Keto for elders?

(Todd Allen) #1

My mother-in-law is in her 80s and although not diagnosed as diabetic she has some bio markers of insulin resistance / metabolic syndrome and is struggling with muscle loss, weight gain and loss of tolerance for both both heat and especially cold. All of the other women from her side of the family have aged more gracefully well into their 90s. My wife (just now transitioning into keto with good results so far) and I are contemplating discussing keto with her but it would be good to know of other success stories at a similar age and also to know if there are any special considerations for the elderly with respect to going keto.

#2

I think Dr Nally and Jimmy Moore discussed this in their last podcast. Maybe a good thing to listen to? Dr Nally says he has a large proportion of his clients as seniors in his clinic.

(Todd Allen) #3

Thanks Fiorella! I’ll check out what they have to say about it.

#4

Here I found it for you. Episode #61. Enjoy!

http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/keto-talk-episode-61-insatiable-hunger-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-can-ketoif-halt-weight-loss-elevated-ketone-levels-senior-citizens-keto/27690

(Todd Allen) #5

Thanks, I was listening to it while you posted. The discussion of keto for elders was in the question & answer portion at 51+ minutes into to podcast. The quick summary is Dr. Adam Nally has many elderly patients following a keto diet doing very well. He stated “You are never too old for ketosis.”

#6

Oops…sorry…made you listen through that whole thing. I couldnt remember all the details…just that they featured it. Hope it gives you some comfort that your mother-in-law will be ok on keto journey, if she attempts it.

(Todd Allen) #7

I’m guessing she will be reluctant to change and almost surely won’t jump right in. But she might be willing to take small steps and continue if it goes well. I’m guessing it would be best to cut sugars first, then refined starches and perhaps ease up on the wine. She not fat phobic and I doubt will have an issue with increasing fat intake but will be reluctant to give up candied ginger, fruit juices, chocolates, bread and pasta, etc.

#8

Decades of dogma is hard to reverse. You are a saint for helping her improve her life.

#9

check out Keto Diet Miracles on youtube. It is the journey of a 78 yr old woman, she is awesome!

(Todd Allen) #10

Thanks!

(G) #11

After noticing some decline in my 89 year old mother’s cognitive health and energy levels, some research showed that a Keto diet could be helpful. Since she’s on several meds, but otherwise ambulatory, we decided together to move gently toward a modified keto diet (of course only after consulting with 3 of her Dr’s). The plan was very simple (and falls far short of what many on this forum would call Keto). Here’s what we did, starting in the am (~6am) lemon water + 1 tsp Bragg’s apple cider vinegar, grass fed butter with coffee (~8am), then eggs & avocado ~11am. Anchovies, mayo, olives, almonds and other typical keto foods are used as snacks. Then dinner ~5pm - Salmon or similar. Creating a 12-hour window each day with no carbs seems to make the biggest positive difference. The results have been nothing short of remarkable (she is APOE4 and scores 0 on standard MCI tests - that’s amazing! The care center had her tested twice - they have never had anyone over 85 score 0!). I’ve tested her ketone level using a Precision extra blood meter and she frequently scores >0.5, which is considered a theraputic level of ketosis. So while this plan is simple, it has brought her into mild ketosis and she continues to thrive. Hope this helps others.

(Edith) #12

My 87 year old father-in-law had a heart attack about 7 or 8 years ago. Since then he has been in the downward spiral. He is taking sterols to lower his cholesterol, blood pressure medicine, and I don’t know what else. My mother-in-law has been making sure he eats healthy: very low salt, low fat, healthy fruit, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Since then his balance has gotten very bad and he has developed type 2 diabetes and his mind is definitely not what it used to be.

We visited them for the Thanksgiving holiday. Both my husband and I eat keto (although we relaxed it quite a bit to make life as easy as possible of my MIL.) My father-in-law was fascinated with how much my husband salted his food and put butter on everything.

He finally asked about it, wondering if my husband truly cared about his own health if he was eating that much salt and fat. That was the opportunity to tell them about keto and all its benefits for the elderly, especially.

The exciting thing is they are interested, including my mother-in-law since she is the care giver. I have sent her Keto Clarity to get started. Does anyone have any other suggestions for good, easy to read resources especially for older people? They don’t have internet and, as you can guess, listening to podcasts it out. I have no problem sending them articles via mail.

(G) #13

Hello Virginia - my reading on salt does not support a low salt diet. I’m defining low as less than 1500 mg per day. Salt is required for many metabolic functions and the low salt studies are not well supported. I’m not a doc. But I’m convinced low salt is a bad idea. My moms cardiac Dr is on board, so we are not following low salt, more of a reasonable approach with no processed foods. I’d be interested to know what others are learning about low salt diets.

(Todd Allen) #14

Neither does mine. I doubt Virginia’s does either. I think she was describing what her MIL believed was healthy eating. Which is also what is still regarded as healthy eating by far too many.

(Edith) #15

You are correct @brownfat. She has been diligently following doctor’s orders for many years now: low salt, low fat.

(Brian) #16

Probably so, Todd. Making small changes may be easier, that is unless MIL gets started and just decides to dive right in and keto.

The thing that would worry me is ending up in a bad place with good intentions, kinda like some friends of mine that decided they wanted to eat like me… only they didn’t eat like me. They ate high fat AND high carb as they never could quite let go of those carbs. Oops. Not a good place to be.

Maybe something more resembling paleo would be a good place to start, and your post seems to lean in that direction. It could certainly be a good stepping stone to keto. Or it might also even be a decent place to live out one’s years in pretty good health depending somewhat upon just what foods get included and excluded. Some versions of paleo look a lot like keto while some, well, not so much.

I’ve been kinda reluctant to share with my dad, too. He’s 95 years old in just a few months. He’s high carb and low salt, and just picked up a bunch of meds this last year. Mom’s been gone for a year and a half now and he’s lonely, and if I’m totally honest, I’m not sure he wants to live much longer. And in that light, I’ve kinda just hoped he’s as contented as possible eating whatever he feels like eating. I hope that doesn’t make me a bad person.

(Todd Allen) #17

That’s what my MIL has done, small steps reducing the worst processed foods and increasing some quality meats. I don’t expect her to go farther towards keto despite some obvious benefits so far. Shortly after my original post she suffered a collapsed lung and was then diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis with a very pessimistic prognosis, probably due to decades of too much smoking. She quit smoking over 20 years ago which probably helped the lungs but didn’t help her body weight.

She has surprised us though with her resilience. Despite needing to breath oxygen enriched air she got a portable battery powered oxygen machine and has taken up walking after decades of being anti-exercise. She is losing weight, moving better and has excellent blood glucose. Still with the lung thing her health is precarious and a bad cold or flu could do her in. My wife and I are pleased with her current stability and have no desire to rock the boat further seeking more gains but risking the short term stress of change and adaptation.