Keto Diets, Are They Safe?

     Keto diets have been around for a long time.  Remember the Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet?  I have done the South Beach Diet.  It states that you can eat a high fat, low carb diet with success of losing unwanted pounds.  Does it work?  Yes it does!  How does it work?  By lowering your carbohydrates, it forces your body to go into ketosis meaning your body will burn fat or ketones instead of glucose, and your body needs that glucose to power your body and brain.

     I have tried every diet on the planet, and though it wasn't called the Keto diet, they are all one in the same.  High fat low carb.  Probably 4 years ago, I did this diet.  My hubby and kids were with me for it.  We did lose weight, but in the process didn't feel well at all.  How can something that the good Lord put on this planet to eat be detrimental to our bodies like fruits and vegetables, and in the long run what does it do to our bodies,  When your body doesn't have the glucose it needs, your energy levels are down.  You tire easily.  Also if you are eating a high fat diet in the long run your arteries will line themselves with plague (a gooy fat substance) that can cause heart disease.

     What do the plant based doctors say about these diets.  Dr. McDougall author of The Starch Solution, and The Healthiest Diet on the Planet, says when your body is in ketosis, you are sick.  You lose your appetite and thus you lose weight.  He says you can't stay this way very long.  You give up, and gain your weight back.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKdoLFfAZnE  Another body builder was talking about if you need to lose weight fast, don't eat any carbs at all for 2 weeks, and you will lose.  He said it's mostly water that you lose, and what happens when you are done?  You gain that weight back and then some.  It's  a vicious cycle.

     In a recent study conducted in Finland, 2400 men were followed for 22 years.  They were broken up into 4 groups depending on how much protein they ate.  The lowest consuming about 78 grams of protein a day, and the highest consuming 109 grams of protein.  After that 22 years, 330 men were diagnosed with heart failure!  For me that is 330 too much!  It's like playing Russian Roulette.  You just don't know where that bullet will shoot you!   https://www.livescience.com/62687-high-protein-diet-heart-failure.html?utm_source=notification  Incidentally, you don't need as much protein as some my think, and  this is another subject for another day, but this is a good video worth watching.   https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-great-protein-fiasco/

     Along with all the protein consumed on a Keto diet, your kidneys have to work harder.  Also that protein sits in your gut like a bomb and causes cancer.  Since going plant based, my digestion has never been better.  It works like a well oiled machine.

     Do you know anything about Dr. Atkins?  That diet is still around today, and I have seen some of his products in the grocery store.  Remember they are all processed foods.  Dr. Ornish who is a plant based doctor says it is possible to lose weight on these diets, he also says that it is possible to lose weight smoking cigarettes.  We all know that isn't healthy. 
 https://www.plantbasednews.org/post/watch-dr-dean-ornish-debunks-low-carb-ketogenic-diet

     Diets will come and go.   There will be consequences of good and bad, but diets don't work.  Eventually when you stop that diet you will gain that weight back, and also have some diseases to go along with those choices.  I'm so thankful that I did the research into a whole foods plant based diet.  It has changed my life, and the lives of my family.  I will never go back to eating animal products.  I still have processed foods, and I need to stop eating those as well.  It's a life long education, and the more I learn the more I see that a plant based diet is the best on the planet. 

     On a side note, I just had a friend tell me that she has been doing a keto diet for over a year, and has reversed her health issues.  That's great, but in the long run what is really happening in her body.  In a whole food plant based history, I know of no troubles.  I even had a cardiologist from Cornell University call me, and tell me that plant based diets or lifestyles are the best with no ill effects.  I think that people like this keto diet because they like hearing that they can eat all the wrong things.  All the fats, and animal products that yes taste good, but aren't good for us, the animals or the planet!


   









Groceries

     The other day I was at the grocery store and was buying up their kale.  I buy a lot of kale because I have green smoothies.  The cashier asked so what's with all the kale.  I told him we don't eat meat, and kale has a lot of protein in it.  He wasn't really into listening, so the conversation ended there. 

     You can tell a lot about people by what they have in their grocery carts.  Please don't think from this article that I'm judging people in any way, but you really can tell what kind of people they are by what they eat.  At Walmart when I bought all that kale, there was a family with a mom and dad and children, all very large and over weight.  The dad was in a motorized cart, telling the kids what to put into the cart, all of it processed foods.  I thought to myself how sad that you are relatively young (middle 40s) and not walking through the store.  His ankles were huge.  I can't imagine the life they lead.  Now okay, he may have just had surgery or had a sprain, but those foods certainly were not going to help his situation. 

     How do I grocery shop you ask?  I stay out of the middle sections of the store where all the processed foods reside.  I do venture into where the soy milk is so I can make yogurt.  Or I do happen into where canned and dry beans are and sauces for Mexican foods, but for the most part I stay in the fresh produce isle. 

