Count Your Blessings; Not your Calories

By: Kelsey Kempen

Since we are in the midst of the holiday season, it’s not unusual that you might already feel your waistband tightening.  Just thinking about all the turkey, yams, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie can make you sing for joy but also cause your diet to run scared.  According to U.S. Health News, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, Americans gain around 6 pounds.  No wonder why every year the top New Year’s resolution is losing weight and working out more. 

Never fear!  There are simple swaps and switches to help you look trim without feeling stuffed like a turkey.  Your holiday season should be focused on family, friends, memories and tradition.  Following the tips below can help alleviate the stress of the holiday meals ahead.

Tips and Tricks

Talkin’ Turkey- When digging into your perfect turkey, make sure to opt for white meat instead of dark meat.  White meat tends to contain less fat and fewer calories than dark meat.  Also, by foregoing the skin on the white meat, you will save another 100 calories.  A 3-ounce skinless turkey breast is only 160 calories!  So, the centerpiece of your holiday meal is actually good for you.  Turkey is packed with a variety of B vitamins along with selenium and potassium.  It also is very rich in protein which allows you to feel fuller longer.

We like it mashed- This year, jump on the cauliflower bandwagon and try mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes.  When blending the cooked cauliflower, add non-fat Greek yogurt, chicken stock, grated parmesan and garlic, so it’s almost like your favorite comfort food is there!  One cup of mashed cauliflower is just 60 calories.  If the idea of substituting cauliflower is weird for you, try making your mashed potatoes with less butter and salt.  If you like your potatoes creamy, use skim milk to lessen the fat content.

Can the calories- If you’re like most American families, canned cranberry can usually be found on the holiday dinner table.  It is tart, fruity and sugar-packed.  A ¼ cup serving contains 120 calories and 29 grams of sugar.  To give a comparison, this is equivalent to 7 teaspoons of sugar.  A better option would be making your own cranberry sauce.  By using actual cranberries, you increase your antioxidant, vitamin C, and fiber content while decreasing your sugar consumption.

Get stuffed- To not feel like a stuffed turkey, reinvent your stuffing recipe.  Cut out the bread and bring in colorful vegetables like cauliflower, sweet potatoes, onions, celery, and corn instead.  To add more flavor, incorporate fresh herbs, and if meat is desired, use turkey sausage, which is lower in fat.  By utilizing these simple swaps, your dish will contain less than half the calories.  By adding herbs and spices, stuffing can be delicious and savory without the extra salt. 

Stay hydrated- With food and alcoholic drinking being the holiday staple, water is essential for making sure you feel your best during the day.  Alternating a glass of water with each alcoholic beverage will help you maintain hydration, aid in digestion, and will help stop overeating.  Drinking water will also alleviate the dreaded hangover the next morning.

These swaps will help you have a healthy and happy holiday season.  Enjoy your time with friends and families and focus on what is important.

The following recipe is one that you can enjoy will your family and friends at the dinner table.  Cauliflower is packed with fiber and B vitamins and provides antioxidants and phytonutrients that can protect against cancer.

Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 medium head cauliflower

1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh or dry chives, for garnish

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

1. Set a pot of water to boil over high heat.
2. Clean and cut cauliflower into small pieces. Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until well done. Drain well; do not let cool and pat cooked cauliflower very dry between several layers of paper towels.
3. In a blender, or in a food processor, puree the hot cauliflower with the cream cheese, parmesan, garlic, salt, and pepper until almost smooth.
4. Garnish with chives, and serve hot with pats of butter.

