Tag Archive for Ketogenic

Atkins Vs Keto


The reason we started consulting with individuals, families, and groups is because we absolutely love the positive changes we have been able to make in our lives and those around us. Really, we just had to share.
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One of the most common questions we get is, “What is the difference between this (Keto) and Atkins?

 

Many aspects are similar between Keto and the Phase 1 and 2 of Atkins.

 

I actually really like the book, The New Atkins for a New You, by Colette Heimowitz. This book was my reference for this post.

The New Atkins Made Easy: A Faster, Simpler Way to Shed Weight and Feel Great -- Starting Today!

 

Dr. Robert Atkins gained a significant amount of weight after starting his medical practice, and through research, created a diet that was based on the removal of sugar and starch from meals. Atkins believed that starchy carbohydrates were the main culprit of weight gain.

Dr Atkins

Atkins has four phases:

Phase 1 Induction: Dropping the carbs, increasing the healthy fats, and watching the calendar. Keep carb count between 18 and 22–Basically totally Keto!

 

Phase 2 Balancing: Add carbs back into your diet in 5 gram increments until weight loss levels slow. For some people, this can mean as high as 70 to 80 grams of carbs per day. (Kinda Keto depending on where you fall)

 

Phase 3 Pre-Maintenance: Add more carbs back into the diet in 5 to 10 gram increments until you are in your weight happy place.

 

Phase 4 Life time Maintenance: Transition to a way of eating that you can do forever. Adjust carbs as needed, hormonal changes, age, etc.

 

Dr. Atkins, in my humble opinion, was brilliant and way ahead of his time. He also did not die of a heart attack or stroke, he died from a Traumatic Brain Injury. He died after slipping on ice at the age of 72.

 

I also believe he is likely doing summersaults in his grave with all these Atkins boxes, bars, and packaged meals (oh my!)  These were not his intention at all!  Let’s stay away from pre-packaged please!

 

The Ketogenic Diet, on the other hand, came to be much earlier, around the 1920’s and was established more for therapeutic reasons, initially for Pediatric Epilepsy. The Ketogenic diet being prescribed to seizure prone children has since declined with the rise of anti-convulsion drugs that have been developed.

 

The Ketogenic Diet is wonderfully effective for weight loss, but has so many more benefits.

 

I personally started this diet once I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Cindy started after struggling with PCOS and being diagnosed as pre-diabetic.  The therapeutic benefits of the Ketogenic Diet can help most people, if they chose to do it for a short amount of time or even decide to become “lifers” like we have.

 

On Keto, you limit your sugar and carb intake to roughly 20 grams or try to keep it at 5% of your food. 70% of what you eat should be fat, and the remaining 25% protein.

 

The way I have approached Keto was to consume fat and above the ground veggies. I do not worry too much about the actual macro nutrient counts (grams.)

 

Keto and the beginning phases of Atkins have the same theme. However, Adkins on face value, does not stress the importance of adding high quality fat and keeping people feeling satisfied.

Fats that fight fat

Cindy and I both also feel very strongly about the quality of our food. While neither of us are perfect, we try to consume and serve our families as little processed food as possible.

 

The benefits of our new way of life have truly been astounding. I believe we have added years to our lives, become so much more efficient, and all around feel a ton better. Having clearer skin and weight loss were just an amazing bonus.

 

If you would like to learn more about our way of living, the therapeutic benefits of Ketosis, or just how to quit the sugar addiction please contact us.

Health Nuts

Health Nuts

 

 

What is Keto?

We were chatting the other day about keto (of course) and thought it might be a good idea to post a bit about the “basics.” While we we have been trucking right along with recipes and tips we realize not every one has been with us since the very beginning. So today’s post will be a little refresher about what the Ketogenic Diet is about.

This information is also located on the “What is Keto?” tab.

 

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So what are we talking about?


When Erin was diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer, she was immediately given books, journals and studies outlining the tragic effects sugar has on the body. Her father-in-law insisted she remove sugar from her life and start a Ketogenic diet. Upon further research, both Erin and Cindy have come to discover the benefits of a Ketogenic diet for more than just cancer patients. Other than Type I diabetics and alcoholics, the ketogenic diet is good for most people if even just used to power the brain with it’s preferred source of energy…FAT!

Fat is great for our brains and our bodies. Fat was given a really bad name back in the 1950’s, and continued to be beaten out of our diets based on false science until recently. When the fat was removed from our diets, food manufacturers added copious amounts of sugars and fillers to replace the fat that had once given us the natural flavors and textures we all loved in our food. In turn, this made us not only food addicts, but sugar addicts as well! Now, it is time to break the cycle and bring our nation back to the way we were originally designed to eat!

