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30 days of healthy living: Day 20

Phew! 3+ days of a migraine and I still have the remnants of it. UGH! My sincerest apologies for not getting back here sooner 🙁

Tonight I want to discuss ketosis. Most of you have probably heard of someone doing a “keto” diet. Maybe you looked into it and thought no way or maybe you didn’t and just rolled your eyes over the latest fad. I’m here to say there is some validity to this way of eating but I think that people often have some misconceptions about the difference between the process of ketosis and the “keto” diet. I’d like to try to clear up the confusion.

First. KETOSIS is the process by which your body breaks down fat for fuel. Your body can use carbohydrates, fat or protein for fuel and there is a hierarchy for this process. Carbohydrates are the preferred fuel source. Your body is designed to use carbs for energy and the design is efficient. It is much easier for your body to use carbs for fuel and generally there is plenty to go around in the Standard American Diet (SAD-the abbreviation is kind of perfect…). If there are no carbohydrates to use, the next best and easiest to use fuel is fat. If you restrict calories or carbohydrates enough you will use fat as fuel. This can also occur after exercising for an extensive period of time (sorry but a 45 minute aerobics class isn’t likely enough. 60 minutes minimum is needed and maybe longer depending on intensity). Using fat as fuel produces a metabolic product called ketones. Getting into the state of ketosis these, burns fat, helps you lose weight, increases energy and helps maintain muscle mass.

However. There is always a however. Once you reach a state of ketosis, as soon as you consume carbohydrates the process will come to a halt and your body will default to bring carbs again. This is where the “keto” diets come in. By restricting the amount of carbohydrates consumed daily to 50 grams or less, you can maintain ketosis for an extended period of time. It generally takes 3-4 days on a 50gram of carbs or less diet to produce sustained ketosis. During this time many people experience what is called a “keto flu” which includes headache symptoms, fatigue, aches, etc, kind of like “flu” symptoms (without the pneumonia, fever and death parts). Headaches and fatigue are the most common as you body adjusts it’s fuel source.

Where does protein fit in here? You don’t want to burn protein for fuel. This is very bad. You can also kick yourself out of ketosis by eating too much protein so most keto diets consist of 70-75% fat, 20% protein and 5-10% carbs. Total grams of carbs should be less than 50. A healthy body should be able to handle the amount of ketones generated with this diet and you can help your body by drinking LOTS of fluids to flush everything out. Your kidneys will excrete the extra ketones for you as long as you do. In fact, there are test strips you can use to test ketones in your urine although it is not a direct correlation between your urine ketones and your serum (blood) ketones.

Diabetics beware! Diabetics are at risk of ketosis due to lack of insulin which prevents your body from using carbohydrates as fuel. For diabetics this is bad and can lead to ketoacidosis which is a build up of ketones in the blood. Ketoacidosis can cause coma and death. If you are diabetic, please use extreme caution and work with your medical provider to lose weight and change your diet safely!

So, yo put it in a nutshell: The keto diet is an eating pattern which is low in carbohydrates, high is fat and moderate in protein that helps put you into and keep you in a state of ketosis or fat burning. Ketosis can also be achieved by fasting, calorie restriction, intense or extended exercise or, in diabetics, a lack of insulin (this last one is VERY VERY BAD). Eating carbohydrates stops the process of ketosis. In general this process is helpful for weight loss and remaining in ketosis for extended periods will likely result in faster weight loss, more energy and preserved muscle mass while losing weight. A transition period is usually 3-4 days if adherent and most commonly causes a mild headache for a few days. People with diabetes need to use caution because ketosis can lead to ketoacidosis, or an extreme build up of ketones, and cause coma or death. Diabetics should not attempt extreme diet changes unless monitored closely.

My take on this is that anyone on a true keto diet should be monitored by their medical provider. That is true for anyone who needs to lose an extensive amount of weight. Nutritional deficiencies are common on restricted diets and typically require blood work to monitor. Taking crazy amounts of supplements can cause overdosing of vitamins and minerals and there isn’t much evidence to suggest that taking multivitamins is helpful. There are potential side effects of extreme diet changes and the safety of hit pattern of eating for the long term is unknown. I think it is a good short term weight loss strategy for otherwise healthy people who are diligent about eating healthy foods in general. I think its a not great idea for anyone who thinks it gives them a license to live on bacon and cheese and expect to be healthy in the long term.

We will continue to discuss insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and diet in the next couple of posts.

you can read about the keto diet here and here, here and here.

Until then,

Have a happy healthy week!

Liz

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30 Days to healthy living: Day 15

Todays topic: What I read

I love books. I mean, I LOVE books. I love to read. I love to learn. The library is my happy place. Book stores rock too but libraries? Its all FREE knowledge and knowledge is POWER!

