Keto diet causing me to become anemic

(KCKO, KCFO đŸ„„) #21

Limit, not eliminate. :slight_smile:

(Edith) #22

I would consider oxalate if so much of your diet is rich in oxalate containing foods. The lemon juice thing is not quite that simple. It maybe helps, but if so, not if you are eating massive amounts of oxalate. There is a Facebook group called Trying Low Oxalates which has a lot of information and science to back it.

I was eating a ton of oxalate containing food when I first went on keto, and I developed heart palpitations. Oxalates bind with magnesium and calcium and prevent them from getting absorbed by the body.

Also, (and this is just my theory) when one eats a high fat diet, they have less food in which to get their vitamins and minerals. In a 2000 calories a day diet, if you eat 1200 calories of fat and then 800 calories of protein and carbohydrates, that’s not a lot of calories to provide all your vitamins and minerals. Therefore, you have to make your protein as nutrient dense as possible.

You will find that red meat and liver contains almost all the vitamins and minerals you could need in large quantities. Plus, meat does not contain anti nutrients. Tofu, not so much. Egg yolks, while containing great nutrition, are pretty small. Three a day, probably not providing a ton of those necessary nutrients.

So, while it could be keto causing the low iron, more likely it is the food choices made on keto.

(Kristen Ann) #23

I think this is a great post @VirginiaEdie. Something I didn’t start thinking about until recently. I’m now trying to get my nutrients in the from shellfish, egg yolks, and mushrooms. But it took me a long time to realize that due to the high fat content of my diet I may be lacking in nutrients.

I didn’t associate oxalate content with iron absorption, but it makes sense. Interestingly, my HCT% is always a lot lower than it should be (high 20’s to low 30’s) taken on blood glucose test strips. I kind of doubted the accuracy of it. Now I’ve been on low oxalate for a week and my last two HCT% were in the mid 40’s. I was shocked


(Edith) #24

Wow, that’s a quick turn around.

For years I had one thumb nail that had a vertical crack in it. When I went carnivore and started getting way more red meat, the crack went away. I read that those vertical cracks are from iron deficiency.

The last time I donated blood, my iron was on the low end of normal. I’ll be curious to see what it is now on carnivore: more iron containing food, almost no oxalate (I do drink black tea once a day.)

#25

Me too! Vertical cracks in several nails - all gone now, I have strong nails now!

(Kristen Ann) #26

Well my HCT was 25% today, so don’t think it’s oxalate related


(Edith) #27

IS HCT really so variable? Maybe your tester is not that accurate?

(Kristen Ann) #28

Yeah it could be. I just use the glucose test strips for keto mojo.

(Veronica C) #29

Hi there - your glucose readings are still accurate but they clearly state in the manuals that the HCT and Hb values should not be used for diagnostic purposes.

(KetoNut) #30

Ken: Was curious what you ended up doing and what the nutritionist’s take was.

I’m also in a similar boat. Besides keto, I also eat OMAD (One Meal A Day).

Iron supplements, hours before the meal, brought up iron levels(80 to 104), Ferritin (345 from 150-200). But, UIBC (Unsaturated Iron Binding Capacity increased from 261 to 345 indicating trasferrin, the protein that transports iron in the blood, has a low % of them attached to Iron.).

Also, my Ferritin levels increased (from 200 to 345.)
And my HGB is low at 11.9, HCT is 41.

I conclude though lot of Iron is available, somehow it’s not making it to ‘being’ useful as indicated by the high UIBC, high Ferritin, and Low HGB.

Besides, by body seems to be compensating for the low HGB and low MCV (=67) by increasing RBC (=6.09). More so, as I workout quite a bit.

So far staying away from seeking primary care’s help. Don’t have the energy anymore to deal with the “YOU need to lower the LDL NoW!”.

(Edith) #31

So, just yesterday I was discussing vitamin C. Many people think that we need very little vitamin C on low carb because keeping our insulin low restores our own production of endogenous anti-oxidants.

But, vitamin C is also used for other things including helping us absorb iron. So, even though we only need 10-15 mg of vitamin C a day to prevent scurvy, I can’t imagine that is really what is optimal to be healthy. The RDA is 65-90 mg a day which is still pretty low compared to the mega doses sometimes recommended by the “health gurus.”

These are really just my musings, but maybe increasing your vitamin C intake may help with your iron uptake?

#32

Have you ever tried fresh raw grass fed meat? Carpaccio?

