Ketogenic Diet for Energy and Mental Clarity

[stealthology]

Hey guys,

I haven't seen this posted on the forum yet, so I wanted to start a discussion on this. Has anyone here tried or even heard of the Ketogenic diet? I'm giving it a try, and my results have been stellar so far after recently coming off of the devil (Addy). I refer to it as the 'Lebron James Diet' with friends since he and many other athletes of late have used Ketogenic diets to improve physical performance and mental energy/clarity. Lebron lost ~25 pounds and absolutely gained more strength. I also remember reading some super long distance running records have been broken in recent years (100 mile type races) on Ketosis. Physical performance/increased energy/clarity is just touching the tip of the iceberg in regards to benefits though. The diet burns fat for fuel rather than carbs (whether it be dietary fat or existing fat on your body); and your body will be much more efficient. Eating dietary fat doesn't spike insulin, whereas carbs/sugar directly turn into glucose/sugar after you eat it, spiking your insulin. 

The hardest part in the beginning is getting over the fact that saturated fats/dietary fats will not make you fat, clog your arteries, lead to a host of cardiovascular related ailments (actually the opposite-- high carb/sugar intake will do that with insulin spiking & all that), etc. We can all thank Ancel Keys about 50 years ago for that outright false information regarding saturated fats (do stay away from trans fat). If you're a bit apprehensive about the saturated fat thing, do a little research or ping me for some guidance. I've spent quite a bit of time educating myself. 

70%+ of your calories will be coming from fat, and ~5% from carbs. After you make the adjustment (will take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks), you'll find your cravings for carbs are gone and these high fat/moderate protein meals keep them satisfied for a loong time.

I can eat all the butter/ghee, bacon/sausage, coconut milk, eggs, grass fed higher fat meats, avocados, olive oil, MCT oil, etc as I want. Personally, I approached this slowly and over the course of 2 months I gradually increased fat and decreased carbs/sugar. Several days ago, I set my mind to go all out. My carbs now come from pretty much just veggies. I live with some 'normies', so I'll sneak a little bread here and there, but not enough to bring me out of ketosis. It's also not a big deal to go in and out of ketosis once your body initially adapts; however the older and more insulin resistant you are, the harder it may be to switch back and forth once you adapt.

My physique, face and skin are looking better than they have in many years, I'm super lean (say goodbye to all that water weight!), and I feel pretty electrified with energy without the use of any stimulants (just vitamins, tea, and some lighter exercise every morning). I also began to make gains in the gym again-- that could also partly be attributed to lifting less often/more rest days. There have been tons of recent positive studies on Ketosis. 

Light-hearted video below, but check YouTube/Amazon/Google for more info on the Ketogenic Diet if interested. 

I'm pretty damn excited. Adderall is in my rear-view mirror.

 

[quit-once]

The first time I seriously tried the Adkins diet, I noticed the mental clarity improvements right away.  During the initial phase of Adkins (Induction) the goal is to be in ketosis and all it takes is limiting your "net" carb intake to practically nothing - like 15 or 20 grams per day and that isn't much.  I'm glad this way of eating is working for you.  I still question how sustainable eating like this can be good for the long term.  I have only gone back on Adkins about 2 or 3 times since I first tried it, and I not seen the weight loss response as good as the first time, although I am not really overweight.  I really do like the mental clarity a ketogenic diet provides, especially compared to the early days of adderall recovery.  

[stealthology]

Quit-once -- it's the incorrect application of the ketogenic diet which makes it unsafe. That's where doing your homework beforehand counts.

I joke with myself that just about every day it feels like I'm on Adderall now. I have a laser like focus and energy. My moods are incredible and I don't get cranky. I'm almost never hungry and eat 2-3 times a day without snacking. Food is DELICIOUS. My skin is completely cleared up. My strength in the gym has gone up. My cholesterol has gone down and HDL up. So much more.

I feel like a very low carb, high fat diet can do wonders for the drug rehab crowd. I guess they're going to have to want to do it though, similar to quitting. And it will take some motivation to ensure you do things correct.

 

[Frank B]

On 8/29/2017 at 2:24 PM, stealthology said:

Quit-once -- it's the incorrect application of the ketogenic diet which makes it unsafe. That's where doing your homework beforehand counts.

I joke with myself that just about every day it feels like I'm on Adderall now. I have a laser like focus and energy. My moods are incredible and I don't get cranky. I'm almost never hungry and eat 2-3 times a day without snacking. Food is DELICIOUS. My skin is completely cleared up. My strength in the gym has gone up. My cholesterol has gone down and HDL up. So much more.

I feel like a very low carb, high fat diet can do wonders for the drug rehab crowd. I guess they're going to have to want to do it though, similar to quitting. And it will take some motivation to ensure you do things correct.

