Should I Go Keto?
Most people answer yes before they even know how to spell "ketogenic."
...or even before they know what it means.
A ketogenic diet consists of high fat, adequate protein and about 5% carbohydrates. It gained notoriety for treating epilepsy. And for that, it’s terrific.
It’s also beneficial for Type 2 diabetics suffering from severely high blood sugar, for a short period.
In other words, a Keto diet is great for sick people.
That's the most important take-away here. It's a form of temporary medicine. But beyond that, it can become harmful and detract from your athletic goals:
- More energy
- More muscle
- Longer life
- Vibrant health
If the above is what you're looking for, then Keto diet is NOT for you. What you need is "hormone intelligence," which ensures proper hormone balance, output and sensitivity (BOS).
I've been using it for two decades to remain ultra fit as a black belt dad, crazy motherf@#cker and someone who can't pass a personality test or a background check.
But trust me, chemistry plays no favorites...its works!
My wife also used it to win the Arnold Classic after having 2 kids...and even at 39 yo and 4 kids later, she's easily the best eye-candy at any pool, worldwide...
So, be the judge. Want to learn about “hormone intelligence?”
Start by understanding carbohydrates. (And avoid all the diet bullshit like fasting, going vegan and low carb!)
The Low Carb Craze
The low-carb diet began in 1797, courtesy of Dr. John Rollo, who treated his diabetic patients by removing carbohydrates from their meals. The medical community followed his lead, and today most people are familiar with the diet as a result of the late Dr. Atkins - who advocated replacing carbohydrates with fats and a bit of protein for his obese, Type II diabetic patients.
More recently, the low-carb craze has been purported to lend a “metabolic advantage” to those who eat 4-6 meals per day, while pursuing a low-carb and high protein diet. But it’s baloney. And these people still get fat…
If you want to look good naked, pay attention.
Overeating is Overeating
Overeating will always cause an energy imbalance that favors fat storage. Overeating is overeating, whether you are eating seeds, nuts or cotton candy. Although the hormonal effects will be different, the end result will still be weight gain.
The goal is eat so that you are optimizing your hormone balance, output and sensitivity.
And it’s not that hard.
It’s all about understanding carbohydrates.
What are Carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are macronutrients that come from foods like grains, dairy products, fruits, vegetables and legumes (beans and peas). Biochemically, they’re known as saccharides, or molecular chains of sugar.
Once consumed, your body breaks these chains into individual sugar units and your blood sugar rises to various degrees depending on the type and amount of carbohydrate you consumed.
To shuttle these sugary molecules out of your bloodstream, your pancreas produces insulin, which triggers the muscle cells to vacuum them up and use it as energy. For athletes and healthy individuals, this is a very efficient process. Sugar and insulin are rapidly taken up by the muscles.
But the opposite is true for those who are overweight and obese, Type II diabetics and individuals who frequently consume large amounts of carbohydrates, which are the majority of people reading this email!
For these people, insulin and sugar linger in the bloodstream for long periods of time. This causes numerous health problems and ensures that your body’s fat- burning furnace will stay permanently switched off!!!!!
Biochemists have also shown that excess insulin pushes testosterone, glucagon and other fat burning compounds out of the blood, causing overt weight gain and critical imbalances of these essential hormones.
Activating Ketosis
Removing carbohydrates, helps the obese or Type II diabetic reverse the illness. By lowering (not eliminating) carbohydrate intake and replacing it with healthy fats (not just any fats), diabetics and the obese can rapidly change their metabolism from constantly burning sugar to burning fat instead.
At the cellular level this process gives rise to compounds called ketones, the byproducts of burning body fat at the most basic level – in the powerhouse of each cell, called the mitochondria. The more ketones that get charred through the cellular engine the better. Eventually, the low carb diet became the ketogenic diet.
However, if you’re not insulin resistant, Type II diabetic, obese, or epileptic, the low carb diet can potentially cause serious problems. Excessively lowering carbohydrates removes an important source of micronutrients. But it also causes a weighty compound known as glycogen to
quickly become depleted.
Glycogen is Jet Fuel
Glycogen comprises about 8% of the human body mass and provides long term energy to the muscles, organs and brain cells. This is the first source of energy to be lost to a low-carb diet. The resulting weight loss is mistakenly thought of as a good thing among devoted followers of a ketogenic diet.
For fit people, the loss of glycogen and micronutrients from an excessive low-carb diet leads to muscle weakness, fatigue, poor thyroid function and the inability to think as clearly. Even worse, it can almost immediately cause irritability, aggravation and a short temper – a condition I call “psychoglycemia.”
Brain cells use twice as much energy as all other cells in the body. And your brain cells cannot use fats and proteins to produce the fuel they need. The energy for the brain comes strictly from glycogen. And just as muscle cells can’t function without water, brain cells are unable to produce enzymes and neurotransmitters that aid in memory and problem solving when glycogen and micronutrients plummet.
So, while low carb diets can be an effective therapeutic tool for the obese, Type II diabetics and epileptics, they are not applicable to the masses or those that are already healthy and fit. Among this population, the insulin rebound is fast. Therefore, they will not be metabolically shackled by healthy carb intake – even at 50%.
