Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous? • Hacker News Board

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#131

Post by small_fish » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 5:37 PM UTC

shanusmagnus wrote: post #108

This has been scattered around the existing comments, but I'd be really interested to hear people who are keto comment explicitly on its perceived cognitive effects. I know a number of pretty successful scientists who have told me they feel that being keto provides them a significant performance advantage. I'm really interested in how it affects perceived energy, clarity of thinking, fatigue, and creativity. I'm gear…

Biggest benefit of Keto for me is the higher sustained mental energy level. I don't think I noticed any direct cognitive effects, but I was definitely able to keep focus, stay alert, and be productive all day. No more late-afternoon slumps.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#132

Post by cschmidt » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 5:38 PM UTC

misiti3780 wrote: post #67

jlturner wrote: post #11

I'm on my third ketogenic diet stint, and I can attest to how fantastic it is. I'm narcoleptic and I experience nearly no symptoms on the diet, my fiancée is epileptic and is transitioning off her meds to the ketogenic diet (with the supervision of her nutritionist and neurologist), and a former employee uses it to keep her benign tumor from spreading (actually! And she's totally normal, again with doctors). All of u…

no alcohol either ... that is a deal breaker for a lot of people (including myself)

whisky and red wine, my friend

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#133

Post by nathanaldensr » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 5:38 PM UTC

dave_sullivan wrote: post #114

rotwoof wrote: post #62

I've been doing Keto since Feb 25 2016. My primary goal when switching over was weight loss, which turned out to be easy. I'm 25, male and was experiencing growing health complications related to obesity. I've lost well over 60 lbs since making the switch despite the fact that I maintain a primarily sedentary lifestyle though I now work out weekly as well as take bi-daily walks. There are downsides though. It's not c…

Has there been any more research into the long term health effects of Keto? I tried it years ago, but found it to be more of a pain than it's worth (I seem to have better luck with intense exercise 3x per week and avoiding sugar). And it seems like tons of meat and cheese is actually bad long term, in the sense it clogs your arteries or increases cancer risk. Atkins did not look like he was in good shape inside when…

If by "meat and cheese" you mean "saturated fat," that myth has been thoroughly debunked.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2010/01/13/ajcn.2009...

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#134

Post by cschmidt » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 5:39 PM UTC

serg_chernata wrote: post #120

Since we're discussing this, I wanted to ask a question in regard to electrolytes. First time I tried keto everything was fantastic except I missed the electrolyte requirement and ended up with heart palpitations along with muscle cramps and overall crappy feeling once enough time passed and I unwittingly ignored the electrolytes. Talking to doctors proved to be worthless because most of them haven't even heard of ke…

They talk about electrolytes all the time on reddit.com/r/keto. Go check out the FAQ for specifics.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#135

Post by jsprogrammer » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 5:41 PM UTC

eth0up wrote: post #124

If certain crazed bureaucracies have their way, it may become burdensome to benefit from ketosis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_tax#Denmark When I experimented with keto, two products were essential to my ability to do so; coconut oil and butter. It infuriates me that some in positions of influence and power (but not of productivity!) would dare usurp people's dietary choices based on the careless assumption that…

The 'assumption' about saturated fat is not careless. Increasing saturated fat intake increases total plasma and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#136

Post by small_fish » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 5:42 PM UTC

rpazyaquian wrote: post #51

Nav_Panel wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The main problem I have with ketogenic diets is that it's actually quite difficult and sometimes expensive to eat a 90-95% fat diet From what I've seen, your diet should be ~60-70% fat, 5% or less carbs, and ~25-35% protein. Definitely not 95% fat. > I had several instances where my dinner in a pinch was melted down cheese and half-n-half. Your diet basically becomes cheese and avocados with some, but not too much,…

I prolly fucked the diet up, then. It certainly _felt_ like I was eating almost all fat...good to know that I can take advantage of cheap fatty meats like short ribs, oxtail, and marrow then. As for vegetables, I missed carrots and peas too much. Mustard greens and broccoli are apparently okay, though. I could always just make salads out of baby spinach and arugula, but I suck at making salad dressings.

Ranch dressing is fairly low-carb and generally the go-to for store-bought and restaurants. There are recipes out there for excellent low-carb French dressing that uses no-sugar Ketchup (Heinz, available on Amazon), Apple Cider vinegar, olive oil, and spices.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#137

Post by jtmarmon » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 5:43 PM UTC

SiddarthaBuddha wrote: post #86

tolmasky wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is something like Ensure allowed on keto? Its awfully convenient mid day.

