Keto Is This Easy

(Eve) #132

I like that " keep calm and keto on" !

(Eve) #133

I just hadn’t realised that the benefits of the keto diet would take such a while to fully take effect although if ld thought about what has to change biochemically, and the degree of healing that has to occur, it makes sense. I have significant gut dysbiosis and know that changes will be slow in coming but l already can tell that my system/gut is happier without so many carbs, even though my diet has been scrupulously clean and mega healthy - just lots of carbs! Who would have thought that too many veg would not necessarily be a good thing! It was mantra for so long - and included loads of the high starch veg such as.parsnips, squash, carrots, beets, etc. Having an allotment full of beautiful summer and winter squash didn’t help!! I just are my through mounds of it all!
Do you still notice new benefits and whn did it all really become noticeable for you?

(Robin) #134

I can relate. I was a very happy vegetarian. Until it no longer worked.

(Eve) #135

How much veg can you get away with now? And how did you know all that veg wasn’t great for you?

#136

I can relate :slight_smile:
I ate very little vegs on keto, 1kg or less a day (my only real hardship) and it STILL interfered! (Okay, I had other carbs too like oily seeds. And obviously fruits but the carbs from them were negligible.)

Now I eat about… well, right now it’s like 1g vegetable a day on average? I take carnivore seriously now :smiley: And I lost interest in most vegetables anyway.

I don’t believe in plants doing any bad to me - until the plant (and fungi I suppose but it never mattered) carbs are low. It’s just… My body prefers a VERY low limit longer term. 1g a day works well for sure, I can afford much more occasionally :slight_smile: I probably would be okay with 3-4g or more long term but it’s easier just to avoid them at that point, as much as I am able to. Animal carbs are fine even if I go over 20g with them (only happens on my rare milky days, it’s easily 40g then and no problem. I immediately feel plant carbs though if they are not negligible. I am fine but still, something is a tad off…?).

(Eve) #137

Thanks for the info. Very helpful

(Robin) #138

I realized that after I developed diverticulitis, it was consuming any significant amount of vegetables (especially steamed or raw) that brought about flair-ups of my diverticulitis.
Once I began paying more attention to how I felt after eating any food, I kept eliminating… until I was keto. And then carnivore.
I have experimented with eating some very well cooked and very well chewed veggies, in small amounts, and I can get away with it. But… any significant amount will immediately make my joints ache.

But… this is just me. And I am the the product of my lifetime of eating and my lifestyle. Many keto folks do great with veggies.

(Eve) #139

What about the vitamins and minerals that plants provide that we can’t get from just protein? Do you take supplements? I have realised that alot of carbs makes nauseous next day - l best to keep a food diary and be methodical like you to determine which veg are OK and which are not.

#140

Do you think meat (and other animal items) only have protein and water? Nope, they have all the micronutrients a human may need. Of course it’s not THAT simple, one can eat a wrong carnivore diet but one can eat a wrong omnivore diet as well. It seems it’s not that easy to eat wrong on carnivore (as long as one doesn’t hate meat, that would be problematic. I love eggs but they are lacking in certain micronutrients…).
And carnivore isn’t right for everyone anyway, many says that they work better eating some plants and more carbs anyway… So it’s individual too. But theoretically you can get everything from meat alone.
One has different needs on carnivore, that changes things too. For example, one needs WAY less Vitamin C on carnivore (and one can get it from meat as it has everything essential. the preparation matters though).

I personally don’t take any supplements. Only Magnesium if I get cramps but I very rarely get them on carnivore with enough meat, the single 120mg pill per a few month is definitely negligible :wink:
But we are different, others may need something.

Carbs never made me nauseous, only too fatty food or extreme overeating… But they cause other problems.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #141

Are there any? What one do you have in mind?

There are data to suggest that a low-carb/ketogenic diet alters the body’s need for certain micronutrients. Vitamin C, for example, is much less necessary on a ketogenic diet, because the ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate reactivates the body’s endogenous defences against oxidation, rendering exogenous Vitamin C unnessary. Not to mention that eating fresh meat also prevents scurvy. (And this was known long before the Royal Navy decided it was easier to keep lemons and limes aboard ship than to provide fresh meat to sailors on long deployments.)

