Not interested in a keto diet

[floramaria]

....the idea of keto makes me extremely upset because of the years where I was dealing with anxiety that resulted in major chronic pain .....and as someone who doesn’t want to give up everything I enjoy (like eating oats, bananas, etc.) or track everything 24/7.....
I also felt confused: if I’m not in ketosis, do I need to be worried? Isn’t there another way?

Hi Emerald,
You’ll find that one of the pervasive ideas on this website is that there is no “one size fits all” solution; each of us is unique. You are self aware and extremely articulate about how a ketogenic diet is not what you want or need at this point in your life. Something that even the idea of it makes you extremely upset or the thought of it makes you miserable clearly is not for you! I doubt that anyone here who has followed a keto diet longterm would tell you that they do it in spite of the fact that it makes them miserable.
And given your OCD history, you are wise to steer clear of something that you know could potentially throw you into a destructive pattern.
As for whether you need to worry?
My personal opinion is No, don’t worry. Just continue to live your healthiest lifestyle. You have a good grasp of the basics. My guess is that if you follow those, keeping your inflammation low and your blood glucose recommended range you’ll be fine. And being young, you have plenty of time to see what clinical trials reveal over time and to make minor adjustments that feel right to you based on new information.

[Emerald]

You guys are the best. Seriously, thank you so much. <3

I normally try to stay away from health forums as they can become very negative and anxiety-provoking incredibly fast, but the number of positive and reassuring attitudes here is astounding. I've never seen this type of message board where people genuinely walk away feeling like everything is going to be okay. I'm happy this community exists.

I'm eating as healthily as I can, exercising, increasing my meditation, doing breathing exercises, identifying ways to manage my stress, etc. What's crazy is that I used to be totally addicted to sugar and processed food back in my college days: Pop-Tarts or a pancake Lunchable for breakfast, Easy Mac with Hi-C for lunch, microwavable pizza and chocolate pudding for dinner, etc. I was 5'6" and typically 110 to 120 lbs, and no doctor ever told me I was living an unhealthy lifestyle because they'd look at my BMI and shrug it off. However, I absolutely crave vegetables, olive oil, avocados, almonds, wild-caught salmon, etc. these days. I live in a major city that's known for its fried food, but I'm simply not into it. I would much rather have a bowl of roasted Brussels sprouts, asparagus, or mushrooms with some pepper!

I'm still going to enjoy a few glasses of wine or a little bit of dark rum each week - that's my vice (but never any binging!). I won't be going down to <50 grams of carbs a week, but I am cutting back even further on oats and Skinny pop (they can still be enjoyed as occasional treats). I'm also eliminating honey, agave, etc. These are decisions I am okay with making. I'm not perfect, but I am happy and doing my best.

I have a very positive feeling about this and truly believe I won't develop AD. And even if I did, well, I'll handle it when the time comes. I know I have a fantastic support system that will always be here for me. My family is aware of my results and that it is highly probable they carry a copy of APOE4, too, and they're interested in learning more about health and wellness. I will do as much as I can to make beneficial lifestyle choices for my brain and overall well-being, but I know it's not worth panicking over. I sincerely LOVE how this community recognizes the mind-body connection, and how stress and anxiety can play a contributing role in the development of conditions such as AD. Being anxious is not going to help me! I'm a big believer in holistic living and healing.

Additionally, I’m making sure my doctor and I keep an awareness of my lipids and glucose over time just to be careful.

I'm really proud of the life I'm living and how far I've come in various ways, and that is completely worth any hardship I will ever find myself up against.

[thjj]

I know what you mean by getting obsessive-compulsive. My intention is always not to be, but once I get into, I tend to be OC about it. So far, I'm not OC with the ketosis surprisingly! But that's precisely why I never got a fit-bit or one of those fitness trackers...bc I know I would be obsessing about it all day, especially if it's always on my wrist where I can just look down at it

[Fiver]

Hi Emerald. You are young and being careful about your health. That's great! So much will change by the time you need to worry about this. Do what you want to do to be healthy, stay active, and reduce stress.

