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Ketogenic Diet
LynFaith
Posts: 14 Member
in Debate Club
I have severe rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis. (for 27 years) I have tweaked my diet and am currently pescatarian. I am going to try the keto diet and am curious about views on it. Please share your pros and cons. 
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Replies
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I have lupus and I've been on keto for four months now. I've lost 31 pounds. My skin has cleared up. I can tell the inflammation in my body is drastically reduced. I don't take my anti-inflammatory every day anymore. Right now I'm taking it every third day and feel just fine. For the last three years if I skip a day taking it my knees with ache. I'm not having that problem now. My stomach does not get upset or hurt. I've not had heartburn since I started even though I eat peppers and spicy food all the time. People around me have seen the difference that it is made and how much I enjoy what I eat. Three people at work are now asking me questions all day and have switched to Keto. My son who is special forces in the Army has switched, also. I have tried vegetarian diets in the past and never had these kind of drastic positive healthy changes... especially ones that help with the pain of my inflammation.8
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That is wonderful! I am so happy for you
I hope that I have equally good results. I have been on biologics for 16+ yrs and still have flares. Hopefully my dietary fine tuning will help. Do you have any resources for recipes? I don't plan on eating dairy or land animals. 1 -
You can get all kinds of encouragement and help (there are many knowledgeable people that have done keto for several years and multiple times) by joining the "Low Carb Daily Forum" here on MFP. I am an advocate for it...I assume you have been researching the WOE and must be feeling that it would definitely be worth a try for your situation. I can tell you that for me it has been do-able and actually the best way I have tried so far to lose weight without cravings and having to be raiding the fridge every 3 hours! IMHO you will need mentors for a while so you can understand some of the discomforts in the beginning...once again they are do-able (if I can...I am such a pansy!
) After you get passed that point you feel so in control..this WOE may not be for everyone, but most people I know who have done it fair very well! 7 -
Calories are what matter for weight loss, so it's neutral for that.
Some people find it a more enjoyable or easier way to eat, either because they prefer the mix of foods they eat on it, find it helps with hunger, or find it helps with cravings. Others don't.
It can be done in a healthful way (but no more healthful than plenty of other ways of eating) or non healthful way.
No traditional human diets seem to have been ketogenic (even ones that likely would be for us, like the Inuit diet, are not for the people on it), and the blue zone diets seem to be moderate to higher carb, on average. This seems significant to me, but I totally understand that for others it might not. My main view is that humans do fine on a huge variety of different diets and macro mixes -- I'd recommend Matt Fitzgerald's Diet Cults on this topic.
I think it is helpful for some physical conditions, for example medically-prescribed diets for epilepsy. You may find it helps for yours or not. I also think that SOME who perceive benefits from it do because they do things that aren't really unique to keto, like cutting way down on junk food (that's as much fat as carbs) or increasing protein or simply eating in a more healthful manner than they were (because they were eating pretty poor diets).
That's pretty much it. I think it's wrong when people say it's inherently a bad choice or can't work for people or be done healthfully, because of course it can. But I also think it's ridiculous when people claim it's the best or healthiest diet or that others should do it or evangelize for it or act as if "carbs" are unhealthy. I wish both of these were less common.7 -
I have a few autoimmune issues that keto has helped with. I get fewer migraines, my energy is much better and much steadier, and my joint pain flare-ups are much less frequent and less severe with a ketogenic diet.
I first became interested in ketosis when I was having pituitary issues. This led me to the Wahl's Protocol, which is a LCHF keto style diet created to address MS. I eventually made the plunge to ketosis when I became prediabtetic, probably partially due to steroid use for my AI issues.
It's made a huge difference in my life. I am healthier and it led to fairly easy weight loss too (lower appetite, fewer carb cravings, and possibly due in part to lower insulin levels - insulin is a driver of inflammation). I feel best when I am at ketogenic levels, but staying LCHF helps a lot too.
