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Keto Diet: A Complete User Guide

mymedicplus — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 03:36:33 +0000

Keto Diet: A Complete User Guide (End-to-End)

Discover everything you need to know to begin, maintain, and optimize a ketogenic diet — based on real research, scientific experiments, benefits, and risks.

What is the Keto Diet?

The Ketogenic (Keto) Diet is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat, moderate-protein diet that alters your body’s metabolism. Instead of burning glucose (carbs) for energy, the body enters a state called ketosis, where it burns fat for fuel.

Typical Keto Macros:

70–75% fat
20–25% protein
5–10% carbs (usually under 20–50 grams net carbs/day)

How the Keto Diet Works (Scientifically)

When you drastically reduce carbs:

Insulin levels drop
Your body starts breaking down fat into ketones (BHB, acetoacetate, acetone)
These ketones become the new fuel source for your brain and muscles

This metabolic shift mimics fasting and triggers processes like:

Fat oxidation (burning stored fat)
Reduced inflammation
Stable energy levels
Improved cognitive clarity

Research and Experiments

Numerous scientific studies have evaluated the keto diet’s impact:

Weight Loss

Virta Health (2017): 218 Type 2 diabetics lost an average of 12% body weight in 12 months on keto and reduced HbA1c by 1.3%.
Journal of Clinical Endocrinology (2002): Keto showed greater fat loss compared to a low-fat diet, even when calories were equal.

Epilepsy

Originally developed in the 1920s for epilepsy. Still used today, especially for drug-resistant childhood epilepsy.

Type 2 Diabetes

Keto has shown to lower blood glucose, reduce insulin resistance, and in many cases, reverse Type 2 diabetes.

Cognitive Health

Early studies show potential in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and brain injury recovery due to ketones being a “cleaner” energy source.

Proven Benefits of the Keto Diet

Benefit	Description
Fat Loss	Burns fat stores, especially visceral fat
Appetite Control	Ketones suppress hunger hormones (ghrelin)
Mental Clarity	Steady fuel = less brain fog, improved focus
Blood Sugar Stability	Great for prediabetics and diabetics
Improved HDL/Triglycerides	Keto tends to increase HDL and reduce triglycerides
Anti-Inflammatory	Reduced CRP markers in many studies
Neuroprotective	May protect against cognitive decline

Risks and Side Effects

Risk	Description
Keto Flu	Fatigue, brain fog, headache in the first 3–5 days
Electrolyte Imbalance	Sodium, potassium, magnesium loss from diuresis
Constipation	Low-fiber intake from carb restriction
Overconsumption of processed fats	Eating poor-quality fats (e.g., bacon, salami) can harm heart health
Not suitable for some conditions	Pregnant women, kidney issues, pancreatitis patients should consult doctors
Long-term unknowns	Some long-term studies are inconclusive on keto’s impact after 5+ years

How to Start the Keto Diet – Step-by-Step

Step 1: Understand Your Macros

Use a calculator (like ruled.me or Keto Calculator) to set your:

Total daily calories
Fats (~70%)
Proteins (~20–25%)
Net carbs (<20–50g)

Step 2: Clean Out Your Kitchen

Remove:

Bread, rice, pasta
Sugary snacks and sodas
High-carb fruits (bananas, grapes)
Processed foods

Step 3: Stock Up on Keto-Friendly Foods

Category	Examples
Fats	Avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, ghee, butter
Proteins	Eggs, chicken, beef, pork, salmon, sardines
Low-Carb Veggies	Spinach, kale, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli
Dairy	Cheese, heavy cream, full-fat yogurt (unsweetened)
Nuts & Seeds	Almonds, chia, flax, walnuts (moderate amount)
Condiments	Mustard, mayo, hot sauce, vinegar (no sugar)

Step 4: Track Your Intake (At Least Initially)

Use apps like:

Carb Manager
MyFitnessPal
KetoDiet App

This helps ensure you stay within your carb limit.

Step 5: Stay Hydrated + Electrolytes

Due to water loss on keto, take:

2–4g sodium/day (Himalayan salt or bouillon)
500mg potassium
300mg magnesium

This prevents keto flu, cramps, fatigue.

