Sooo I tried the Keto diet, and learnt a lot of amazing facts about my body.
But after 6 months of [let's be honest here] obsessing over diet and lifestyle, I've started re-introducing carbs into my day-to-day meals. Helas, the brain clarity will certainly be missed, but I return to sugar burning having gained insight into how my body can use it more effectively.
I ended Keto not because it wasn't working, but because I moved back to the UK and lost my discipline when faced with my mum's daily veggie meals. I can now see that it is best to cycle between carbs and keto, in order to maintain metabolic flexibility, and not become too 'obsessive'.
What's interesting is that despite looking back on those months with a smiling heart, I doubt I'd do it for such a long time again. I'm proud that I achieved what I planned to do: reduce inflammation within my body, feel more energetic, enjoy big portions of rich, fatty foods without feeling guilty. But since then, I understand that these things are possible without such a strict lifestyle of maximum 20g of carbs a day.
That said, keto can be used as a tool when feeling constant low-energy or nagging inflammation in in different parts of the body. If I were to do Keto again, it would only be for a month or so.
Let me rewind a bit. I started Keto in order to better fast intermittently without losing muscle, which was partially to control my Chrons' without pills while maintaining an active lifestyle. Although it worked well, I now feel able to do it without completely cutting out carbs - I've come along way on this journey, as I was used to a more 'normal' diet along side medication, but decided that I wanted rid of pills in my life.
The Low-down:
You may have read about Keto - it's similar to Atkins; with lack of glycogen (from carbs) the body uses fat for fuel in the form of Ketones. The main Ketone circulating in your blood when in 'Ketosis' is anti-inflammatory, which is a good thing to have when you have chronic inflammation somewhere in your body like me. Burning fat for fuel, however, is why most people do it - to loose those extra pounds of weight.
The body preserves muscle in fasting states, as when glycogen is scarce it is increasingly stored in muscle tissue. Therefore, it is possible to workout regularly without losing muscle during extended non-fed states, which are often done on a daily basis to increase Ketones.
This all worked well for me - I felt a sort of constant mental alertness, and my body felt low maintenance and self-renewing (through regular authophagy). However, I felt that eating so much meat was not healthy - despite what Keto followers often say and believe. I've been able to balance my diet with moderate protein (peanut butter, plant-based protein powder, beans and fish), moderate fat (mostly coconut, avocado and fish) and moderate carbs (mostly beans, legumes, fresh veg, nuts and seeds), without losing the benifits mentioned above.
It seems to me that Keto isn't easy for everyone. I managed it because the 'forbidden' foods and drinks were only a very small part of my diet before starting (I had to replace honey, oats, bananas, rice with stevia, coconut cream, avocados and kale...). The ones people usually struggle to cut out are bread, pasta, ice cream, alcohol, juice... but these weren't a problem as I'm alcohol, gluten and dairy free anyway, and tend to avoid sugar to stay energetic.
I was able to maintain an average of 1.5mg Ketones in my blood most the time, it rarely went higher than that because I ate quite regularly in my eating window to maintain my weight (eating - even without carbs - spikes insulin which in turn reduces Ketone production). A lot of cardio in the morning, alongside daily intermittent fasting countered this and thus I was able to stay in Ketosis most of the day. My Blood Ketones were - predictably - highest after fasting for 18 hours (18h fasting/ 6h eating).
Glycogen: Although I sometimes convince myself that a high-carb diet suits me best - I'm active thus use a fair bit of energy, don't easily put on weight, and love veggie meals, the reality is that I rarely feel satiated after high-carb meals. I've understood through this that my active lifestyle requires more protein (55-70g) and some healthy fat (30-50g) in my day-to-day. Eating meals high in starch and sugar is a slippery slope for my well-being in the long run - it's comfort eating more than anything else. Plus consuming fast-sugar carbs on a daily basis steadily increases inflammation, which is not worth the short-term satisfaction for me. I do indulge in Gluten Free pasta or pizzas occasionally, but rarely more than once a week.
The truth is that fat provides more calories per-gram, and leaves me less hungry. This is why I stayed on the diet for so long, and have continued to maintain more fat in my diet than before.
The starchy carbs I do consume tend to be low-glycemic in order for me to maintain energy after meals (chickpeas, red lentils, peanuts)
Here is a GI (Glycogen Index) chart for reference:
Working-Out: Being a regular gym-goer, I have to make sure that I get enough fuel from my food. With high Ketones in the body, glycogen is preserved and produced in a more efficient manner. Those circulating Ketones mean that day-to-day energy comes from them, and not glycogen like most people. However, weight-lifting is still fueled by glycogen, as it's high intensity which Ketones are not good at sustaining, and it's just necessary to have been in Ketosis for a while for the body to be efficient in providing enough glycogen without running out.
When I went back to glycogen for fuel, at first I didn't eat enough carbs. I subconsciously assumed my body would make use of the fat I ate, or produce the glycogen required (like when on keto). But no, my body started transforming the protein I consumed into glycogen in absence of carbs (it's called Glycogenisis, catchy, right?). Muscle growth was hindered by this, I even lost muscle mass despite working out regularly, until I finally understood that I'd need to introduce more carbs to balance things out. I still avoided single carbs (Sugar, Honey...), but learnt how to cook with low glycemic ones.
It's been quite a journey, I would encourage anyone to self-experiment with diet to know what works, and what doesn't...
You'll find most of my go-to keto ingredient in the pic below, just replace the cheese with 100% dark chocolate, add 'in some sardines and salmon, have spinach and kale as a background, drizzle in olive and coconut oil, and voila.
But don't forget the Coconut Cream *.*
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