My typical haul from the library is at least an arms length. Thankfully they have online renewals because I don’t have a lot of time to read and I usually have to renew once or twice before I can get through them. My 2 favorite topics to read about is healthy (duh) and food. I also enjoy reading about philosophy, especially stoicism and the warrior mind and I am not above enjoying the Outlander series although my default is nonfiction. So I thought I would gather a list of books that I have read about diet and health that I think are worth recommending to other people to read.

I do not necessarily subscribe to everything in the following recommendations but I have found the information helpful and reliable. Some of these I have read cover to cover, some I have skimmed. If your library is like mine, you can look them up and reserve them online. I have linked them to Amazon if you want a copy in your hands to read that you can also take notes in and highlight. I do buy books I find worth referencing regularly. The Amazon links are affiliate links. So if you purchase through the link I might finally make a dime or two off of this blog but it won’t cost you a penny. I always recommend checking the library first though. Consider it my Christmas gift to you 😉

10 Good references on healthy eating:

  1. The Obesity Code by Dr. Jason Fung. Ok, I haven’t read this one. It was recommended by a friend and I am waiting on it from interlibrary loan. He also wrote The Diabetes Code and The complete guide to intermittent fasting. He is a physician and all 2 discuss the benefits of intermittent fasting. Really looking forward to reading these.
  2. The End of Dieting by Dr Joel Furman. Dr Furman believes in a “nutritarian” diet which focuses on eating foods that are mostly plant based for good health and weight loss and avoiding the dieting yo-yo. I am currently reading this one. Nothing weird here. Plant foods are good for you. Eat more of them!
  3. The gluten free Mediterranean diet cookbook. This is a short read with, you guessed it, gluten free mediterranean recipes in it as well as a brief overview of how to eat this way. I am a big fan of a Mediterranean diet and this one I own.
  4. The Blood Sugar Solution by Dr Mark Hyman. He has many related books as well. Mainly its about eating whole foods but this one is good for those prone to diabetes. If there is one disease that scares the crap out of me it’s diabetes. Your blood sugar messes with EVERYTHING else in your body. Get it under control!
  5. Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Love this book. It is seriously cerebral though. If you want to easier to read version, try reading his book Why we get fat and what to do about it instead. Basically, what we were told about carbohydrates and fat were false and low fat diets make us fat.
  6. The Gut Balance Revolution. Information about your microbiome and probiotics. All the gut health info right here.
  7. 100 Days of Real Food: On a Budget  Good all around healthy diet for families and those looking to eat well on a budget. Nothing fancy. Most of us can eat healthy no matter our income.
  8. Nourishing Traditions This one is different. It talks about the research of Weston Price who was actually a dentist. He found that people around the world who eat traditional foods, especially soaked grains and fermented foods had better teeth and bone structure. Interesting. I don’t have time for soaked grains. I will happily eat fermented foods. I love fat. But no way am I eating fermented cod liver oil and you shouldn’t either. ew.
  9. Trim Healthy Mama Plan by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison. I own this one plus the cookbook that accompanies it. Love the recipes and most of them are gluten free. Separating out carbs and fats is hard and I tend to prefer their “S” recipes. Read it to find out what that means. I use this frequently and they have a great recipe to make tomato soup without sugar.
  10. Anything by MFK Fisher. She wrote about food in such an elegant and intriguing way. While there are some recipes she did not generally write cookbooks. Her style of writing is my favorite although I can’t name it. Read MFK to fall in love with good food cooked well and enjoy! I own at least 10 titles she had written. LOVE her.

I have several actual cookbooks I reference all the time but it is time for bed. So Bonne Nuit and I will see see you tomorrow!

Liz

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30 days to healthy living: Day 2

