I don’t know about you, but I see ads and books for Ketogenic diet programs everywhere.  They sound so enticing. After all, ketosis is promoted as a powerful way to burn body fat and sharpen your mental focus.  So should you jump on that trend? Here are some aspects to think about:
 
What is a Ketogenic Diet?
Without glucose from carbs (and here I don’t just mean sugars and grains but also beans, legumes, fruits and vegetables) your body burns the fat you eat and the stored fat on your body as its main fuel source.  The fat breaks down into ketones that are an alternative to glucose to fuel your brain and suppress hunger. The exact details of what you might eat vary somewhat from program to program but broadly speaking you eat the majority of your calories as fat, restricting protein to moderate levels (15-20%) and carbohydrates to 5-10%.
 
Potential Benefits of Burning Ketones

• Less Inflammation – Burning ketones causes less inflammation than burning glucose.
• More Brain Power – The brain on ketones produces more mitochondria – the energy source for your cells.
• Neuroprotective – A great way to benefit brain conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson’s.
• Less Hunger – When your body is good at burning fat for fuel it can always turn to your fat stores for energy and you don’t feel as hungry.
• Rapid Weight loss – Where burning carbs for fuel increases insulin and puts you into fat storage mode, burning fats means that you can utilize stored fat on your body.
• Blood sugar balance and improved insulin sensitivity.
• Cardiovascular benefits.

 
Is Keto Beneficial Long Term?
Staying on a ketogenic diet long term can be stressful on the body. There isn’t a human population in history that has existed in long-term ketosis. Even the Inuits, who had a very high fat diet, were not in ketosis because they had genetic mutations that stopped them overproducing ketones. For this reason, I don’t recommend staying on a keto diet for a long period and think it suitable for only 3-6 months as a therapeutic diet helpful to deal with certain situations only.
 
 
Downsides of the Ketogenic Diet
Also bear in mind that not everyone will respond the same way to a ketogenic diet. Everyone has different genetics and lifestyles. Consider if a ketogenic diet is really the right direction for you and beware of these potential downsides before you embark on a keto program.

• Damage to the Gut Microbiome - Restricting carbohydrates means restricting vegetables and other sources of dietary fiber. This results in less fermentation and therefore less food for the gut microbes. It also means a more acidic environment in the colon, which can encourage less desirable bacteria to thrive.
• Constipation – The lack of fiber can slow down things in the GI tract and that means you are not eliminating waste and toxins. As toxins are stored in fat tissue this a concern if you are burning body fat.
• Keto Flu – It takes time for your body to adapt to be able to burn fat for fuel. It can take a couple of days or a couple of weeks. The transition period, known as the keto flu, is often accompanied by fatigue, lightheadedness, dizziness and electrolyte imbalances that can be severe.
• Hormonal imbalances – Women, in particular, seem to respond less well to a ketogenic diet. Ketosis is like starvation and so the body can shut down reproductive functions via the thyroid. Especially if you have low thyroid function, the risks of keto may be too great. Keto is also not a good idea if you have low cortisol and adrenal fatigue. Fiber is important for removal of excess hormones from the body and without it they will stay in your system and create imbalances.
• Stress on the liver, kidneys and gallbladder – Some people don’t do well digesting and metabolizing fats. It is better to monitor how you are doing with regular blood tests. If you aren’t doing well, keto is probably not for you.
• People living in Blue Zones, the world’s longest living cultures, eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables that are packed with phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals.

 
Let us know if you have more questions. We always love to hear from you.

Do you ever wonder whether your hormones are balanced?
 
Here’s what wonderful hormonal balance looks like:

• You have great energy levels throughout the day.
• Your moods are stable.
• You don’t experience cravings.
• Your hair is shiny and full.
• Your skin is clear.
• You have a good libido.
• It is easy to maintain your weight.

 
If you don’t identify with this picture then the chances are you are experiencing some hormonal imbalances. One important way to improve things is to takes steps to minimize your stress levels. Here’s why:
 
How does stress impact my hormones?
 

• When you are stressed your adrenals increase production of the hormone cortisol, which raises your blood sugar levels ready for “fight or flight” activity. This increases your body’s production of the hormone insulin to take that glucose to the cells. When your insulin levels are raised your body will start to store fat, typically around the middle of your body, which is the most dangerous place to have extra fat stores.  If your blood sugar is perpetually elevated due to chronic stress and production of cortisol then the cells can become resistant to insulin and it becomes more difficult to control blood sugar levels. This can cause problems with cravings, shakiness between meals, poor mood, anxiety, broken sleep and more.

 

• Cortisol is a steroidal hormone. Other steroidal hormones are estrogen, progesterone and testosterone – our sex hormones. They are all made from the same base ingredient, cholesterol. When cortisol is needed to handle stress our body can find there isn’t enough cholesterol left to make our sex hormones and we can experience symptoms of imbalance. Take a look at my blog on Sex Hormone Imbalance to find a list of possible symptoms.