I'm not aware of any evidence that a keto diet would help someone your age reduce the risk of AD. The main rationale is to improve insulin sensitivity while providing brains with alternative fuels - a work around that is aimed at helping older brains....older than 29 anyway! Most of the lifestyle studies have found benefits in healthy, anti-inflammatory diets, with lots of veggies, a la the Med diet or similar (not a keto diet).

Later in life, sure. Keto might help. But there's no reason you need to worry about that now.

[SoCalGuy]

You guys are the best. Seriously, thank you so much. <3

I normally try to stay away from health forums as they can become very negative and anxiety-provoking incredibly fast, but the number of positive and reassuring attitudes here is astounding. I've never seen this type of message board where people genuinely walk away feeling like everything is going to be okay. I'm happy this community exists.

I'm eating as healthily as I can, exercising, increasing my meditation, doing breathing exercises, identifying ways to manage my stress, etc. What's crazy is that I used to be totally addicted to sugar and processed food back in my college days: Pop-Tarts or a pancake Lunchable for breakfast, Easy Mac with Hi-C for lunch, microwavable pizza and chocolate pudding for dinner, etc. I was 5'6" and typically 110 to 120 lbs, and no doctor ever told me I was living an unhealthy lifestyle because they'd look at my BMI and shrug it off. However, I absolutely crave vegetables, olive oil, avocados, almonds, wild-caught salmon, etc. these days. I live in a major city that's known for its fried food, but I'm simply not into it. I would much rather have a bowl of roasted Brussels sprouts, asparagus, or mushrooms with some pepper!

I'm still going to enjoy a few glasses of wine or a little bit of dark rum each week - that's my vice (but never any binging!). I won't be going down to <50 grams of carbs a week, but I am cutting back even further on oats and Skinny pop (they can still be enjoyed as occasional treats). I'm also eliminating honey, agave, etc. These are decisions I am okay with making. I'm not perfect, but I am happy and doing my best.

I have a very positive feeling about this and truly believe I won't develop AD. And even if I did, well, I'll handle it when the time comes. I know I have a fantastic support system that will always be here for me. My family is aware of my results and that it is highly probable they carry a copy of APOE4, too, and they're interested in learning more about health and wellness. I will do as much as I can to make beneficial lifestyle choices for my brain and overall well-being, but I know it's not worth panicking over. I sincerely LOVE how this community recognizes the mind-body connection, and how stress and anxiety can play a contributing role in the development of conditions such as AD. Being anxious is not going to help me! I'm a big believer in holistic living and healing.

Additionally, I’m making sure my doctor and I keep an awareness of my lipids and glucose over time just to be careful.

I'm really proud of the life I'm living and how far I've come in various ways, and that is completely worth any hardship I will ever find myself up against.

I'm a 3/4 myself and moved away from a Keto diet due to it's impact on my blood lipids. I'm a big believer that one size doesn't fit everyone and that YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). So for me what I find to be working best is to go with moderately high protein, a moderate amount of carbohydrate and small amounts of fat.

I try to stick to as many healthy, whole foods as possible. So most of my carbs are coming from strawberries, blueberries, apples, oranges, peaches, etc. These are all forms of carbs that have a wealth of vitamins and minerals. I'll also have some white rice at night if I feel like the quality of my sleep has been lacking. I do this based on a hack from Chris Masterjohn that includes the use of Spirulina and it works really well for me.

For protein I'll eat low fat foods like chicken breast, tilapia (from the US), fat free yogurt and 1 or 2 egg yolks along with some egg whites for breakfast.

Fats are mostly almonds, egg yolks, a little avocado and small amounts of olive oil and algae oil which is very high in monounsaturated fat and extremely low in saturated fat. I'll have salmon every week or two for the Omega 3s.

I also eat a healthy amount of veggies which is common for many of us in the forum. For me that's one really big salad for lunch and then with dinner I will typically steam broccoli, cauliflower and saute a bunch of carrots in the aforementioned algae oil.

As others have said I would pay close attention to blood glucose. Mine has been at 88 for the past three blood draws over the past year and I believe doing a 5 day fast every 6 months has really helped to maintain insulin sensitivity. If you have any interest in learning about fasting I would highly recommend Dr. Valter Longo's book The Longevity Diet. He's done a ton of clinical research on fasting and suggests doing a "fasting mimicking diet" if a true water fast is difficult to complete.