References:

https://www.eatright.org/health/lifestyle/holidays/how-to-enjoy-the-holiday-without-the-weight-gain

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/10-healthy-holiday-nutrition-tips/

Picture references:

Mashed cauliflower

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/230816/garlic-mashed-cauliflower/

Dinner table picture

https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/10-healthy-holiday-nutrition-tips/

Milk, the Big Debate

By Alyssa Katz

Dairy cows milk.  Is it good or bad?  Should I drink 3 classes a day or avoid it all together?  I feel like I see strong opinions about this topic all the time.  Growing up I have always loved dairy in all forms.  I was told that non-fat dairy is better than full-fat, however in recent years I have heard the opposite from different people saying that full fat dairy is in fact much better than fat free.  I knew after all of these comments I had to do some research, so much so that I decided to write my undergraduate 35 page thesis on it!  I wrote about cow’s milk and its nutrition, along with the nutrition of other non-dairy milks and the perception’s people have on this topic.  Within this post I will give you some insight into my research.  To find out more on this topic my full thesis can be found here: https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/student_scholarship/29/  

            To discuss the  benefit of cow’s milk it is specially formulated to nourish a baby calf, meaning that milk is full of nutrients including lipids, protein, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.  Protein is one reason many consumers drink cow’s milk.  Not only is it high in protein, but the protein is easily digestible.  80% of the protein is casein.  Not only is it a protein, but it is a very good source of natural calcium.  Calcium plays a very important role in the body, it helps your heart, muscles, blood clotting and nerves.  In the United States milk consumptions provides for more than half the calcium in the typical diet. 

            Other nutrients that are found naturally in cow’s milk include selenium which plays an important role in your immune system, iodine that helps your thyroid hormones, magnesium that does many things for you including regulation of blood pressure, zinc which aids in protein digestion among many other things, vitamin A, B2, B12 are also naturally occurring in cow’s milk.  Throughout my research on cow’s milk, these small not so obvious benefits are what I found most shocking.  I have always understood that cow’s milk had protein and carbohydrates, but did not know about all of these extra nutrients.

 

                                       

https://prettylittlepartyshop.co.uk/products/6-mini-glass-bottles-250ml

               Now to reasons milk may not be your best option.  An argument I have heard many times is that only babies are designed to drink milk.  This is true in some respects because when you are born there is an abundance of lactase which helps break down the sugar in milk.  As you grow up the level of lactase decreases.  The level of lactase you have varies from person to person, someone with very little lactase usually has trouble consuming cow’s milk products without a stomach ache or diarrhea. 

The fat found in milk is another reason some stay away from cow’s milk (unless you buy fat free).  More than half of the fat found in milk is made of saturated fat which should make up less than 10% of your calories for the day.  High intakes of saturated fat can lead to many health problems including weight gain and heart disease.  The USDA recommends decreasing milk fat as much as possible.  However there have been studies to show that milk fat is less harmful on cholesterol levels than other sources of saturated fat.  The main unsaturated fatty acids found in cow’s milk is oleic acid.  Most people around the world get this fat from dairy products.  This fat has been shown to lower cholesterol and triglycerides.  Omega-6 and omega-3 fats are also found, we need some of both of these fats.  The human ratio is usually 2:1, omega-6:omega-3 and milk fat has exactly that ratio naturally.

What have I learned from all of my research? I think milk is important in a healthy diet.  It give you lots of nutrients that are essential.  Without milk you would have to work hard to include everything in your diet, milk makes it easy.  I would recommend a low fat milk if you are trying to maintain or lose weight.  However if the goal is weight gain, whole fat cow’s milk is a great place to start.  So next time you are at the grocery store looking at the huge milk selection keep this in mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 http://www.rochestermedia.com/food-selection-is-a-gray-area-these-days/

 

Sources:

Katz, A. C. (n.d.). Milk Nutrition and Perceptions. Johnson & Wales University Scholarly Archives. Retrieved April, 2018.

 

Human, too.

