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deeds said:
I don't like to say that I was on a "diet" when essentially I started to eat whole, real foods. I was never a huge eater and I was always happy to wait until I got hungry. Now I am reading a lot about intermittent fasting and I find it fascinating since I always said I never got a seizure during the day until I put some food in my body.
Now, I am eating more but although I am not measuring anything I am using many nuts, seeds, oils, vegetables and chicken or fish.
I believe the glycemic index is of utmost importance so I look up things I am unsure of. In the fruit department, I am sticking to Berries for now but it is not at all difficult to eat this way.
My boyfriend has Celiac and we often dine together so already there is no gluten to be found.
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Awesome. You know you are in ketosis just about every morning when you get up.
Intermittent fasting is a great way to go. There are lots of variations on the "eating window" protocol. I'm thinking about throwing in some longer duration fasting just to see how it feels.
That sounds like you have a good thing going with whole real foods and the GI tables for reference.

It's nice that you and the BF can share meals. So often that is the downfall of a good paleo or keto plan, a non- supportive significant other.
 
Folks might be interested in the following TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100?language=en
It contains fascinating ideas (gleaned from communities with high numbers of vigorous centenarians) about factors that may contribute to living longer and remaining in excellent health while doing so. (Sorry for the minor threadjack AlohaBird, hope you don't mind.) :)
 
No problem, Nak. That was very interesting.

The main thing that stuck out for me was the social aspects of the lives of people in those "blue zones". Low stress, strong community ties, veneration of the elderly, doing things that you enjoy, feeling a sense of purpose.

Also all of those communities are physically active in natural ways, not endless hours at the gym.

Even though several people have tried to publish the definitive "Blue Zone Diet" in a book, I thought it was interesting to hear the presenter there say flat out that there is no such thing. What all the diets have in common is eating whole, natural, minimally processed foods.
 
Another thing about the eating habits of all the blue zone folks is that they just EAT, they don't stress out about eating or over-think the whole thing.

That is what I love about being in ketosis like this. I will never again do any kind of dieting that involves weighing things down to the gram, counting calories, counting "points", looking up every morsel of food in a chart to track exact numbers of macronutrient grams, etc. The elevated cortisol levels created by all that probably outweigh any good the diets could do.

I have also decided that my scale is not telling me anything valuable. First of all I know it is not very accurate because I can step on and off twice within seconds and get two completely different readings off by a couple of pounds.
Also if you are doing some body re-compositioning, swapping out say five pounds of fat for five pounds of lean muscle, the scale will tell you that nothing has changed. But muscle is much more dense and takes up less room, plus being less squidgy, so measurements and what is seen in the mirror give a more accurate picture.
 
It takes time to understand things because we are so ignorant. There is so much knowledge, but so little wisdom to apply the knowledge. Wisdom is the proper prioritization and application of knowledge. These are my premises. Our confusion exists because humanity is self-serving, and corrupt. We never fully understand ourselves or our bodies. We are all on that journey, and our paths our all different.


Sorry, I didn't read through the whole thread.
 
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I had to look up what "tldr" meant. Not exactly. I am not up on texting lingo at all. I do not consider myself to be religious. Religion too many times does not deal wth reality. I did not intend to be philosophic either. I just see so much confusion in the world. I am always trying to cut through the confusion. There is just too much information out there.

I am aware of the Ketogenic diet, and the Atkin's diet. I think they have their place. Like you, I will never count calories, or grams, etc. I don't know what you mean by ketosis yet. I will have to read up on that. I do know that persons with hypothyroidism (me) should stay away from ketones. I am trying to manage multisytemic failures associated with Myotonic Dystrophy, so I have to try to put out the fire most of the time, and have to be very focused in order to see another day.

I appreciate your posts because your manner of dealing with E is natural and your way of dealing with it is understanding things and trying things yourself.
 
The trouble with words is that they are slippery! And one word has a million meanings, depending on who is using it! And, as you say, we tend to be confused!But I am glad you had your say!
 
