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Keto diet = good or bad

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  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    "Good or bad" in what context?
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    dmcnur wrote: »
    I have been following a ketogenic diet for a year, on medical advice, as I was pre-diabetic and showing insulin resistance. I also was on anti-hypertensives to control my high blood pressure. Within 6 weeks of starting I was off the anti-hypertensives and within 3 months had normalised my blood sugar and was no longer showing insulin resistance. I have had other health benefits including less joint pain from my arthritis and I no longer suffer from gastric reflux. As an added bonus I have lost 78 pounds. I did my research before starting this way of eating and have been medically supervised the whole time. My blood results are all good and within normal range. I do not lack energy, work full time as a registered nurse and regularly walk 10km 3-4 times a week.

    My food consists of moderate protein and good fats like avocado and olive oil. Despite what people may think I eat a lot of vegetables as not all are high in carbohydrate and fit into my <20g net carbs a day. I avoid processed foods and now do not miss the sugar, pasta, bread, rice, fruit etc. that made up a large part of my pre keto diet.

    Having said this I do believe that a ketogenic diet is not for everyone and do not feel that it is the only way to lose weight. I also believe that calories in and calories out do matter but have found it easier to control my eating on a ketogenic diet as I eat the foods I like and don't have the deep gnawing hunger pangs I used to have when eating a low fat diet.

    When all is said and done we have to make our own decision on how we eat and find what works for us as an individual.

    @dmcnur I agree keto is not for everyone nor is it the only way to lose weight. After eating the keto way for 4 years and have experience better health even before I lost the first pound on day 45 it has always boggled my mind how Keto can lead to such health gains year after year in my body with no negative side effect that my MD can find because initially she was far far from Keto pro.

    Recently I read good health is about good nutrition and obesity is caused by poor nutrition. It seems our bodies knows to eat more when it is short on nutrition of any type but it will eat more of what is in front of it especially in we humans.

    Cravings are natural so that we seek out the nutrition the body needs when it detects a deficiency of any type.
    While at my age of 63 and very poor physical health the first two weeks I gave up all highly processed food (a washed apple is processed food technically) it was hellish for me but then the cravings just started to fade fast and four years later still have not returned.

    It seems from my experience eating natural foods vs processed food gives me more of the nutrition that my body needs. Eating foods short of needed nutrition lead to cravings that lead to obesity and declining state of health due to my body not getting the nutrition it was seeking on my old Way Of Eating.

    Finally learning the root case of obesity is the lack of needed nutrition instead of calories helped me understand why going off highly processed foods often short on nutrition to go Keto has greatly improved my health since I have not cut my calories but just changed their sources. I found macros trumps calories in my case for better health and weight management. Keto helping resolve my 40 years of high pain levels still boggles my mind to this day.

    Thanks to you and the others sharing actual personal experiences with Keto.


    Looking specifically at the bolded part... is there any merit to that claim? I know my personal, subjective experience supports that, but I have no idea WHY my cravings come and go at times.
  • bigbandjohn
    bigbandjohn Posts: 769 Member
    From what I have been reading lately, Keto has its place to help with certain medical conditions. I am not a fan of using it strictly for weight loss (I still feel it's a fad diet in that context). If it's to help with those conditions as well, and your doctor encourages it, I say go for it.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    edited October 2018
    rsclause wrote: »
    wmd1979 wrote: »
    https://nutritiouslife.com/eat-empowered/food-cravings-really-mean/

    @jjpptt2 the above is just a quick find that can help us all learn how to dig deeper on this subject. As noted this is relative a new discovery for most of us.

    Just learning calories was not the root cause of my 40 years of obesity has been helpful already.

    Calories were the root cause of your obesity though, specifically, too many of them. You can continue to blame cravings or specific foods all you like, but the simple fact was you ate too much. You'll gain weight if you eat too many calories on keto too, and that is a fact whether you choose to believe it or not.

    Well no point in studying patients with obesity or it's cause because you have it figured out. Just think of the money that can be saved because you have ruled out genetics and hormonal issues completely.

    if genetics and hormone issues cause obesity then I would have never became obese. both parents were of healthy weights,both grandparents on my moms side were as well, my grandma on my dads side was of a healthy weight. my grandpa(her husband) was 6'4 and over 300lbs. not sure if that would make him overweight but from pics Ive seen he didnt look overweight. me and my 4 sisters were all thin and of normal weight most of our lives until we hit a certain age and became less active but ate more than we thought we were eating, we werent fed junk as children except for a rare treat or it was our birthday and had a party. we were active kids too I became obese due to being less active and eating way too much.

    my mom and her brother were thin yet my aunt was on the heavy side always was. most of my family is on the thinner side or normal weight only a few of them are obese,but most of them are obese due to their diets.
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