Started the keto diet today

[Foosha]

Hehe welcome to the club. Funny to see this here, I'm 48 hours in myself. I'm trying to punch through the brain fog and "keto flu" to write some SQL right now. The brain isn't obliging.

A week in though you'll feel great. As soon as your metabolism kicks over it's like having boundless energy all day. You'll still be hungry sometimes but not that pit-of-the-stomach hunger. That goes away after about four days.

"Boundless energy". Bwahaha. Mark my words, in 15-20 years studies will emerge showing the dangers of keto diet unless its drastically needed for health reasons. Sure, refined sugars are bad, but all sugars? You are going to get rid of fruit, the most nutrient packed food of essential vitamins, antioxidants, fiber and energy for....? You are going to intake more protein, which will inevitably mean more iron, which increases free radicals.

Sure cholesterol is good for you, protein yah, great n all, but tricking your body into starvation mode and undergoing ketosis, which spurns out ketones lowering your blood pH levels (bad!). Sure it wont be as bad as DKA, but lowering it a smidgen for a prolonged time is bad. Acid corrodes. Corroding veins? Bad. What does the body do with corroding and inflamed veins? Tries to repair it. Cholesterol becomes trapped on the inflamed parts....aaannndd well you see where this is going?

Stress is inherently bad, and this is not the psychological stress, this the physical stress on the body, where stress = cortisol. Cortisol is good, but prolonged cortisol? BAD

[Klingers]

"Boundless energy". Bwahaha. Mark my words, in 15-20 years studies will emerge showing the dangers of keto diet unless its drastically needed for health reasons. Sure, refined sugars are bad, but all sugars? You are going to get rid of fruit, the most nutrient packed food of essential vitamins, antioxidants, fiber and energy for....? You are going to intake more protein, which will inevitably mean more iron, which increases free radicals.

Sure cholesterol is good for you, protein yah, great n all, but tricking your body into starvation mode and undergoing ketosis, which spurns out ketones lowering your blood pH levels (bad!). Sure it wont be as bad as DKA, but lowering it a smidgen for a prolonged time is bad. Acid corrodes. Corroding veins? Bad. What does the body do with corroding and inflamed veins? Tries to repair it. Cholesterol becomes trapped on the inflamed parts....aaannndd well you see where this is going?

Stress is inherently bad, and this is not the psychological stress, this the physical stress on the body, where stress = cortisol. Cortisol is good, but prolonged cortisol? BAD

Fair points, and maybe I was a bit hyperbolic, but all I meant was that once your body starts releasing fat and converting it into ketone bodies you don't have the same peaks and troughs of energy you normally would with breakfast/lunch/dinner. And yeah, we don't need to wait 20 years for studies on ketoacidosis. We know it's bad. Still, keto's helpful for some people for a limited amount of time, few months etc. It's immensely beneficial for people getting weight loss surgery.

[Louisa Bannon]

"Boundless energy". Bwahaha. Mark my words, in 15-20 years studies will emerge showing the dangers of keto diet unless its drastically needed for health reasons.

From the National Institutes of Health:

Long-term effects of a ketogenic diet in obese patients.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19641727
CONCLUSIONS:
The present study shows the beneficial effects of a long-term ketogenic diet. It significantly reduced the body weight and body mass index of the patients. Furthermore, it decreased the level of triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and blood glucose, and increased the level of HDL cholesterol. Administering a ketogenic diet for a relatively longer period of time did not produce any significant side effects in the patients. Therefore, the present study confirms that it is safe to use a ketogenic diet for a longer period of time than previously demonstrated.

And sure, one study - who gives a a shit?! But then again, maybe its true because there is very little money in this being true. Maybe this is a little truth slipping into the morass of "find us the results we want" type research that abounds, as bought and paid for by the processed food industry that supports the research.

More random thoughts:

A misguided politician made sure we all got on a wildly experimental carb heavy diet that significantly serves the purposes of the processed food industry and justifies government subsidies of its vast corporate structure. But the science behind it basically just doesn't exist. The endless studies that have since been devoted to trying to meet the evidence burden is riddled with aborted efforts because it simply isn't true that we should eat like that. So, the U.S. implemented this and much of the world followed suit. Now worldwide childhood obesity is a thing FFS.

I know an old couple that lived into their nineties. My wife's grandparents are the same, old as fuck and still kicking. Main thing is how they eat: roasts, steaks, eggs, coffee, bacon, sausage. The men are meat and potato guys. The ladies know to avoid carbs. There's no soda in the house. There's no pastries. Yeah, they eat some bread with meals, maybe cornbread muffins. That's American food culture. So some things are kinda iffy, but they have it almost right, stayed trim and are now so old you worry about them practically.

But human beings did not eat the bad shit until very recently.

I am quite sure that early man did actually eat something very like the artificially reconstructed diet of Paleo and that chances are pretty good they were close to ketosis most of the time also. It just stands to reason because of what we've been taught in terms of feast and famine and food scarcity. What can one gather in quantity easily? Leafy vegetables. What is the best source of concentrated nutrition? Meat, because animals are comprised of what they've been eating. Did they eat nuts, fruit, honey? Probably.

But they would not have eaten significant quantities of grains, legumes, nor seeds. Maybe some, but not much if any at all. This doesn't really happen until humans become more technological and systematic in terms of food production. Obviously when we switched from hunting and gathering to growing, ranching, harvesting and slaughtering.

Bottom line: I think the carb heavy plan is the true "fad" diet, and not what some of us are doing via Paleo or Keto or even fasting. You simply don't have to eat the carbs, your body makes glucose if it needs it. I mean, barring some health defect that prevents normal functions of the body.