Things to Avoid on Keto

High-Carb Foods:

Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes
Cereals, oats, granola
Beans and legumes
Most fruits (except berries)
Sugary drinks, juices, soda
Alcohol (especially beer, sweet cocktails)
Packaged low-fat products (usually high in sugar)

“Dirty Keto” Pitfalls:

Bacon-only meals without veggies
Artificial sweeteners in excess (can spike insulin)
Processed keto junk (keto cookies, chips, etc.)
Not eating enough real food or fiber

What is Ketosis? How Do You Know You’re in It?

When in ketosis, your liver produces ketones used by your body and brain for energy.

Signs you’re in ketosis:

Reduced hunger
Increased focus
Dry mouth / metallic taste
Urine or breath ketone test shows positive
Weight loss (initially water, then fat)

How to Measure Ketosis

Urine strips (cheap, easy, but not always accurate)
Breath meters (like Ketonix – reusable)
Blood ketone meters (most accurate – e.g., Keto Mojo)

How Long Does It Take to Enter Ketosis?

Usually 2–4 days with <20g carbs/day
Exercising + intermittent fasting can speed up the process
Hydration + electrolytes help manage symptoms

Sample 1-Day Keto Meal Plan

Meal	Example
Breakfast	Scrambled eggs in butter + spinach + avocado
Lunch	Chicken thigh + olive oil salad + feta
Dinner	Salmon + zucchini noodles + garlic cream sauce
Snack	Bulletproof coffee or a handful of almonds

Who Should Be Cautious or Avoid Keto?

People with kidney/liver/pancreas disease
Pregnant or breastfeeding women
Those with a history of eating disorders
If you’re on diabetic or blood pressure medication – always consult your doctor

Final Thoughts

The Keto Diet isn’t just another trend. Backed by science and clinical use cases (like epilepsy, obesity, and diabetes), it’s a powerful metabolic tool when done correctly. But like any serious diet, it requires planning, balance, and personalization.

Summary

Keto = High fat, low carb, moderate protein
Trains body to burn fat instead of glucose
Helps in weight loss, blood sugar control, mental clarity
Comes with side effects if not managed properly
Avoid sugars, grains, starchy veggies, processed junk
Stay hydrated, track macros, and focus on whole foods

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Not normal period pain: my life with endometriosis

mymedicplus — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 05:41:30 +0000

Source – https://www.queensjournal.ca/

Living with my diagnosis since the age of 15

It was the morning of my Grade 10 science exam when the pain started. Up until that moment in my life, my period pain had always been manageable. On that morning, it became so bad I began to black out.

I still went to my exam only to last 20 minutes before asking to go to the bathroom to throw up. I laid down on the floor, trying to use the cold concrete to rid myself of a sudden hot flash and fainting spell.

I managed to get myself to my teacher’s office. They promptly called my parents, asking them to come and pick me up. I was carried out of the school by the vice-principal and my dad, who was in his police uniform.

I was diagnosed with endometriosis and put on prescribed pain killers.

Endometriosis is a disorder wherein the tissue that usually lines the inside of your uterus grows on the outside. This makes periods incredibly painful—some women with endometriosis have said childbirth causes less pain than their period.

Since I was 15 years old, I have experienced excruciating pain every month. Some are better than others, but I am on bed rest for 30 hours almost every menstruation cycle.

In Grade 8, when all the girls in my class started menstruating, we created a code word to let each other know: it was “bananas.” Because of my endometriosis, I’ve never had the luxury of choosing not to tell people when I am on my period or discreetly using a code word.

Sometimes, in the beginning, I could get away with calling it a medical condition. But every month when the pain worsened I had to instruct those close to me of what to do if I were to faint, what I would be able to stomach eating, and what would happen if I had a muscle spasm and was unable to move my neck. It was through these instructions I often revealed I suffer from endometriosis, or, more simply, extremely painful periods.

I’ve had to disclose this information to past boyfriends very early in relationships, to teachers, friends, and workplaces. Often, I could tell people thought I was oversharing. But I was looking at it as a safety concern, not just for myself, but for the people around me as well. Some people were understanding, but most weren’t.

This isn’t to say they didn’t care. They just didn’t understand.

I was often hit with “I get pain too,” or “the pain can’t be that bad,” or “why didn’t you just call in sick?”

Some of the people with these responses probably do experience period pain, but in most cases, they are still functional during their periods. I am doubled over in bed, crawling around my apartment for two days. The pain sometimes creeps down my legs, and I am unable to stand, or it is so intense that I get hot flashes and then chills back and forth for hours.

