The ketosis concern

In my recent post: My new love of fat, commenter Serioiouslyservingthesavior brings up common concern about high fat/low low carb diets:

I have read before about a low-carb/high fat diet, but I've always been hesitant to jump in because a lot of sources say that severely cutting carbs puts your body into ketosis and that no one has studied the long term risks of this.
Is that something you've come across in your research?

The conclusion of this study states:

The data presented in the present study showed that a ketogenic diet acted as a natural therapy for weight reduction in obese patients. This is a unique study monitoring the effect of a ketogenic diet for 24 weeks. There was a significant decrease in the level of triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and glucose, and a significant increase in the level of HDL cholesterol in the patients. The side effects of drugs commonly used for the reduction of body weight in such patients were not observed in patients who were on the ketogenic diet. Therefore, these results indicate that the administration of a ketogenic diet for a relatively long period of time is safe. Further studies elucidating the molecular mechanisms of a ketogenic diet are in progress in our laboratory. These studies will open new avenues into the potential therapeutic uses of a ketogenic diet and ketone bodies.

There is actually so much information packed into that study that I highly recommend reading it for yourselves. I'll admit, several things mentioned in it, I had never thought of. For example, consider breast fed babies and what their diet consists of. I read further on that and found this article about weaning a baby to a ketogenic diet may be healthier than weaning a baby to a high-carbohydrate diet:

• The period in which human brains grow the most, and in which food is least likely to be different from evolutionary conditions, is a ketogenic period. This suggests that a ketogenic metabolism is excellent for learning and development.
• Breastfeeding in humans is particularly ketogenic. We hypothesise that the positive associations between health and longer breastfeeding may be due to extending the period of ketosis in infancy.
• A related hypothesis we offer is that extending the period of ketosis after breastfeeding, by weaning onto ketogenic foods such as homemade broth [*] and fatty meat, rather than cereal, fruit, and starchy vegetables, would further promote brain development and reduce risk of disease.          

Thinking back to when my children were infants, I remember when there was a drastic change in their diapers from stools that had no smell to foul smelling stools. It was when they started drinking sugary formula and the introduction of "baby food" - which, looking back, was extremely high in carbohydrates. Interestingly enough, while I don't claim my crap doesn't stink - heh, I don't remember the last time I passed gas. The digestive process in my body has been very consistent, predictable, gentle, and lacking in gas and bloating.

I'll admit, I had been of the mind set that any diet that seemed as drastic as the one I was about to try had to be unhealthy. They say it is. However, for me it was worth trying because I know what else not only they say but is objectively true: obesity is unhealthy, sugar addiction is unhealthy, inflammation is painful. I remember Gabriel Iglesias (Fluffy) saying that his doctor told him if he didn't lose the weight (he weighed almost 400 pounds) he would not live much longer than two years. He joked that while his low carb/high fat diet might cause heart disease (something we know it doesn't), that it would take ten years for that to happen. Dead in two years or dead in ten, he saw eating the way he has as an eight year win. Seeing his successful weight loss of over 100 pounds was enough for me to adopt that same mentality - which led me to research as much as I could. I still have not come across a reputable source that has objective data that losing weight this way is bad or unhealthy.

My weight loss has been gradual and consistent. One to two pounds a week. I am now down from 189 (BMI 28.7) in the beginning of March to 175 (BMI 26.6) today. That's not at all drastic or cause for concern. I don't plan on adding more carbohydrates back into my diet until I reach my goal weight (145) or until I have convincing evidence that my health is at risk if I don't. For now I maintain approximately 5 grams of carbohydrates per day with the occasional 10-20 gram day if I eat a strawberry or two.

Too young to feel this old

Several years ago, when my set point weight was around 180 pounds, I utilized the Nutrisystem diet to lose weight. At the same time I began running 2 - 4 miles a day. I kept both up for about three months and my weight dropped around 17 pounds.

The Nutrisystem diet, is a relatively low calorie, low fat, high in carbohydrate diet that has you eating six times a day. It is expensive but because weight loss results are obtained it is easy to be convinced it is working and should be continued. Since I was running at the same time, I wasn't sure which was contributing most to my weight loss but I didn't want to change a thing, the combination was successful.

Until my knees yelled at me. I had developed a very painful condition called runner's knee. Naturally I thought it was caused by running so I stopped running. I also lost interest in the diet, I was at a decent weight and figured I could take it from there. I went back to eating the food I serve my family - meals that focus around, as RLB likes to call it, some kind of dead animal; roast beef, roasted chicken, hamburgers, meat loaf, steak, eggs and bacon, etc.

