KETO DIET: Questions from a newbie

scallachan · June 2018

I was diagnosed with MS 18 months ago and there is research to show that the Keto diet slows the progression of it. I am interested in trying it out but I don't want to follow the diet for weight loss (I mean, a little weight loss wouldn't be bad, but it's not the main reason I want to try this). I am struggling to find a place to work out my macros.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I think I may start on 50g carb intake, but how much protein and fat would I need?

Thanks in advance

toxikon · June 2018

If you'd like to maintain your current weight, you'll need to focus firstmost on calorie intake, not macros.

So if you use percentages for your macros, you can scale the calories up and down as needed.

Keto is usually around 65% fat, 30% protein and 5% carbs. There is some wiggle room there - you could go as high as 10% carbs and still be in a state of nutritional ketosis in most cases.

So if you're using MyFitnessPal, just set your macro percentages and your calorie goal (should be your TDEE) and you're good to go.

bustercrabby · June 2018

scallachan, my first suggestion would be to establish a benchmark. MFP makes that easy. Just track what you normally eat, then start keto. I went from consuming ~300g of carbs and 70g of sugar per day to 35g carbs and 9g sugar per day. Quite a radical difference for me.

Now, discard every thing the USDA thinks you need, and start eating the way people should eat. High fat and protein, and very low carbs. Then, do some research on how this WOE(way of eating) works. It is essential that you have a basic understanding of the mechanisms at work. It's important to know what ketones are and how they differ from carb based energy.

Netflix has extremely informative film called The Magic Pill. Watch it, you will be amazed. I was. Eating keto will help your body normalize. You will naturally lose weight plus this WOE is inherently very low in sugar.

I started keto on 4/21/18 and have very slowly lost 23 pounds. And this while eating a high fat and protein diet. This weight loss has enabled my doctor to stop one of my meds. And that's one of my goals. To wean myself off meds that are oftentimes cavalierly prescribed.

Like I said, the food pyramid, which is still undergoing changes, is designed for one thing. And that is to produce as overweight and insulin dependent society as possible. These guidelines are heavily influenced by the food industry and should be ignored completely.

I am not a doctor, nor do I pretend to be.

nvmomketo · June 2018

If you don't want to lose, you need to know how many calories to eat for maintenance. Your TDEE. I agree with @bustercrabby. Track what you eat normally and discover the calories then apply that to your ketogenic diet.

50g of carbs is good place to start. There are 4 calories per gram of carbs so that's 200 calories of carbs.

Then make sure your protein goals meet your needs. Most keto'ers eat moderate protein, which is often up to double or triple the minimum recommended amount of 0.36 g/lb body weight. There are also 4 calories per gram of protein.

Fat will fill in the rest. There are 9 calories per gram of fat.

Use a macro/keto calculator to figure out what your macros will roughly be everyday for your calorie intake.
https://www.ruled.me/keto-calculator/

https://keto-calculator.ankerl.com/

Are you following a Wahl's style of ketogenic diet? I have heard her Wahl's Protocol can be helpful.

Join these groups for more support:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1143-keto

There's a few in these groups who use low carb to treat autoimmune issues.
Good luck.

KETO DIET: Questions from a newbie

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