     Have you noticed how foods are marketed?  They are eye catching.  They market to children, with fun logos ie Skittles "taste the rainbow" or all the cereal boxes with Disney characters on them.  So inviting to small eyes.  I remember Frosted Flakes with Tony the Tiger.  Okay everyone, I'm almost 60 years old, and to this day I still remember his name, and how he used to say "They're Great!"  It has stuck in my brain all these years.  He is still on the box!

     Have you gone into the produce isle?  I have to be honest.  When we were struggling more than once in our married lives we would go to the store, coupons in hand and get things cheap!  All the wrong stuff I might add.  The produce isle seemed too expensive.  I couldn't afford that stuff for my family!  Well, since going plant based I have discovered just how inexpensive it is, unless of course you live in Hawaii, but that is another subject.  LOL  If you aren't buying all the processed, dairy and meat items, then living a plant based diet is relatively inexpensive.  It does cost a bit to get set up with spices and appliances, but once that is done you are good to go.  On average we (meaning my husband and I) we spend about 300.00 per month on groceries.  That might be a bit high though as some weeks we don't go to the store.  It all depends on how the produce holds up.  Looking back now, I wish I had understood what a plant based diet could have done for my family.  We do have some health problems that I'm positive could have been avoided.

     I have noticed that we buy about the same things when we do shop and that is a lot of potatoes, salad makings, and Mexican items like tortillas, beans and such.  Rice is another item that we buy frequently, and I try to buy that in big quantities then I don't have to buy it very often.  I buy Dave's Killer bread, and freeze it.  I do buy lots of frozen vegges so that if I'm too lazy or in a hurry to eat fresh I always have it on hand.  I also purchase vinegars, mustard and of course nutritional yeast for flavoring dishes and getting the vitamin B12 that is a must for vegans. 

     All in all grocery shopping is a breeze these days.  I must say though it's been a bit of a learning curve as we ate the SAD (standard American diet) all those years. 

     If you need help with grocery shopping, and you live in the Boise area let me know if I can be of service. 

     Contact me at nrrook@gmail.com or 208-640-3890       

Aging, Happens To the Best of Us

     This year I will be 60 years old!  WHAT?  How did that happen?  I never thought in a million years that I would be 60!  I thought I would be young forever!  Well..... much to my chagrin it's happening.  I have to dye my hair about every 6 weeks, I have really come to enjoy relaxing more, and I am having a much harder time losing weight.  I love sweets, and they go straight to my hips.  I have also noticed that I'm starting to look like my mother when she was old!  LOL  Well at least that's what I see in the mirror.  Others have told me that I don't look as old as 60.  How old are you supposed to look at 60? 

     Aging is a natural part of life.  It's inevitable.  We can't live on what ifs.  What if I were 30 again I would do it so differently, what if I were in high school again, I would have studied harder.  This kind of attitude gets us nowhere.  We have to take life by the horns and dig in to where we are now and if we need to make changes, then do it!

     I have noticed one thing, and that is by eating a plant based diet I have more energy.  I work a 12 hour shift 3 days a week at work and by the time I get home I'm a bit tired, but I still have energy to do things, although I know how important sleep is, so I try to relax and get the rest that I need for the next 12 hour shift.  I wonder how long I will be able to keep up this pace.

     I work in a rehab hospital, and we have 38 patients that have a myriad of health conditions and most of our patients are elderly.  We do have a sprinkling of young every now and again, but mostly elderly.  Most of our patients have inflammatory issues such as arthritis, chest pain, abdominal pains, rashes or fatigue.  All causes of inflammation.  What causes inflammation?  Animal products.  Here is a video my doctor Greger.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_MaHa2NDY

     I'm positive because I don't get sick more often, and my my knees aren't worse is because I eat a plant based diet.  I keep my inflammation to a minimum by eating this way.  Now I'm not by any means perfect.  I do fall off the wagon from time to time, not with animal products, but sweets are my nemesis.  I have noticed that my body hurts more when I do eat sweets.  Working on ditching the sugar. 

     How do we stay "young"?  We can't, but we can do things that help us age more gracefully.
I love this video by Dr. Ellsworth Wareham.  He didn't retire from being a surgeon until he was 95!!!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX58PyQwrcI&t=673s  Lots of great advice from a man who has been there done that.  Knowledge is power, and the more we learn about how to care for our bodies the better off we will be.  It's my hope that I will see my grand children get married.  I was married as some would considered late.  (27).  So having my first 2 grands didn't come until recently, I have a ways to go until I see them married.  At any rate, my goal is to take care of myself so that I will age gracefully, and see wonderful things to come in my children's lives and grand children's lives.