My Own Science Experiment - Update #1


(Connie Ortz) #1

(Short explanation: I’ve decided to try and use keto to repair my brain post-'rona and see if my taste/smell will return after 20 months of very diminished senses).

18 days in, I have been journaling my food, strictly staying within the rules of keto (some days are a little light on calories, but the % of macros is as balanced as I have ever managed to get it). I’ve been keeping track of water and exercise, as well as mood, sleep habits, etc.

Progress: I am down 10# - and yesterday, for the first time in almost 2 years, I tasted coffee. Is it because of keto? Damned if I know for sure, but that’s certainly a possibility. Enough so that I am fully onboard at this point.


(Allie) #2

I will be interested to follow your progress as a friend of mine lost her taste / smell due to covid too.


(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

Just a note, prompted by the word “macros.” The carb limit is not really a percentage of calories, but rather an absolute limit. Then protein should be a goodly amount, and fat should be enough to satisfy hunger. As long as you are strictly limiting your carb intake (we recommend no more than 20 g/80 kcal a day), you don’t need to calculate macros.


(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #4

Wishing you success in returning to normal again.


(Alec) #5

Connie
My thought of the potential mechanism here is inflammation. C creates inflammation (which may last a long time), and a keto diet is anti-inflammatory. Keep the carbs really low and don’t cheat. I think you stand a good chance of recovery. Best of luck.
Cheers
Alec


#6

Good luck, but look into the Olfactory retraining with essential oils 2x/daily. That helped huge! Started being noticeable after a week or two. Little differences here and there. Starting to smell things outside that I hadn’t in a while etc. My smell wasn’t 100% before 2 rounds of Covid, but probably pretty close (I think) to what it was before that fun stuff. What was real weird, was I swear after getting it a second time it actually helped it a little.

When I got Delta, it wiped me out smell and taste wise for a while, like most people the symptoms of having it were no worse than any other cold minus the energy drain. The second time was even less noticable, but it tweaked my smell and taste more, some got better, some got worse. Sadly, still don’t like the smell of coffee even now, that was literally one of my favorite smells there was in the morning. I drink a lot less of it now too sadly.

Make sure to report back!


(Connie Ortz) #7

Thanks, Paul. I understand the carb limit (and have actually only hit the 20g limit twice in 3 weeks, everything else has been 15 or less, with most days around 9-11). But since I deemed this a “science experiment” I figured it wouldn’t hurt to keep track. And it helps me make sure I am truly consuming mostly fat and not too much protein.


(Connie Ortz) #8

Thanks for the suggestion of retraining my olfactory system. My best friend actually bought me a “retraining kit” and I used it faithfully for about 6 weeks with really no noticeable improvement. I may try it again though, along with the keto experiment. Can’t hurt, right?

The really frustrating thing about this is I have only had it once… I actually would have called it a summer cold (mild symptoms for about 3 days - other than the EXHAUSTION that lasted a little longer). Hubs was tested, he had it MUCH worse than I did (in part, we believe, to a previously undiscovered congenital heart condition!). So to have lingering symptoms almost 2 years later makes me really frustrated.


#9

That part sucks, me and my wife both had the fatigue issues, didn’t start happening until months after. Both our Docs (difference ones at difference places) prescribed NAD+ and Glutathione, did the trick awesome! The NAD+ gives you energy within 30mins and the Glutahione dextox’s the life out of you, our skin got better too! Nice perk both being anti-agers.


(B Creighton) #10

It seems Covid and to some extent the vaccines have caused the body to attack its own nervous system. Hence the loss of taste. Could Keto help? I don’t really know, but I do believe eating grass fed meats may - they will give you better proportions of omega 3 fats used to restore nerve cells. I would also supplement with a high quality krill oil and/or calamari oil. I will also recommend lots of chia seed - I sneak it into my fat bombs. Chia has lots of ALA omega 3, and the body can convert some into DHA and EPA. Glad to hear you are having some success after 2 years!