Cooking destroys bioavailable iron.

(Kathy Timmons) #33

Hi, I am a little late seeing your post. Have you had your kidney function assessed? I was seeing my oncologist for my final 5 year Cancer free appt and when we looked at the blood work everything was OK, except for my kidney function. He called a nephrologist and made an appt for the next day and sent me for a kidney ultrasound right then. I had no kidney symptoms and my blood work had always been normal.
The next day the Dr went over my Ultrasound and blood work with me. It showed chronic kidney disease and my kidneys functioning at only about 30%. That is stage 3 kidney disease–5 being the worst. I was blown away-no clue there was any problem. He started me on several medicines and said that I can be in stage 3 for a lot of years but I have to monitor it and watch my diet. I have been Keto for 3 years. This all happened October 2020. I have slowly become more anemic with every blood draw and have been feeling so tired with no energy. I get dizzy just walking across the room. He talked to me about erythropoietin and the production of red blood cells and how important the kidneys are in all of this. I am going to start injections on October 8th.
So, my advice to you would be to get blood work done on your kidneys soon and at least know if anything is going on there. I am 65 and I have plans to live a lot more years!!! I also am NOT diabetic and I have very low blood pressure.
I don’t think Keto has a thing to do with my anemia or kidney function. I will continue to eat Keto even though my Dr doesn’t understand it and wants me to take a statin for my cholesterol of 220 and triglycerides of 119. Indice of 2.1. I won’t take a statin!
Our bodies are amazing and will hold on for a long time before showing that something is wrong. Our kidneys especially.
Good luck and let us know how you are!

(Bob M) #34

Interesting thread. I’m one of those people who don’t have this issue, though. I give blood 5-6 times a year and still have plenty of iron. In fact, for me, it’s probably imperative I lower my iron content via giving blood.

So, this thread fits in with my bias that “everything is complex”.

#35

That’s not a bias. It’s self evident.

(Bob M) #36

Not sure about that:

CICO
Low fat
Exercise more, eat less
LDL = bad
LDL = bad, no matter what
Lp(a) = bad
Saturated fat = bad
Carbs = good

For low carb/keto:

“Too much” protein = bad
Protein = high blood sugar
Protein = low ketones
Fat = satiating
Macros
Ketosis = BHB over 0.5mmol/l
There’s an “ideal” level of ketosis

I could go on


#37

There are simple ideas about things but reality is typically complex. There are probably some simple ones but they are rare.
CICO is extremely complex anyway. At least what I consider CICO (the true thing). To me “exercise more, eat less” (that I personally should do) is too vague as more than what? Less than what? When I started to eat way less than before, I lost no fat as it was still way too much. But if I would exercise MUCH more, I would need to eat more too
 And it’s not even similarly simple or useful for everyone.

Too much protein is bad, that’s a simple truth in this vague way but how much is too much, that’s not that easy
 There are ideas and formulas and surely exceptions too.

(nielo) #38

This is happening to me, 45 yr old male averaging 31% HCT (hematocrit) and feeling completely exhausted/fatigued - I started blood testing when these crashes occured during the day to see if my glucose was spiking based on meals but noticed the HCT readings were significantly lower than the expected reference range and these low percentages are aligned with my physical crashes and they are becoming more frequent and stronger, like I want to pass out and just sleep for days.

I crashed hard today, I measured the HCT (keto Mojo) and it registered at HCT of 27% percent - thats my lowest, decided to skip the Coffee and/or Diet Coke for a midday pick-up and went with one of my Cupboard safe organic Beef Jerky type of snacks, and I kid you not - with-in an hour I felt better so I measure again and my result was 40%.

I have a second blood prick Keytone monitor that does not record the HCT but it wont work if my HTC is outside is safe operating rang something like 30%-60% and guess what, after trying 5-6 expensive ketone test strips all reporting 0.0 mmol/L and wondering why the fuk it wasnt giving me a reading (an yes I am deep on ketosis) I decided to read the stupid manual - and its not working becasue I am actually lower than 30% HCT - so if I dont have Lukemia, or bowel cancer ect
 than this is directly diet related and needs some major tweaking, as per below.

I watched this Dr Ken Berry Youtube video today and its opened my eyes and helped me find this forum topic, its incredible that Im doing keto wrong (or in the wrong order at least) check these:


(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #39

Welcome to the forums!

I’m glad things finally seem to be working for you. Thanks for posting those videos,