The pain in my knees subsided and gradually I regained all the weight I had lost with an additional few pounds.

The next time I experienced pain like that I was doing Crossfit five times a week. This time the pain was in my right toe. Again, I was following a diet that was high in carbohydrates ("good ones") full of lean protein and obviously low in saturated fat. The pain shot through the roof on the unfortunate day when I tried to forcefully move my 70 pound basset hound away from our new baby kitten. Okay...I kicked the dog, there, I said it.

I honestly thought my big toe was broken. I went in for an X-ray and a follow up doctor's appointment. He was a funny old doctor, in his mid 80's, who teased me for kicking the dog, and then said, "No, kiddo, you didn't break your toe. You've reached that fun age where you need to start taking some ibuprofen before you exercise. You have an inflamed joint, that's all."

That inflamed joint persisted for a couple years and was joined by my other big toe. Now both screamed at me so I upped the ibuprofen. Last summer my right thumb had the same pain. Then my right hip, then my left hip. I started to get really concerned about how Ill be feeling when I am 50 if at 39 I am in this much pain. At my yearly physical with my new doctor (we moved), I told her about all of my pain. She convinced me it is not arthritis or cancer or gout or any of the other things I was worried about. It was just inflammation and she put me on a regimen of 500mg of naproxen twice a day. She told me it needed to "build up in my system to work so no matter the pain level, keep taking it." When I was consistent about taking it, the pain did subside. I'm terrible at remembering to take pills though and I hate the idea of being so dependent on medicine but when RLB would see me limping or wincing in pain he'd remind me that there is something I could do about it.

I had been eating like crap at the time and continued through Christmas. Over the holidays I indulged in all of our family favorites knowing that shortly I'd be turning 40 and I would again start the attempt to lose weight. "I'm going to get serious about losing 40 pounds when I'm 40, but for now I'm going to pig out."

At about the three week mark of my high fat/low low carb diet it dawned on me that I hadn't taken naproxen for a while and that my toes didn't hurt and my hips didn't hurt. My thumb hurt a little when I put pressure on it but not enough to need pain reliever. Today, two months in, the pain is gone. Also gone is 2 1/2 inches of fat around my waist, a nice aesthetic benefit. 

Could what I had been eating or not eating been the cause of this inflammation and pain?

The first time I felt full

This could be another post regurgitating the widely available information on carbohydrate addiction. I could rewrite the science of it all. But you're more than capable of looking that all up.

It is a real thing. It is more than lack of self control. And in my experience, there is a way to defeat it.

Some of what I have read recommends replacing white carbohydrates with brown - what I hear with this advice is: "replace the food that tastes so good with food that tastes like crap but does nothing to stop the craving for the food that tastes so good." Been there, tried that. I can eat whole grains and what seems to have more in common with bird feed than human food and still want a Snickers. For me there is no relief from the craving for Doritos if I just "avoid them" and eat an organic wheat cracker.

Avoid.

How many "10 ways to lose weight" or "10 ways to fight cravings" articles offer the advice to avoid the food you are craving?

For me, avoiding these foods is impossible. I'm the grocery shopper of the family, I'm the cook, I'm the baker, and I'm a human living in a world where sweets and treats and chips and goodies are everywhere. I have no interest in having the government regulate the marketing of these foods, nor do I want them to be taxed so I can't afford them. There are people who don't need to avoid these foods, why should they have to pay extra because some of us have issues?  How about a solution where I don't have to worry about avoiding these foods? How about a solution that ceases my desire for them altogether?

In our pantry and freezer, right this moment, you would find: five varieties of chips, fruit snacks, granola bars, a huge bag of snack size chocolates, cereals, crackers, french bread, ice cream, pizzas, and frozen french fries. (I live with four skinny people who don't overindulge and don't show signs of addiction or hormone issues - though they are all changing their food choices due to my blabbering on about it all).

I haven't had to avoid any of it. I haven't waited until I'm all alone to indulge in "just a little bit." I haven't had to convince myself that a little bite here and there won't hurt. I don't go through any mental anguish or moodiness while I dig deep for the will power to not give in to the craving - a craving, from what I've read, is much like a cocaine addict's craving.

With all the reading I've done I have only found a handful of rogue blogs run by "zero-carb eaters" that have suggested eating the way I have been eating to successfully overcome carbohydrate addiction.

I've explored all the warnings of a high fat/zero carb diet and I'll be writing about what I've discovered.

