Ketogenic Diet - Powerful Dietary Strategy for Certain Conditions

[Altair]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

/found a "Ketogenic Diet for Athletes"
_https://docs.google.com/document/d/12-4OoCg1pciaHyJnMqfar67Y1ag55QaY8rm7vfhPr-4

This is a summary of the most important points and arguments of the book "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance", by Jeff S. Volek and Stephen D. Phinney.

Thanks, the summary is very educative. Nuts, seeds and cheese, as he recommended, I would try to avoid.

 

[Yas]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

/found a "Ketogenic Diet for Athletes"
_https://docs.google.com/document/d/12-4OoCg1pciaHyJnMqfar67Y1ag55QaY8rm7vfhPr-4

This is a summary of the most important points and arguments of the book "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance", by Jeff S. Volek and Stephen D. Phinney.

It seems very well-organized! It can be useful as a summary for our own use! :)

I downloaded it to read it carefully later. Thanks!

 

[davey72]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I replaced coffee with guarana powder. But guarana actually contains a lot of coffein, so now I'm not sure whether it is coffein that is bad for us or other substances from coffee?

Good question. I have searched caffeine, and haven't seen much said about it since 2012. The only things i do see are saying that it is generally bad for you, and that it spikes your adrenalin up. I know that coffee is bad for you for other reasons; One being that it binds to the opiate receptors. I am curious as to the forum's consensus on caffeine, since quite a few on the keto diet are also drinking tea?

Another question i have is regarding reduced protein intake. I thought i read before that it was because excess protein will turn to sugar. Is this correct?

 

[SeekinTruth]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Yes too much protein can be converted to sugar. That's why there's no such thing as essential carbohydrates - the body can make it's own.

 

[Tomek]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Talking about proteins, what's the current consensus regarding the maximum protein intake per day (0.8g <-> 1.5g )? And per meal ?

 

[Laura]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Talking about proteins, what's the current consensus regarding the maximum protein intake per day (0.8g <-> 1.5g )? And per meal ?

I think it depends on whether you want to maintain or lose and how active you are. I tend to go for somewhere in between, like 1 gr per kilo of body weight.

As to caffeine... well, I never have any problems with black tea in terms of caffeine, but in the days when I was trying to recover from adrenal fatigue, even decaf coffee would set off the problems. So I have wondered if it is something other than caffeine? Probably everyone has their own particular tolerances but in general, for some reasons, coffee seems to be reactive on a LOT of people while black tea is anti-inflammatory though some people seem to be reactive to it too. I do limit my black tea consumption and after 5 pm, I don't drink anything but some innocuous herbals. Lately, it's been chamomile and red raspberry leaf.

 

[Arwenn]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Good question. I have searched caffeine, and haven't seen much said about it since 2012. The only things i do see are saying that it is generally bad for you, and that it spikes your adrenalin up. I know that coffee is bad for you for other reasons; One being that it binds to the opiate receptors. I am curious as to the forum's consensus on caffeine, since quite a few on the keto diet are also drinking tea?

Another question i have is regarding reduced protein intake. I thought i read before that it was because excess protein will turn to sugar. Is this correct?

Aside from the effect of coffee on the adrenals (stimulating adrenals to release more cortisol, which increases insulin), another thing to be conscious about with regards to coffee is mycotoxins. From Wikipedia

A mycotoxin is a toxic secondary metabolite produced by organisms of the fungi kingdom, commonly known as molds. The term 'mycotoxin' is usually reserved for the toxic chemical products produced by fungi that readily colonize crops. One mold species may produce many different mycotoxins, and the same mycotoxin may be produced by several species. <snip>
Aflatoxins are a type of mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus species of fungi....Aflatoxins are largely associated with commodities produced in the tropics and subtropics, such as cotton, peanuts, spices, pistachios and maize.

And from this site _bulletproofexec.com

The data on coffee consumption goes back and forth. Some studies show health benefits, while others show negative outcomes. This might seem confusing, but the reason is simple: bad coffee is bad for you, and scientists suck at differentiating types of coffee when they run studies on coffee.
Studies on coffee and health don’t control for processing methods or the source of the beans. This means the coffee beans are almost always contaminated with mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are damaging compounds created by molds which grow on coffee beans (among other things). These compounds cause all sorts of health problems like cardiomyopathy, cancer, hypertension, kidney disease, and even brain damage. They also make your coffee taste bitter, like it needs sugar.
Some types of coffee have more mycotoxins than others, which is why you see some studies showing a benefit to drinking coffee, and others showing negative health outcomes. The problem isn’t coffee per se, it’s the mold on your coffee. It even can vary by individual batch, especially for large coffee producers. (like ones with big ugly green logos on every street corner)
Mycotoxins are in almost all low quality brands of coffee. One study showed that 91.7% of green coffee beans were contaminated with mold. This is before they were processed, which allows even more mold to grow. Another study showed 52% of green coffee beans and almost 50 percent of brewed coffees are moldy. Coffee is easily one of the largest sources of mycotoxins in the food supply.

