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Hi everyone!
Its been a while since I posted, but I had nothing much to share since my success with embracing the tree standing meditation which was in the summer. I became passive in autumn, and almost stopped qi gong. Except for the occasional healing sounds and embracing the tree short sessions. I had big plans to learn Tai Chi I, got the book, the instructional video from Marie, but couldn’t get myself to it. Now to the point of my new success. Diet.
My summer diet was with lots of carbohydrates with legumes, rice and of course seasonal fruit and veggies. Successful improvement for me was taking gluten out, which gave me energy boost. But as autumn was coming it was slowly becoming difficult to go on with this diet, but I still stayed with it, having no better idea what to do.
Having a leaky gut I am constantly researching about it, and as one friend shared how ketogenic diet worked so well for him I took a look. I saw that not only it is compatible with leaky gut repair, but beneficial. Another boost in my motivation was learning about bulletproof coffee (can be cacao or tea), which is a great morning drink and also catalyzing ketosis.
So here are my results at the end of week two of the diet. First of all I am amazed how quickly I got results.
Third day on the diet and my focus was becoming sharper, stable and more peaceful. I got more energy, lots of appetite and thirst. I slept at around 5 hours. And it went on with day 4,5,6. I didn’t have a crash. Wow, I never had so much energy with so less sleep. Not in my teenage, nor even in my twenties. I am on to something. Unexpectedly I tolerate and enjoy the cold better. At the end of second week, I am sleeping a bit more 6-7 hours, and my appetite has normalized. But I still drink a lots of water and my body wants it.
So what is ketosis? Its a state of the metabolism where it switches to using fat instead of sugar for energy. To get into that state you need to eat very little carbohydrates, and lots of fat and standard amount of protein. Arguably this is natural winter diet. At least it makes winter more enjoyable. The liver is really engaged in this diet because it has a role in this different metabolism. I am not sure if this is good or bad for the five elements balance. The better brain focus is explained by that the brain likes this energy from fats, but also because of low carbohydrates, might balance the gut if it was unbalanced. Brain fog might fade. More interesting than this is that it led me to research more about circadian rhythms biology, non native emf on health (blue light being the worst), effect on seasons of the body and the role of mitochondria in health and energy. I don’t quite understand these topics but I will write another post, because I believe it has a relation with energy and taoism.
Qieers
ViktorThanks Victor. Interesting, and very timely. I’ve just started looking into the ketogenic diet. I’ve had some good results with moderate carb restriction but I understand the ketogenic approach takes it to another level. A few questions: what is bulletproof coffee? Any resources you would recommend? Is the diet complicated to follow?
thanks,
elephantGreat elephant! One of the reasons I shared is because I am inspired by all the sharing, especially by you and Steven, which helps me identify my own issues.
Thing about going into full ketosis and becoming fat adapted is REALLY restricting carbohydrates. Opinions differ, but general guideline is no more than 25-30g of carbohydrates. From the carbohydrates of vegetables I’ve read that you count the carbohydrates by taking out the fiber content. So:
vegetable ch = total ch – fiber
So as soon as you limit the ch to 25g-30g, you start really producing ketones, and they stay in your organism. At some point you get to mild ketosis, and after a while into full ketosis. Some people measure the amount of ketones in blood, but its not really necessary if you simply understand the concept and have some body awareness.The goal of ketogenic diet is to get to ketosis and stay in it. And that is where magic happens. Its only magic because in modern life we have blocked this natural ability of the body. Its arguable but I think it is the natural diet of winter. One of indicators for me is that I am enjoying the cold much better. Another indicator that points in the direction that ketosis is a natural diet (at least in some point of the day or seasons) is that pregnant women get in mild ketosis in some part of the day even if they eat carbohydrates.
So its not really complicated, as a general guideline you can eat the following foods without restriction:
– Vegetables
– Fats
– Nuts and seeds (in moderation)
– Dairy with small amount of carbohydrates
– Eggs
– Seafood
Foods you cannot eat:
– Fruits (Lemon is allowed. Also some berries, but only if you want to count the carbohydrates in your food, so maybe you can eliminate for simplicity)
– All grains
– Dairy with carbohydrates
If you want to count ch and eat in the allowed amount it is recommended in the bulletproof diet to eat it in the evening.I believe you can make it work as combination with other diets e.g. taoist.
