Why Ketosis Diets Will Fail: The Paleo and Keto Manifesto
The most disturbing trend in wellness these days is that most people have no idea what to eat.
When choices were fewer, 100 years ago, how to eat for good health was much clearer. Americans have been so steeped in diet fads that they’re now thoroughly confused about food.
What You Need to Know About Ketosis
In this article:
- Changing Diets and Fads
- New Fad: Low-Carb Ketogenic Diet
- Ketogenic Diet Skeptic
- The Diet Industry and Their New Fads
- The Calorie and Carbohydrate Restrictions
- Fasting for the Keto Diet
- Is a Low Carbohydrate Diet Good for You?
- The Vegan Diet
- Why the Keto Diet is Doomed
- Keto Quotes | Experts Challenge Ketogenic Myths
- Gerson Therapy | Nutritional Regimen for Cancer
- Reconsider Diet Fad-Hopping
- Diets for a Longer Life
Changing Diets and Fads
Recently, I mentioned to a millennial that when I was a kid, we didn’t have bottled water, and she said, with a shocked look on her face, “Then how did you get any water to drink?!”
Programmed Food Cults
Similarly, modern people think that in order to eat, you have to follow one of the diet fads. A strange feature of life in 2018 is the need to align with a programmed “food cult,” as I call them.
Thanks to some strange cultural and market forces I do not believe to be particularly helpful to our overall health, food has become much like religion.
Many don’t know how to eat outside of what their food tribe, congregation, or pastor tells them, and every few years, many people convert to the new cult.
“I’m Paleo,” people say—as if identifying with a coat of arms.
I’ve been asked countless times, “What diet do you eat?”
New Fad: Low-Carb Ketogenic Diet
Several years ago, I wrote a detailed blog post on why the Paleo Diet was a fad, wouldn’t last, and why it would eventually be supplanted by a new fad aggrandizing fat rather than protein.
Paleo followers wrote murderous emails and comments.
Now those same people, it seems, are rabidly promoting the Ketogenic Diet.
The Paleo Diet
I felt I was fair to the Paleo Diet. We were friends, to a point. At least the Paleo cult banned processed food, even while glorifying animal flesh foods and strangely vilifying entire classes of foods that hominids and humans have eaten for 3.4 million years:
Now, it seems, we’ve gone from the proverbial frying pan to the fire.
New Golden Child: High-Fat Diet
As I predicted would happen from many live stages on my lecture tours earlier in this decade, the new “golden child” in the diet industry is, predictably, fats.
It turns out over-eating protein saved us from exactly nothing. Following historical trends, then, a new diet fad must be born to instruct the Western world how to eat.
To clarify, fat isn’t really a “new” golden child. It’s a recycled golden child since Atkins already did it, and the Ketogenic Diet isn’t all that different from the famed Atkins Diet that many published studies showed was not beneficial to our health.
Ketogenic Diet Skeptic
Eating mostly meat can lead to many health and wellness issues
The least profitable foods—the ones that grow in the ground and on trees—are the least likely to get any significant attention from the food cults.
Paleo and Ketogenic Diet Failure
The most profitable foods (those in packages, made with “proprietary processes” and stamped with “Paleo Friendly” or “Keto Approved”) also have the lowest vibrational energy, the lowest micronutrient levels, the lowest fiber, and the lowest ability to prevent disease.
I’ve invited some of my friends—medical doctors, researchers, and authors who have watched the diet industry’s chokehold on the American diet with growing alarm—to weigh in on the latest fad now often called “Keto.” Their quotes are included in this blog post.
The Inevitable Keto Failure
I believe this latest ketosis diet will be chased off the stage by research that was already published at the end of the reign of the Atkins diet fad, along with additional research that's sure to come, all showing the overwhelming negative health effects of overeating animal products and repeatedly manipulating the body into a state of “ketosis.”
I also predict that five years from now, the same people advocating the “ketogenic diet” currently will be onto a new fad, promoting the new golden child instead.
The Diet Industry and Their New Fads
The diet industry is constantly changing and selling new ways to lose weight or be healthy
Here’s the thing: the diet industry is big business. Tens of billions of dollars a year. It’s in collusion with the packaged food industry.
These wealthy industries aren’t going anywhere, and they are a treadmill, needing a new fad every few years so they can replace “Paleo Approved” products with “Keto Approved” products and create the false need for more consumption.
Why Are There So Many Diet Plans?
The diet authors and processed food industries pivot, pose, and preen based on whatever is popular, not what’s actually good for human health.
Elimination Diets
The cabbage soup diet. The green smoothies diet. The werewolf (lunar) diet. The grapefruit diet. The tapeworm diet. The blood type diet. The apple cider vinegar diet. The cotton ball diet. The wheat-elimination diet. The alkaline diet.
The authors of some of these books are friends of mine. Good people.
And I’m not innocent. I wrote The Green Smoothies Diet, after all. (I threw that in the list, to be fair. Someone would have brought it up.) I’m willing to put my own book on the pileup to make an important point.
The Green Smoothies Diet
As a side note, though, may I share why I wrote that book? What I actually wrote wasn’t a “diet” at all. It was about how combining lots of superfoods and greens in a blender is an answer to our nutrient insufficiency, in an age where we want all our food to be “fast.” But the publisher insisted on naming it The Green Smoothies Diet. "Write whatever you want," they said, "but we WILL call it a 'diet,' and if you refuse, we’ll find another author to write it." That book has sold more copies than my other 14 books combined (which demonstrates the point: diet books sell).