Some more information about mycotoxins and coffee:

Why Are Mycotoxins so Bad?

A form of fungus, mycotoxins make their way into coffee by adhering to dried coffee beans. Once the mycotoxins have latched onto the dried coffee beans, they are incorporated into the process of grinding and roasting them down and, eventually, may end up in your cup.

Fungus is not something that you should always worry about, as certain forms of it (i.e. mushrooms) are healthy, accepted parts of a balanced diet. However, mycotoxins are a form of fungus that can cause several negative side effects.

First and foremost, you simply will not feel as good after drinking a cup of coffee with mycotoxins as you will after drinking one that is free of them. Additionally, these substances can cause diseases that affect your liver, kidneys, smooth muscles, and alimentary canal.

How Can You Find Mycotoxin-Free Coffee?

By following these tips, you can enjoy your cup of joe without having it ruin your health.

1. Drink coffee that has been made via wet processing. Because mycotoxins often form during the drying process, wet beans are much less likely to contain them than dry beans.

2. Do not drink decaffeinated coffee. Caffeine actually protects coffee beans from the growth of mold and can prevent large amounts of mycotoxins from growing.

3. Choose arabica beans over robusta beans. Though robusta varieties do have higher levels of caffeine, they also contain more mycotoxins.

4. Consider the environment in which your beans are grown. Because mold is less apt to grow at higher elevations, buying beans that have been harvested in the mountains of Central America is a great way to decrease the amount of toxins in your coffee.

5. Stay away from blends. Though blended coffees may taste good, there really is no way of telling where the different bean varieties have come from. Try to stick to single estate products rather than the major brand names.

6. Steam is an agent that can help break down toxins, so if all else fails, order an Americano.

_http://www.naturalnews.com/034063_mycotoxins_coffee.html#ixzz2zmsrhhhV

I can't seem to find abstracts of scientific studies done on mycotoxins, but then again the coffee industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and I'm sure further research that would be detrimental to sales would be strongly discouraged.

 

[Minas Tirith]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

This is a summary of the most important points and arguments of the book "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance", by Jeff S. Volek and Stephen D. Phinney.

There's also "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" by the same authors which is not specifically targeted for athletes, but for "every-day" people. Short synopsis here:

http://tntman.wordpress.com/tnt-is-the-plan-for-me/32-the-art-and-science-of-low-carbohydrate-living-by-drs-jeff-volek-and-stephen-phinney/

Nothing really new, but since we all liked his video so much ...

M.T.

 

[Keit]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

As to caffeine... well, I never have any problems with black tea in terms of caffeine, but in the days when I was trying to recover from adrenal fatigue, even decaf coffee would set off the problems. So I have wondered if it is something other than caffeine?

Well, the difference between coffee and tea (since both of them have theobromine and theophylline) is the fact that tea contains tannin (tanninum). It's the compound that is associated with the woody and a bit bitter taste that can be found in many plans and tree bark (especially oak). I think (though can't say for sure), that this is the component that is "responsible" for inhibiting iron absorption (in another thread there was a mention that drinking strong tea helps with that). Not long ago in pharmacology class we learned about tannin's medicinal properties and how it's used in cases of alkaloid poisoning, heavy metals poisoning, gastroenteritis, rhinitis, laryngitis, or any other pathology that has to do with inflammation and gastrointestinal tract. Can be even used on the skin in case of burns and such.

What is also interesting, that I remember hearing in the past, that it's best not to drink tea that was sitting in the water for several hours (or was it only for those in paper bags? :/), but our teacher told us, that this kind of tea is better for removing toxins from the body. fwiw.

 

[Minas Tirith]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Now we are talking about black tea, I once read that it might contain quite high levels of fluoride (especially cheap labels), so you want to drink that in moderation as well:

Tea plants readily absorb fluoride from soil. As a result, tea drinks invariably contain high levels of fluoride. In the United States, brewed black tea averages about 3 to 4 parts ppm fluoride, while commercial iced tea drinks contain between 1 and 4 ppm. (Izuora 2011; Whyte 2006; USDA 2005). Excessive consumption of tea beverages thus creates a risk for fluoride toxicity.