So how did you do with Day ? Were you surprised by some of your numbers? :O Did you come up with some goals? A hint with goals is to break them up into short term (1-12 months) and long term (2 years).  Then break down the big goals into baby steps.  Also look at your list and realist them in priority order. Start with what is most important to you or you are more likely to fizzle out.
Ok, so today I want to talk about FOOD. I mean, doesn’t our whole life kind of revolve around it? And isn’t a big part of our health problems and weight issues? It seems like we have gotten this eating thing all wrong and it is so darn hard to get it right. Something is good for you one week and causes cancer the next Uuuugh!!! So where to start???
Here’s my plan/suggestion:
For the next month try a modified elimination diet to get your eating habits under control and if you suspect you have a food intolerance this is a great way to test it. This is what I did when I first suspected I had celiac disease. Thankfully I figured out within a week that I had an issue with gluten. But I recently did a 30 day run of this and got back on track with my eating and weight. I lost 9 pounds and am now within 3 pounds of the weight I’d like to hit and then maintain. It may not sound like a lot to someone who wants/needs to lose 100 pounds but my back and hips feel every extra pound of weight I put on. On that note, every pound of extra weight you carry is equivalent to and extra FOUR pounds of weight pressing on your hips and knees. People who carry around extra weight are more likely to develop osteoarthritis and need joint replacement surgery and ironically they often have to lose weight before the surgeon will do it because the replacements won’t hold if you weigh too much! So best do it now and avoid wearing out your joints!!
I digress…
So this plan is a combination of different but similar things you may have seen or heard about or even tried but this is not something you are going to fo forever and it won’t work for everyone. We will talk about modifying it or going a slower gentler route tomorrow as well as some other ideas for adjusting your eating but some basic principles will be consistent throughout. But if you are like me, you need to just put up a giant stop sign to force you to get away from the junk and eat food that will fuel my body. confession: I was drinking about 2 glasses of wine per day and eating candy on a daily basis. I would often go all day without eating and then eat without ceasing in the evening (and MORE than make up for not eating all day! I was HANGRY!!). Because I am a celiac I have gotten away from eating any kind of bread because gluten free bread? Not so great. I ate my fair share of loaded nachos and pizza though. And the thing is, if I went from eating loaded corn chip nachos to a healthy alternative I might think that the healthier version wasn’t as satisfying and not try it again. BUT if I haven’t eaten any nachos in a month and then because my eating is under control and my taste buds have adjusted, those healthy nachos taste great and now, because I don’t feel ill after eating them, I crave those instead of the old version. I promise-hold fast and your taste buds will adjust! Pinkie swear.
Here’s the basic plan:
“Yes” foods (forever)
All vegetables (except potatoes and corn)
Leafy greens (Romaine-when there isn’t ANOTHER recall on it. Spinach. Arugula. Dandelion greens. Chard, etc.)
Green apples
Berries
Lean protein-salmon, sardines, boneless/skinless chicken breast, pork tenderloin, lamb, rabbit, goat, freshwater fish, shrimp, clams, oysters, grass fed beef, etc. ALL prepared broiled, baked, poached, grillled but not fried!
Brown rice
Quinoa (if you like it. I find it annoying because it gets all over my kitchen every.single.time. )
Riced cauliflower
Squash
Nuts
Beans (legumes) especially lentils, black eyed peas and chick peas.
Edamame (soybeans)
Tofu
Sweet potatoes
Beets
Healthy fats: nut oils, olive oil, avocado, grapeseed, high oleic sunflower oil and coconut oil.
Water, water water-64oz per day minimum
Green tea
Black coffee
Herbal tea
Almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, rice milk
Nonfat Greek yogurt
Kimchee
Sparkling or mineral water (Wegmans has great flavored sparking waters that are calorie and sweetener free)
Limes and lemons
Eggs
TEMPORARY No’s:
alcohol, especially beer (yes, I did it, you can too!!)
Dairy milk, creamer, half and half
Wheat/barley/rye (if you are testing a sensitivity or want to try a low gluten diet)
Fruit other than mentioned above
Peanuts/peanut butter
Juice
Things you should avoid FOREVER:
Artificial sweeteners except Stevia, monkfruit or erythritol
Soda
Processed foods such as TV dinners, boxed cereals
MSG
Sugar (the white kind)
Basically any food that comes in a box or a bag is a food “product” and not actually food and highly unlikely to be healthy for you.
I’ll give some rationale along the way but that’s the basic list. If you have a question about any of them, please let me know!
Tip:
My very superty-dooper strong suggestion is to giveaway or throw away all the junk in your house. Out of sight, out of the way of your mouth. You might think about it so I can’t say out of mind but if it isn’t there to easily grab in a moment of weakness, you can’t eat it! This works really well for me.
So this is basically your shopping list but before you go shopping there is something else important to do-plan what you are going to eat and when. Tomorrow we will talk about how to go about eating this stuff and when to eat it as well as modifications as I mentioned above.
In th meantime work on the tip and start purging your pantry of junk. Get it out of the way so you can make a clean start!
PS: I am here as your coach. I am not acting as your medical provider. I cannot give you medical advice. What I am suggesting is what has worked for me and is largely based on programs I have used than I know get good results. I also check for evidence based dietary recommendations and read actual medical research studies on diet. Before you change your diet or start to exercise, discuss it with your medical provider. If you are on medications changes in your diet can affect how your medication works. Weight loss can affect birth control methods. Leafy greens can interfere with “blood thinners.” Your provider is also a good person to help you set goals. Don’t put your health in jeopardy trying to get healthy (ironic I know)  talk to your medical provider first!!
Here’s to our health!
Liz