Ketogenic Diet update.

I first found out about this type of dieting a while ago, and had a passing interest.  Later on in life, I stumbled upon a blog called Chaos and Pain (www.chaosandpain.blogspot.com) wherein the author (Jamie Lewis) detailed it extensively.  Go to his site and get the extensive version.  As a note, if you're a pussy and can't handle bluntness, don't read anything on his blog.  The gist of the diet is to not eat carbohydrates and to get calories from fat and protein.  This will cause you to burn fat for energy which will cause you to get lean. 

What is more interesting, is that a ketogenic diet can help with autism and seizures.  According to a study, autistic children from four to ten years of age used a ketogenic diet for six months.  30 children started the study, most couldn't hack the diet.  18 could, and they did so in a four week, followed by two weeks off ketosis type of cycle. 

Significant improvement (> 12 units of the Childhood Autism Rating Scale) was recorded in two patients (pre-Scale: 35.00 +/- 1.41[mean +/- SD]), average improvement (> 8-12 units) in eight patients (pre-Scale: 41.88 +/- 3.14[mean +/- SD]), and minor improvement (2-8 units) in eight patients (pre-Scale: 45.25 +/- 2.76 [mean +/- SD]). Although these data are very preliminary, there is some evidence that the ketogenic diet may be used in autistic behavior as an additional or alternative therapy.(Journal of Child Neurology, Volume 18, issue 2 (February 2003), p. 113-118.
ISSN: 0883-0738 DOI: 10.1177/08830738030180020501
Sage Publications)

The epilepsy foundation (http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/answerplace/medical/treatment/diet/) has a shit ton to say about ketogenic dieting as well.  They say that, "When carefully monitored by a medical team familiar with its use, the diet helps two out of three children who are tried on it and may prevent seizures completely in one out of three."  

Who the fuck knew?

Hopefully the research keeps on flowing with this kind of stuff.  Which leads to me.  I decided to do this to lose some fat.  This is my third day of it, and I haven't experienced any of the horrible things that some people say they do on a diet like this.  I have not gotten any headaches.  Then again, I drink over a gallon of water daily.  Water moves stuff through you.  Carbohydrates hold water.  I have no carbs.  Ergo I need more water. 

We could all use a little water.  

 

 

 The headaches I do get are from a lack of caffeine.  I don't want to throw too much milk in my coffee and have the carbs in milk fuck me out of ketosis.  I also have not experienced any drop in energy, in spite of the fact that I still train my ass off--I rarely lift less than 75% of my Deadlift 1RM--I deadlift twice a week--and I train kettlebell ballistics and heavy presses on other days of the week.  I plan on starting back my kettlebell juggling regularly too.  If you can do it for minutes, it knocks the tar out of you. 

Then again, this is only my third day of it.   Also of note, I am not constipated.  I take a fiber supplement.  You should too.  I have been eating eggs, lean beef, and chicken wings (thanks again Jamie Lewis of Chaosandpain).  The wings are great because they have more protein than fat, and you can make four pounds of the stuff all at once, and eat it through out the day.  According to my package, one four ounce serving has 18 grams of fat and 21 grams of protein.  They round up and say it's 250 calories, but the math adds up to 246.  Do the math on four pounds.  You get a lot of protein and fat on it.  So, this could all be subject to change.  I could potentially feel like crap tomorrow, or next week.  I plan on going at it for a few more days, and refeeding on Sunday, and starting over again.  I will have pictures also when I see a significant change.  

For many people this is probably normal.