Sneak Preview of Dr. Bredesen's new Brain Food Pyramid

[MiniJunkie]

I also want to follow the plan for good sleep, and I'm finding low carbs = hard to fall asleep at night.

My best guess is that you need tryptophan to make serotonin and make yourself sleepy. By cutting carbs, you have cut out a major source of your tryptophan. (Think Thanksgiving dinner - it's not the turkey that makes you sleepy, it's all the carbs, because the tryptophan in protein is not well absorbed.)

Ben Lynch suggests in Dirty Genes that adding foods higher in tryptophan, including spinach, seaweed, mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, red lettuce and asparagus, will help. All low carb options. If you did a salad at night and threw some of these on, it might help. Or try half a sweet potato if it doesn't mess with you blood sugar or put you too far over your carb limit for the day.

You might also need to look at stress or underlying inflammation, which shunts tryptophan into a different pathway. (Think about how we crave carbs when we're stressed.)

Diet is a hard change, so keep experiementing and let us know how it goes!

Thank you, I will look into those options!

[circular]

I also want to follow the plan for good sleep, and I'm finding low carbs = hard to fall asleep at night.

My best guess is that you need tryptophan to make serotonin and make yourself sleepy. By cutting carbs, you have cut out a major source of your tryptophan. (Think Thanksgiving dinner - it's not the turkey that makes you sleepy, it's all the carbs, because the tryptophan in protein is not well absorbed.)

Ben Lynch suggests in Dirty Genes that adding foods higher in tryptophan, including spinach, seaweed, mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, red lettuce and asparagus, will help. All low carb options. If you did a salad at night and threw some of these on, it might help. Or try half a sweet potato if it doesn't mess with you blood sugar or put you too far over your carb limit for the day.

You might also need to look at stress or underlying inflammation, which shunts tryptophan into a different pathway. (Think about how we crave carbs when we're stressed.)

Diet is a hard change, so keep experiementing and let us know how it goes!

These are really interesting angles I wouldn't have thought of Susan. You did it again!

MiniJunkie, I also wonder if your protein intake is adequate. I require higher levels of protein than what's often recommended for middle aged people (and I personally suspect many, many people do). I find it helps with satiation without increasing fats so high that my LDL particle count goes up, while I can still stay in ketosis (blood BHB). My ketosis levels aren't as high as some people keep them, usually .5 - 1.5 (occasionally higher), but the balance seems to work really well for me, including my diet being more aesthetically sustainable with increased protein. When my demanding caregiving lifestyle finally gives way to allow me more time for exercise, I expect my ketones will be higher, and I may not need as much protein since exercise will provide some of the same benefits. All that said, I'm not eating terribly high protein compared to conventional recommendations, just quite a lot more than some "low protein" recommendations.

It took me a long while to find the right balance for my body, in part because low protein became so popularized and justified, and for me that introduced a lot of confusion since my biology seems to tell me something different.

[MiniJunkie]

My best guess is that you need tryptophan to make serotonin and make yourself sleepy. By cutting carbs, you have cut out a major source of your tryptophan. (Think Thanksgiving dinner - it's not the turkey that makes you sleepy, it's all the carbs, because the tryptophan in protein is not well absorbed.)

Ben Lynch suggests in Dirty Genes that adding foods higher in tryptophan, including spinach, seaweed, mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, red lettuce and asparagus, will help. All low carb options. If you did a salad at night and threw some of these on, it might help. Or try half a sweet potato if it doesn't mess with you blood sugar or put you too far over your carb limit for the day.

You might also need to look at stress or underlying inflammation, which shunts tryptophan into a different pathway. (Think about how we crave carbs when we're stressed.)

Diet is a hard change, so keep experiementing and let us know how it goes!

These are really interesting angles I wouldn't have thought of Susan. You did it again!

MiniJunkie, I also wonder if your protein intake is adequate. I require higher levels of protein than what's often recommended for middle aged people (and I personally suspect many, many people do). I find it helps with satiation without increasing fats so high that my LDL particle count goes up, while I can still stay in ketosis (blood BHB). My ketosis levels aren't as high as some people keep them, usually .5 - 1.5 (occasionally higher), but the balance seems to work really well for me, including my diet being more aesthetically sustainable with increased protein. When my demanding caregiving lifestyle finally gives way to allow me more time for exercise, I expect my ketones will be higher, and I may not need as much protein since exercise will provide some of the same benefits. All that said, I'm not eating terribly high protein compared to conventional recommendations, just quite a lot more than some "low protein" recommendations.

It took me a long while to find the right balance for my body, in part because low protein became so popularized and justified, and for me that introduced a lot of confusion since my biology seems to tell me something different.

Thanks, circular, I'll look into that! Question: how are you addressing electrolyte needs like potassium etc?

[circular]

Thanks, circular, I'll look into that! Question: how are you addressing electrolyte needs like potassium etc?

I find I barely ever need to go out of my way to think about this while in ketosis. I do salt my food a lot more than I used to, and my diet is high in magnesium and potassium (not yet enough calcium I don't think). I also take just one Source Naturals Magtein magnesium pill before bed because I don't think it will hurt and might be good for my brain and help with sleep. If I take more than one it's sedative for me, so it's possible the one is contributing beneficially to my sleep routine even though the daily dose is three a day.