The Big Business of Diet Fads
So, aggrandizing one food class, or one food, as if it has magical properties that will save everyone from every disease, is good for business.
Vilifying a class of foods, and teaching people how to avoid them, is big business, too, and fundamental to the diet industry.
To do either of these things, you generally have to cherry-pick data, ignoring a great deal of evidence to the contrary.
The Diet isn’t for Everyone
I play tennis competitively, and on the court recently, one of my tennis teammates was doubled over. It was only 9 am, so I asked:
“You seem really tired, what’s wrong?”
She said, “I’m on the ketogenic diet, and I’m exhausted. My husband just got really ‘shredded’ on it, but I don’t feel good at all.”
The Calorie and Carbohydrate Restrictions
Cutting carbs from your diet is not a healthy or sustainable way to reach your health goals
You can lose weight in countless ways. Atkins, Ketogenic, you name it. They’re banning whole categories of foods, and they’ve all been shown, in studies tracking what the dieter actually eats, to be clever forms of calorie restriction.
(Many evaluations of the popular diets since Atkins have shown that since no one wants to eat unlimited protein or unlimited fats, dieters end up eating fewer calories.)
Low-Carb Diet
But the human body has lived on carbohydrates—70 percent carbohydrates, on average—since the dawn of time. It’s the food your liver requires.
Carbohydrates aren’t bad, just by virtue of being carbohydrates.
The talk about “carbs” is virtually meaningless, since most foods are high in carbohydrates.
Different Types of Carbohydrate Intake
You’ve got simple and complex carbs, whole-food carbs and refined-food carbs. You’ve got “carb” foods full of important soluble or insoluble fiber—or both.
You’ve got wonderful “carb” foods that are extremely high in micronutrients (hundreds of different vitamins, minerals, enzymes, phytonutrients)—and others that are worthless, and harmful, with virtually no micronutrients.
Shortcomings of Fat and Protein Intake-Only Diets
It should be noted that “proteins” and “fats,” though they have important properties needed for health, are almost always foods with little or no dietary fiber and very low micronutrient density as well. Since our gastrointestinal cancers epidemic is largely due to lack of fiber and micronutrients in the “standard American diet,” eliminating carbs seems a terrible idea for cancer prevention and treatment, especially when it comes to colorectal cancers.
Making ALL Carbs Look Bad
Truly, lumping all the foods containing “carbohydrate” into a single class makes little sense.
Because even if we narrow it down and look at two foods high in simple sugars as an example, a bagel and a banana are very different foods.
The Bagel and the Banana
Bananas and bagels are both 'carbs'
The bagel is Roundup-sprayed (twice!), stripped of fiber and lacking any real micronutrients, gluey, and will slow your digestion. It has nothing to offer you besides a gluten reaction and a blood-sugar and insulin spike.
A banana, though, has soluble fiber and dozens of nutrients, including potassium and magnesium. It is a high-vibration food that contributes to longevity.
Calling both of these foods “carbs” is misleading—virtually useless, in fact.
The Danger of Restricting Carbs
Eliminating or severely restricting carbohydrates from the diet, as both the Paleo and Keto diets do, is especially problematic since foods considered “carbs” are the foods highest in fiber and micronutrients, which are linked, in thousands of studies, to reduced disease risk.
Fasting for the Keto Diet
Fasting is actually quite healthy for you; ketogenic fasting, however, is not
Fasting is part of the ketogenic diet, and fasting is a great idea.
However, to put the logical fallacy to rest: fasting is part of the ketogenic diet, and fasting is good for you, but that does not mean the ketogenic diet as a whole is a healthy, sustainable way to live or even a good way to lose weight.
Researched Benefits of Fasting
Fasting is well-researched and time-tested. Many cultures of the world have engaged in periods of not eating for physical purification as well as spiritual benefits, and many research studies show fasting to be beneficial for human health.
[Related Article: Will a Fasting Diet Give You The Results You Want?]
Fasting Problem with Ketosis
The benefits of fasting aren’t necessarily related to the state of “ketosis,” where starvation supposedly forces fat burn. (See Dr. Alan Christianson’s quote below about whether “ketosis” is even what the Keto diet claims it is.)
I’m far more interested in the induced state of autophagy from a 12-hour fast, or for a longer fast lasting several days.
I’ve water-fasted (no food, only water) for stretches of 7 days, 9 days, and 12 days in the past two years.
Why? Because in autophagy, when the body has no food, it scavenges aberrant cells and sends immune function into high gear, gobbling up cancer cells, yeast, mold, byproducts of metabolism—generally and specifically cleaning house.
Fasting for a Long Life
I believe fasting is one of the most powerful things you can do for longevity and to avoid chronic disease. Thomas Lodi, M.D., a Columbia-trained medical doctor, presents all his cancer patients with information on water fasting and tells them it’s the single most powerful thing they can do in their treatment.
Why Fasting Doesn’t Work with Keto
Compare that to the ketogenic diet plan, where you may be advised to drink acidic coffee full of butter alongside a plate of bacon. This is unsustainable, unpalatable, and artery-clogging, as well as devastatingly low in chlorophyll, oxygen, raw enzymes, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
Is a Low Carbohydrate Diet Good For You?