In recent years, there have been a number of reports documenting skeletal fluorosis in the United States among heavy tea drinkers. Dr. Michael Whyte, who has authored several of these studies, cautions that “many” tea drinkers are currently receiving fluoride doses that put them at risk for skeletal fluorosis. (Whyte 2008). In Whyte’s studies, the tea drinkers who developed skeletal fluorosis had been misdiagnosed for years as suffering from arthritis and/or fibromylagia. In Whyte’s most recent study, a Georgia woman had crippling skeletal fluorosis for up to 18 years before being correctly diagnosed. (Whyte 2011). As some authors have noted, “it is certain that some heavy-tea drinkers suffering from fluorosis from tea-drinking might not be diagnosed.” (Yi & Cao 2008).

Higher Quality Teas Have Lower Levels of Fluoride

Unfortunately, the tea products that contain the highest levels of fluoride also happen to be the tea products that contain the least anti-oxidants. This is because the level of anti-oxidant level in tea is lowest in old leaves (when fluoride content is at its highest), and highest in young leaves (when fluoride content is at its lowest). The fluoride content of tea has thus been proposed as an indicator of its quality: the more fluoride, the lower the anti-oxidants, and thus the lower the quality.

http://fluoridealert.org/issues/sources/tea/

This is a US source, but applies to European teas as well.
For the UK:

Infusions of economy black tea blends, such as Asda Smartprice, Tesco Value, Morrisons Value, Sainsbury's Basics, and Waitrose Essential, were found to have the highest concentration of fluoride - an average of six milligrammes (mg) per litre. Although, Waitrose Essential was significantly lower in fluoride compared to the other economy black blends.

When compared to the NAS daily dietary reference intake of four milligrammes of fluoride per day, these economy blends of tea contained from 75% to 120% of the recommended daily intake.

Infusions of green tea blends had the next highest concentrations, followed by branded black blends such as PG Tips, Twining's and Typhoo with an average of 3.3 mg per litre, then pure blends.

Oolong and Pu'er teas had the lowest concentrations of fluoride - an average of 0.7 mg/litre or just ten per cent to 16% of the daily reference intake.

http://www.derby.ac.uk/news/cheaper-supermarket-teas-could-cause-fluoride-related-illnesses

M.T.

 

[Foxx]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Well, the difference between coffee and tea (since both of them have theobromine and theophylline) is the fact that tea contains tannin (tanninum). It's the compound that is associated with the woody and a bit bitter taste that can be found in many plans and tree bark (especially oak). I think (though can't say for sure), that this is the component that is "responsible" for inhibiting iron absorption (in another thread there was a mention that drinking strong tea helps with that).

EGCG was also brought up (I think in the Iron Overload thread) as a component of green tea that can chelate iron.

_http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?paperID=25829

ABSTRACT
Cellular and mitochondrial damage can be caused by labile iron pool (LIP) and mediated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Livers of the thalassemias have highly increased levels of LIP and ROS. Green tea extract (GTE) and epigallocatechin 3-gallatte (EGCG) can potentially protect liver inflammation, fibrosis and cancer due to their anti-oxidative and iron-chelating activities. We studied the effects of GTE and EGCG on intracellular LIP and ROS, and mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) in mouse hepatocyte and HepG2 cell cultures using specific fluorescent techniques. Treatment with GTE (12.5 - 25 mg/dl) and EGCG (25 - 50 μM) significantly lowered levels of ΔΨm in the mouse hepatocytes; however, combined treatment of 25 μM DFP with GTE and EGCG did not enhance the decrease of hepatic ΔΨm. The results showed that GTE and EGCG effectively removed the intracellular LIP and ROS, and relieved the mitochondria membrane collapse of the liver cells, suggesting a hepatoprotective effect of green tea extract and EGCG in the hepatocytes with iron overload. Their actions might be related to iron-chelating and free radical-scavenging capacities. Whether the effects can improve iron overload and oxidative stress in thalassemia patients remains to be seen upon further examination.

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigallocatechin_gallate

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), also known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate, is the ester of epigallocatechin and gallic acid, and is a type of catechin.

