Ketogenesis, Or How I Stopped Being Fat

I’m tired of getting asked about my diet.

Well, a lot of the time I’m not asked at all, I’m told. “That’s dangerous!” they’ll say. Or, “Don’t you know that’s unsustainable?” Or simply, “You probably shouldn’t be doing that.”

Well, I want to put this to bed. I’m on the Keto Diet. You may know it by its popular offshoots, Atkins and South Beach. Keto isn’t that. It isn’t a fad. It is a diet that uses a natural process in your body to switch from burning carbohydrates as your main fuel source to burning fat as your main fuel source. Sound too good to be true? It’s not.

A typical dinner.

If you didn’t know, most modern diets consist of large amounts of carbohydrates, or carbs for short. Carbs take many forms. They can be plain sugars or starches like sugar in soda, bread, pasta, and potatoes. They are one example of what is called a macronutrient (the others being protein and fat). Food can consist of any amount of combinations of these three macronutrients. But if you’ve ever read a food label, you’ll notice that carbs are sneaking into almost everything we eat. Most people’s diets now consist of anywhere from 50%-70% carbohydrate. Carbs are in places you’d never expect to see them. Some strange examples: Ketchup, Salad Dressing, Yoghurt, and even some canned vegetables. My mom even recently discovered her turkey bacon has added sugar. Sometimes they are in small quantities, and sometimes large. Either way, they add up fast. Just take the “Complete Breakfast” that cereal companies have peddled to us for years in their commercials. Juice = carbs. Toast = carbs. Jelly = carbs. Fruit = carbs. Cereal = carbs. This breakfast is basically 100% carbohydrate.

Why is this a problem? Well, for years the common opinion of doctors has been that diabetes, fatty liver, and heart disease are all caused by eating too many calories in general. Whereas now doctors are finding that people who exercise frequently and live relatively healthy lifestyles are falling victim to these same diseases, even when they don’t eat too many calories. Traditionally, these health problems were seen as a “calories in” vs. “calories out” problem (essentially overeating), whereas now many doctors and dieticians are more concerned with the types of calories going in. Doctors used to say avoid sugar because it had so many calories in such small amounts and would therefore lead to a “calories in” vs. “calories out” problem. Now research is beginning to suggest that what you eat is just as important as how much you eat.

Obviously eating 500 calories of broccoli is better than consuming 500 calories worth of sugar. But don’t blame doctors, they weren’t educated with the right materials. A doctor named Ancel Keys duped the FDA and the American public. To find out more about how that happened back in the 70s during the anti-fat movement, go watch Sugar Coated on Netflix. It will piss you off. Learn more about this here.

Just before World War II, sugar consumption was about 4 pounds a month per person. By the early 1980’s, Americans were eating 10 pounds a month per person. By 2000, it was about 12.5 lbs/per month/per person. (source) It’s even worse today. The World Health Organization guidelines for healthy amounts of sugar in an adult’s diet is about 2 lbs/per person/month. (source)

Back to Keto. The problem is that carbs are a quick fuel source for your body. “In normal circumstances, the body's cells use glucose as their main form of energy. Glucose is typically derived from dietary carbohydrates ... which the body breaks down into simple sugars. Glucose can either be used to fuel the body or stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen.”(source) In a healthy person, a rise in glucose in the blood triggers the pancreas to release insulin which helps cells absorb the glucose where it is used as fuel.

Funny that the most unhealthy thing about this is the bun.

Put simply, the pancreas cannot keep up with the amount of glucose that is flowing through the average person’s veins nowadays. This puts extreme stress on a delicate organ and the body has to adapt. For most people, that excess glucose is stored as fat. In extreme cases, the pancreas shuts down and diabetes is the result. With the Keto diet, we get around this by limiting our carb intake to about 30 grams to 50 grams per day, or 5% of ones total macro intake. To give you a sense of how much that is, ONE kiwi has about 21 grams of net carbs. (Net carbs are carbohydrate minus the naturally occurring dietary fiber.) We supplement this lack of a major macronutrient by eating a diet consisting mainly of fat and some protein. This may sound gross if you think of fat in the traditional sense, which for most people is lard. But fat can come in many forms: olive oil, butter, avocado, cheese, nuts, and (yes) bacon. Lest it sound like all I eat is meat and cheese, let me tell you, I’ve never eaten more vegetables (or drank more water) in my life than on this diet. Most leafy vegetables are packed full of nutrients and fiber and contain very little protein, fat, or carbohydrates, so load up! The best part is that I love the vegetables I eat! Yes, I eat a lot of protein, but there are even vegan versions of the keto diet. The reason I eat a lot of protein is because I lift weights and I want them “gainz, bruh.”

Here’s a good explanation of what is going on in my body. “If there is not enough glucose available to meet energy demands, the body will adopt an alternative strategy in order to meet those demands. Specifically, the body begins to break down fat stores to provide glucose from triglycerides. Ketones are a by-product of this process. Ketones are acids that build up in the blood and are eliminated in urine. In small amounts, they serve to indicate that the body is breaking down fat.”(source) Thus the diet’s nickname: Keto.

Can you tell when I started Keto?

I could go on and on, but I’ll finish with my results and let them do the preaching. I’ve lost 38 pounds. I feel fantastic. I sleep better. I have way fewer gastrointestinal problems. I have more energy. I love feeling good about what I eat. Even the Mayo Clinic agrees: “Low-carb diets may help prevent or improve serious health conditions, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.” Read more here.

Do I miss carbs? Occasionally. But I had a realization recently. I realized that I miss carb culture more than I miss the actual carbs. Think of all of the occasions in our lives when we use sugar as the centerpiece! But while I may miss the culture from time to time, the feeling fades away quickly when I’m eating cheesy eggs and bacon. Or cheeseburger casserole (no noodles). Or eating my grandma’s pot roast recipe. Or a gigantic salad with fresh-sliced avocado and lime. You can keep your sugar. And your “DIBEETUS.”

If you want to know more, take a look at these sources: Added Sugars and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association- http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/early/2016/08/22/CIR.0000000000000439
"The committee found that it is reasonable to recommend that children consume ≤25 g, or ~6 teaspoons of added sugars per day and to avoid added sugars for children under 2."

The Heart and Stroke Foundation Owes Canadian Parents an Apology: https://youtu.be/PfGzJ4mkSa0

Dr Mary Vernon, MD, is one of the world's foremost experts on treating obesity and diabetes with low carbohydrate nutrition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaquSijXJkQ  

http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/what-to-eat/truth-behind-worlds-most-cutting-edge-fat-burning-performance-meal-plan-keto

https://www.reddit.com/r/keto/wiki/keto_in_a_nutshell

As always, consult your doctor before making an extreme change in your diet. My results are typical of those on the diet, but that doesn’t mean that the diet would be right for you.