Michael, if you know what a ketogenic diet is then you already know what ketosis is. A ketogenic diet induces a metabolic state called ketosis.

Your medical challenges are seriously complex and I think you fall into the category of "talk to your doctor first before messing with any of the major variables in your life including diet".

That said, I have seen many people come back from some massively messed up states of health including type 2 diabetes, obesity, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, IBS, and many combinations of these.

There is some really great info over at the Mark's Daily Apple website. Everyone there is paleo with a subset of them who are into ketogenic protocols.
You don't have to be in ketosis to be paleo. I really think that paleo can help a wider section of the population, ones who don't choose to go ketogenic or who can't due to something like a missing gallbladder.

Ketotsis is where you are burning ketones for fuel. Being told to "stay away from ketones" makes sense if you are talking about the buildup of excess ketones which can lead to ketoacidocis in people like Cint who have Type 1 diabetes. I'm not sure about your medical conditions and ketoacidosis. But there is a difference between a buildup of ketones and burning ketones for fuel.
 
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Firstly, I had to diagnose myself with a genetic abnormality before I had the confirmation of Muscular Dystrophy at Mayo Clinic. Secondly, the two prior neurologists said the my Muscular Dystrophy was in my head. Thirdly, the two neurologists I have seen since Mayo Clinic still think I am crazy, in part because they read the notes from other doctors. So, I do not trust doctors. I do have two doctors who know I have seizures, but they are not neurologists. The only thing the Muscular Dystrophy neurologist did was attempt to address heart conduction defects characteristic of Myotonic Dystrophy. My seizures are all because of my Myotonic Dystrophy, and yet most neurologists, and epileptologists, save perhaps Orrin Devinsky of NYU, have made the connection. This causes me to seriously question the competence of their profession since they do not appear to understand the cellular science of both Epilepsy and Muscular Dystrophy. They rely on tests rather than critical rational thinking to draw conclusions. They ignore many of their senses in doing so, like observation, listening, etc. One of my neurologists was an Epileptologist. He was the most irrational of all, I everthing during the VEEG set me off (gave me seizures). The test had to be terminated somewhere during the strobe light test.

There is no treatment for Myotonic Dystrophy specifically. The breathing problems are only addressed with artificial respirators. The digestion problems are not addressed. The growing cognitive difficulties are not addressed. They do not know what to do. That is why I am trying to learn everything myself. I believe there are many things they have missed, like doctors having missed my Muscular Dystrophy despite over twenty years of symptoms, like muscular fatigue and general exhaustion.

The second to last doctor I saw, (because I could not breathe and was constantly short of breath) said I was also crazy when I informed him I had a respiratory infection, characterized by constantly inflamed glands in my neck, as well as considerable pain there, and night sweats which began when that particular infection began. I have had over six months of endless respiratory infections, partly because I live in cold weather Minnesota no doubt. Each time I contacted doctors after a proper diagnosis was made, there was no response, other than denial.

I have since read up on ketosis, using fat rather than glucose for energy. I cannot digest fats, and have too many fats in my blood, so there is a definite problem with fat metabolization. There is a propensity for blood glucose dysregulation as well as insulin resistance with my Myotonic Dystrophy. So far, I am in the clear. A glucose test the other day, as well as an A1C test came back normal. (I have a brother who has Type 1 diabetes, and an uncle who has Type 2, who is not overweight).

When I am too tired, I have seizures. When I can't breathe properly, I am more prone to seizures. When my stomach is too acidic, I am more prone to seizures. The more seizures I have, the more my cognition suffers as my short term memory disappears. I have to reread countless things for them to register cognitively most of the time.

Today, however is a good day, certainly compared to yesterday.

I have been unable to work for nearly two years, have no income, have no pension because of my lifelong undiagnosed disease, and governmental help is mostly windowdressing, and Social Security is consistently disregarding the law, and only a Herculian effort... Sorry, I know this is not the Padded Room.