 

• Production of thyroid hormones is in delicate balance with the production of stress hormones so stress can exacerbate hypothyroid conditions and increase symptoms like mood issues, fatigue and weight gain.

 
I recommend that you do a stress audit. Identify where you are dealing with unnecessary stress in your life so that you can take steps to minimize it.  If you want to learn more about other natural ways to balance your hormones then consider joining me on July 2nd for my 2 hour workshop on Nourishment for Hormonal Harmony. I would love to have you join me.

There is so much confusion out there about our lipid markers and sometimes our blood test results can be hard to puzzle through. Often we are concerned about an elevated LDL result but an elevated LDL number isn’t the end of the story. To find out if your cardiovascular system is healthy or what you need to do to get back on track, you often have to dig a little deeper. Here’s why….

What are LDL and HDL?
In order for cholesterol (and other fats, fat soluble vitamins and antioxidants) to be transported around the body in the blood, it has to be carried by special proteins called lipoproteins that are soluble in water. These lipoproteins are classified according to their density; two of the most important in cardiovascular disease are low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL).

Why do LDLs often get the name “Bad Cholesterol”?
Science used to tell us that the amount of cholesterol being carried around the bloodstream was an important measure for heart disease risk. When you get your LDL level tested it is measuring the amount of cholesterol in the particles.

Now we know that it’s actually the number of LDL particles that tells us more. The more particles there are in the blood, the more likely they are to crash into the lining of the artery and penetrate the artery wall. This would be where the damage starts to happen. This is not something your doctor typically measures but more LDL particles doesn’t necessarily mean more cholesterol in the LDLs and vice versa.

Get in touch for a more in depth Lipoprotein panel so you can see what your risk is. Also know that risk factors are just that, risk factors. A high number of LDL particles does not mean that you have heart disease!

What is the most common cause of high LDL particle number?
You’re probably sure the answer to this one is eating animal foods containing saturated fat. But no, that’s not the case!! Recent cholesterol feeding studies show that dietary cholesterol has very little impact on blood cholesterol levels in about 75% of us. This is because the body controls production levels of cholesterol tightly; when dietary cholesterol goes up, production in the liver goes down. The remaining 25% of the population show modest increases in both LDL and HDL, but it does not affect the ratio of LDL to HDL or increase the risk of heart disease. In other words, eating cholesterol isn’t going to give you a heart attack.

So, back to the most common cause…
The typical pattern for high LDL particle number is metabolic syndrome. The more factors for metabolic syndrome that you have, the more likelihood there is that your LDL particle number is elevated. These include insulin resistance, leptin resistance, obesity (especially abdominal obesity), high blood pressure and high triglycerides. Since triglycerides, along with cholesterol, are also carried in the blood by LDLs, when there are more triglycerides there need to be more LDL particles to transport them around even though the cholesterol in the particles may not be high.

If this is you, then eating a low carbohydrate diet is going to be a helpful track to follow to reduce your LDLs. Improving your body’s ability to handle the glucose-insulin interaction by making sure you have the right levels of the micronutrients involved is also key. Let us know if you’d like help navigating this with dietary changes and micronutrient testing.
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Other causes to consider or rule out

• Poor thyroid function can impact LDL levels in a number of ways, impacting production, absorption and metabolism. This can be the case even in subclinical hypothyroidism, where T3 and T4 are normal but TSH is elevated. Make sure you get these tested if you are concerned or have symptoms of poor thyroid function.
• Infections like H Pylori (symptoms include burping, bloating, abdominal pain or burning and nausea) and others can also be responsible for a high cholesterol profile, including high LDLs. The exact mechanism for this is not yet well understood. It is possible that the infections alter lipid metabolism in the infected cells. Alternatively it may be that LDLs have protective antimicrobial qualities.
• A leaky gut can be a cause. When your intestinal barrier is not strong it can leak toxins produced by gut bacteria into the bloodstream and cause an immune response. That immune response involves particles that are carried through the bloodstream by LDLs and so can increase LDL particle number. Let us know if you’d like to check on your intestinal permeability and get help healing a leaky gut.
• Genetics can play a role. Those with Familial Hypercholesterolemia have genetic mutations that impact the ability of LDLs to deliver nutrients to the cell so that they cannot be removed from the blood. Cholesterol levels can be anywhere from 350 to 1000 mg/DL for these individuals.

What else can you do?
Check out my blog next time for my list of heart-healthy nutrition and lifestyle choices. In the meantime, let me know if you have questions or comments. I’d love to hear from you.

​Sometimes being healthier is just a matter of an easy switch over from something unhealthy to a better alternative and doesn't have to be about deprivation or dieting.  Here's one that is simple; a great way to raise your micronutrient intake and reduce your exposure to toxins.