Let’s take a look at some of the myths around the diet industry’s theory that carbs make you tired, sick, and fat.
Ari Whitten and Wade Smith, MD’s book, The Low Carb Myth, says this:
“The Carbohydrate Theory of Obesity [an attempt to blame fat gain on carbohydrates and sugars] is based on numerous scientific inaccuracies, omissions of data, and countless instances of data cherry-picking.”
The Paleo Diet Do’s and Don'ts
One study showed the Paleo Diet to be most essentially defined, by its followers, as eating more vegetables. If that’s the case, we’re all friends here.
The Paleo Diet does ban white flour, processed sugar, and chemicals in your food.
Unfortunately, most people embracing it eat even more animal products (protein and fat) than the average American does, and that is an important note in pointing out the problems with the Paleo diet.
Banning Legumes, Fruits, and Grains
Legumes, fruits, and unprocessed grains have been part of healthy diets worldwide since the dawn of man 3.4 million years ago, as shown by recent research on early hominids at the University of Utah.
If you don’t want to eat legumes and whole grains, or if you’re reactive to legumes due to a damaged microbiome—fine, you can probably also stay healthy eating really clean forms of animal protein.
But keep in mind that it generally takes 20 pounds of plants to bring 1 pound of animal food to market.
The Vegan Diet
A vegan diet provides a number of health benefits many are searching for in other diets
If vegetarians and vegans make you angry (both Paleo and Keto diet proponents tend to be rather anti-vegan), check your thinking. Vegans may be dogmatic, and you may not like their style in promoting their diet, but their diet is using 5 percent of the Earth’s resources to sustain themselves, drastically less than someone eating the 30 to 60 percent animal proteins of the Paleo and Keto diets.
Less Damage to the Planet
Healthy vegans, the ones who eat whole foods as opposed to junk food, are living with far less impact on the planet.
Maybe you should thank a vegetarian today, even if you’re personally choosing to eat meat. The direction we’re driving the diet bus these days, with so many packaged foods and animal foods, isn’t sustainable ecologically.
Why The Keto Diet is Doomed
The ketogenic diet is not sustainable, for you or the environment
We can all be friends, and I love the Paleo Diet for getting people off processed food.
But Paleo’s new, sexy sibling, the Ketogenic Diet? It’s just bad news. It’s lipstick on a pig.
(Let the hate mail begin.)
And the worst of the bad are these people selling toxic jugs of “ketones.” Please don’t drink this plastic, petroleum-product garbage. It’s pure marketing, it’s not food, and it’s not good for you.
Scientific Warnings Against Ketosis
The Ketogenic Diet will eventually be run out of town by scientific studies of long-term results, just like all the others have. (Eat Right for Your Blood Type, Atkins, and Paleo come to mind.)
And in fact, the Ketogenic diet is so similar to Atkins that many experts have written entire books warning America that the excesses of animal products and the strange “ketones” phenomenon represent a serious threat to public health, based on volumes of published research.
Think of the Long-Term Effects
Use your critical thinking skills rather than sign on as a human guinea pig every time the diet and food manufacturing industries put a new spin on a tired, old debunked concept in front of you.
We already know what people eat to lose weight and keep it off. High-fat, bacon-and-eggs meals with coffee? That’s not it.
No Health Benefits
The Keto marketers have brought one of the worst, but most popular, diets in the history of diets (Atkins!), back to life. With a fasting twist.
Cancer survivor and nutrition researcher Chris Wark says, “The ketogenic diet is like fasting, only with none of the health benefits.”
With the ketogenic diet’s new obsession with “fasting,” diet marketers have taken something good and made it into something commercial and less-than-helpful.
Just Another Atkins Diet
In effect, Keto marketers have brought Atkins back from the dead, even though it's one of the worst diets in the history of diets.
The twist? It’s still bacon and coffee for breakfast, but this time, there's fasting!
Haven’t we evolved past this? If you eat for ketosis, plan to have constipation, bad breath, yo-yo weight loss and gain, and your liver breaking down, just like happened for millions of Atkins sufferers and Dr. Robert Atkins himself, who suffered from heart disease.
We already learned with the Atkins Diet that bouncing in and out of ketosis is a great way to end up heavier than you started, possibly with a new diabetes diagnosis.
Keto Quotes | Experts Challenge Ketogenic Myths
Ari Whitten and Wade Smith | The Low-Carb Myth
Ari Whitten and Wade Smith, MD, said, in their book, The Low-Carb Myth:
“….the notion of everyone eating diets of essentially nothing but fat and protein with only a tiny amount of carbohydrate as a widespread initiative to combat obesity is laughable, since any dietary pattern so extreme as to jettison an entire macronutrient (and simultaneously limit another one) is simply unsustainable for the majority of people.”
Harry Massey | Filmmaker
My friend, filmmaker Harry Massey, was convinced by a mutual friend of ours, one of the diet book authors, to try the new fad, and this is what he told me:
“I went on the ketogenic diet, I felt like crap, and three months later I was diabetic.”
I also did an interview with him on the Vibe Podcast, Ep.31: The Human Body Field with Harry Massey for more Harry Massey wisdom.