So, to get back to ketosis, a high fat diet is out of the question for me. I am trying to prevent arterial sclerosis and further heart degeneration. My triglycerides are much to high, as is my LDL cholesterol. I am intolerant of many pharmaceuticals, but may have to resort to them to manage my blood pressure, which is borderline high. Ten years ago, my BP was 90/70. Thursday it was 142/96. My cholesterol problem likely stems from Thyroiditis, and possibly my triglycerol problem.

The cholesterol and triglceride problem is the one I am trying to solve. That is the problem I am trying to solve. I wake up from having seizures frequently, and food stops them. Again, my glucose and A1C are normal, and certainly my seizures appear to be diabetic. My muscles are constantly firing electrically 24 hours a day, so I am always burning burning fuel, likely glucose.

I trust myself more than doctors. I think that everything that doctors know we can learn if we take the time, and have sufficient incentive, like life and death.

Sorry for the lengthy post.

Btw, I just learned the other day that there are many pages to posts. I could not find posts because I did not notice that. Again, my brain is sketchy, particularly regarding new information.
 
I know a little bit about Muscular Dystrophy (a dear friend who has it) but I know exactly nothing about Myotonic Dystrophy.

Perhaps for you instead of full tilt ketogenic, a general low carb paleo approach would work.
Again I don't know about your health conditions but if you are concerned about blood pressure, don't be. Paleo consistently brings BP down to normal. Is it that you can't digest fat properly or that someone has told you your cholesterol is too high?
Please read some of the more up to date research on dietary cholesterol and heart disease. They have absolutely nothing to do with each other. The type of LDL that forms plaques and hardens your arteries is damaged, oxidized LDL. The process of the otherwise benign and even very helpful LDL particles getting damaged is called glycation. It is caused by sugar. Bottom line, it's the sugar not the fat.
 
I will have to read up on what Paleo is--another new term for me. My father died of a heart attack at age 55, so heart disease runs in the family. My uncle recently had quadruple bypass (?).

My cholesterol consistenly tests too high, under 300, but over 200. I request metabolic panels myself so as to draw my own conclusions when I visit doctors. Before I tested positive for Myotonic Dystrophy, my creatinine level was low. The geneticist did not bring this to may attention. It is one of the things to look at when muscles are not working properly. I review everything myself. I do not take other people's word for anything. If I had, I am sure I would be dead by now. I have been working on getting my cholesterol down for years. In my case, my own body is manufacturing too much, since my dietary intake is quite limited.

I have a pumpkin smoothie everyday, with cloves, almond milk, sometimes ginger, and considerable cinnamon, which I know is helping my blood. I use cayenne pepper every day to thin my blood. I have experimented with various spices in fat solutions to see if there is anything that helps break down fat.

I have indigestion whenever I consume fats. I use to use olive oil, but had to give it up. It would give me hours of heartburn. Prior to that I had used canole oil, grape seed oil, etc. I have limited my intake of multi-chain fatty acids for decades, and have at least theorized mono fats are more easily digested. I know that certain medications have mirror image formulas, and have learned that one, say for example the left handed formulation causes me severe problems, whereas the right hand formulation didn't. This makes me think that fat metabolism might work the same way.

I know that a low carb diet would not work for me. Vegetables and fruits do not stop my seizures when I have diabetic typ seizures, unless they have Potassium in them, I have learned through experimentation. Only carbs help. I seem to have problem with slow carbs sometimes, so I constantly have to tinker and modify, and find the solution, knowing that whatever the solution is at that time, it will likely be different the next time. I know for example, being around electricity which does not necessarily provoke seizures, will give me heartburn. I cannot tolerate tomatoes or vinegar because my stomach pH is out of whack. If I try and exceed a certain, quite small threshold, I will have hours and hours of heartburn.

According to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, there over 40 different muscle diseases. They appear to all be of genetic origin based. Myo(muscle)tonic(tension) Dystrophy is where the muscles never relax. The problem is on what I call he tail side of the muscle cell, or the efflux of ions from the muscle cell. The code that tells the muscle to relax is corrupted (elongated), so the muscles never relax, incuding,of course, the heart. Relaxation is subsequently a constant goal of mine. Any excitatory stimulii, like radio waves, EMFs, will eventually overwhelm my body electrically and cause seizures. That is why I am so interested in physics and chemistry. By the way, I think God is a scientist, and understands all these things. That drives me on to find solutions.