Some examples of other diets that can easily be ketogenic are: paleolithic diet, bulletproof diet, epi paleo rx etc…You can make it vegetarian or vegan. I am doing a vegetarian version. My diet is seasonal vegetables and eggs with occasional random thing to add.
Ketogenic diet by itself doesn’t mean is healthy. Things that you might be careful are eating too much omega-6 (all vegetable oils), food sensitivities (many people are sensitive to dairy and don’t know it). So you need to find what is good for you. For people who have many food sensitivities and other autoimmune issues more restrictive ketogenic diets like bulletproof or paleo would be better.Now the beauty of the bulletproof coffee (or tea, or cacao) is that it catalyzes the process of going ketogenic. For me it took only two days. This doesn’t mean that I am fat adapted, but I got many of the benefits of the diet.
Actually it doesn’t need to be bulletproof. Bulletproof is just an enterprise that popularized the concept. The idea is that you can have this drink in the morning, once or second time anytime until 2 pm. The ingredients are:
– Drink (tea, coffee, cacao or even water
– MCT oil (first time you start with 1 tsp and gradually increase to 2 tbsp)
– Some other fat (like butter or coconut oil)
And just blend it. There are some benefits in doing it with coffee or cacao and then also grassfed butter. But the real benefit is the MCT which catalyzes the process of going into ketosis, so you can add the MCT in your breakfast. The recipe is actually inspired by the tibetans who drink tea with yak butter. So that is the original traditional recipe. I can only guess that they are in ketosis. So if you want to shorten the time of the process of getting into ketosis add some MCT (keep the amounts in mind). MCT is an extract from coconut oil or palm oil. If you don’t like an extract then coconut oil has some MCT in it. Bulletproof blog is good source for info about MCT and bulletproof coffee itself.While such a diet can have many benefits in the short-term, I would caution about very long-term use. Ketones are toxins that the kidneys try to eliminate, and thus their presence makes the kidneys work more. The presence of ketones is due to the body not being able to properly manage its blood sugar, and it is a problem that diabetics deal with often. It’s well known that it is harmful to the kidneys.
Detoxification protocols are OK if they are short-term.
But a person should NOT be “IN DETOX” all the time.
Being in detox, wears on the kidneys and liver, and you can damage the organs after a period of time. Raw food diet and its damage to liver (and secondarily spleen via control cycle) is also known.After any kind of detox protocol–which should only be short-term–a person should let the body rest and rebuild, because detox is depleting to the body.
Detox can be smart to clear away toxins and reset the body’s natural wisdom, but eventually detox must end and you must let the body rebuild.
MODERATION IN ALL THINGS.
TOO MUCH OF ANYTHING, regardless of what it is, IS BAD.S
You have described ketoacidosis a state that could happen to people with diabetes type I. Ketoacidosis is abnormal ketone count in the blood which makes it acidic and yes in that case the body tries to detoxify by urinating. But usually this happens in people with diabetes type 1, when they cannot produce insulin.
We are talking about nutritional ketosis which is very natural response to low carb diet, in which ketones are used for energy by the heart, the brain, other tissues and the mitochondria (Latest discoveries find mitochondria a key player in energy levels and health in general).
I am not after quick fixes and if this diet turns out to be that, I will be the first to report. Indeed I am in the beginning of it, but I have been learning about other people relatively long term experiences of it. Because I am careful of quick fixes and dogmas I started researching about mentioned possible relationship of seasons and optimal carbohydrate intake. Some doctors/nutritionists suggest to get more carbohydrates in summer and less in winter. It works in my humble experience.
If you are varying by seasons, then it is unlikely that what you are doing is a long-term absolutist change . . . which is good.
The trouble with saying “abnormal ketone count” is who can say precisely what is abnormal. It is likely kidneys will be detoxing more regardless of amount. When you reach a threshold where it is detoxing too much can be difficult to quantify.
I just encourage moderation and an awareness to striving for balance.
S
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