Dr. Joel Fuhrman | NYT Bestselling Author
Dr. Joel Fuhrman, MD, 4-time NYT bestselling author, joined me for Episode 37 of the Vibe Podcast, "Eat to Live," and shared these thoughts additionally with me about the ketogenic diet:
"There are many variations of the ketogenic diet, and some are more dangerous than others. One thing known without question is that the long-term safety of these diets is unknown, because studies would have to follow thousands of people for decades into their 70s and 80s to truly ascertain the true risks.W hat we do know with certainty from such long-term studies is that as the proportion of products from animal products increase in the diet, so does the death rate from cancer and heart disease.
"In other words, the quality and long-term safety of a diet can be determined by the ratio of 'produce' calories to 'animal product' calories. We also know that diets richer in antioxidants and phytochemicals—and with a broad variety of such anti-cancer immune-supporting substances—are critical to prevent later-life cancers.
"The ketogenic diet generally uses high amounts of oils, which do not contain a significant micronutrient content as a source of calories, thus diluting the micronutrient density of the diet.
"In summary, it is not the diet best designed to push the envelope of human longevity, though a ketogenic diet, if well designed, may not be as dangerous as the highly processed-food SAD diet, which contains dangerous ingredients such as white flour, sugar, fried foods, soda and junk food."
—Joel Fuhrman, MD
Dr. Alan Christianson | NYT Bestselling Author
I spoke at length with Dr. Alan Christianson, NMD, NYT bestselling author, in Episode 50 and Episode 121 of the Vibe Podcast. Here, he challenges the entire foundation of the diet:
“The ketogenic diet is a legitimate tool for helping reduce seizures among epileptic children who did not respond to medication. We may learn more in the coming years about benefits to other conditions, but most think of it as an easy path to weight loss.
“The underlying assumption people make is that the ketogenic diet makes them better at burning fat. Sadly, it does the exact opposite, and the confusion comes about from using the phrase 'burning fat' in two different contexts. Using fat for fuel is called beta-oxidation. Breaking down body fat is called lipolysis. Ketosis is the state in which your liver cannot burn fat for fuel. It can burn fat for fuel only when carbohydrate and protein are also present.
“A ketogenic diet only leads to lipolysis when it contains fewer calories than is needed. This is true of any diet. When a ketogenic diet has more calories than is needed, the extra dietary fat that is initially converted to ketones gets turned into triglycerides and stored as body fat.
“In a controlled human study comparing a ketogenic diet against a high carb, high-sugar diet with the same number of calories, the high-carb diet led to more fat loss than the ketogenic diet.
“Besides the lack of efficacy for weight loss, the ketogenic diet has risks to consider for those seeking to improve their health. The evidence supporting the benefits of dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals, is undeniable. The ketogenic diet is devoid of fiber and low in vitamins and minerals.
“Along with a myriad of side effects like fatigue, diarrhea, muscle cramps, and headaches, people on ketogenic diets also run the risks of:
- hypothyroidism
- impaired athletic performance
“We may find more medical applications of the ketogenic diet and more ways to mitigate some of the inherent risks and deficiencies it creates. However, ketones are not the 'preferred' source of fuel for the human body, nor are they effective hacks for weight loss.”
—Alan Christianson, NMD
I collected more expert opinions on the trouble with keto diets (22 and counting!) which go into more detail than this overview.
Weight Loss Diet Rankings
When U.S. News and World Report ranked diets for nutrition and successful weight loss, the Paleo Diet ranked at number 32 out of 40, and Keto tied for dead last, at 39!
Keto Claim for Cancer
One of the most troubling aspects to the new diet fad is the claim that it will cure cancer.
When Dr. Charles Majors first began claiming that the ketogenic diet cures cancer, many experts demanded any longitudinal study with evidence of this. Not only did Dr. Majors fail to produce any, he also recently passed away. Of cancer.
Gerson Therapy | Nutritional Regimen for Cancer
The Gerson therapy consists of an intake of juices from a wide variety of fruits and vegetables
As a counterpoint, the Gerson therapy as a nutritional regimen for cancer has reversed tens of thousands of cancer patients’ Stage IV cancer for 100 years now, and while it’s not a miracle cure, in this age of toxicity and far more virulent forms of cancer, it is based on legitimate concepts.
1. Fresh Greens and Vegetables
First, more than 10 glasses a day of fresh pressed green and vegetable juice floods the body with nutrients and oxygen to detoxify and rebuild immune function. (The ketogenic diet is high in fats, but very low in both fiber and micronutrients, as Dr. Christianson pointed out in the quote above.)
2. Carbohydrate-Rich Foods
Second, Gerson uses efficacious, non-toxic methods of breaking down and eliminating tumor tissue. (That’s glucose plus oxygen in the cells, using organic plant material in “carbohydrate” foods rich in every known anti-cancer nutrient: the effect is alkalizing and cancer destroying.)
[Related Article: Gerson Therapy: My Observations From a 20 Clinic Tour]
Reconsider Diet Fad-Hopping
The “diet before diets” was heavily plant based—rich in greens, vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
I hope you’ll reconsider jumping on every bandwagon each time a new fad diet comes out.
Original Plant-Based Diet
The “diet before diets” was heavily plant-based (as opposed to vegetarian or vegan, which implies no animal products, ever) rich in greens, vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. Healthy people from all over the world, as documented best in the Blue Zones research, ate quite widely varying diets based on what was available in specific geographic areas.
But all of the Blue Zones eat a heavily plant-based diet, and two of them eat virtually no animal protein at all.