 

What do you eat for breakfast? Although love to have eggs and bacon everyday time wise normally don't have that luxury. Most all cereal and breakfast bars are high in carbs / sugar what's a fast high protein alternative?

[stealthology]

10 hours ago, Frank B said:

What do you eat for breakfast? Although love to have eggs and bacon everyday time wise normally don't have that luxury. Most all cereal and breakfast bars are high in carbs / sugar what's a fast high protein alternative?

Nowadays, I eat ~4-5oz ground beef cooked in extra lard for breakfast with a quite small portion of beef liver. An optional egg or two. I have it with a cup of homemade bone broth which I make & freeze every 3-4 weeks. Most days I have crazy energy right after eating. It's cool to witness food giving you energy vs. making you want to take a 15-minute nap. I'm on 0 caffeine and 0 supplements.

Bacon & eggs are great, Sugar-free & nitrate free bacon if you can afford it. Most people tend to find that beef is the most satiating meat.

Our society is addicted to carbs as I was my entire life growing up, and it's leading to numerous health epidemics which simply were not around before people became afraid of fat in the 80's & 90's and subsequently increased their carb intake (esp. processed, packaged carbs). It's funny though, the food I eat is so filling and satisfying that I simply don't crave carbs. I also know how I'll feel if I eat a nice, fluffy bagel or big bowl of cereal and milk.

 

[Frank B]

I have not eaten bagels since I stopped addy those things put me to sleep now. Think most all of us in recovery suffer from adrenal fatigue issues. Think about for years we were in a heightened fight or flight mode from addy this makes since why months and years off this drug some of us still struggle. Combating adrenal fatigue right now is my top priority. Last week was a low for me felt if I had addy would have taken it. I searched for reasons why I felt this way tired fatigued even though not over weight, sleep decently and work out almost daily. I found a lot of good info and this week really starting to feel better doing things differently. I have been taking out most carbs drinking some apple cider vinegar and my new favorite pickle juice (drink pickle juice vs Gatorade this stuff will recover your electrolytes quicker better and no sugar) . I don't know if I'll go to your extreme with the lard etc but open to anything new the old way wasn't working never has like u even as a kid a lacked energy. Unless you have no food at all you should have energy. To me means whatever I have been eating "even though never been overweight " has not been correctly converted to energy. I definitely feel on the right path now instead of just waiting for time alone to get better. 

[stealthology]

Good stuff, keep it up. I've looked into the adrenal fatigue stuff and completely agree. 

 I only use lard because I don't tolerate butter well. Funny how I'd been regularly eating small amounts of dairy my entire life and didn't even know my body hates the stuff until recently. I also discovered recently I have histamine intolerance, so I need to avoid high histamine foods (aged/fermented, unfresh meat, avocados/spinach, etc).

Keto really isn't that complex, it's basically eat meat, but not too much. Many people can't get into ketosis above 100g of protein. The fattier cut the better, and you can supplement with a small amount of cruciferous veggies, and another fat source if your meats aren't high enough in fat (butter, ghee, beef tallow, lard, coconut oil, etc). Adapting to become a much more efficient fat burner from a primarily sugar burning state can take as little as a week to a handful of weeks depending on how insulin resistant/how much metabolically damaged you are. For many it's really not that bad or long. The body is just like 'where the carbs at? wtf?' -- but then it quickly learns to use the fat as your primary fuel source- whether it be dietary fat or the fat on your body.

[ECFlores]

Hello stealthology! Thanks for sharing! Keto dieting is highly effective for helping individuals to shed body fat.One of my friends tried keto diet and achieve a success. she included nuts likes Walnuts, Indian Nuts in diet to lose weight effectively. One can also check the same who follows keto diet. If you are using Ketogenic dieting, you should be consuming a great deal of water each day.You should always check with your physician before diving into a Ketogenic diet.

 

[EricP]

I tried Keto shortly after stopping Addy and I agree it did add energy and clarity pretty quickly however my anxiety was real bad and it greatly amplified my anxiety as well. Once I told my doctor about my diet she was insistent I needed more healthy carbs in my diet. Once I followed her instructions it did help reduce about 50-60% of those anxiety symptoms however I lost the Keto buzz

I would like to try again however once I know my anxiety is pretty much in check.

 

 

[Frank B]

On 9/15/2017 at 1:55 AM, ECFlores said:

On 8/31/2017 at 10:55 AM, stealthology said:

Good stuff, keep it up. I've looked into the adrenal fatigue stuff and completely agree. 

 I only use lard because I don't tolerate butter well. Funny how I'd been regularly eating small amounts of dairy my entire life and didn't even know my body hates the stuff until recently. I also discovered recently I have histamine intolerance, so I need to avoid high histamine foods (aged/fermented, unfresh meat, avocados/spinach, etc).

