Keto Clarity: Your Definitive Guide to the Benefits of a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet (35 page)

DOCTOR’S NOTE FROM DR. ERIC WESTMAN: Sometimes the number on the scale can be misleading. Our total weight is a combination of body fat, lean muscle mass, and water. In our clinic, a special scale separates out the fat weight from the water weight, and when the total weight hasn’t changed, we often we see that the fat weight has gone down (which is good) while the water weight has gone up (not so good). If the water weight builds up a lot, an obesity medicine doctor like myself might recommend a diuretic to assist in removing the excess water weight.

Why do I have to eat more dietary fat on a ketogenic diet if I have plenty of fat on my body to burn as fuel?

Insulin resistance increases glucose and insulin levels, trapping fat within fat cells so it can’t be released for energy. People with insulin resistance already have excessive body fat, and because of their high insulin levels, this fat isn’t readily available for energy production. This pushes the body and brain to rely almost solely on glucose for energy, and this is clearly not a healthy metabolic state. Think of this as your body and brain on a Twinkie—not a pretty metabolic picture!

– Dr. Bill Wilson

It may sound strange that you need to eat fat to burn fat, especially for those who are overweight or obese.

It comes down to the purpose of consuming fat. Dietary fats fill in the gaps left when you cut down on carbohydrates and proteins. These fats help to fill you up and begin the process of creating ketones. Once you’re in ketosis, you’ll use not only the dietary fat for fuel but also stored body fat.

Some people erroneously think they can cut way down on their fat intake to try to burn more of their body fat. But doing this would be perilous to what you are trying to accomplish in your ketogenic lifestyle. You’d be hungrier and more irritable, you’d experience intense cravings (mostly for carbohydrates), and you’d probably get so frustrated by all of this that you’d simply give up. It’s not worth going through all of that when all you really need to do is embrace consuming more fat in your diet so you can lose the fat on your body.

Remember, it makes sense to eat fat when your body is a fat-burning machine!

I’m a woman who’s approaching menopause. Can ketosis bring back balance to my hormones without the need for medications?

Ladies who are dealing with the frustration of hormones that have gone all whackadoodle, be of good cheer. A ketogenic diet is an incredibly effective way to balance your hormones and bring them back in line. It may not happen overnight, and complete healing may take some time depending on the severity of your personal situation—you may need to consult with a physician who can help you work through these issues. But consuming a low-carb, moderate-protein, high-fat diet can certainly be a powerful modality for helping you deal with menopause without medications like hormone replacement therapy.

Atkins nurse Jacqueline Eberstein has herself gone through the struggle of trying to manage her weight and stabilize her hormones through the inevitable changes of menopause. Describing it as “an eye-opener,” Eberstein realized she had to cut way back on her carbohydrate intake, to around 20 grams a day, and even that kept her just “barely in ketosis.” Staying ketogenic is more of a challenge after menopause, and you may see the return of hunger, cravings, and other hormone-induced symptoms.

Eberstein says all of this can be discouraging for older women who desperately want to feel “normal” again, but staying within your personal carbohydrate tolerance and protein threshold while eating plenty of healthy saturated and monounsaturated fats to satiety will put you in the best position possible with your health. For her, it took several years of “hard work and establishing a bioidentical hormone regimen” along with a ketogenic diet to get back to where she was before menopause. Staying low-carb and high-fat helped Eberstein keep from gaining more weight, and eventually she got her weight back under control. These days, she consumes 20 to 30 grams of carbohydrates daily because that’s all she can tolerate. “But the alternative is unacceptable,” Eberstein says. “I can live happily with this.”

This is by no means a comprehensive list of questions you may have about ketogenic diets, but we’ve done our best to share some of the more common ones. If you have a specific question about keto that isn’t addressed here, please feel free to email us at [email protected] and we’ll try to find out the answer for you.

Coming up in the next chapter are eight inspiring success stories of people who have turned their life around as a result of being on a ketogenic diet. If you need a swift kick in the pants to get you going, this is the chapter to make that happen.

Key Keto Clarity Concepts

• Ketosis is simply the state of burning fat for fuel.
  
• You can get all the fiber you need from non-starchy and green, leafy vegetables.
  
• Constipation is not an issue on a ketogenic diet using proper strategies.
  
• Some people may do better cycling in and out of ketosis; others, not so much.
  
• Balancing electrolytes will prevent muscle cramping early on in ketosis.
  
• Supplements can help ensure maximum nutrition on a ketogenic diet.
  
• MCT oil will temporarily raise blood ketones, but it’s better to raise them through diet.
  
• A ketogenic diet does not have to negatively impact your gut microbiota.
  
• Caffeine can ultimately raise blood sugar levels, which can deplete your ketones.
  
• Consuming dairy may be an issue for some people, but others can have it liberally.
  
• Changes from a ketogenic diet should begin to happen within just a few days.
  
• There is no evidence contraindicating the long-term safety of nutritional ketosis.
  
• Most type 1 diabetics do just fine in ketosis, but some should be leery of ketoacidosis.
  
• Calories are not a concern on a ketogenic diet as long as you are eating to satiety.
  
• Any side effects from ketosis are temporary and go away within a few weeks.
  
• Your kidneys will release fluid when you go keto, making bathroom visits frequent.
  
• Keto breath can occur when you first go low-carb and high-fat, but it dissipates.
  
• Menstruation can temporarily make ketone levels go down.
  
• If you get out of ketosis, just go back to doing what it took to get you into ketosis.
  
• Exercise is not only possible but enhanced while eating a ketogenic diet.
  
• Watch out for maltodextrin in artificial sweeteners; choose liquid stevia instead.
  
• Certain kinds of alcohol in limited quantities can be consumed while on a ketogenic diet.
  
• Even if you’ve had your gall bladder removed, you can still eat high-fat.
  
• Eating ketogenic as a vegetarian is difficult unless you eat enough fat.
  
• Lean people don’t need to worry about losing weight on a ketogenic diet.
  
• Overcoming the “keto flu” symptoms of the early days of keto is the key to success.
  
• The purpose of ketosis isn’t weight loss; other health benefits are much more important.
  
• Individual variation means your ketogenic diet will be different from others’.
  
• Eating fat helps stoke the flame of burning stored body fat.
  
• A ketogenic diet combined with hormone replacement strategies can balance your hormones during and after menopause.
  

When you start a ketogenic diet, I recommend writing down your goals and keeping a daily log of your progress. This will help keep you motivated and accountable. The key to success with any change is consistency and persistence.

– Dr. Bill Wilson

Perhaps you’ve been reading this book with an open yet skeptical mind so far and you’re wondering how ketosis works in the lives of real people. In chapter 16, we’ll begin revealing what the scientific literature says regarding being in a state of ketosis. But there’s nothing like the inspiring testimonial of a life that has been changed forever for the better.

I’ve already shared my own weight and health transformation story, and now I want to introduce you to eight more people whose lives have been radically altered since they began following a low-carb, moderate-protein, high-fat, ketogenic nutritional plan. Let their stories inspire you to give it a go for yourself.

Lynne Daniel Ivey
Durham, North Carolina – Age 53

Lynne started her dieting efforts at the tender age of ten when she attended her first Weight Watchers meeting. In the decades that followed, she continued to struggle with managing her weight despite going on diet after diet, feeling hungrier and hungrier each time. She desperately wanted to get thin, stay thin, and never feel the agony of being constantly hungry ever again.