By Allie Howard

Hi. My name is Allie. I am currently a Dietetic Intern at Saint Louis University and I wanted to take a moment to tell you a bit about an experience I had this year that helped shape my view of patient-centered care. I am going to warn you that I had trouble articulating my thoughts into anything that made any sort of sense - I still wish it was possible to just plug my brain into my computer so it could spit out exactly what I was thinking in perfectly flowing sentences. (Refer to picture showing the inside of my scattered brain and the idea process for this blog)

I want to talk about an experience I had with a patient that made me think deeper into the implicit biases we form in health care based on the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). For background purposes, most charting in hospitals and doctors offices have switched from paper to electronic in the past several years. This allows providers to receive real-time results from other medical offices with the click of a button. It safely stores all patient information, lab results, medical history, medications, office visit summaries, etc. in one central location that can be accessed at any computer on the medical campus. There are far more pros than cons to this new electronic system, however, there are still some major downfalls, specifically how easy it is to form implicit biases of patients based on their EMR alone before even meeting them.

Any professional who visits the patient has access to their EMR and the documentation on that patient. Stigmatizing language used in medical charts can foster implicit bias among medical professionals. For example, “drug abuser” vs. “substance use disorder” can prompt different impressions about the patient. One study published in 2018 explored the spreading of bias between clinicians through language documentation in the medical record. The study found significant results that physicians exposed to medical charts with stigmatizing language had more negative attitudes toward their patients and treated less aggressively than physicians that reviewed medical charts with neutral language. With that in mind, I will tell you about my patient interaction. Read on, humans….

The back story.

During the first rotation of my dietetic internship, I was looking into a patient’s chart that I would go see later that day. Just from reading this, I formed an idea of what this patient would be like. Here is what I remember reading:

Patient is 22 year-old male admitted for diabetic ketoacidosis. Multiple previous admissions this year. Blood sugars running 600 and above. Hemoglobin A1c > 16.0%. Non-compliant with medication.

Just from reading this, I was able to give my preceptor a summary of what I already knew about this patient right before going in to see him: “He is a non-compliant, 22 year-old guy with a HbA1c >16.0%.” This one sentence painted the entire picture of this HUMAN on the other side of the door. Now, reading between the lines of this one sentence, I was essentially telling her that I didn’t expect much of this interaction. There was no way I was going to make a change when he had been here before and the same things happened over and over. My biases clouded my ability go in with a blank canvas and get to know this patient human-to-human.

So...did you go in?

Glad you asked! Yes, I did. I walked into a room with a young, thin male about my age laying in a hospital bed with his mother next to him. As soon as I saw him, I wanted to know his story and the humanness behind what the chart had told me. This patient was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 18; and for those 18 years he was a healthy, carefree, active young man living without everyday fear for his health. He had been taking his insulin for a while, but the family had recently lost their insurance and could no longer afford it. He worked full-time at the YMCA and played pick-up basketball with his buddies everyday after his shift. Playing sports was what he looked forward to and kept him smiling, and this disease was not going to stop him from doing what he loved. There were other children in the house that the mother had to feed and this needed to be the priority over medications. I asked about his diet and he gave me examples of foods they might have some weeks, but not others. He liked chugging a large, 32oz cup of milk before work in the morning when they had it. Sometimes he brought a frozen meal to work, but often, he just got chips and gatorade from the vending machine for lunch. After playing basketball with his buddies, he went home and straight to bed without eating dinner because he was too tired.

The idea I formed of this patient from his medical chart versus the person I had a real, honest conversation with was like night and day. As we talked, I found myself relating to him and feeling so compassionate toward him and his family. I thought about this patient the entire week following...wondering if the social worker found them access to affordable insulin, if he was able to get back home and play ball with his friends, and how his mom was doing juggling this among her other kids. I will never forget this patient and the lesson that he taught me. He shaped the way I view charts and interact with patients in such a powerful way. After all, they are human, too.

Ok, so how do we get rid of our biases?

Well you see, the thing is...it’s not that simple. Cognitive bias is not something we can just get rid of, but we can become more aware of the biases each of us hold and alter our response to the bias. Awareness of the biases we hold, although hard to admit, is the first step in changing our reactions. Anchoring bias is one type bias often seen in medical professionals. I have read of multiple cases where doctors focus on one detail in a patient’s chart and don’t pay as much attention to everything else - thus, anchored to one piece of information. Let me give a scenario to help explain:

A patient comes into the emergency room after a drug overdose. After the patient is admitted, the nurse follows up and reads his chart. Although the nurse read the entire chart, she was so anchored to “drug overdose” that she failed to ask further questions about the bruises over his body - she just assumed he was in a fight the night of the overdose. She talked to this patient several times and she eventually picked up the hints that he was being physically abused. Finally, she consulted social work and a case manager on behalf of the patient.