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In a Nutshell – KETO explained


A Ketogenic diet is a diet that consists of primarily fat, moderate protein, and very low carbohydrate intake. Many times referred to as Low Carb/High Fat (LCHF). The percentage of Macronutrients varies for each individual depending on insulin resistance and metabolic panel. For instance, Erin can eat quite a bit more protein and carbs without a negative impact on blood ketones. Cindy, on the other hand, has to have a higher fat intake with fewer carbs and protein in order to keep her blood sugar minimized because of her insulin resistance due to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). A typical day for most individuals would consist of 72.5% Fat, 22.5% Protein, and 5% Carbohydrates.

Ketosis occurs when your body shifts from burning glucose (sugar and carbohydrates) for fuel and instead burns ketone bodies produced by the consumption of fat. We call this Keto-Adapted.

Ketones are the ideal fuel for the body, unlike glucose, which is damaging, less stable, and shortens your life-span. Ketones are non-glycating, which means they don’t have an aging effect on your body.

The energy producing cells (powerhouse) of our body, the mitochondria, work much better on a Ketogenic diet as they are able to increase energy levels on a stable, long-burning, efficient, and steady supply of Ketones. No drug has been able to mimic the effect of Ketosis because the mitochondria were specifically designed to use fat for energy.

This was the diet of our ancestors years ago, and the way we were designed to live as they were scavengers and hunters. Our brains have evolved to live off of fat. In fact, our brains are primarily composed of fat and prefer such as a fuel.

Babies live on a Ketogenic diet. We were given a gift to provide newborns with the ultimate brain fuel naturally in breast milk. When babies are given breast milk which is primarily fat they are essentially Keto-Adapted and burning ketones for fuel which in turn helps construct and grow their brains.

In a nutshell…Being in Ketosis means your body is burning fat (Yay!). For your brain, it means clarity, less risk for seizures, a better environment for neuronal recovery and repair, plus more energy!

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What does a ketogenic diet treat?


Inflammation of many kinds, including joint pain
Individuals with high cholesterol
Individuals seeking greater mental focus
Obesity
Cancer
Type 2 Diabetes
Epilepsy
Autism
Alzheimers
Lou Gehrig’s Disease
Depression
Stroke and Head Trauma
Parkinsons
Migraines
Sleep Disorders
Schizophrenia
Anxiety
PCOS and Infertiltiy
ADHD
IBS
Cardiovascular Disease
Respiratory Failure
Reflux
Acne
Allergies
Strengths Immune System
Great for Indurance Athletes that want Sustained Energy
Great for Body Builders or Fitness Buffs that want increased definition of their muscles.
Fatigue

How Can Keto Help You?

Happy Alive

As a follow up from Erin’s emotional post on her Cancer survival, I thought this article apropos to post.  Erin gives so much credit to her survival of Cancer and continued remission to the Ketogenic diet.  Erin also did traditional therapy, but the results were much faster because of Keto.  So fast, in fact, that her doctor asked her what she was doing in addition to traditional therapy!  We often wonder if Keto could have cured it all, but at 31, she needed to do everything humanly possible to get that disease as far away as possible – forever!  So, we are definitely not saying to avoid traditional therapy, but we are saying that you can help yourself move towards faster healing by eliminating sugar from your diet because sugar feeds Cancer!  As you will read in the article, a majority of Cancers have been proven to be metabolic diseases.  All are not simply genetic, or a case of bad luck, as so many of us have been told and believed for quite some time.

How are metabolic diseases treated?  Answer: Diet

If you have not already read our page entitled, “What is a Ketogenic Diet?” I encourage you to do so.  While we often speak to Cancer, the Ketogenic Diet can be used to treat many other diseases and illnesses, and help you live a stronger, healthier and more fulfilled life.  For instance, it reversed my pre-diabetic status, put my PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome symptoms at bay, and alleviated every bit of lower back pain I had from an injury I sustained while training for a marathon several years ago when I ruptured a disk.

This article is excellent in explaining how great the Keto diet is for most Cancers, and why we don’t hear more about it (hint…$$$).

I also encourage you to do your own research or talk to your doctor about how this type of lifestyle might be able to help you with your own ailments or even just living a healthier lifestyle.  I will tell you; I have never felt better, been stronger, or had clearer skin in my entire life!  I just wish I had learned about it sooner than a year and a half ago.  I hope that it can help you too!  Let us know how we can help you!

Posted with Love,

Cindy

From examiner.com:

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Seyfried discussed why the ketogenic diet has not been embraced by the medical community to treat cancer despite its proven track record both clinically and anecdotally.

“The reason why the ketogenic diet is not being prescribed to treat cancer is purely economical,” said Dr. Seyfried, author of Cancer as a Metabolic Disease. “Cancer is big business. There are more people making a living off cancer than there are dying of it.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/low-carb-ketogenic-diet-beats-chemo-for-most-cancers-says-dr-thomas-seyfried

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