I too recommend the Low Carber Daily group. There are a few in there who use LCHF to treat autoimmune issues. It helps some people quite a bit and just some in others. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group9 -
I think it works great for inflammation and autoimmune disorders. I have MS and have been keto for 3 years. I haven't had a relapse since going keto. Do I still have symptoms? Yes. It's not a cure, but it seems to help in stabilizing my condition.4
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I have several autoimmune issues including psoriatic arthritis. It was undiagnosed but active during the time I low carbed. I was in ketosis, but not eating a keto diet.
I never got down to a very low weight and never exercised because counting calories wasn't stressed since the diet was supposed to regulate appetite. It didn't regulate my appetite enough to get my weight low enough to fix my pain.
I have found that exercise and getting to a low BMI through calorie restriction have done more than any particular diet have done for my arthritis.
I'm in the process of being diagnosed with possibly having MS. I have no plans whatsoever of pursuing a change in diet if I get diagnosed. I have a healthy lifestyle and will continue to maintain it to manage that as well.7 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I have several autoimmune issues including psoriatic arthritis. It was undiagnosed but active during the time I low carbed. I was in ketosis, but not eating a keto diet.
I never got down to a very low weight and never exercised because counting calories wasn't stressed since the diet was supposed to regulate appetite. It didn't regulate my appetite enough to get my weight low enough to fix my pain.
I have found that exercise and getting to a low BMI through calorie restriction have done more than any particular diet have done for my arthritis.
I'm in the process of being diagnosed with possibly having MS. I have no plans whatsoever of pursuing a change in diet if I get diagnosed. I have a healthy lifestyle and will continue to maintain it to manage that as well.
I'm sorry to hear you may have MS. Wahl's Protocol may be an interesting option for you to look into.
I'm curious about the bolded. You say while you were low carb, that you were in ketosis but not eating a keto diet... The only way I can picture this is if you were eating fairly low calorie while low carb as there is no specific keto diet that I know of. Keto just means that you eat under 20-50g of carbs per day, as I understand it.4 -
I have severe rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis. (for 27 years) I have tweaked my diet and am currently pescatarian. I am going to try the keto diet and am curious about views on it. Please share your pros and cons.
@LynFaith I have had arthritis for 40 years carrying pain levels of around 7-8. Oct 2014 on a hunch I went off sugar and all forms of all grains because the doctors wanted me to start Enbrel injections in 30 days. Just 30 days later my pain level was more like a 2-3 (almost like being pain free after all of these years of pain). Now at 66 and Rx Med free with better health marks than I can remember LCHF is my way of eating for life. Low Carb for me is keeping carbs just <50 grams daily and limiting protein to 70-90 grams most days.
Since two weeks into LCHF my life controlling carb cravings faded fast I eat what I want when I want it if it fits my macro. I started losing inches soon but did not lose my first pound until day 45. Eating around 2000-3000 calories my weight did not drop like a rock. I eat for pain management and having fun doing it. I can now get in and out of cars as well as dress myself unaided.
I am glad you are trying this Way Of Eating to see if it may work for you while you are much younger than I was. Having time on your side is great. Best of success and welcome to MFP forums.
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doingitketo wrote: »I have lupus and I've been on keto for four months now. I've lost 31 pounds. My skin has cleared up. I can tell the inflammation in my body is drastically reduced. I don't take my anti-inflammatory every day anymore. Right now I'm taking it every third day and feel just fine. For the last three years if I skip a day taking it my knees with ache. I'm not having that problem now. My stomach does not get upset or hurt. I've not had heartburn since I started even though I eat peppers and spicy food all the time. People around me have seen the difference that it is made and how much I enjoy what I eat. Three people at work are now asking me questions all day and have switched to Keto. My son who is special forces in the Army has switched, also. I have tried vegetarian diets in the past and never had these kind of drastic positive healthy changes... especially ones that help with the pain of my inflammation.
@doingitketo that is a very positive and fast results. While I have been Keto for 2.5 years I have not pushed in on others and that includes my wife. I am going to share what it is doing in your health. For controlling inflammation I had started to add Pycnogenol and did some research on it and found it seems to help with Lupus and other conditions as well. Below is what I posted on a MFP low carb thread today in case you every are interested. Best of continued success and welcome to MFP forums.
