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Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

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Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#211
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…

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

There are Atkins brand shakes that are low carb and achieve the same effect. The chocolate flavor is actually really good.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#212
post #168

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My biggest problem with keto was issues with getting enough potassium. There's no easy way to supplement it in the US, unless you get a prescription for supplements. I tried using No Salt, but I hate the taste. Lite Salt was tolerable, but I'd end up exceeding my recommended amount of daily sodium.

Potassium is easy to get [1]. If you don't want to supplement with a vitamin/power, you can just eat a potato. Although that would go against 'keto diet'. I'm doing a IF (intermittent fasting) diet and I'm not restricted, so I could eat them if I wanted. IF is similar to keto, both put the body into a ketosis state. [1] - All you need is one teaspoon a day. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ENSA93S/ref=oh_aui_sear…

That product looks great, thanks for the link. I'll probably end up using it even if I don't try keto again :)

I'll also check out IF.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#213
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…

I've been doing Intermittent Fasting [1] for about 2-3 months now. I didn't realize the electrolytes issue when the body switches into ketosis. One thing I LOVE about IF is that my cravings have naturally leaned me in these directions. 1) I've been drinking more Gatorade because I craved it. 2) I've added salt, mayo, cheese to my sandwiches to 'make it taste better' even though prior to this diet, I'd have a fairly b…

For me the primary motivation for switching over was as I said, the weight loss and ease of staying calorie-deficient. I can eat 1500 calories or less every day no problem on Keto. If I'm off Keto I get insanely hungry and experience blood sugar crashes frequently on a calorie-deficient diet.

Not gonna lie, the lure of Keto was the promise that it's easy to stick with in terms of how your body reacts to it. I just get so much more hungry when I'm off Keto even if my caloric intake is the same.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#214

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)

Alcohol is actually fine on a low carb diet. Beer has carbs but Vodka, Rum, etc are totally fine.

In fact alcohol tends to have a greater effect on you when in ketosis so you even save some money when out drinking.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#215
post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But adding calories in whatever form still means more calories in than not eating them. Edit: I get the point that it stops hunger, but my point still stands, and the parent posters still doesn't make a great deal of sense.

Who says it's an addition of calories? For many people breakfast is just coffee with coconut oil and butter. It's not adding calories it's just consuming them at a different time. You're still going to be at a deficit at the end of the day.

For me it would be compared to just black coffee and no breakfast, so of course it would be additional calories if I force myself to drink coffee with butter in it.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#216

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You're also neglecting another benefit of keto for maintaining a low-caloric intake, it encourages you to eat fat . Fat takes a substantially longer amount of time for the stomach to process, meaning you feel satiated for a longer period of time. Whenever I eat carbs I try to supplement them with a good amount of fat to avoid this, yesterday I had a 300cal snack of 5 saltines topped with roughly 3tbsp of peanut butte…

Normal and healthy diets are balanced; most people's diets are excessively heavy in carbs, so no, I didn't neglect that at all. People should eat less carbs and more fat until they're somewhat of a balance, going in either direction by cutting out one or the other is not eating healthy. Keeping your body in long term ketosis is neither healthy nor particularly pleasant. Yea, eating a pure carb snack is going to make…

The tricky part is that it isn't clear what "balanced" means. Our bodies can survive on vastly different allocations of the three macronutrients. Carbohydrates are not required at all to my knowledge, while some amino acids and fatty acids are essential and cannot be synthesized from other foodstuffs.

Its possible to get most of your calories from carbohydrates, protein, or fat. The question is what is the right balance for optimum health? How much does this value change across different people (and possibly at different stages of life)? If you have epilepsy then a ketogenic diet might well be best. How about for other people?

What macronutient profile is "balanced"? What do you even base it on? Should it be 33% of each? Should we eat protein and fat in just a little in excess of what we need (to get the essential fatty acids and amino acids) and get the rest from carbohydrates? I don't think we have clear answers to those questions yet. Although, I think we have ruled out some diets as unhealthy (e.g. eating a lot of refined carbohydrates can cause diabetes). Since eating too many refined carbohydrates is bad does that rule them out as a primary calorie source? Probably not, but we need more research.

Personal Note: I've eaten a low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet for about 4 years. All my blood markers (cholesterol, triglycerides, etc) have improved significantly over that time period. Additionally, I used to get incredibly hungry all the time and feel bad if a meal was delayed. Now I can go much longer without eating and still feel well.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went through about 2 months of pure keto earlier this year. Small disclaimer, I generally follow a "warrior" diet and intermittent fasting. I think keto gave me a similar "sharp" awareness and energy. For whatever reason, not eating, while difficult at first, provided me with even more energy and clarity in the same way keto did. Even though I continued doing fairly intense workouts 3 days a week.

Can you please share your warrior diet experience? I am also on a warrior diet for the past 2-3 months (should have tracked better) and I like it so far. I am concerned about any long-term negative side effects.

I've never had any issues at all while on warrior diet. On the flip side, because I didn't do enough research, my first keto experience was rough.

IMO, warrior is like intermittent fasting. This is just me personally but I often use coffee to quiet down any feelings of hunger. Though for the most part once you get over the initial discomfort associated with diet change I don't even get hungry until evening hours.

With all of these, supplementing with vitamins is key. I don't think my body misses the calories but it probably does miss some vitamins so I would recommend taking a multivitamin even if every other day.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went through about 2 months of pure keto earlier this year. Small disclaimer, I generally follow a "warrior" diet and intermittent fasting. I think keto gave me a similar "sharp" awareness and energy. For whatever reason, not eating, while difficult at first, provided me with even more energy and clarity in the same way keto did. Even though I continued doing fairly intense workouts 3 days a week.

I also get a lot of mental clarity and alertness after extended periods of not eating, followed by tiredness and fogginess after a meal. This might be one reason why I'm underweight. Unfortunately, a keto diet isn't really an option for me (vegetarian, and allergic to many vegetarian protein sources). I wonder what the underlying science behind it is.

Science behind keto? This article explains it pretty well.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you blending the butter or just stirring? I make mine with butter, coconut/almond milk from califia and a bit of vanilla extract. Blended in bullet mixer for about 20 seconds and it comes out like an unsweetened latte.

Stirring. Oh well, I was getting enough fat from bacon I think.

Yeah the point here is that when you blend the butter it turns from oily sludge into an actual fluffy cap of foam.

Re: Fat-fueled brain: unnatural or advantageous?

#220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I'm worried about. Taking in too much and simply the hassle of having to mix salted water every single day.

I take ZMA and potassium daily. I will drink electrolyte water too. When I get home from the gym and feel drained I will drink 8oz of chicken broth for the salt. I had some severe cramps before starting this.

Potassium in pill form is only sold in very small doses, correct? How do you reach the high daily minimum?
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