I’ve been doing carnivore for 3 months. I feel great, have lost some weight. One thing that surprised me thought was my blood pressure. I was usually right around 120/80 give or take a few.
I recently took my BP several times and my upper number was between 128-135. But what really surprised me was my lower number which ranged between 57-70.
Not sure what to make of that large gap and whether or not it has anything to do with the diet.
Yes, it has. Elevated insulin interferes with the production of nitric oxide (NO), which the body uses to relax arterial walls. The stiffer walls lead to higher diastolic pressure. An elevated systolic pressure is not as much of a problem to the body, because it comes in acute bursts, but an elevated diastolic pressure is constant.
Now that your insulin is lower, your body can again make use of the NO you produce, so your diastolic pressure has dropped. Congratulations!
My blood pressure went from around 140/90 pre-keto, to 112/70 at last measurement.
P.S.—Welcome to the forums!
In case you are not aware, there is a very strong hypothesis that the chronic diseases that currently plague us are the result of metabolic damage caused by an inappropriate diet. This is why reverting to a low-carbohydrate, high-fat ketogenic diet so powerfully reverses such conditions as hypertension, diabetes, gout, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver disease, and so forth, and why it can also mitigate (in cases where the damage is too great to be repaired) certain cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological and even psychological conditions. (For instance, I know of a psychiatrist who uses a ketogenic diet to treat anorexia nervosa and bulimia.)
It is pretty clear that the standard American dietary guidelines were a vast experiment that has largely proved damaging to everyone’s physical and mental health.
I’ve been learning a lot of that over the years. What you said about BP was new to me though. The longer I’m on carnivore though the better I feel and the more interested I am in sharing this. I haven’t really experienced much pushback from the people I’ve told so far. They’re curious mainly. Also a little concerned too.
I agree the experiment was a colossal failure and now the masses are paying the price. It’s horrible.
My mother has parkinson’s so that’s been on mind. Also, I’ve dealt with essential tremor my whole life. All the doctors could say about it is “I can give you a prescription for beta blockers…”. I don’t want a prescription - I want to fix it. I’m hoping this diet will fix it.
I’m sorry about the essential tremor. I have no idea whether keto will help or not. I suppose it depends on what causes the tremor, and if any damage is reparable or not.
With all these neurological conditions, the problem is insulin-resistance in the brain, and damage to cells from lack of energy. The brain requires insulin to metabolise glucose, but ketones enter brain cells by a different receptor, so ketone metabolism often works just fine, even when glucose metabolism in the brain does not.
But past a certain point, of course, there has just been too much damage for the brain to heal, and perhaps the best that can be expected is to halt the deterioration. I just posted (in the Resources forum) a lecture by a neurologist who put an Alzheimer’s disease patient on a ketogenic diet. While his motor skills and cognition did not improve, they didn’t deteriorate, either, which is contrary to expectations for the disease. And his quality of life score improved significantly.
My guess is that the brain might possibly heal from some damage, but we know that neurons regenerate very slowly, so that any healing might not be noticeable, especially in the short-term.
Thank you. Yes, I have no idea if this will improve it or not. It’s not debilitating in any way - just annoying. If I have to live with it so be it. If this way of eating improves it well then that’s just icing on the cake.
After just three months I feel so better than I can remember. For the first time, I’m sleeping good and enjoy getting out of bed early in the morning. I love it!