Why is it in any way controversial to be eating heavy veg, some meat, and lots of good fats which you actually require to survive?

The answer sadly is that whole foods aren't money makers. And that eating well is not profitable for the vast industry dedicated to making sure you eat shit.

[schwarzkopf]

I heard the first week is hella tough. Is anyone eating this way?
Pretty excited about this new keto lifestyle

I hope you are under medical supervision for the first 3-6 months of this, otherwise you can kill yourself.

[Louisa Bannon]

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/ea....full.pdf+html
http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/306/5/E552

Might be worth your time to read these.

Might be worth your time to understand that this is going to be an information war every step of the way. They have to muddy the waters with fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Billions are at stake.

And honestly, the big trouble with studies on human diets is that the data normally takes the form of participant recollection. Can you even trust the participants? Lots of data collected this way is later discarded because the participants have to be disqualified for some reason or another.

Of course, I just linked a different study with different results. It turns out studies often reveal results favorable to the folks funding the research. Shocking, I know.

[Rooflesstoofless]

So uh, then why have I been increasing muscle mass while eating keto?

Because you aren't doing any real cardio.

[McTroll]

I hope you are under medical supervision for the first 3-6 months of this, otherwise you can kill yourself.

Whoa, isn't that a bit harsh? Him going keto doesn't hurt you, now does it? Why the fuck do you need to give him the kys treatment?!?

[schwarzkopf]

Whoa, isn't that a bit harsh? Him going keto doesn't hurt you, now does it?

Nope ... just reality.

Liver damage, stroke and dehydration - all significant and life threatening risks.

As for who it hurts - saving someone's life seems like a reasonable thing to attempt - if you are a human being of course.

[Dug]

Nope ... just reality.

Liver damage, stroke and dehydration - all significant and life threatening risks.

As for who it hurts - saving someone's life seems like a reasonable thing to attempt - if you are a human being of course.

You don't actually starve yourself on keto

[schwarzkopf]

You don't actually starve yourself on keto

That's a random comment ... lol. You are correct, starvation won't be an issue - and in itself isn't dangerous.

Which is why I NEVER EVEN MENTIONED IT.....

[McTroll]

Nope ... just reality.

Liver damage, stroke and dehydration - all significant and life threatening risks.

As for who it hurts - saving someone's life seems like a reasonable thing to attempt - if you are a human being of course.

But is that a reason to tell the person to kill themselves?!? I mean, really?

[schwarzkopf]

But is that a reason to tell the person to kill themselves?!?

Sometimes I wonder if you guys even bother reading what you reply too...

Oh dear.

I said - if he doesn't get doctor's help, then he can kill himself.

You know - like if you don't wear protective glasses watching the eclipse, you can go blind.

[Deleted]

how you will get dehydration from keto diet , drink some water dude

[McTroll]

Sometimes I wonder if you guys even bother reading what you reply too...

Oh dear.

otherwise you can kill yourself.

You told him he can go kill himself! Black on white, right there!

[Tiravi]

Best of luck OP!

However, be warned, keto diets are not for everyone. My bf and I started one this year. He got on really well with it and lost about 6 stone! For my part though, I didn't get on so well with it. I lost a lot of (water) weight in the first week and then only 1-2 lb a week (I followed the plan precisely. we used meal replacements and got rid of all the 'actual food' in the house so we couldn't cheat). Keto is not recommended if you have any significant history of mental illness and you should take that warning seriously, if it applies to you. I made it just under 3 months before I started having serious difficulties and decided I should stop. In the first week of 'real' low calorie food I lost 4 lb and started feeling much more stable after a couple weeks. (I really think it was the keto, not a coincidence).

- - - Updated - - -

You told him he can go kill himself! Black on white, right there!

Not 'go kill himself'. More like 'end up getting yourself killed (by accident)'.

[schwarzkopf]

You told him he can go kill himself!

Seriously dude ... don't you have anything better to do ?

[Louisa Bannon]

Liver damage, stroke and dehydration - all significant and life threatening risks.

How do you see these things occurring specifically because of a Ketogenic diet?

- - - Updated - - -

...and then only 1-2 lb a week...

Your tone and use of the word "only" suggests that this is a bad result when in all reality it is a very good result. I might suggest that losing about 1 pound a week is ideal if it can be sustained until a goal weight weight is reached.

[schwarzkopf]

How do you see these things occurring specifically because of a Ketogenic diet?

The main one - liver damage comes from the incidental increase in protein in the diet that can happen on Keto, high levels of protein can cause major irreversible liver damage. This is normally addressed with liver function tests for a period when you start the diet.
Dehydration come from the very low carb intake causing your body to have a very low capacity to story water, so you have to monitor your intake of water and minerals. This can be normally monitored with urine tests.
Stroke is a significant effect that can occur with dehydration especially in colder climates. Blood tests and blood pressure tests can monitor this.

After several months - once you have stabilised - you should be fine. Fundamentally - the Keto diet does work, but it is in effect 'hacking the operating system' and is not in any way a natural diet. Most docs I've spoken to only recommend it for treatment of diabetes, not for weight loss. A non keto VLCD can be sufficient and less risky for weight loss.

[McTroll]

Seriously dude ... don't you have anything better to do ?

Well I don't go around and tell people what you tell people, so I'm already doing something better right there.

[schwarzkopf]

Well I don't go around and tell people what you tell people

I think trying to warn people of dangers is a useful thing to do - that's all I did. Why do you have a problem with helping people ?