Thanks for your input.
 
Michael, My understanding is that doctors at Mayo confirmed your self diagnosis of Muscular Dystrophy and confirmed more than that. So from what you say I am understanding that SOME of your doctors are doing their jobs adequately. [I hope?] I also understand that a large number have behaved disgracefully,especially by discounting your obvious symptoms and insulting you by saying you are crazy and then abandoning you. They are repulsive. You are very clear about their typical restrictions to their thinking and their exceedingly narrow and rigid approach to their [excuse the expression] "tasks." I know that the kind of trauma that results from the kind of encounters you have experienced more than once disrupts a person's life for a long, long time if not forever. [Surely there are armies of clinical psychologists doing studies of PTSD on patients of neurologists, in particular, but I imagine other specialities as well.But where the hell are those armies of clinical psychologists and where are their studies?] From my own illness and from the fall out from my own bad medical experience I can tell you that my anxiety and rage from same have had a big impact on my life and mind and it isn't good. To my mind anxiety and rage are physiologically and psychologically very close cousins. Both wreck a person's ability to think straight and both are seductive. I think people tend to be prompt to justify being anxious and enraged. So I think your need to understand yourself scientifically is definitely a very good way of managing anxiety. My only suggestion is that when there is interference, when you are not cognitively tracking, that is when you could consciously think in terms of anxiety and take steps to manage it such as meditation, for instance[all the while acknowledging the physiological underpinnings of these cognitive blips.]. I hope you can made sense of what I am saying and that it helps.
 
Michael, I just got to your paragraph about how important you feel that relaxing is for you. I am so relieved to read that. And I agree with you about God.
 
Michael, you said you have had trouble digesting oils like canola and grape seed. I don't doubt that at all. Did you know that the processing/extraction of canola oil uses hexane? Yum, solvents, just what I like in my salad dressing.

Have you ever tried coconut oil? It is a medium chain triglyceride and it is the fat that is the most easily burned for energy of any oil or fat anywhere.

Great book called "Know Your Fats" by Sally Fallon and Dr Mary Enig, might help you sort out which ones could be let in. All fats are not created equal.
 
Thank you for both of your posts, Bidwell. I am unable presently to reply in more detail. My brain is down today.
 
I will look into the book you mentioned. I have a new book by Orrin Devinsky on its way from the Rochester Library. Thanks.
 
Feel better soon, Michael.

The above discussion points out an important issue with a lot of people's perceptions about what is meant by a "high fat diet". It also points out a huge flaw in much of the "research" showing how evil and nasty fat is. Those studies are often conducted on rodents being fed a diet of rat chow soaked in canola oil or soy oil or corn oil. Ew. Talk about animal cruelty. Of course that is unhealthy.

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search...t=att&hsimp=yhs-att_001&type=att_pc_my_portal

This is an interesting video. After first telling you how wonderfully healthy canola oil is because it has so little saturated fat, it then goes on to show the mechanical and chemical processes for extraction of the oil including hexane solvents and bleaching. And how the wax like impurities are then removed and turned into vegetable shortening. Yay! Urp!

When I talk about a high fat diet, I am only talking about fats found in nature with a minimum of "human interference factor".

The fats I use the most are coconut oil and ghee with some macadamia nut oil, moringa oil, and occasionally sesame oil if I am making ahi poke.

Another thing to consider in choosing a fat or oil is the "smoke point" which means at what temperature does the oil oxidize. This is why, although olive oil is fine for salads, I wouldn't cook with it. Macadamia nut oil has an even better O3/O6 ratio and a much higher smoke point.
 
:agree: "fat" has been broadly-demonized, without a nuanced discussion of the difference between one kind of fat and another. In addition, there can be a tendency (at least in the U.S. health establishment) to focus on a single ingredient or factor at the expense of a more holistic approach.
 
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