But, getting into ketosis I've had good success with this Keto Electrolytes product as needed. I used it after failing to transition well without a supplement designed for this purpose. Before using it, I would just randomly gobble different electrolytes, mostly salt, but I was uncomfortable with the notion that I might be seriously disrupting my body's electrolyte balance, so I would back off rather than make it through the keto 'flu'. That said, I don't know whether or not the Keto Electrolytes product contains some evidence-based electrolyte distribution, and many manage this without a supplement, so it may all be in my head (I'm pretty sure all my thoughts and emotions are ) and you can do just with Morton Lite Salt, which includes potassium

[MiniJunkie]

Thanks, circular, I'll look into that! Question: how are you addressing electrolyte needs like potassium etc?

I find I barely ever need to go out of my way to think about this while in ketosis. I do salt my food a lot more than I used to, and my diet is high in magnesium and potassium (not yet enough calcium I don't think). I also take just one Source Naturals Magtein magnesium pill before bed because I don't think it will hurt and might be good for my brain and help with sleep. If I take more than one it's sedative for me, so it's possible the one is contributing beneficially to my sleep routine even though the daily dose is three a day.

But, getting into ketosis I've had good success with this Keto Electrolytes product as needed. I used it after failing to transition well without a supplement designed for this purpose. Before using it, I would just randomly gobble different electrolytes, mostly salt, but I was uncomfortable with the notion that I might be seriously disrupting my body's electrolyte balance, so I would back off rather than make it through the keto 'flu'. That said, I don't know whether or not the Keto Electrolytes product contains some evidence-based electrolyte distribution, and many manage this without a supplement, so it may all be in my head (I'm pretty sure all my thoughts and emotions are ) and you can do just with Morton Lite Salt, which includes potassium

Got it. Ok, thanks!

[floramaria]

Question: how are you addressing electrolyte needs like potassium etc?

Hi Minijunkie, when I started following a ketogenic diet, my electrolytes got messed up. I knew because I began having intense leg and foot cramps at night, which I had never had before. At first I thought it was Mg. I was already taking Mg threonate every night, but also added a scoop of Calm. Still had cramps. Once I began supplementing with Potassium, the cramps disappeared. I use both Citrus pectin and potassium citrate, alternating them somewhat whimsically. Mainly use the citrate. Potassium citrate is inexpensive while the citrus pectin is at the other end of the price scale Supplementing with potassium cured my muscle cramps completely. I don’t even need to supplement everyday, just a few times a week seems enough . I definitely was not able to meet my potassium needs without supplementation. I think it is different from each person. I also use salt quite liberally.

[MiniJunkie]

Question: how are you addressing electrolyte needs like potassium etc?

Hi Minijunkie, when I started following a ketogenic diet, my electrolytes got messed up. I knew because I began having intense leg and foot cramps at night, which I had never had before. At first I thought it was Mg. I was already taking Mg threonate every night, but also added a scoop of Calm. Still had cramps. Once I began supplementing with Potassium, the cramps disappeared. I use both Citrus pectin and potassium citrate, alternating them somewhat whimsically. Mainly use the citrate. Potassium citrate is inexpensive while the citrus pectin is at the other end of the price scale Supplementing with potassium cured my muscle cramps completely. I don’t even need to supplement everyday, just a few times a week seems enough . I definitely was not able to meet my potassium needs without supplementation. I think it is different from each person. I also use salt quite liberally.

Thanks! I’ve started using Half Salt (high in potassium) mixed into a drink to try and supplement it too.

[redryder]

Dr. Bredesen has published a similar series of case studies on 100 patients and is in the midst of a clinical trial that is wrapping up by the end of this year. The first paper(s) should come out of that in early January.

Very heartening indeed! Thanks for the link! We started trying to implement the ReCoDe protocol as soon as we'd read and digested Dr. Bredesen's first book, going "whole hog" on the supplements, vitamins, and herbs recommended therein. It entails a lot of pills, capsules, and tablets, but nothing insurmountable. I've had momentary and recurring nagging doubts/questions about the purity etc of the brands we were (and are) taking. We've pressed on nonetheless; that part's been easy. Not quite as easy has been the dietary portion: cutting out sugar was easy, we were already doing that, and this just strengthened our resolve and commitment (we really don't miss desserts.....really!); going gluten-free was not difficult, just took a little more care in shopping, but I do miss some sort of bread stuff to spread peanut butter on, to dip in olive oil, and to sop up juices from our main courses (whatever they may be..... ). Macronutrient ratios are hard to obtain and maintain, though. [Using the guidance in Dr. Bredesen's second book, we calculated our ratios as follow: me = 175g Fat; 79g Carb; 51g Protein, or 17:8;5. Marion = 135g Fat; 65g Carb; 35g protein, or 13:6:3] I really like EVOO, and daily I'll take a swig or two from the bottle. We cook nearly everything in either ghee or EVOO, or -- when it's available -- fat from cooking whatever meat we may have prepared. My salads are doused in EVOO and balsamic vinegar, and we're trying to wean ourselves off commercially prepared salad dressings, meanwhile avoiding any with added sugars. Snacks for me are pure pork rinds (in bulk, from WiNCO, a Pacific Northwest employee-owned grocery store), or a variety of reasonably healthy, albeit salty, non-potato chip crunchy things, and popcorn (my only real cheat). Marion loooooves peanut butter, and has a coupla three tablespoons daily with frozen wild blueberries. All that having been said, however, it's still difficult to get enough fat, and most days we fail to do so..... we eat lotsa vegetables, of course, and no fruit other than avocadoes and berries (blue for her, rasp and straw for me). Any suggestions welcome...... We're loving this site and the forums.....Stay safe, everyone, and don't lose heart!!!