There are several contributing factors to why I have won the battle with carbohydrates. Part of it has been getting the carbs out of my system by using fat to become so fully satiated that I literally have no room to eat more. Another has to do with a hormone called Leptin - which I'll get into more later.

When I started, I just...started. I read and learned as I went. The first ten days I ate as much as I needed to of fat and protein. It wasn't organized at all. On the first day I ate some bacon and eggs fried in butter, then I tried this bulletproof coffee thing (coffee with a scoop of coconut oil and a scoop of butter blended until frothy), then I ate some olives, and then some more bacon. I stopped eating for a bit. Then for lunch I had some more bacon, cheese, ham, and almonds. For supper I ate a lot of chicken wings slathered in blue cheese dressing. And that night I had some cream cheese sweetened with Splenda topped with Reddi-Whip and pecans. - Sounds like a glutton's paradise, doesn't it?

The next few days were similar to the first but I couldn't quite eat as much.

By the fifth day something strange was going on in my stomach. I made a chicken/Caeser salad pizza for my family and reserved a healthy amount of toppings in a bowl for me to eat (~5 oz chicken, cream cheese, Caeser dressing, black olives, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and some lettuce). This is one of my favorite combinations of food. I was so excited to eat my big bowl full.

I ate about one half of it and literally could not eat another bite. I felt that if I did I would throw up. I had only eaten about 300 calories worth of food but I had to stop.

I felt full.

I asked RLB, "Is this what happens to you when you stop eating with food left on your plate? Do you quit eating because you're exhibiting self control or do you stop eating because the food wouldn't taste good anymore if you ate more of it?" He told me it was because the food would no longer taste good if he tried eating more of it.

Fascinating! I don't remember if I'd ever felt that before.

This was on day five. On day six I tracked all of my food and added up the calories: ~1800

I physically could not eat more than 1800 calories.

There is nothing that can convince me that eating massive amounts of fat and protein for five or six days will have affected my health negatively. And if that is all I ever did, it was so worth it to learn that I could actually eat until I was done eating and not have overeaten.

My new love of fat

The last time I wrote about starting the process of losing weight I weighed the same as I did two months ago. I lost a dozen pounds and....quit. I didn't quit exercising, I quit watching my diet.

Again.

For the hundredth time! 

I looked back and read that post where I said:

So, what made me succumb to eating more than I needed and not exercising? ME. Just me. My very own personal lies, laziness, excuses, and indulgences. I'm like that. It's like I'm a five-year-old performing the vinegar/baking soda volcano experiment over and over again thinking that it might not work this time. But just as the little kid will delight in watching the bubbly liquid expand and flow, I watch as too much food + not enough movement makes my fat multiply. Crazy how that works, huh?
What I do know, though, is that this experiment can be reversed with rewarding results. A disciplined diet + commitment to exercise makes ugly cellulite DIE.

I read that now and want to cry and laugh at the same time. I've learned so much over the past two months that I'm embarrassed as I see my former ignorance of the metabolic process written out.

I'll be posting what I've learned so that one day, when my grandchildren read this they'll say to their parents, "Why was staying a healthy weight so hard for Grandma?" - and my hope is they'll say that because the medical community will have finally become honest and the little known secrets today are widely known then. (I hear you all laughing).

I am not a doctor and my Google University degree doesn't mean much. But I have become my own guinea pig and have some fantastic discoveries to share.

In January I turned 40 and my cousin sent me a "your life in pictures" email that included a picture of me less than a year after our first child was born. I was 22 and almost 40 pounds lighter than I am now. It doesn't seem too drastic does it? Gaining 2 pounds a year over the course of time. Except those years really add up.

My motivation to start researching all that I have came from a peculiar source - his name is Fluffy.

We watched Gabriel Iglesias's, The Fluffy Movie where he talks about having lost 100 pounds on a low carbohydrate diet. He mentions eating all the fat and protein he wants he just stays away from carbs.

I've heard that story before, haven't we all? But this time, 40 years old, still overweight and frustrated I decided it was time to thoroughly research all of the pros and cons of a diet that virtually eliminates carbohydrates.

My biggest concern was my own self. I was a huge sugar tooth who craved different carb heavy foods all the time. I have previously attributed my inability to control my cravings to the sin of gluttony and that very well may be part of it - but it certainly isn't all of it. I'll go into more detail on this later.

As I mentioned, I'm only two months into making changes to the food that I eat. This would be a much more trustworthy series if I was a year in but I wanted to start cataloging the links to the information I've been reading and documenting my own progress.