Dr. Joel Kahn | Wayne State Clinic
Here's another quote by cardiologist Dr. Joel Kahn, MD, Wayne State Clinical Professor of Medicine and guest in Vibe Podcast Episode 140:
“While ketogenic diets prompt the production of ketone bodies as fuel and are of proven value in rare cases of refractory epilepsy, they are also associated with data in several studies suggesting they boost the long-term risk of premature death. I would not advise the daily use of a long-term ketogenic strategy based on animal product consumption.”
Diets for a Longer Life
If we must attach a name to the “diet” associated with health and longevity, the plant-based and Mediterranean diets are the only ones that consistently show long-term positive outcomes, across thousands of published studies.
Dr. David Katz | Yale Meta-Study
The 2013 Yale meta-study under the direction of David Katz, MD, reviewed over 10,000 published studies in the field of nutrition over the course of the past decade and concluded that the most consistent finding is that eating more plants prevents disease. I've spoken with him on what true health means and how to get there in Episode 90 of the Vibe Podcast for even more valuable information.
Plants vs Meat Diets
Both the Paleo and Keto diets, the way that most people follow them, have people eating even more animal foods than in the Standard American Diet.
Primarily plant-based diets are what the vast majority of people ate before there were “diets.”
Disease and Processed Foods
Of course, there has been a wide variety in the specific foods eaten by various peoples, based on their availability, for 3.4 million years of human history.
But degenerative disease was rare in cultures eating whole foods, including mostly carbohydrates, for the entire history of humans, until 100 years ago when the processed food industry was born and the diet industry followed right behind it.
Do you have more questions about the keto and paleo diets? Do you want to know more about a diet with whole and unprocessed foods? Feel free to leave your questions in the comments section below.
Up Next: I Went Fasting Without Food for 40 Days | Here’s What I Learned
Robyn Openshaw, MSW, is the bestselling author of The Green Smoothies Diet, 12 Steps to Whole Foods, and 2017’s #1 Amazon Bestseller and USA Today Bestseller, Vibe. Learn more about how to make the journey painless, from the nutrient-scarce Standard American Diet, to a whole-foods diet, in her free video masterclass 12 Steps to Whole Foods.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that help support the GSG mission without costing you extra. I recommend only companies and products that I use myself.
Editor’s Note – This post was originally published on January 3, 2018, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
Posted in: 12 Steps To Whole Food, Eco Friendly Living, Health Concerns, Lifestyle, Whole Food
You assume everyone on a keto diet is eating copious amounts of animal protein. That might be incorrect. Keto is moderate protein, high fat, and low (not no) carbs. I had a big salad for lunch full of mixed greens, cucumbers, red pepper, red onion, broccoli, and red cabbage. To that I added one hard boiled egg, an avocado, small amount of cut up leftover steak, and a creamy Italian dressing. It’s not a pound of bacon at every meal.
yes, people have a significant variance in how they practice this fad diet (ditto Paleo, i actually know vegan people trying to “do paleo” or “do keto”)….and one way to do it is to eat big salads, like yours, with two animal products on it.
do that three times a day, and you’ve still got yourself six servings of animal products.
i don’t think everyone eats a pound of bacon at every meal. however, atkins advocated for “unlimited” bacon, hamburger, pork, all of it….eventually revised, under heavy pressure from many public health agencies….still a terrible diet…..and as i laid out, in this article, the average person eating keto OR eating paleo, according to the studies published thus far, are still eating even more meat than the average american….who already eats 2x as much as we should be.
except obviously the vegan wouldn’t be eating the 6 servings of animal product in her salad. then she’d just be eating a healthy but more typical vegan diet. also, it’s not ketogenesis, check out Dr. Alan Christianson’s quote in the article.
Reading this strengthened my belief in LCHF. You’ve got a narrative, and a cause to protect. Why have I dropped 35 lbs., and I’m just getting started. Why has my A1C dropped from Type 2 diabetes, to safe range? Why is my skin clearing up? Why no more joint pain? Why, why, why?
possibly because you also got off processed food. (which most people do, when going on ANY diet.) which will clear up symptoms, all by itself. i don’t know what LCHF is, does that mean low carb, high fat? and, i don’t have a “cause” except to help people understand that jumping onto the next diet isn’t the long term answer. as i said a couple of times in the blog post, i knew i would get angry people who didn’t read the entire article, because all they know is that they lost some weight on the diet. if “LCHF” is ketogenic diet, you may want to read Ari Whitten’s and Wade Smith’s book The Low Carb Myth, and take a look at the literature about how weight loss eating high fat is temporary. you may also want to click into the US News & World Report that evaluates all the diets, to review the info on how well that diet does, when evaluated in groups of people over a longer period of time.
Totally agree with you! My blood sugar levels have improved, skin cleared up, sleep well, great energy, no more brain fog. Dropped 35 lbs too! I didn’t eat processed food before going keto, so that didn’t make the difference.
After 30 years as a vegetarian, I adopted a ketogenic diet almost a year ago. It has fluctuated occasionally, for sake of enjoying life and good times, but mostly in ketosis. I had no need to lose weight nor to “become healthy”. From my reading/research, the evidence for it, and for animal based omega 3 fatty acids, has been quite compelling.
My diet consists of minimal animal protein, as it is apparently also problematic, and also includes copious amounts of raw vegetables/carbs. And fat, of course.