Check out Keto Chow. https://www.thebairs.net/ I have no affiliation with them and don't drink it often but I can tell you that it tastes awesome.

tried it, tastes like garbage in my opinion. tried like 3 flavors

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#138

Post by rotwoof » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 5:43 PM UTC

dave_sullivan wrote: post #114

rotwoof wrote: post #62

I've been doing Keto since Feb 25 2016. My primary goal when switching over was weight loss, which turned out to be easy. I'm 25, male and was experiencing growing health complications related to obesity. I've lost well over 60 lbs since making the switch despite the fact that I maintain a primarily sedentary lifestyle though I now work out weekly as well as take bi-daily walks. There are downsides though. It's not c…

Has there been any more research into the long term health effects of Keto? I tried it years ago, but found it to be more of a pain than it's worth (I seem to have better luck with intense exercise 3x per week and avoiding sugar). And it seems like tons of meat and cheese is actually bad long term, in the sense it clogs your arteries or increases cancer risk. Atkins did not look like he was in good shape inside when…

>And it seems like tons of meat and cheese is actually bad long term, in the sense it clogs your arteries

This is an inaccurate conclusion based on old studies where the subjects underwent a high-carbohydrate high-fat diet. Recent studies on ketogenic diets (low-carbohydrate, medium-protein, high-fat intake) shows that dietary fats and dietary cholesterol barely make any sort of impact on the subject's cholesterol. Rather it is dietary carbohydrates and genetics which are the primary contributor to raised cholesterol and arterial blockage. When it comes to arterial blockage, studies have found that there is no significant correlation between high dietary fat intake and cardiovascular disease.

>or increases cancer risk

Keto is primarily a high-fat diet, not a high-protein or high-carb diet. Studies have showed that a sugar found in red meats called Neu5Gc is primarily correlated with inflammation in the body and the development of certain cancers.

If you're on keto you're less likely to develop cardiovascular disease, and while there is not enough data yet to draw a scientific conclusion preliminary research indicates that individuals who follow keto are at less risk of developing cancer due to restricting sugar intake.

See: https://www.reddit.com/r/ketoscience/search?q=cancer&restric...

All of these posts link to multiple, verified studies which go into details about what I just said.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#139

Post by gnaritas » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 5:44 PM UTC

cschmidt wrote: post #126

uhtred wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not aiming this at you but just people in general, but I'm pretty sure one could lose weight in a much healthier way by just eating a balanced diet (eating REAL food, not processed junk), not overeating, cutting out as much added sugar as possible (under 30g a day is recommended) and getting a little light exercise regularly. Sorry but I hate these fad diets.

Keto isn't a fad diet at all, if a fad diet is one that you do for a while to drop weight quickly. I've been on Keto for about two years now, and plan to eat this way for the rest of my life. I've gone from 235 to 180. Going from 245 to 235 took forever on a "normal" low fat diet. My A1C and cholesterol have greatly improved.

He said eat normal and healthy, not eat low fat; low fat is also a fad diet. And yes, keto is a fad diet with no empirical evidence to support its claims, testimonials are not evidence. There was actually a recent scientific study done and it found keto claims lacking. I've done keto, I'm well aware of what it is, but the weight loss is far more likely to come from eating less than from not eating carbs because it's fucking hard to consume a lot of calories once you cut out carbs so most people on a keto diet are actually on a calorie restricted diet as well which is why they're losing weight.

You want to lose weight, don't eat anything in a box, buy fresh whole food, plenty of veggies and fruits, and meat, cut out sugar, and it'll happen automatically. We're fat because of processed foods that have far too many calories in far too small a bulk that makes overeating so easy you don't even know you're doing it.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#140

Post by freehunter » Wed, Sep 28, 2016, 5:45 PM UTC

akavi wrote: post #118

wnevets wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Bread is delicious Bread taste sooo good when you haven't eaten in a long time, it really is addictive.

I wonder how much of this is cultural/emotional. I'm ethnically Indian, and grew up with white rice as by far the dominant carb in my diet. To this day, I'm not particularly fond of bread (though I like crusty, soft-crumbed bread like french baguettes from time to time). However, if I go more than a week without a rice based dish, I crave it on a visceral level.

Which carb you crave is probably cultural, but craving of carbs seems to be pretty universal.