I'm not starting from a point of poor health. I don't recommend anyone who is in poor health to do what I am doing without careful consideration and trustworthy advice from someone who is not me. (There's my disclaimer.) I started with a set point weight of 189, I'm 5'8" which means my BMI was 28.7. Today, as I write this I weigh 177 with a BMI of 26.9.

The benefits, outside of the 12 pound weight reduction I've achieved so far, have been nothing short of amazing for me.

I am no longer hungry.
I don't have cravings.
I have less joint pain.
I don't feel deprived.
I don't feel sad.
I don't hate everyone around me who can eat whatever they want. 
I don't have cravings.

I don't have cravings! None. At. All.

I have not had a candy bar in over two months. Even during Easter. I didn't eat a single jelly bean and didn't feel sad. Something has changed so drastically in my system that I have not chosen to eat (cheated) a single food item that I've cut from my diet. Not one chip, piece of french bread, french fry...nothing. In fact, I have not tasted anything with real sugar in it for two months.

I've done this before. But I didn't do it exactly this way. I attempted to cut sugar and starches out of my diet by replacing them with "better carbohydrates" and protein and inevitably I would go through a period of depression. My brain screamed at me to cheat on my diet. Food consumed my thoughts. Not being able to eat food consumed my thoughts. Feeling very bad things about people who can eat the food I wanted to eat, consumed my thoughts. Failure consumed my thoughts. And then failure set in. "I'll try again tomorrow."

So, what have I been doing different this time?

I eat a lot of fat.

A LOT of FAT! Fatty, greasy, fatty fat FAT!

My fatty fat fat diet consists of about 70% fat and 30% protein. My carbohydrate intake is minimal at less than 5 grams/day. And, I still have cocktails with my husband in the evening.

The fats that I eat are: coconut oil, butter, lard, and the fats found in other meat, nuts, and diary products. I'll get into more of the food I'm eating later.

For now I'll end with this, no matter how this change of eating turns out for me, I went into it with the hope that I could overcome the emotional challenge of not eating sweets, chips, breads, and desserts. If you have the addiction I did, you know that it is likely one of the hardest addictions to overcome. I'll tell you more about what I physically went through as I "detoxed" later. It took about ten days. Ten days and I don't have a single temptation to eat sugar. The sweet tooth that made me fat has been defeated, with FAT.

Why would he be prescribed a Statin?

This post is to request information pertaining to Statin Drugs. Thank you for allowing me to solicit any knowledge you may have on the subject.

My father was advised by his doctor to start taking Lipitor.  He declined. What I can't understand is why it would have been advised in the first place. He doesn't fit any of the criteria (that I had previously understood) for prescribing Lipitor.

He is a non-diabetic, 73-year-old, non smoker, with a cholesterol level of 140 (I'm unsure of the breakdown), and a BMI of ~29. As far as we know, there is no heart disease in his family, his paternal line has an extraordinary history of longevity. His father lived well into his 90's and had a grandfather who lived until 104.

I know some of you who stop by here are in the medical profession and/or are well read on these subjects. I'm looking to compose a list in the comments of links to further information on the subject.

Thank you so much!

SD

The majority of your life will be lived over the age of 40.

As my thirteen-year-old daughter and I drove home, this was the topic of our conversation. She has been researching the effect of abortion on a woman's future fertility. This led to a discussion of common things young women do that have long term negative consequences in their lives.

We have talked extensively to our children about time preferences and point out the observable consequences to a high time preference mentality. We demonstrate delayed gratification for them and integrate instruction on low time preference thinking into our discussions as often as possible. 

I asked my daughter to visualize herself as an eighty-year-old woman and asked if she could imagine what would be most important to her. She determined that she wouldn't want to be alone. We then discussed what she could do to help ensure that.

Having lived around the country and the world as a child of a Soldier, she is well aware that friends come and go. She has known the bond that can form between friends and the fragility of that bond. There is nothing biblical to hold that bond in place.

In this modern time of self determination and individualism, there is a pull for young women like my daughter to do anything but think of her eighty-year-old self in her decision making process. This isn't new, by any means, and it seems it should be obvious and not necessary to discuss with her. I'm not going to take that chance, though.

I told her to think about where her father and I are in life. We are both over the age of forty, and past (we think) the age of having more children. Yet most of our life is ahead of us.

The reality of the life that is to come for us has many challenges, some of which we've already encountered. There will be death; our parents, our siblings, other relatives, each other. There will be illness. There will come that day when our bodies will be done doing the work we do today. The things that keep us busy day after day right now will subside.