Initially, the nurse was ignorant to the possibility that the bruises were from something more serious than a bar fight. Luckily, she caught the hints and was able to find help for the patient. Had she never known of the abuse, she may have sent the patient home to the same situation from which he came. This is just one example of how anchoring bias can have a severe impact on we interact with and treat patients.

Medical professionals have the ability to influence one another with the language used in the EMR. More attention should be paid to the verbiage used as to not increase the incidence of implicit bias in healthcare. Every individual has biases and recognizing them is the first step to changing our reactions.

Reference:

Goddu, A. P., O’Conor, A. J., Lanzkron, S., et al. (2018). Do words matter? Stigmatizing language and the transmission of bias in the medical record. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 33(5), 685-691.

Nutrition and Podcasting

By Patrick James

Podcasting has become the new normal for talk radio on your phone. Looking back on my twelve years as a radio personality, I never thought that podcasts would take off like they have. And I was wrong. You can find podcasts that can entertain or educate you, or both. Podcasts can have all sorts of genres. There’s political, science, sports, music talk, you name it. Some of my personal favorites are: “Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show,” “the Bob & Tom Show Podcast,” “The Bertcast with Bert Kreischer,” “Iron Game Chalk Talk with Ron McKeefery,” and “Nike: Trained.” Yea, I like comedy.

So where does nutrition information fall into the world of Podcasts? We are a profession about evidence-based science. Are there podcasts for the masses that strive to present accurate information on nutrition? How can we tell which podcasts are relevant and which are just using buzzwords to grab attention? Hopefully today I can shed some light on the subject.

I started with a basic search on my iPhone. Using the search bar, I typed “nutrition” and found these as the top four recommendations: Ben Greenfield Fitness, The Fat-Burning Man, The Nutrition Diva’s Quick and Dirty Tips, & The Keto Answers Podcast w/Dr. Anthony Gustin. I have no idea who any of these hosts are, so let’s do a little digging together.

Ben Greenfield Fitness (approximately 1h – 1h30m episode length)

Podcast Summary: “Free fitness, nutrition, biohacking, fat loss, anti-aging, and cutting-edge health advice from BenGreenfieldFitness.com! Tune in to the latest research, interviews with exercise, diet and medical professionals, and an entertaining mash-up of ancestral wisdom and modern science, along with Q&A’s and mind-body-spirit with optimizing content from America’s top personal trainer.”

First Impression/Background Check: Personal trainer giving nutrition advice kinda scares me. Also, what is biohacking? What makes him “America’s best personal trainer”? He is a NSCA-certified personal trainer-turned-CEO/nutrition guru. He has written several books and his weekly podcast is pretty popular covering different topics. There is one where he appears to debunk the popularity of the Keto diet, so I’m a little intrigued.

Episode at a Listen: In the episode titled, “How to Test Nutritional Status & How to Know Which Supplements to Take: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet,” Ben, along with Dr. Chris Masterjohn (PhD in Nutritional Science) discuss the Nutrition Cheat Sheet Masterjohn created. They talked about the importance of supplementation “If you’re health conscious, you need supplements.” They go on to discuss how the Western diet and how that fruits and vegetables don’t have as many nutrients as before. Their discussion moves on to the topic of deficiencies and how you can test for these and who (name drop), the best lab to get those results, which could cost $900.