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10525994/anyone-with-hashis-or-any-auto-immune-condition/p32 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »I have several autoimmune issues including psoriatic arthritis. It was undiagnosed but active during the time I low carbed. I was in ketosis, but not eating a keto diet.
I never got down to a very low weight and never exercised because counting calories wasn't stressed since the diet was supposed to regulate appetite. It didn't regulate my appetite enough to get my weight low enough to fix my pain.
I have found that exercise and getting to a low BMI through calorie restriction have done more than any particular diet have done for my arthritis.
I'm in the process of being diagnosed with possibly having MS. I have no plans whatsoever of pursuing a change in diet if I get diagnosed. I have a healthy lifestyle and will continue to maintain it to manage that as well.
I'm sorry to hear you may have MS. Wahl's Protocol may be an interesting option for you to look into.
I'm curious about the bolded. You say while you were low carb, that you were in ketosis but not eating a keto diet... The only way I can picture this is if you were eating fairly low calorie while low carb as there is no specific keto diet that I know of. Keto just means that you eat under 20-50g of carbs per day, as I understand it.
I was in light ketosis, but my fat/protein ratio was different than keto levels and I certain ate more carbs than that. At least I believe I did. It was a while ago, and my memory is dim.
I'm a vegetarian, I won't be doing the whole Wahls thing. I eat plenty of veg when my IBS isn't flaring. I started doing that 10 servings of vegetables a day thing and really liked it. I was already pretty close with how I already ate. Another reason keto eating isn't an option for me is that I have familial hypercholesterolemia. I have to eat a low fat diet to manage that.2 -
Understandable.
Good luck with your tests.1 -
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Thank you everyone! I joined the low carb group. I am feeling very positive about this change.4
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GaleHawkins wrote: »
@LynFaith I have had arthritis for 40 years carrying pain levels of around 7-8. Oct 2014 on a hunch I went off sugar and all forms of all grains because the doctors wanted me to start Enbrel injections in 30 days. Just 30 days later my pain level was more like a 2-3 (almost like being pain free after all of these years of pain). Now at 66 and Rx Med free with better health marks than I can remember LCHF is my way of eating for life. Low Carb for me is keeping carbs just <50 grams daily and limiting protein to 70-90 grams most days.
I just got off of Enbrel after 16 years. Now on Humira and having good results, but still prolonged morning stiffness. Better than my near constant flares!1 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »
@LynFaith I have had arthritis for 40 years carrying pain levels of around 7-8. Oct 2014 on a hunch I went off sugar and all forms of all grains because the doctors wanted me to start Enbrel injections in 30 days. Just 30 days later my pain level was more like a 2-3 (almost like being pain free after all of these years of pain). Now at 66 and Rx Med free with better health marks than I can remember LCHF is my way of eating for life. Low Carb for me is keeping carbs just <50 grams daily and limiting protein to 70-90 grams most days.
I just got off of Enbrel after 16 years. Now on Humira and having good results, but still prolonged morning stiffness. Better than my near constant flares!
That is good that Humira is working better. I remember when I was considering starting on Enbrel reading of cases when out of the blue Enbrel stopped working for some people. Rotating to different options in this class of drug from time to time may be good anyway.
In my effort to get my CRP levels to .09 or less I have recently added Poly MVA, Artemisin and Pycnogenol to my LCHF pain management solution. So far all three seems to be keeping my pain levels close to 1 now. I have purchased new lab results but have not been to the lab yet for them to draw the blood locally. The male panel was $269 which is just a fraction of what it costs if ordered by my doctor plus the results do not go into the national databases.
lifeextension.com/Lpages/blood2017?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=&sourcecode=PPL602W&gclid=CjwKEAjw8OLGBRCklJalqKHzjQ0SJACP4BHrlkNDnPlQHX2cBUzxB5TQR847h8wcvuhfvEh4TI9gPxoCRkrw_wcB
Low Carb is not magical but it can sure seem that way when it reverses one's downward spiraling health issues. Give yourself a lot of time to figure it out. Best of success.1 -
Need, I also had a persistent gain going. It started about a year ago. I was stable between 140-50 for 3 years, then BOOM! I am so glad to hear that keto is working for you.1
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