Moreover, there are data to suggest that certain vitamins and minerals are more easily assimilated in the forms found in meat, than in the forms commonly found in plants. So I think this concern might be less valid than it appears at first glance.

(Eve) #142

Again, thanks for the informative reply. I think that l must have a real "plant food mindset " :thinking: , which contains many assumptions about how necessary they are for our health and the greater the range the better! I have long adhered to the premis that meals should be primarily plant-based and so moving away from that fundamental thinking is quite significant for me, and your replies are helping allay my fears , thankyou! I think l am gradually getting there - my plant brain is kicking and screaming…:rofl:

(Robin) #143

You are not alone. There are legions of us who had to shed a lot of misinformation before we could shed weight and a myriad of health problems.

#144

This is pretty new to me, I never heard things to this extent - but that plants are full of essential micronutrients and oh so vital, well no wonder you learned that as we hear and read it everywhere… I just look up the weather forecast on a site and it promptly tells me I should eat tons of fresh vegs and fruits to help my immune system… Sigh. I don’t think I thought much about it when I was very young, I loved plants so I ate them galore (I liked animal stuff so I eat that galore too except meat for some reason) but yep, I didn’t think plants are outright BAD for some others and not so great for me either due to their carb content (maybe other things too but I never noticed any problem with them and it would be hard to tell now as my body is against carbs in big amounts so much. I can’t eat much plants without much carbs!). But it was very easy to change my already not too firm mindset :smiley: As my body told me what it prefers.
But I never ever will think bad about my precious vegs and fruits and oily seeds I suppose. The emotions are too deep rooted and I have so many very fond memories :slight_smile: I love them, I just barely touch them nowadays, it works well enough for me I think.

(Eve) #145

I need some advice please - after about 6-7 weeks l am still suffering mood swings which include irritability and depression, as well as calm and good mood. I have read that keto does help improve and stabilise mood in many people but there is also info stating that for some people the keto diet causes the mood swings due to effect of low carbs on the brain, and therefore suggest that carbs be added back. I am willing to carry on with the keto if there is a good possibility my mood will stabilise in due course. But do you have any experience of people for who the diet just doesn’t suit due to a permanent negative effect on mood? Any insights would be very very welcome

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #146

I’m afraid that this is not too well understood. A ketogenic diet is supposed to help depression, because it helps with the creation and re-uptake of serotonin, but not everyone finds that they can dispense with their anti-depressant on keto. A lot of other mental problems have been ascribed to insulin-resistance or other problems with glucose metabolism in the brain, and in those cases a ketogenic diet and possibly even exogenous ketones can help, because ketones are admitted to neurons by different receptors, so the neurons can still metabolise them, even if they are having trouble with glucose.

It is impossible to predict whether you will be helped by returning to a carb-rich diet, or by eliminating carbohydrate entirely and going carnivore. (One woman I know found that her medication-resistant bipolar disorder is helped only by strict abstinence from plant foods.) It is also possible that, regardless of your diet, you might be in need of medication. It all depends on what your problem is and what is causing it, and I am certainly not qualified to say. It might be that a visit to your physician is in order.

(Eve) #147

I appreciate your reply, thankyou. I will hang in there for longer yet and see what happens. Fingers crossed…

(Eve) #148

So, last night l broke my rules and had a very small late night snack of 2 keto linseed crackers and butter as l was hungry, and noticed that my ketone level was much lower this morning. Is this to be expected and if l eat too frequently will this kick me out of keto, even though carbs are very low?

(Eve) #149

When is the best time to test for ketones? I do it after breakfast in the morning. Is it better to wait until evening, in which case, how long after eating?

(Allie) #150

As I posted on your other comment asking the exact same thing…

(Jennifer M Worth) #151

This is TMI but sometimes I just skip checking my gki because I can smell the ketones in my urine​:face_with_hand_over_mouth::shushing_face: those strips are rather expensive but I do like seeing what grade of ketosis too. I check a couple times a week.