Keto really isn't that complex, it's basically eat meat, but not too much. Many people can't get into ketosis above 100g of protein. The fattier cut the better, and you can supplement with a small amount of cruciferous veggies, and another fat source if your meats aren't high enough in fat (butter, ghee, beef tallow, lard, coconut oil, etc). Adapting to become a much more efficient fat burner from a primarily sugar burning state can take as little as a week to a handful of weeks depending on how insulin resistant/how much metabolically damaged you are. For many it's really not that bad or long. The body is just like 'where the carbs at? wtf?' -- but then it quickly learns to use the fat as your primary fuel source- whether it be dietary fat or the fat on your body.

 How would adding 

 

1 hour ago, EricP said:

I tried Keto shortly after stopping Addy and I agree it did add energy and clarity pretty quickly however my anxiety was real bad and it greatly amplified my anxiety as well. Once I told my doctor about my diet she was insistent I needed more healthy carbs in my diet. Once I followed her instructions it did help reduce about 50-60% of those anxiety symptoms however I lost the Keto buzz

I would like to try again however once I know my anxiety is pretty much in check.

 

 

  Been on a keto diet for a couple weeks personally have not had any noticeable spike in anxiety but everybody is different for sure. I even bought some Keto supplements they are expensive but seem to help not been on it long enough time to say it's worth the investment or not. So you have a doctor who didn't push meds for anxiety ? That's a rare find these days. 

[SleepyStupid]

i tried keto for about a month and lost about 10 pounds, which was great! these days, im keto during the weekdays and let myself cheat on the weekends. its probably not as effective this way, but unlike some of my friends on the same diet, i do not experience the "keto flu" symptoms when coming in and out of ketosis (just a mild headache). it certainly is effective for weight loss, though i dont know whether i experienced any mental clarity or "buzz" from it.. 

the one barrier to my continued commitment is being too lazy to cook. i wished i enjoyed cooking, or even being able to tolerate it, but i still suffer from mild depression and getting myself to do basic things such as food shopping, cooking and cleaning is difficult (but thankfully not impossible like it was before).

 

 

[Frank B]

4 minutes ago, sleepystupid said:

i tried keto for about a month and lost about 10 pounds, which was great! these days, im keto during the weekdays and let myself cheat on the weekends. its probably not as effective this way, but unlike some of my friends on the same diet, i do not experience the "keto flu" symptoms when coming in and out of ketosis (just a mild headache). it certainly is effective for weight loss, though i dont know whether i experienced any mental clarity or "buzz" from it.. 

the one barrier to my continued commitment is being too lazy to cook. i wished i enjoyed cooking, or even being able to tolerate it, but i still suffer from mild depression and getting myself to do basic things such as food shopping, cooking and cleaning is difficult (but thankfully not impossible like it was before).

 

 

I actually enjoy cooking now just hate cleaning lol. For me I have a cheat night on the weekends but just don't go crazy with it. Never had a "keto flue" but ever since I stopped addy always limited carbs now just adding more fat to my diet vs heavy on the proteins. I wish my work ethic was strong as my diet and workout drive. Sort of obsessed with those two things but far as doing my regular work that pays the bills I'm still behind production. But figure if I keep the fitness and diet to the max eventually it should carry over to my job output. Here Iam on here again avoiding my office work think I should ground myself from social media for awhile. 

[EricP]

2 hours ago, Frank B said:

 

It is likely I just had a ton of anxiety from stopping Addy and had nothing to do with the diet. Sometimes following a doctors orders will help curb anxiety so maybe listening and switching did help me.

I do have lorazepam .5mg that I use on a very sparingly basis. Usually only on a completely sleepless middle of the night episodes. Trying to stop completely however I am still a mess on some days. 

My doc knows I don't want more drugs to get off the drugs. However some days I consider trying an SSRI however I haven't read anything good here or anywhere about going that route. One day at a time... 

[Frank B]

1 hour ago, EricP said:

It is likely I just had a ton of anxiety from stopping Addy and had nothing to do with the diet. Sometimes following a doctors orders will help curb anxiety so maybe listening and switching did help me.

I do have lorazepam .5mg that I use on a very sparingly basis. Usually only on a completely sleepless middle of the night episodes. Trying to stop completely however I am still a mess on some days. 

My doc knows I don't want more drugs to get off the drugs. However some days I consider trying an SSRI however I haven't read anything good here or anywhere about going that route. One day at a time... 

Worse anxiety ever felt in my life was after taking a SSRI for a few days. They say it gets better, what after the  self-inflicted lobotomy takes its course? The bathroom problems, heartburn and urges to cut myself really made me research what the hell I was taking. Wish I did research before trying them but like you was desperate to find anything that could help. 

