Keto Is This Easy

(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.