Keto and Lack of Focus or Mental Clarity

mentalhealth
(Ericka Meade Miller) #1

I started Keto to, along with weight loss, for the mental clarity, focus, and energy levels purported by both professionals and the layman alike. I started keto 3 weeks ago. I log all my foods, test with keto strips and was testing glucose levels (till my tester stopped working). I was in ketosis within a week and lost 15 lbs in the first 2 weeks (water weight I am sure but I am OK with that). I feel I am on good trend, while there is room for improvement.

The part that I was hoping for as much as weight loss was the impeccable mental clarity and focus. I find myself with less than usual (which is pretty bad to start). Is there something that I can add or supplement or adjust that I can get this benefit so many speak of?

(Bunny) #2

It comes with time as it did in me, the reasearch and vintage non-keto literature* suggests MCT oil or Coconut Oil\Fats (if you use this?) alters the entire physical structure of the brain* (for the better, they are not sure how or why?) along with the brain burning ketones for energy rather than glucose and the body making (gluconeogenesis) glucose for the brain when it really does need it!

*glucose and glucose oxidized protein amyloids shrinking the brain; the MCT oil some how reverses this process!

(Ericka Meade Miller) #3

I realize everyone is different but how long did it take for you to achieve this. I do use coconut oil. Prob not as much as I could as I don’t like the taste it gives food.

#4

I agree with @atomicspacebunny in that it takes time. It isn’t just ketosis. The body acquires the ability to use fat (fat-adapted) in an efficient way. A ketone meter measures ketones circulating in the blood but not necessarily how well the body is using those ketones. Neurological gains occur when the brain is using the ketones well. As for ketone strips I have read that urine isn’t the best way to determine ketosis. Again, it measure what you are peeing out but not how well the body is using the ketones that were made. So I guess the thing to add is time.

(Bunny) #5

So far since March of 2017!

(Bunny) #6

Some ketones might be dietary fats that show up as ketones, not your own fat (my theory)!

I shoot for low ketones using a blood glucose\ketone meter as a fuel gauge (tells me when to eat)!

High ketones are bad and can mean your not burning your own fat (in my opinion)!

#7

I’m thinking high ketones when treating cancer, epilepsy, parkinson’s are preferred and sought but generally I agree, I stay .3 to 3 on my meter.

(Bunny) #8

Nice numbers :+1:

(Ericka Meade Miller) #9

Thank you. I will change the way I test myself and see what I can do. I hate to be impatient for these things but as an analyst, fogginess is not my friend lol

(Bunny) #10

If I could express in words how good I feel it could fill volumes of books!

(JGL) #11

Haha, I basically did write a book on here for my first post explaining how good I feel.

I hit the mental fogginess/forgetfulness that you’re mentioning at well and I solved it with upping my sodium, magnesium and potassium intake. I haven’t gotten it again since I have been super diligent with my electrolyte levels. It made a world of different. That and drinking even more water. I thought I was getting enough, but I am still constantly upping my levels and it takes care of the momentarily fog really quickly.

Have you changed your caffeine intake in the time that you have started keto?

(Bunny) #12

Potassium and magnesium (the be all, ends all regulator of everything) is sooo important and a good indicator that they are low is when you get (along with the forgetfulness and fogginess) sore muscles (like you have been running a marathon and have done nothing in the way of physical exertion) and feet will have a numb neuropathy (usually associated with B-12 deficiency) like feeling and if all your muscles are sore then your heart is going to be like that also.

Yes I do drink bullet proof coffee (caffeine) all the time, it does not harm the keto as popularily assumed, you actually burn fat faster with coffee!

Don’t confuse forgetfullness with feeeling good (just kidding)! Lol

(JGL) #13

Sorry if my question was confusing! I am not anti-caffeine at all, and I drink it in green tea and in one of my electrolyte supplements (nuun). My question was really about looking if changes in caffeine might be contributing to that lack of focus-- mostly meaning that perhaps she had lowered or changed the timing of her caffeine intake. I have never been a coffee drinker, but I have been careful to make sure I am still drinking caffeine in green tea since I hae cut my previous habit of chai lattes.