In your article you state that one (1) person you spoke to said she felt terrible after going on a “ketogenic diet”, but such comments, observations are completely meaningless. There are so many unknown variables that no conclusion or valid observation can be made from it.
I continue to read on all aspects regarding diet and nutrition, and I have never “dieted”. I eat what I consider to be the healthiest way possible, while still enjoying life.
sounds like you’re experimenting responsibly, Mimi. for you, it sounds like you’re eating a precise and whole foods diet, whether ketogenic or otherwise. adding some essential fatty acids isn’t the ketogenic diet; it’s just adding some fats. did you read Dr. Alan Christianson’s quote about what ketogenesis really is? my argument isn’t limited to setting up the conversation with the story of my friend Harry Massey’s becoming diabetic after 3 months on the ketogenic diet, or my teammate’s inability to finish 90 minutes of tennis…..if you read the article, you’ll find much more than that underpinning the argument that ketogenic diets are a fad.
Thank you for this commentary, Robyn! I’ve sensed this and have been unable to comprehend the popularity of the Keto diet, given the similarity to – and negative results of – the Atkins Diet.
After my sister had a cancerous kidney removed, her Naturopath (specializing in oncology) put her on the Keto diet. It seems counterproductive and even harmful to put that sort of strain on her remaining kidney! It was my understanding that the ketosis achieved via the Atkins diet was detrimental to kidneys. Just does not compute.
hi Janis, I’m beyond shocked seeing how many of my colleagues are jumping on the ketogenic fad, which has absolutely no longitudinal data to support positive outcomes in the short term. (And quite a bit of negative data, given the fact that it’s not really new–it just has a new name.) But I’ve made my prediction here: they’ll be onto another fad, in 5 years. I think many functional practitioners don’t have time to teach a whole-foods lifestyle, so the “easy thing” is to just tell them to go “do Paleo” or “do Keto” or whatever. Unfortunately, that leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and I don’t think what most people are actually EATING under the “Keto” banner (for instance, the bacon and butter obsession) is a positive diet for minimizing disease risk, at all.
Woah, you’re way off. I’ve been on keto for over a year, and many others have done it way longer than I have. It has CURED my fibromyalgia, lowered my blood pressure, and I could go on and on. Weren’t you on a podcast with Drew Manning? Didn’t hear you attack keto then or tell him he can’t sustain it? Cheers, keep drinking your insulin spiking smoothies and I’ll go for my keto coffee. If you don’t like keto, that’s cool. But to attack something that’s helped so many people….you need to do more research.
PS- not sure if you know this…but Atkins was high protein….keto is not. You also are talking about meat being over the “standard diet” amounts on keto…..which is the problem. The standard American diet is killing a lot of us!
keto is actually still fairly high in protein…..and atkins was high in both protein and fat. it’s really kind of semantics….those foods generally go together in the same packages.
Thanks, Robyn! My daughter has just been advised by a local naturopath to get rid of the carbs and eat more red meat because she has candida (and high estrogen and asthma and is gluten sensitive and a B12 deficiency). She has been avoiding wheat and sugar for a couple of years now and has made great strides in her health. I would think that a TEMPORARY no-carb diet would kill off candida quickly, right? I doubt that we can pull off a truly no-carb diet (which will likely make the candida diet off much more slowly, argh) so I will be content with just being smarter about it. No more pasta or potatoes or rice, but continuing to eat any vegetable we like as long as it’s non GMO. I’ve been looking at no-carb, ditch-the-carb, butter-bob, ketogenic sites and trying to figure out what to do. What would you recommend for killing off candida and lowering estrogen?
Have a look at GAPS. It will heal the gut, eliminate candida and establish a normal way of eating again without the confusion.
Robyn, do you have a recommendation for getting rid of candida?
candida is really tough to get rid of, and while i’m not a fan of high animal-protein diets, that may be necessary DURING the period (a few months, probably) where you starve out the candida. so what i’m saying here isn’t a disease preventative, long-term, sustainable diet….but it’s probably what you need to do, if candida overgrowth has gotten the upper hand. and that is, get rid of fruit, grains, all starches, and eat CLEAN animal protein and all the other vegetables. it’s a tough diet, but you’ll feel SO much better when you kick it. when you’re back on top, then you can have the legumes, fruit, and other whole foods that are actually really good for you, but won’t serve in starving yeast.
Hi.
Chiming in with my experience on a keto WOE (way of eating) for 3 years during 2 pregnancies and exclusive breastfeeding. I don’t come across too many who can make it 3 years, by the way.
Pro’s ~ I felt like a god in that i could exercise throughout my pregnancies continuing with BA workouts like Krav Maga and heavy weight lifting. I bagged 12 peaks one year post-partum, breastfeeding on the trails. And life was grand. Never hungry. Many commented on my physique, especially being a mama of 9. They didn’t believe me.