There will be a lot of time.

Today we consider that abundance of time in almost every decision we make and are passing that thought process on to our children.

In our conversation, my daughter told me that what she can do to help ensure she is not alone in her elderly years is; marry young, adhere to biblical instruction for marriage, and have children.

She is growing in wisdom which is great to see. She still is very much a thirteen-year-old girl though and is trying hard to understand that not going to the upcoming One Direction concert will not, actually, be the end of the world.

From my golden cage to yours

If that means him calling the shots... then it is not worth it. No matter how golden the cage you're in, is. Nothing is worth giving up your own agency, your own contol [sic] of your life.  - vanir85

Before I continue posting on the benefits of wives using reasoned and honest discourse in communicating with their husbands I want to emphasize a situation where utilizing logic is futile. If you are a Christian, married woman who desires to obey God and agrees the Bible is Truth, you will not be able to debate honestly with a feminist. Statistics, historical facts, observable and objective reality will not aid your argument. There is no reasoning with them and therefore no way to persuade them using dialectical discourse. They willfully will not know what you know, understand what you understand, nor are they opposed to lying. How do you reason with a liar? You simply can not.

There is no benefit for us to consider their appeals or their opinions especially once we've identified their contradictions. There is no point in attempting to use the Socratic method to persuade them either. In being dishonest, they do not care that they've made contradictions. 

It is important for Christian women to know the evil that lurks within the mind of the feminist and guard their hearts. There is no such thing as a feminist who believes the Bible is Truth. Those who claim as such will reveal themselves as liars rather quickly. 

 A woman who spent some time commenting on Alpha Game the other day did a fantastic job illustrating what feminists think of wives who obey God. Much of what she said I've heard before from other feminists.

Here's an incomplete list of her opinions of a Christian wife who obeys God (the Bible verses I've added tell the Truth to each): 
- simply damaged 
Psalm 34:18 Matthew 5:5
- has no agency
Romans 14:11
- is less healthy than obese rebellious women
Proverbs 23:20-2, 1 Corinthians 6:20
- is not allowed the right to make unhealthy and destructive choices
Proverbs 17:11
- is a servile wifebot
John 12:26
- her status and comfort depend on being attractive and feminine
Proverbs 31
- will make no mark on history 
John 10:14-15
- will make no difference to the world
Proverbs 31:28
- has no self respect
Romans 12:2
- is a faceless cog
Romans 8:28-30
- has children who are worse off than those of single mothers
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
 
Outside of this woman's desire, and a bit of an obsession, to have all women experience the freedom of obesity (determined to be the number one health problem in the US by the CDC), take a look at the goal:

A feminist future is where women are free, with as much power over the world at large as men. Where no woman, anywhere, will HAVE to bend her knee to a man - for survival, means, protection, anything. And if I did not think that possible, I wouldn't care enough about our specie's future or survival, to even bother debating here.

Is it equality that is sought by this feminist or her own superiority and dominance?

  And the point is; women should not have to depend solely on a superior economic entity. They should aim for a position where they could be a superior economic entity (to a partner, and/or her own employees).

How has this feminist done in her quest?

 I have not made the mark I wish to make yet. But even doing nothing would still be preferable over contributing to the evil system of female degradation you laughably think of as "nobel" - at least then one caused no further HARM to this pitiful world.

 Ah yes, this woman will be remembered and revered for generations to come for her accomplishment of having done nothing.

Here is one of my favorite lies she tells: 

And guns, force, are the only thing that will ever get women back in the chauvinist hell you people oh-so-dearly want them trapped in. That is the truth. That it what it takes to get free people back into subjugation and servitude.

Never mind what she calls a chauvinist hell, that's code word for "obedience to God". There were five women commenting on that thread alone, who have voluntarily become the wives she fears. No guns, no force.

Yes, it's fear. Of course it is fear. This woman is terrified that the Word of God is the Truth. Husbands simply can not be to blame for their position in a marriage. It was declared so, by God (Ephesians 5:23). 

Don't ever be fooled by women like this. She wants that all women be free to choose their path in life but feels contempt toward the wife who chooses to obey God:

and to be clear, whatever contempt i hold for women who chose subjugation

If you have the stomach to read through the whole thread you might recognize the seething rage, the loathing, and the terror predictable from a wasted life lived in rebellion. There is no reasoning with her. There is no debate. All that remains to be said to women like this is:

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. - John 8:44