Agree with all you said!

#14

Oh I can testify to having serious muscle cramps when low in electrolytes. And I’ve also had numbness in hands and feet so I started taking b1 and b12. The b vitamins helped with the numbness and tingling. But I’m wondering, what is a good way to supplement magnesium and potassium? Just buy the mag and pot vitamins like I did with the b vitamins?

(Bunny) #15

Besides pills:

Looks like flaxseed is the :confetti_ball: Winner :confetti_ball: besides a non-sea creature source of omega-3 fatty acids.

MAGNESIUM:

  1. Flaxseed: 392mg Magnesium (98% DV)*

  2. Dark Chocolate: 327mg Magnesium (82% DV) (Unsweetened of course)

  3. Sunflower Seeds: 325mg Magnesium (81% DV) (I put these in my keto fat bombs)

Swiss Chard is the :tada: Winner :tada: (only one with no starches or sugars)

POTASSIUM:

  1. Swiss chard
    One cup of cooked chard has a whopping 961 mg (20% DV) of potassium. These hearty greens also pack calcium, iron, and vitamins A, C, and K.

  2. Canned salmon
    Canned salmon is a lazy cook’s dream—you get all the heart health benefits of eating omega-3–rich fish with no more effort than popping open a can. Each 5 oz can has 487 mg (10% DV) of potassium.

https://www.prevention.com/eatclean/13-foods-that-have-more-potassium-than-a-banana

  1. Leafy Green & Cruciferous Vegetables!

  2. Kale
    https://youtu.be/q_IibOKFlm0

#16

I eat lots of dark chocolate and sunflower seeds. But I haven’t been able to get the greens down lately, yuck. I’ve been on a steak binge. Chard is my favorite green, I usually grow it every year but this time of year I have to buy it and I just haven’t felt like it. Would it be completely horrible if I just bought a vitamin? I know we absorb food vitamins better and they are healthy and they have fiber, yada yada yada. But I’m serially seriously lazy when it comes to cooking.

(Bunny) #17

I take the pills too, nothing wrong with the pills! Although plant based is absorbed better by the bodies cells! e.g. I drink wheatgrass juice which is chalk full of potassium and magnesium and plant based! “Balanced ratio” is key! Only thing it lacks is significant fiber!

“… It contains the full spectrum of B vitamins, as well as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium and potassium in a balanced ratio. Wheatgrass is a complete source of protein, supplying all of the essential amino acids, and more. …” https://hippocratesinst.org/benefits-of-wheatgrass-2

#18

Before I went keto I juiced every day. Talk about carb overload without even realizing it. But I also regularly juiced wheatgrass, which I had not even considered doing anymore. I guess I will do that, thank you for reminding me that it is healthy to juice certain things.

(Candy Lind) #19

I love flaxseed in my salads & make crackers with them (EZ!). I have, however, seen cautions about using them a lot because they have phyto-estrogens. I need to read up on that because my hormones are still pretty whacked. In the meantime, they are pretty much a daily thing for me.

(Bunny) #20

Accidentally found this, was not even looking for it, was searching for “histones (alkaline proteins)” and this stuff popped up! (The serendipity gods must love me) Some how there’s a connection with “histones?”

  1. High Fat, Low Carb Diet Might Epigenetically Open Up DNA and Improve Mental Ability https://www.whatisepigenetics.com/high-fat-low-carb-diet-might-epigenetically-open-up-dna-and-improve-mental-ability/

  2. Ketogenic diet improves the spatial memory impairment caused by exposure to hypobaric hypoxia through increased acetylation of histones in rats. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/28355243/

  3. Low-carb diet alleviates inherited form of intellectual disability in mice https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161219161854.htm