Cons ~ Then I crashed. First headaches, then a heavy weight of stress and anxiety came. I do listen to my body and it was saying whoa, something is wrong here. I believe I had become adrenal fatigued and perhaps deficient in minerals and vitamins although I was taking more than a handful of them daily to compensate for the lack of “carby” vegetables and fruits. I reintroduced carbs to my diet in the amount of 50-100 grams a day which allowed me to stay in ketosis, probably because I was already well fat adapted. But those carbs led to more carbs as they are known to do. Then the weight came on. This happened very quickly. It kind of sucked yes, BUT I began to feel better. Then I halted all workouts and just enjoyed life. This felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of me. I also incorporated high vitamin C drinks into my regimen, like the singing canary. After a year I felt good but the weight never came off and then I had another pregnancy so being 4 weeks post par-tum I have a road a head of me with this extra weight. But again I am feeling much more grounded and healthier other than the added pounds. So this mama now looks like a mama of 10 and not super woman. ;oP *And I’m ok with that.*
Right here: “But the publisher insisted on naming it The Green Smoothies Diet. “Write whatever you want,” they said—”but we WILL call it a ‘diet,’ and if you refuse, we’ll find another author to write it.” ”
And so you did it. You sold out for money. And that’s all anyone here needs to know. You’re no better – and in some cases a lot, lot worse – than the people you are vilifying. And seriously, you write this article and don’t even know what LCHF is? Come on. You’re just jealous everyone’s figuring out your ‘protocol’ is an unhealthy sham to make money off gullible people. You should be ashamed. Your lack of knowledge is jaw-dropping.
Sasha, please, We’re all learning here! I’m not happy about how much these programs,books, webinars cost, but at least some people are trying to help open our eyes to a crisis.(diabetes, heart ,kidney, cancer etc. Unsustainable in the next 10 years. Go Robin just pay it forward! Godspeed.
Sasha, your response is just vitriolic. It’s too bad we cannot have a disagreement without condemning someone or calling them names. True education comes from considering ideas we may not agree with. And we all have vested interests of some sort wether it be financial, philosophical, power or influence. We want to be right! Temper your attitude, it’s not good for YOUR health. As Robin has essentially pointed out, diet philosophies are like religion to some. Your choices are YOUR choices. That’s it. My choices are MY choices. The only way we can move forward is to consider the ideas of others. Accept them or not accept them. It’s as simple as that. I think Robin has done a good job of stating her case. Vibrational energies from plant based foods that agree with our own systems (genetic predispositions) is the important issue here. Traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine has recognized this for years.
I was reading comments and thinking that in this complaining, negative, go-for-the-juggler world we live in everyone was being so nice and was sharing their experiences in a positive way. Then I came to your comment, Sasha.
Sasha, I won’t try to convince you of anything, or defend myself, except to say that I’m really proud of the book I wrote called The Green Smoothies Diet, regardless of what the publisher chose to call it. It wasn’t a diet–it was a book that has helped hundreds of thousands of people get more nutrient density into their diet, easily and inexpensively.
Thank you, Robin. I have learned so much from you. I appreciate all the research you have done, and how you guininely want to help people.
I’m all for the fasting Robyn Openshaw!! I’ve been watching Dr Pompa video’s on fasting!! I would like to see fasting incorporated in with the 26 day detox. Wouldn’t that be fascinating!!!
Interesting discussion. I am a small farmer at this point in my life. I have sidestepped all the fad diets throughout the years, but have managed to get most of the vegetables, fruits, nuts, meat, and yes healthy fat, from our farm or someone I know. I hunt occasionally and forage a little. I do not live in an imaginary world, but wonder continuously why little attention is paid to where the food is coming from? Instead, why not focus on what your ancestors would have possibly consumed or the amount of sun you get in the winter(vitamins galore if close to the equator, if not near equator, better find a way to get those important nutrients often stored in animals that we as humans have consumed forever in northern climates). I raise meat, as I live in North America. The manure allows me to grow plants that flourish and have all the vitamins/nutrients. You can take them out of the equation, but you will need help from worms who like the manure and you will also need to feed your plants with some sort of fertilizer derived from an oil byproduct and lacking in the complex biodiversity of manure. I have cats and dogs that use any bones, skin, organs, etc., as they are carnivores and cannot live healthy lives without consuming animals.
Most importantly though, why do people focus on dieting when the real problem is eating out of a box or eating out all the time. Find some real food, get connected and understand what your body needs for the specific region you inhabit. We have a pretty certain future of problems if people don’t care to learn where to find good food or how to grow it themselves. Forget the diet and find real food. Always look at the big picture and understand that we humans now move more dirt on this planet than Mother Nature does. If you do not think that every choice we make has an impact, you are mistaken.
Yes Jason, you are grounded, sane, and right on target. Thank you for sharing your wisdom. It is, to me, the focus of my own daily existence: where is my food coming from, how can I be a part of my local foodshed , and basically, avoid as many things that are part of the industrial food complex. It ain’t rocket science, but common sense and listening, observing and acting like a human being that takes precedence over the vast amount of insanity and confusion that poses as modern life.
Well said. It is my goal to inspire others to seek their natural connection and to find as close to natural food as possible. It is amazing how long it takes to learn the rhythms of this planet and our link to the sun. It is time to start! Our ancestors would have practiced daily this accumulated knowledge and their children would have been exposed to it constantly. We are in a deficit in this department and have a long battle, science can only prove that natural connection and whole foods are the answer, it cannot come from a scientifically proven powder or a box. Natural ways of physical labor and finding/growing your own food, will be the only answer to our society’s ailments. I used to lift weights before farming(and still do occasionally) but now I produce food as my connection and physical excercise. Powders, vitamins and shakes are great, and can get your brain some nutrition to get out of the fog enough to realize there are paths that will give you better health and make you feel full/happy! Nothing is more rewarding then producing, then preparing/cooking, and most importantly, sharing what you have learned. There is a reason why. If we all take time to do this, our kids can stop having attention problems, and we as a society can move to the next level with kindness compassion and caring. You definitely feel connected when you eat local food from wherever you are on this planet.