Final Thoughts: The show is full of sponsor advertisements and name drops of companies Ben has worked with and for. There’s not a lot of actual nutritional information that one can’t find from their own search with Dr. Google. Masterjohn’s cheat sheet isn’t that expensive ($30), but only gives blanket information on deficiencies and toxicities for various nutrients. I don’t agree with his statement about needing supplements and some of the recommendations they were making rubbed me the wrong way. When they mentioned Vit-D deficiencies, I think it was Greenfield that mentioned supplementing with 25-50,000 IU every day. According to my Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism textbook, toxicity levels top out at 10,000 IU per day.

Bottom line, he does make some good points, but this podcast is for the ultra-athlete/fitness competitor/gym rat with a lot of money to spend. Would not recommend this for someone who is looking for basic nutrition advice or guidance.

The Fat-Burning Man (45m – 1h30m episode length)

Podcast Summary: “Want to drop fat by eating ridiculously well and exercising less? Whether you’re Paleo, Keto, Vegan, Wild, or completely clueless, we’re here to help you eat right, train smarter, and transform your body and mind to be your absolute best. This family-friendly show is free of outside advertising for your listening pleasure. Winner of 4 awards and #1 in Health in 8+ countries. Yes, you really be happy and healthy at the same time. Take it from the Fat-Burning Man, burning fat can be a lot of fun. :) For more visit: FatBurningMan.com”

First Impression/Background Check: Host Abel James is a singer/songwriter who felt like the advice his doctors were giving him wasn’t helping improve his health. So, according to his website, he did the opposite of what they told him about heart healthy diet and lost “20 pounds in 40 days.” He has no professional education in nutrition or dietetics and does not appear to be certified within any organizations.

Episode at a Listen: Abel James starts every episode with answering some fan mail. James talked with Dr. Jon Berardi about the subject of intermittent fasting and how it can help. They discussed different aspects of intermittent fasting, like one big meal a day or small meals every couple of hours. James seems to be very conversational and wants to find answers to questions about nutrition and fitness. Berardi claims to be his own guinea pig, testing different diets or exercise programs that come out. They also mention that it isn’t just about the timeframe of when you eat, but also what you eat. They bring up caution about losing too much weight and different problems (like how extreme weight loss can affect the female reproductive system) and that people should listen to what their bodies are telling them. They also mention a few times that that intermittent fasting isn’t for everyone, which I think is really good. They’re not trying to push their thoughts at the “only way to perfection.”

Final Thoughts: The show has some sponsor mentions throughout, but not as much as Greenfield’s podcast. I think this could be a good podcast for information seekers. As I believe within anything, the host isn’t an RD, so I feel like some of the information is based on anecdotal evidence and not entirely based on evidence-based science. But James brings his episodes with curiosity and how the topics can be applied to others.

Bottom line, this might be a podcast I could recommend, but I would caution my recommendation. He’s got great ideas, but needs more backing to his information.

The Nutrition Diva’s Quick and Dirty Tips (10m – 25m episode length)

Podcast Summary: “Nutrition Diva Monica Reinagel serves up simple, painless ways to upgrade your eating habits. Before you know it, you’ll be eating healthier and feeling more fabulous!”

First Impression/Background: Monica Reinagel is a licensed dietitian/nutritionist based out of Maryland who has over 500 podcasts covering different topics from intermittent fasting to HDL cholesterol. She’s been featured on the TODAY show, Dr. Oz, and published in several national newspapers. The “Nutrition Quick and Dirty Tips” appears to be part of a larger “Quick and Dirty Tips” page group that covers a multitude of topics, from finances to parenting tips to exercise.

Episode at a Listen: Monica and her guest Dr. Sanaz Majd, discuss HDL cholesterol and its implications both low and high. I really liked that they started the discussion by telling the audience what HDL is and why it’s important. They talked about consequences of having it too low as it relates to heart problems, but they also talked about possible risks of having it too high. Monica pointed to a recent study that indicated that a high level of HDL (>60) could increase risk for a heart attack. When she asked Dr. Majd her thoughts on the subject, Dr. Majd said that there are some articles that point to a high HDL as bad, but there were other articles that said that it wasn’t that bad. Dr. Majd said that the jury is still out on the risks of having a high HDL.