EGCG is the most abundant catechin in tea and is a potent antioxidant that may have therapeutic applications in the treatment of many disorders (e.g. cancer). It is found mainly in white tea, green tea and, in smaller quantities, black tea; during black tea production, the catechins are mostly converted to theaflavins and thearubigins, and theabrownins.[3] It is also found in various vegetables, nuts, as well as carob powder at 109 mg per 100g.[4] In a high temperature environment, an epimerization change is more likely to occur; however as exposure to boiling water for 30 straight minutes leads to only a 12.4% reduction in the total amount of EGCG, the amount lost in a brief exposure is insignificant. In fact, even when special conditions were used to create temperatures well above that of boiling water, the amount lost increased only slightly.[5]

Tea also has relaxing properties due to Theanine:

_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theanine

Theanine /ˈθiːəniːn/, also gamma-glutamylethylamide or 5-N-ethyl-glutamine, is an amino acid and a glutamic acid analog primarily found in tea (Camellia sinensis),[2] and also in the basidiomycete mushroom Boletus badius and in guayusa.[3] The L-enantiomer is the form which is found in tea and used as a supplement by humans.
...
Effects on the brain

Able to cross the blood–brain barrier, theanine has psychoactive properties.[10] Theanine has been studied for its potential ability to reduce mental and physical stress,[11] improve cognition,[12] and boost mood and cognitive performance in a synergistic manner with caffeine.[13][14][15][16][17][18]

Theanine promotes alpha wave production in the brain.[10] While structurally similar to the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, theanine has only weak affinity for the glutamate receptor on postsynaptic cells.[19] It also has low affinity for AMPA, kainate, and NMDA receptors but does however increase brain dopamine levels.[20] Its effect on serotonin is still a matter of debate in the scientific community, with studies showing increases and decreases in brain serotonin levels using similar experimental protocols.[5][21] It has also been found that injecting spontaneously hypertensive mice with theanine significantly lowered levels of 5-hydroxyindoles in the brain.[22] Researchers also speculate it may inhibit glutamate excitotoxicity thereby increasing glutamate.[20]

Studies on test rats have shown even repeated, extremely high doses of theanine cause little to no harmful psychological or physical effects.[23] Theanine showed neuroprotective effects in one rat study.[24]

It looks like black tea may have more Theanine than green tea in some cases:

_http://nootropicsguide.wordpress.com/nootropics-information/l-theanine-caffeine-and-tea/

How much L-theanine is in a cup of black tea?
About 20mg (24.2 ± 5.7mg) ref ref

How much caffeine is in a cup of black tea?
14-61mg ref

How much L-theanine is in a cup of green tea?
The exact L-theanine content of teas will depend on environmental conditions (climate, rainfall, sunlight). Standard green tea may have L-theanine content as low as 5mg per cup (7.9 ± 3.8mg). ref While shade grown green tea ( Gyokuro, Matcha) may have as much as 46mg per cup. ref

How much caffeine is in a cup of green tea?
14-61mg ref

I've taken Theanine as a supplement before and found it to be quite calming and personally prefer black tea over green (in general) and subjectively feel like black may have a more pronounced relaxing effect than green. The caffeine in tea will generally disrupt my sleep if taken too late in the day, however.

 

[Gaby]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Coconut used to give me severe pain in my neck lymph nodes, however this seems to have improved greatly in the past few months, and since trying this new fat bomb idea. The only problem is, in large amounts, it now gives me constipation. Does anyone else experience this? I probably need more gut healing, thanks for the suggestion of slippery elm Arwenn.

I noticed an opposite effect. The two previous days I had less "fat bomb" of what I was having. Today I feel a little bit constipated. So I'll make sure to eat enough fat today, plus some magnesium.

 

[Gaby]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Another interesting thing. On the past couple of weeks or so, I was peeing almost right away after drinking anything. It is like Emmerich says in the book Ketoadaptation, people even wake up in the night several times just to pee when they are getting ketoadapted. That happened to me in a couple of nights. Plus all the water you need to drink in order to not get dehydrated... Yeah, I'm glad to see that the urge is stabilizing. :)

 

[Laura]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I drink Clipper "Everyday Tea" and after 5 PM, Clipper "Snore and Peace" which is Chamomile, Lemon Balm and Lavender. I'll also have a cup of red raspberry leaf tea now and then.

 

[Minas Tirith]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I have a question.

I am on the Ketogenic diet for about a week now. As I reported in other threads, after two days of "Keto Flu" I already feel I have been given a new machine/body. I have so much energy!

Anyway, I have been measuring my ketone level with Ketostix and constantly score around 7 or 8mM. That's much too high, isn't it? It has been said here that the urine method is not accurate, but on some Keto Blogs they even say that your ketone level is probably higher than on the Stix! What am I doing wrong?

Thing is, I really feel good, my skin looks amazing, I already lost weight and my energy increased.

Now, I also read that the Stix result also depends on how much you drink. The more you drink, the more diluted the result. Does this maybe mean I am not drinking enough?

Maybe I should add that I am not having coconut oil (read that this is driving the ketones up as well). I remember that high ketone scores were discussed on this thread, but cannot find it ...

Thanks, M.T.