great comments, jason, thank you….and thanks for growing food for us. 🙂
I am already eating plant based & mediterranean foods i call my diet FLEXITARIAN. I eat meat in small amounts ie fish, prawn & chicken. I have avoided for years sugar, processed foods, dairy except kefir & yoghurt with bacteria lactobaccillus L Casei, acidopholis, Bifidus & table salt i use pink Himalayan salt. I exercise, walk on mediterranean sand, sunbathe in the morning before midday & after 3pm, meditate & do yoga pilates taichi, love fresh air, sleep @ least 8hrs. I take no antibiotics for 35 years now. My only pharma chemical Rx is maintenance anti-hypertension & for bladder weakness in low dosages. My supplements are Serapeptase, Selenium, Vitamin D3 & C, Fish oil omega 3. I put turmeric with fresh ground pepper & coconut on all my foods. My teas are infusion i pick leaves outside: Rosemary or Dandelion or Mint. I make my own organic apple cider vinegar i mix with bicarbonate soda & honey when drank. I drink organic lemon alkaline water. My coffee is black only on the morning. I like a bit of red wine i mix my own sangria no sugar with Indian tonic water for its quinine anti-cramps & lemonade. I like a bit of champagne or small beer.
I just do this as part of LIFESTYLE☆4☆LIFE I started on myself & spreading it or coaching as 1:1 Experiential Transformational specialling. I am senior looking & feeling junior. C’est les vie 🙂
I have a propensity for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) – my maternal grandmother, mother and oldest brother all had AD – they are no longer living. Dr. Dale Bredesen has come up with a protocol that has stopped and reversed AD and recently published a book “The End Of Alzheimer’s”. Without going into details, one of his protocol’s lifestyle changes is to adapt a ketoflex diet. Ketoflex is being in mild ketosis, and once the body has adapted to burning ketones, to cycle out of ketosis periodically for a day or two to rebuild glucose stores in your liver and muscle tissue. It also includes fasting 12 to 16 hours every day. I have been gradually adapting to the ketoflex diet over the past 2 months and have never felt better. I had been a vegetarian for most of my life (I’m 62 now) and for the past 6 years more vegan (based on Dr. Fuhrman’s diet recommendations). I was diagnosed with insulin resistance and inflammation before I started the ketoflex diet. I have always had a bad memory and I had noticed it getting worse over the past few years, that is the reason I retired this year as I was unable to fully do my job’s responsibilities. For the past week I have felt better than I’ve felt for a long time. Today was the best. I have lost weight that I thought I’d never lose. My fasting blood glucose now averages around 80 where before it was around 100. I’m still learning and adapting to this new way of eating but so far it has been wonderful. I’m doing this to reverse/prevent AD. It seems to be working.
I have loved your blog for a long time and ate that way only occasionally . My Dr has now diagnosed me with a few autoimmune diseases. One of those is Celiac Disease and has put me on the Autoimmune Paleo Diet. I know you have issues with the Paleo, but what’s your thought when in my situation. Thank you for educating people about eating healthier.
I was at first feeling negative about your article. But the more I read your very thoughtful, detailed and varied source points, I felt more at ease.
I currently use a modified, I guess, Keto diet, for lack of better labeling. However, I do add in a large amount of plant products to it at my evening meal.
Not that it matters, but my day is:
Smoothie for breakfast, 70% total calories with MCT oil-plant fat with 0 cholesterol, 20% protein from grass fed Whey, and 10% carbs from organic berries in reverse osmosis water. I take B complex, potassium and magnesium, Krill oil, DHEA, K2, and D3.
Fast all day on water-12 hours
Dinner is 8oz animal protein, 1/2 cup rice and a huge salad with organic lettuce, mushrooms, cabbage, few tomatoes, hemp seeds with a large amount of extra virgin olive oil and wine vinegar with spices.
No constipation, no headaches, very low triglycerides, LDL, blood sugar, and very high HDL.
I workout for one hour 5 days a week with weights, use HIT cardio for 15 minutes 3 days a week.
I am 54 years old, 6’2″, 196# and a total body fat of 16%.
This works for me, do I tell everyone that they should do what I do, NO, but should everyone try certain variations of the diets in your article, YES. If we don’t start doing our own research and rely on EXPERTS to tell us what to do we are allowing the industry, doctors included, to dictate what we do and who we are with marketing labels. We become SHEEPLES. People need to take control of their health and stop waiting for this or that to prescribe what they do. That is why these fad diets make billions and people are getting sicker. People are not taking control of their own lives and being accountable for their own problems. Doctors get very little if any training in nutrition or research, they are not the experts, we are when it comes to doing our own research and our own bodies and how we feel. I do spine surgery for a living, to pay the bills, but my passion is trying to learn how to feel better, live life to the fullest, and live a life of service to others.
My goal is at age 60, to leave western medicine completely and devote the second half of my life to helping people feel better using food, exercise, supplements, servitude to others, a belief in a higher power and teaching them that they are the ones that must take control of their life and stop relying on “experts” to tell them what to do. Similar to Dan Buettners work with Blue Zones if you must put a label on what I believe.
Sorry for my rant. I like your moxie for writing this article and getting me fired up.
AJ