Final Thoughts: This is a podcast I could really recommend, as it is hosted by a dietitian. The information is brought in a simplistic way for most to understand and they do explain the science behind it. Even though I listened to one episode, this podcast seems to be on the up and up in regards to how they are presenting information and how to explain it for everyone to understand.

Keto Answers Podcast with Dr. Anthony Gustin (45m – 1h30 episode length)

Podcast Summary: “The ONLY keto podcast hosted by a doctor, Keto Answers with Dr. Anthony Gustin (founder and CEO of PerfectKeto.com) features interviews with health and nutrition influencers, world-class thought leaders, and industry experts. With exclusive content that breaks down complex ideas to make them simple and digestible. We cover topics like weight loss, intermittent fasting, low carb and ketogenic diets, nutrition, healing chronic conditions and hormones.”

First Impression/Background Check: I will admit that I was already a bit skeptical when I read the bio of the podcast “hosted by a doctor.” Dr. Anthony Gustin is a chiropractor with certifications as chiropractic sports physician, certified strength and condition specialist, and a Crossfit coach. Knowing this, I’m really skeptical as this shows he has no formal certifications in nutrition. He seems to believe that the ketogenic diet is perfect for anyone, regardless of health concerns or disease state, and that “remember – you can fix yourself.”

Episode at a Listen: Gustin and guest Chris Dufey talked his new book and what he does with the ketogenic diet in everyday life. Background on Dufey, he is a certified personal trainer and online fitness business coach. Dufey talked about how his book could help bodybuilders and fitness competition athletes. I did like how Dufey mentioned that food is first and that supplements should be a gap filler, instead of adopting a need for supplementation. They talked about how “eating bad oils” and the problems that would result from that.

They also praised coconut oil and coconut oil butter. I wanted to wretch a bit at that.

They also discussed how Dufey uses intermittent fasting and how it has improved travel schedule as a speaker and fitness professional. I’m not sure I agree with how this information could be used for the general public.

Final Thoughts: It feels like he is trying to push the ketogenic diet and his company’s products as THE way to make the keto diet simple and manageable. One issue I have personally as former radio personality is that he needs some speech and audio engineering training in terms of delivery and volume. Throughout the episode, Gustin is talking much faster than he needs to be, OR he has altered the speed of the audio for some reason beyond me. The volume at times in his episodes seems to be off where he’s much quieter than his guests and the guests sound almost like they are shouting.

In terms of the information, I am a hard believer that the ketogenic diet is a fad diet and should only be implemented as a treatment in certain medical conditions. I feel like Gustin and his guest are aiming their information toward a specific population and don’t seem to provide information to the general public.

Bottom line, this is a podcast I wouldn’t recommend as there is a lot information that I simply do not agree with.

So, hopefully I helped enlighten you on what the field looks like in terms of podcasts on nutrition. There are probably at least 100 podcasts out there that give nutrition advice, so my advice to you is to look behind the scenes at the podcast. Are they credentialed? Where do they get their information from? What do their sponsors hope to gain from supporting that podcast? Does the sponsor skew the information or tell the host they can’t talk about a certain subject?

Make sure you ask those questions. Google searches can help you find some of those answers that the Podcast information won’t give you. You could be surprised.

One final thought: If you like humor, listen to the podcasts above. Some of them have no nutrition information, but they are pretty funny.

Photo credits: all photos courtesy Apple iTunes Podcast Page.

The REAL Keto Diet

By Ryanne Hill

The Keto Diet has become a hot topic and fat-loss fad diet within recent years. Everyone from CrossFit athletes to moms trying to lose the baby weight are giving the keto diet a try.

But does anyone actually know what the true keto diet is?

