Can an extreme low carb diet be used as medicine?

I am 58, on a (mostly) strict ketogenic diet since 2013. It has worked wonders for me and I expect to eat this way the rest of my life. I eat a lot of meat and eggs as I have found that combination (1) is something I enjoy very much, and (2) makes me feel the best.<p>I didn’t have much weight to lose but I went from 175 to 160 (high school weight) and under 15% body fat. My energy level is consistently very good.<p>Diet is a subjective thing, of course, but at a minimum getting rid of sugars and processed food might be a good starting point for anyone.<p>Anecdote: my brother-in-law reversed his T2 diabetes and lost quite a bit of weight doing keto. His doctor had advised meds to “manage” the disease.

Before the advent of anti-seizure drugs, the ketogenic diet [1] was an effective and widespread intervention used to treat epilepsy. The downside is the discipline required to keep intake of carbohydrates below 15 grams per day, especially in children.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Ketogenic_diet" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Ketogenic_diet</a>

I&#x27;m going to go with a corollary to Murphy&#x27;s law. Since anything that can go wrong will, every activity or substance is going to be the problem for somebody.<p>As far as I can tell, the only thing that dieticians are consistently against is sugar in large doses.

I&#x27;ve been on keto for probably a full year of my life at this point, broken up every few months. I usually can&#x27;t maintain it for longer than 2-3 months at a time because it really is a strict diet - but it&#x27;s always been worth it once I get into the &quot;mode&quot;.<p>I absolutely love it because it turns the daily roller coaster of hunger pains for me caused by carbs into a steadier, more predictable climb. I basically feel no hunger at all during the day, and it&#x27;s fantastic.<p>The big downside, obviously: little to no carbs. As a home baker I miss making bread when on keto, but I get that energy out by making different keto treats (usually almond&#x2F;coconut flour based) instead.

It&#x27;s been used to treat diabetes and seizure victims for a while so, yes. Personally I lost over 70 pounds (from 295 to 225 -- I&#x27;m 6&#x27;5&quot;) at one point using keto. My main concern is whether one who is on the diet for weight loss will become overly sensitive to carbs if&#x2F;when they start eating them again causing the body to immediately store them away as far instead of burning them (and if so, how long would it take to &quot;return to status quo ante&quot; with regard to carbohydrate metabolism).

Yes. And it has been used to cure some things you wouldn&#x27;t believe. Here is the shortlist of the more serious illness that the PaleoMedicina group in Hungary have shown to effectively treat using their low-carb PKD protocol<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;justmeat.co&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;pkd&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;justmeat.co&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;pkd&#x2F;</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.paleomedicina.com&#x2F;en&#x2F;paleolithic_ketogenic_diet_PKD_in_chronic_diseases_clinical_and_research_data" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.paleomedicina.com&#x2F;en&#x2F;paleolithic_ketogenic_diet_...</a><p>Here are testimonies of even more people healing their serious diseases on a purely carnivore and zero-carb diet<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;meatrx.com&#x2F;category&#x2F;success-stories&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;meatrx.com&#x2F;category&#x2F;success-stories&#x2F;</a>

One thing many overlook with low carb is that you can still enjoy your favorites sauces and similar, you will be amazed how far a tablespoon of one will go. This can apply to mixing in what otherwise are considered carb no nos like bread crumbs. A little goes a long way and the carb impact can be minimized if the base is large.<p>Plus there is so much variety in the produce department that fits the diet that many overlook. Low carb&#x2F;keto does not mean having to eat what is on their list but looking on the lists for items you have never tried to see new opportunities.

Fasting has excellent results for treating many illnesses including mental ones.<p>There is a documentary that covers two clinics that offer fasting as a treatment and scientific research in this area.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=t1b08X-GvRs" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=t1b08X-GvRs</a>

Can someone explain why ketosis is the secondary energy system in the body and not the primary?

I did it before for weight loss, it worked amazingly, but the weight came back on just as easily. It would have to be a permanent lifestyle change, and I&#x27;m not convinced that&#x27;s safe.

Well the ketogenic diet was designed specifically to treat intractable epilepsy ... so yeah ...

So my daughter had epilepsy soon after birth and was hospitalized for 20 days @ 1 month old. By the time we left they had her on 4 different drugs, but the seizures continued. At 4 months old she went to the local children&#x27;s keto clinic. The seizure frequency slowly tappered off until a month or so later she was seizure free! That lasted for a few months until an ear infection brought the sickness back and then revealed the true cause of the seizure, a brain abnormality.<p>That was when my eyes were truly opened to how much diet can effect the body.

I have been on keto for three months now, for me it&#x27;s mostly about the mental clarity, free from the ups and downs you experience when eating a lunch high in carbs.

There is The Autoimmune Protocol diet (AIP), a stricter version of Paleo, and there is keto diet. They both seem to help with autoimmune deceases and inflammations.<p>Did anyone try them, and can share their experience? Do they both have comparable effects in a long term?

No.

My dog Toby was recently diagnosed with stage 2 splenic hemangiosarcoma and given 30-60 days. Opting against doxorubicin chemo we are working with the Keto Pet Sanctuary to make a new diet and hopefully start HBOT soon.

I love how we&#x27;re starting to focus on our diets to prevent or cure a huge amount of diseases. You don&#x27;t need drugs, expensive treatments, nothing, only a good diet. (read the comments below for an clarification for this statement)<p>I personally can&#x27;t work on a very low carb diet. Now I&#x27;m eating carbs again but NOT refined carbs. I make sure everything I eat is nutrient dense. Well, not everything, I&#x27;m not a robot but I always try to eat stuff with a low glycemic index.<p>And I eat everything in a span of 8 hours. The rest of the day I only drink water.<p>Y recommend listening to Dr. Rhonda Patrick. She can explain all this way better than me. She&#x27;s been on the Joe Rogan podcast (she talks about this in her first time there) and she also has a podcast and a lot of very interesting videos.