Hi all,
I hope everyone is having a great day/night and keeping your inflammation under control with any method that serves you purpose.
Today I'm posting about a new form of nutritional experience that has benefited my AS drastically and might help you if you are interested to learn more. Basically if you are already eating a Paleo/Low Starch diet, it won't be much of a transition and you might even find it simpler to live on depending on how your body reacts to the change, and if you have no idea what I'm talking about, read on, because knowledge is power, enough said...
(Just to disclose I am not a nutritional expert nor scientist, but due to my severe bout with AS I have no choice but to learn as much as I can about how to heal myself through a variety of avenues)
I am talking about the Ketogenic lifestyle, I'm sure some of you have heard about this, but basically it is a low Carb, high Fat diet that has been around for a long time to treat certain illnesses such as Alzheimer's, Epilepsy, Parkinson's and even Cancer, but of course it has been used by high performance athletes and the general population. What I have noticed since I started eating Paleo a year ago, was that I was mostly on a low to moderate Fat, moderate Carb and high Protein diet. I have been doing well on it, but the more I read about the detriments of Carbs and heavy starches to the human body as well as noticing what is going on with my own, I have realized that eating low Carb and high Fat is a right direction to lowering inflammation because you reduce the chance of starches feeding the bacteria that cause chronic inflammation. That is something I missed when starting Paleo, I lowered my intake of Carbs since I took out bread and rice which were the main staples, but substituted them with natural starches such as sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, etc. which can actually have the same effect in increasing inflammatory responses when eaten regularly if you have joint pain, at least from my experience. The logical route would have been to decrease the starches and increase Fats, which I am doing now and it is really helping.
Because the body is predominately used to burning Glucose, rather than Fat for energy, there is an adaptation phase of 2-3 weeks, sometimes longer to break the cycle of burning sugars from Carbs and introducing your system to quality Fats to metabolize as fuel. In order to do this, your body needs to go through Keto adaptation, you need to basically lower the amount of NET Carbs you ingest in a day between 20 to 50 grams, some people might need to go lower to enter Ketosis, some can get away with higher and still be in a state of Ketosis. Since at this point your Carb intake will be low, you'll have to increase your consumption of Fats which will satiate you and regulate blood sugar so you won't be constantly craving sugary foods. Since I've incorporated a Cyclical Ketogenic diet (coming in and out of Ketosis) I have noticed increase energy and cognitive ability, no hunger spikes, lowered inflammation all over and a better understanding of what source of foods my body can utilize to stay lean and burn Fat. Now to most people without an illness like AS to control, I'm sure they would neglect a lifestyle like this because it really is a process, but for those that are looking to optimize their full performance while living with AS, it becomes amazingly simple once your adapted. Like the great Paul Chek says: "It takes no more energy on a daily basis to live and eat healthfully like I do than it does to live and eat and feel like [*bleep*] like most people do. It's really just a diversion of energy".
There is also the worry of the "High Saturated Fat + High Cholestrol = Heart Disease Myth", that most people fear when talking about high Fat. This all came about when a test was conducted by a man named Ancel Keys that did a study on starving rabbits feeding them purified Cholestrol which led them to having heart failure, but the problem is that rabbits are herbivores and don't metabolize animal products like humans physiology's do, therefore the test was an uncontrolled failure and sooner or later went out to the public and has been socially conditioned into people that eating Saturated Fat and Cholesterol is detrimental to health and longevity, which is actually quite the opposite.
There is of course so much to talk about with nutrition, but if you are asking yourself what do I eat I will give you a run down of my daily meal plan. I also do intermittent Fasting by the way, which I find is very helpful in boosting Ketosis and makes it a lot simpler to eat fewer times out of the day giving your digestive system a break from constantly breaking down food. here is what a Ketogenic meal plan looks like:
- 7am = Bulletproof Coffee: Brew Organic coffee, add Grass-Fed butter, MCT (Which is a derivative of Coconut Oil, but to get the same effect of 1tbs of MCT you have to take upwards of 6tbs of Coconut Oil) and Concentrated Coconut Milk in the coffee. Blend until all ingredients emulsify, then enjoy this delicious cup of high fatty goodness that helps burn Fat, increase focus, provides antioxidants, lowers inflammation and suppresses hunger cravings. Check out this link for more info on this
http://www.bulletproofexec.com/how-to-make-your-coffee-bulletproof-and-your-morning-too/- Between 1 to 4pm = First Meal: Depending on how I feel that day, I won't usually eat until later in the afternoon because I'm simply not hungry and just overall functioning better. Believe it or not, this is the difference between tapping into your Sympathetic nervous system which is your fight-or-flight mode and your Parasympathetic nervous system which initiates the process of rest when you are eating. This meal will consist of some Protein, such as bacon, sausage, grass-fed beef, etc. For Carbs I'll add some cruciferous veggies such as broc, brussels sprouts, celery, cucumbers, etc. a few cups of these are sufficient. Then come the Fats such as Avocado (also moderate Carb source, so don't go crazy), Eggs (Also high Protein source), Coconut Oil/Milk, MCT Oil, Olive Oil, low amount of Almond butter and sprinkle up some salt and other spices. You'll have to play around with the quantities, but when in doubt... add more Fat! Also it would be a good idea to count your calories for the first couple weeks to get an idea of the macros in your food.
- Between 8 to 9pm = Last Meal Before Fast: I basically do almost the same thing here as the first meal with the exception of my Carb choices, I might switch up the greens or add a bit of starch from sweet potatoes or rice if I had a day at the gym, but I am noticing I require less of these heavy starches the more Fat I eat, so even on workout days I'll do without the starches. Remember to keep the Protein relatively low as well because if there is an over consumption of Protein in the system the body goes through Gluconeogenesis which is a process that your body uses to convert Proteins into Sugars that end up getting used as energy, versus Fat, kicking you out of Ketosis. I wouldn't recommend the the 1gram per bodyweight in this scenario unless you weight lift a lot.
I notice this is a very long post, but its because I am excited and wanted to share info with people that are struggling with chronic inflammation. Honestly nutrition is the cornerstone to being pain free I believe, when you have that dialed down, everything else because much easier. I'm curious to know if any one has dabbled with Ketogenic diets and what you think about it, also i'd be happy to answer and questions if anyones curious. Below are some awesome links that really helped me become more informed about this. Good day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP6DtqmZ3Mwhttp://www.ruled.me/http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/http://chriskresser.com/cholesterol-doesnt-cause-heart-disease
