already asked a particular question. And it’s very rare that the answer will change if the question is repeated.

I try always to give fresh answers, even to questions that have come up many times before, but cutting and pasting would certainly save a lot of work. Thank you for suggesting it.

#14

Have you tried 85/15 or 80/20 ground beef in patty form baked at say 370 to get medium? Some of the fat renders off and you can choose to eat it or not.

#15

I say 50 g, but I mean under 50 g, which will put you into ketosis.

#16

Not taking the meds leaves me eating handfuls of antacids during the day. It’s gotten to the point where I can hardly eat anything without aggravating it, even with the meds. I have made an appt. with the gastro doctor because it’s gotten that bad. I have open sores in my esophagus, so you can imagine what it feels like when the acid rises up. Less acid is definitely better. I do take digestive enzymes to be able to digest meat, and it also includes Betain Hydrochloride (basically hydrochloric acid) and Ox Bile, so I should be digesting meat just fine. Have no problem with chicken or fish.

#17

I take digestive enzymes when I’m eating meat.

(Edith) #18

Boy, that sounds terrible! It seems if chicken or fish work for you, then that is best. Beef is not a requirement on keto. There are people who are vegetarian ketoers, too.

#19

The rules for standard keto and carnivore are simple, but many groups are finding ways to do keto without all the saturated fats (mediterranean) or half-and-half (ketovore). There are adjustments being made all the time to suit people’s lifestyles and health issues.

When I told my doctor that keto makes me sick, he said that fat is one of the main triggers for GERD, so I should not eat fatty or fried meats, but I can cut carbs, so that’s what I’m doing. That’s what Keto Mediterranean is.

(Bob M) #20

Not to make anyone mad, but you can cut fats without eating Mediterranean. I generally eat a lower fat keto diet, though I concentrate on beef (believing it’s the healthiest meat and best for the planet; though I’d eat other ruminant meat, too, but can’t find it where I live).

Under the definition of “ketovore” here:

I guess I’m a ketovore?

Though honestly I don’t see the difference between “ketovore” and “keto”. I’ve been eating “ketovore” for years, just calling it “keto”.

Just what we need: another name that makes no sense and just muddies the water.

And, as always, I’m anti-“macro”.