New Diet Craze! Keto Cycling! Wtf

#22

I second this.

(Diana) #23

Thanks for the input. I donā€™t feel like I need any carbs, my fear was just if I was doing any damage by excluding them. Seems thatā€™s not the case esp since Iā€™m not building muscleā€¦and have no issues with my blood panel/thyroid.

(Diana) #24

Makes sense. Iā€™ve been keeping to total 20g carbs for a long while nowā€¦that a cheat to me is when I have total 35g (due to mainly veg and okay last time I did have nut butter and yogurt).

Who knows with this level Iā€™m likely in keto still, but Iā€™m afraid of bouncing out and how long it took me to control true cravings etc. As long as Iā€™m not doing any harm by remaining permanently in keto then Iā€™m good. Perhaps one day this summer Iā€™ll splurge with some watermelon lol.

#25

You wonā€™t do harm either way, but do a full hormonal panel on yourself yearly and take a look. Only way to know if your body isnā€™t happy is with labs, donā€™t assume youā€™d always have it jumping out at you. When I destroyed my metabolism, I didnā€™t ā€œfeelā€ anything. When my Thyroid values were getting worse and worse, same thing. I knew I couldnā€™t get fat off to save my life, but didnā€™t have anything of the common hypothyroid symptoms either. I only knew from running labs on myself.

#26

I agree. There are a few good reasons to cycle Keto or to have a cheat day:
-if you give yourself some carbs on a 7th day or a cheat day, you wonā€™t crave it so strongly on the other days.
-Eating a lot once a week maintains your metabolism (which slows when you restrict calories). Your metabolism is what makes you lose weight, so itā€™s important t keep it strong.
-Everyone cheats on diets. Building in a cheat day dispenses with guilt and keeps you mentally healthy.
-plus varying amounts help prevent your body from long-term hormonal issues such as leptin resistance or weight gain.

(Diana) #27

Good point. I just had lab work done after years on keto, will make sure to keep tabs annually now.

#29

Okay then :slight_smile: But the body still have something as it gets shocked by sugar on keto as itā€™s not ready for it, itā€™s quite logical and many of us experience that (not everyone, itā€™s not that simple). Itā€™s called something else then.

(Edith) #31

Thanks for posting that. I was going to do the same. You saved me some time. :grinning:

(Bob M) #32

None of those are good if youā€™re addictive.

There is absolutely no known reason to go off keto.

And people who ā€œruinedā€ their metabolism were also fasting too much.

(Robin) #33

Perfectly states, thanks.

(Edith) #34

Do you have any theories as to why this was the case?

#35

Just so you know, Dr. Peter Attia no longer eats a Ketogenic diet. His focus is now on longevity/lifespan and healthspan, and not on performance. He stated a few years ago that he did feel great when in ketosis but there is no scientific information on long-term Keto. Plus, he said I live in the real world and with a family, it is too restrictive. He also no longer does ultra-endurance cycling or swimming as he feels the short-term benefits are detrimental in the long term.

#36

I donā€™t, but I know itā€™s pretty common. Once out of keto specific circles between other forums and lots of podcasts, it seems many people doing long term keto see their Thyroid values go to hell. Some say where more efficient on keto, but when I have near no T3 and canā€™t get fat off to save my life, that coincides with how we know Thyroids to work. If our Thyroids were simply becoming more efficient, then we should still see goof T4 levels, low(er) TSH and possibly (slightly) lowered T3, but not tanked. My T4 was near non existent, My T3 was terrible and my TSH was way up, so my Thyroid was clearly struggling to do itā€™s job.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #37

There is some sense, among both researchers and clinicians, that lower thyroid values on a ketogenic diet may not be a problem, but rather a sign that a ketotic body uses the hormones more efficiently. If a ketonian has no symptoms of a thyroid problem, despite lowered measured levels, that would be evidence in favour of this notion. By contrast, however, there are also people who are experiencing symptoms of low thyroid, even though their thyroid levels are in the apparently ā€œnormalā€ range.

So it is entirely possible that all our thinking about the thyroid is off-kilter, somehow, and may need to be re-worked. And it may be more important to go by the presence or absence of symptoms, rather than by measured levels.

(Robin) #38

Good pointā€¦ And it may be more important to go by the presence or absence of symptoms, rather than by measured levels.

#39

Canā€™t agree there, I get what youā€™re thinking, but by that logic Diabetes and High Blood pressure wouldnā€™t be a problem because the person has no noticeable symptoms, the labs matter. The whole context does clearly, but everything needs to be considered.

#40

I see that get thrown around a lot, but have yet to ever see proof of it. Plus, if that were true, then why did forcing my levels back to optimal resolve my issue of not being able to get fat off? Seems debunked to me.

Agreed, Lab ranges arenā€™t written in stone, but differences, and being off the charts in both directions are very different things.

#42

Could be, but Iā€™ve never been a fan of comparing ourselves to them. We get a lot of thought (which is true) about our chronic stress states, the effect on our physiology, and that its a modern man problem, but pretty sure starving, freezing, and things trying to eat you all the time would accomplish the same thing. Plus, after thousands of years, we change.

Then thereā€™s the elephant in the roomā€¦ Who says they were actually better off than us? I want to be optimal, back then survival was the key.

(Edith) #43

What types of carbs are you using around your workouts and refeeds?

#44

For food, typically oatmeal, bananas, honey, white rice, sweet potatoes. When Iā€™ve just gotta wake up and go with no time for real food I just spike my preworkout with Dextrose. But I try to waste my calories on real food as much as possible.