Quitting is a struggle no doubt just keep doing one day at a time. 

[stealthology]

On 9/15/2017 at 2:55 AM, ECFlores said:

..Keto dieting is highly effective for helping individuals to shed body fat...

It's highly effective for losing weight. The funny thing is I struggle sometimes to ensure I don't lose weight since I was already lean before keto. All I do is eat more fat, lol. By the way, for what it's worth, I'm stronger lifting weights now vs. before keto. I started keto purely for the mental/energy benefits.

22 hours ago, EricP said:

I tried Keto shortly after stopping Addy and I agree it did add energy and clarity pretty quickly however my anxiety was real bad and it greatly amplified my anxiety as well. Once I told my doctor about my diet she was insistent I needed more healthy carbs in my diet. Once I followed her instructions it did help reduce about 50-60% of those anxiety symptoms however I lost the Keto buzz

I would like to try again however once I know my anxiety is pretty much in check.

Quitting Adderall and basically starting keto at the same time has drastically helped my anxiety, depression, and overall moods. Don't expect your average doctor to be on board with keto, but I'm sure you'll get their attention with any weight loss & better blood work. I'm so addicted to the keto buzz. Sometimes, it feels very similar to being on Adderall. I'm being serious.

20 hours ago, Frank B said:

Been on a keto diet for a couple weeks personally have not had any noticeable spike in anxiety but everybody is different for sure. I even bought some Keto supplements they are expensive but seem to help not been on it long enough time to say it's worth the investment or not. So you have a doctor who didn't push meds for anxiety ? That's a rare find these days. 

Congrats Frank -- keep it up, it only gets better. Personally, I don't spend any money on keto supplements. The keto industry is really kinda taking off so it's understandable to see all these people making products. My staples are himalayan pink salt, grass fed ground beef, salmon, some egg yolks, chicken here and there, lard (get some at your local butcher), and some cruciferous veggies. I've had great results leaning more towards animal foods vs. plant foods. For 99% of the time we've been on this planet, we've been hunter & gatherers. Animal products are how our brains evolved to be so huge. Try and make sure you eat at least a 2:1 ratio in grams of fat:protein. Personally, I eat over 80% of my calories as fat and I feel amazing and my body composition has never been better. This is much better than Adderall.

19 hours ago, sleepystupid said:

i tried keto for about a month and lost about 10 pounds, which was great! these days, im keto during the weekdays and let myself cheat on the weekends. its probably not as effective this way, but unlike some of my friends on the same diet, i do not experience the "keto flu" symptoms when coming in and out of ketosis (just a mild headache). it certainly is effective for weight loss, though i dont know whether i experienced any mental clarity or "buzz" from it.. 

the one barrier to my continued commitment is being too lazy to cook. i wished i enjoyed cooking, or even being able to tolerate it, but i still suffer from mild depression and getting myself to do basic things such as food shopping, cooking and cleaning is difficult (but thankfully not impossible like it was before).

Nice. Personally, I've gone in and out of keto here and there over the course of the last 5 months. I hate being out of ketosis. A destructive day of higher carbs will mean for me ~2 days of hard work to get back to feeling good, and that's ounce you're mostly adapted. The "keto flu" mainly refers to the first 2-3 weeks of mainly an electrolyte imbalance in your body. Celtic sea salt or pink Himalayan salt is your best friend. If you didn't get a "buzz" from it.. I would make sure your fats are high enough, mainly from animal sources. 75-80%+ of your calories should be coming from fat.

17 hours ago, EricP said:

It is likely I just had a ton of anxiety from stopping Addy and had nothing to do with the diet. Sometimes following a doctors orders will help curb anxiety so maybe listening and switching did help me.

I do have lorazepam .5mg that I use on a very sparingly basis. Usually only on a completely sleepless middle of the night episodes. Trying to stop completely however I am still a mess on some days. 

My doc knows I don't want more drugs to get off the drugs. However some days I consider trying an SSRI however I haven't read anything good here or anywhere about going that route. One day at a time... 

I took .5-1mg Klonopin everyday for 10 years along with my Adderall. Earlier this year, a month after quitting Adderall and starting keto, I quit Klonopin. I felt a bit more anxiety for 3-4 weeks, then I felt amazing. YMMV. I now take 0 meds and also 0 supplements. No need to take a multivitamin or pre-workout if the food you are eating is nutrient dense. Do you know how big the supplement industry is? I do eat some bone broth and a small amount of beef liver daily for insurance. Screw meds. I feel better than ever now on absolutely nothing. 

Btw, for those new to keto, there's a pretty good introduction book available on Amazon & at your local Barnes & Noble called Keto Clarity.