The ketogenic diet can be defined as a high fat, low carbohydrate, controlled protein diet. The ketogenic diet was created by Dr. Russell Wilder in 1923. Dr. Wilder was working at the Mayo Clinic at the time. He created the ketogenic diet as a treatment for individuals with epilepsy. The diet aims to reduce seizures through changing the fuel source of the body. Within healthy individuals, their bodies use glucose from carbohydrates as energy. However, the ketogenic diet switches the primary fuel source to fat. The body begins to produce ketones and ultimately lives in a state of ketosis. Recent studies have also shown that decanoic acid is also produced during this diet and may be a key factor in helping decrease the frequency of seizures in people with epilepsy.

The classic ketogenic diet follows a 4:1 ratio. This means that there are four parts fat for every one part protein and carbohydrate. This ends up being 90% of calories from fat, 6% from protein and 4% from carbohydrates.

The modified keto diet breaks down to 82% of calories from fat, 12% from protein, and 6% from carbohydrate. This variation allows a little bit more flexibility for diet choices.

Living the Keto Way

I personally have not experienced living on a strict ketogenic diet. However, I witnessed my younger brother follow a classic keto diet for two years during his stint of epilepsy. At age three my brother began having up to 8 tonic-clonic (convulsive) seizures a day. After intensive work ups and screenings, he was diagnosed with epilepsy and immediately placed on a slew of medications. These medications greatly altered his mood and attitude; he was angry, aggressive and moody most of the time compared to his previous kind demeanor. My parents made the decision to attempt the ketogenic diet to help mitigate the seizures and hopefully improving his mood. My brother was admitted to Children’s Hospital to begin the transition to a ketogenic diet. He was supervised for 24 hours to fast, then slowly increase calories to meet the 4:1 classic keto ratio. Supervision is completed in order to monitor for a potential increase in seizures. Fortunately, my brother handled the transition well and was able to stop taking most of his medications. 

In order for the diet to be effective, he had to follow a strict 4:1 ratio diet. He got zero cheat meals, snacks or treats. Sweets and other carbohydrate rich foods were eliminated. A typical day for him included: Breakfast – Scrambled Eggs
38g (2.7 Tbsp) heavy cream
50g (1 large) egg
27g (1.9 Tbsp) Butter
Strawberries: 12g (1 medium)

Lunch – Quesadilla
20g (1.4 Tbsp) Heavy Cream
11g (2.3 tsp) Mayonnaise
23g Avocado
10g Butter
30g Egg Whites
5g Almond flour
12g (0.4oz) Cheddar Cheese

I remember babysitting and having to weigh every meal on a scale to maintain the perfectly portioned macronutrients. He would have to drink straight heavy whipping cream in order to meet the necessary fat content. He was a rockstar at school and only ate the food that was packed for him. During his last year on the keto diet he saved all of his Halloween candy and patiently waited a few months until he was cleared to stop the keto diet to eat the candy and celebrate! I am beyond proud of this stud for sticking to his ketogenic diet and now being 10 years seizure free!

Keto in the Spotlight

Comparatively, the Instagram keto translates to a high fat and high protein diet. This is better outlined as the Modified Atkins diet which composes of 65% of calories from fat, 30% protein and 5% carbohydrate. At this point, the body is most likely not producing enough ketones to be in ketosis and switch to utilizing fat as the primary fuel source. Most likely the Instagram fitness gurus and celebrities that you draw inspiration from are not following the strict meal plan required of the ketogenic diet. The transition into a ketogenic diet requires intensive supervision from a medical team who specialize in epilepsy and the ketogenic diet. The individual who you meet at the gym most likely did not undergo supervision and therefore is most likely not in ketosis.

So Remember…..

Ketogenic Diet

Not Ketogenic Diet

Citations

https://charliefoundation.org/diet-plans/

http://www.childrenshospital.org/centers-and-services/programs/a-_-e/epilepsy-program/resources-for-families/ketogenic-diet#ketogenic

https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/treating-seizures-and-epilepsy/dietary-therapies/ketogenic-diet

https://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/news/study-shows-that-ketogenic-diet-may-be-feasible-and-effective-in-adults-with-epilepsy-12-04-2016#.W99l7ZNKhPY