I am ready to dive into Keto and I did approach my doctor with the idea but she said brining my carbs that low might effect my liver enzymes. Should I worry about this? My blood work last year came back normal, a little high in some areas, but nothing dangerous.
I want to live a healthier lifestyle and lose weight. THat is my reason for wanting to come aboard. And who doesn’t love bacon and cheese??!!?!
Have you had a problem with liver enzymes in the past? If not, I wouldn’t worry about it, imo. Perhaps your Dr. is not a fan of low carb. Don’t think it. Do it! 
Love the feed back.
This the response I received when I inquired about it…
“I like these diets to a certain extent. I do think you body needs carbohydrates and when patient’s have done aktins and diets that are really low carbs, I see some liver enzyme strain. So make sure you have 100 grams of carbs a day. That should keep you body in balance and in a fat burning zone. Good luck!”
Personally, have not heard of that. However, your doctor is a partner in your health care and a considerably more authoritative one than some stranger from the internet.
If she’s concerned why not go in for enzyme function tests after, say, six weeks?
Even if there’s absolutely no cause for concern you’d be doing something positive – helping to educate your doctor about ketogenic eating.
Thanks. Appreciate that and makes me feel more comfortable with her response and I think that is a good path to follow.
Thanks.
Kevin
But Atkins was basically low carb high protein diet don’t worry about far diet. For those this occurred in, it could have been due to the higher than normal protein intake.
That level of carbs will likely put you in the zone between having enough carbs to supply your brain’s need for glucose and being able to produce ketones. It’s described as the “halfway to Hawaii” scenario you get from not getting all the way to nutritional ketosis.
Also, the best thing you can do for your liver is to relieve it of its burden of visceral fat. There’s a podcast [transcript] about liver enzymes as an early indicator of liver problems here: http://www.nourishbalancethrive.com/blog/2015/02/06/liver-enzymes-transcript/
I would tell her that you are really committed to giving keto a go but would be grateful for her support. I would suggest getting some blood tests done so that you can monitor your progress with her and she can see in black and white how well you are doing. HbA1c, HDL/LDL, Trigs, Liver (if she is concerned). I would also check iron, haemoglobin and ferritin, B12 and vitamin D at the outset at least just to see if there is anything that you need to boost.
You could get her a copy of Phinney & Volek’s book The Art & Science of Low Carb Living which will help her get into the idea. She could do worse than listen to the latest podcast…
http://2ketodudes.com/show.aspx?episode=48
This article by Noakes should also appeal to her…
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/2/133.abstract
Good luck.
I don’t know how keto would affect your liver besides by helping it. Sugar and carbs can cause non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, so giving them up is very healthy. How about you try keto for 3 or 6 months and then go get blood work done? Then you and your doctor can have peace of mind.
Posted this in another post as well. Should I be worried about counting calories off the bat along with all the macros? My girlfriend and I are planning out keto journey and we would have vastly different cals and macros - should I focus on cutting the carbs out and getting in adequate amounts of protein or should I be strict?
THanks.
Kevin
If you’re just starting out, just count net carbs and keep them under 20. Net carbs are carbs minus fiber. Eat fat and protein to satiety. That’s how I started out! You don’t have to make it a big complicated thing unless you want to.
I started 16 days ago, and only am counting total carbs (not net carbs). My calories are a good 200 - 300 over what the LoseIt app says for my daily caloric intake to “lose weight”. I think getting keto adapted is the most important thing, and you’ll want to keep carbs low until you get fat adapted.
@MKChitown I laugh at what the Lose It app tells me! I increased the calorie requirement somewhere in the settings so that I wouldn’t show that I’m over the “limit”. I wonder if there is anyone looking at my data that is completely confused at how I’m eating so many calories and losing!
Don’t worry about getting it perfect just be open to experimenting with what works best for you,if I’ve learned anything in the past few months,it’s that everyone has different needs and goals,I just posted a video about ketogenic myths by Amy Berger, you can search for it on here or YouTube,its a discussion about not being so rigid in your beliefs and keeping an open mind,hope this helps,Keep calm and keto on
Doctors LOL.
Just take the plunge and stick to it. Set Aside a long weekend because the first 3-4 days is like a detox session and you will have serious trouble functioning at work.
Going into the weekend toss all the junk in your house and go to the grocery store. dont even have it in your house if possible.
The first week is pretty annoying but you only have to go through it once unless you cheat and then your doomed. I dont ever want to go through that detox again.
Most doctors and everyone else will think you are crazy. As you lose weight people will be jealous and try to dissuade you…even sabotage you. I was losing weight so fast people thought i had cancer or aids LOL. I lost 60lbs in 5 months with zero exercise. I did pull a few tricks at the end though… you have to.