I would’ve loved to have been able to call in to work sick every time I was on my period, but I would’ve been calling in two to three days a month, hoping I was lucky enough my period wouldn’t start when I was scheduled to work. As any girl knows, you can try to predict when your period is coming, but you can never be 100 per cent certain. Not to mention calling in sick that often can make it very hard to keep a job, especially if they don’t understand your situation.

After my diagnosis, my biggest fear became fainting in public. It made me even more conscious of the pain, of how many people were watching me cry on the subway, clenching my backpack and trying to use it as a makeshift heating pad to calm my muscles.

I cannot count the number of times strangers have walked me home or have made me wait to drive anywhere because the pain was so intense that I started to blackout.

Every month I feel like an inconvenience to the world. A little dramatic, but if you’re in my inner circle of friends and family, I rely on your help to keep me alive. Last month, my roommates had to bring me food and water while I sat in bed and tried to sleep away the pain. My mother has always been my saving grace—she went through the same thing—and when I’m able to be home during my period she always takes care of me.

The worst part of all of this is when people try and compare their pain to mine or dismiss me because it’s “just a period.” To those people, I hope you and your loved ones never have to experience endometriosis. It feels like living hell for two to three days every month.

When I was 21, one of my managers at work convinced me to get on a very long waitlist to see a gynecologist in Toronto. I knew that no matter how much I pleaded, they weren’t going to remove everything. Still, there had to be other options.

Ten months later, I had my first appointment. Ten months of pain without any solution.

My gynecologist and I did an initial consultation. We discussed the possibility of birth control, but that option was quickly ruled out as I get frequent migraines. Taking birth control with migraines increases one’s risk for a stroke.

A year of other tests to ensure the rest of my body was functioning correctly went by. I had a colonoscopy, a heart exam, did massage therapy, acupuncture, and Chinese cupping, but nothing yielded positive results or showed other internal issues.

Finally, after two years, we settled on the option of an IUD. It took another six months to get everything in order and book a space at the hospital. They wanted to do a full scope inside to ensure that the rest of my uterus and ovaries looked okay. The only way to do that was to be put under.

My surgery was moved due to COVID-19, and I finally had the IUD inserted last week. I am praying this option works and minimizes the pain.

But even with treatment, this is a condition that affects every aspect of my life. I have to keep my life in order every day of the month, or my pain is so much worse on my period. I have to plan each month around my cycle and carefully schedule activities when I know the pain is due.

My life has changed a lot since I was 15. I have moved to three different cities, completed my undergrad, held a variety of jobs, and am now in my Masters. The only thing that has remained constant is the endometriosis.

Endometriosis pain isn’t normal period pain and shouldn’t be compared as such.

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High blood pressure, high cholesterol early in life tied to heart problems later

mymedicplus — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 06:56:21 +0000

Source: news.yahoo.com

(Reuters Health) – People with high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol before age 40 are more likely to have a heart attack later in life than other adults, a new analysis suggests.

The analysis pooled data from six studies involving a total of 36,030 people. Starting when participants were 53 years old on average, researchers tracked them to see who had heart attacks, strokes, or heart failure.

By the time half of the people had been tracked for at least 17 years, participants who had high levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol before age 40 – that is, higher than about 129 milligrams per deciliter of blood – were 64% more likely to have had events like heart attacks compared to people with low LDL levels in early adulthood.

The upper limit of normal blood pressure is 120/80. Younger adults who had high systolic blood pressure – the “top number” – were 37% more likely to develop heart failure later in life. And young adults who had elevated diastolic blood pressure – the “bottom number” – were 21% more likely to develop heart failure later on.

“Many young adults feel OK, or they’re willing to think–I’m OK now, I will make healthful choices later when I’m older,” said Dr. Andrew Moran, senior author of the study and a researcher at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

“This study shows that healthy choices matter even in young adults,” Moran said by email. “This means not smoking, eating a healthful diet, and exercising regularly.”

And for some high risk young adults, starting medication to manage risk factors at a younger age – something that currently isn’t done as a matter of course – may be worthwhile, Moran added.

Very few people in the study had high blood pressure or high cholesterol during young adulthood, researchers report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

During follow-up, 4,570 participants had events like heart attacks, 5,119 had heart failure events, and 2,862 had strokes.

The study can’t explain whether or how high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol in early adulthood might directly cause heart attacks, strokes or heart failure later in life.

One limitation of the analysis is that because the smaller studies used in the analysis didn’t have blood pressure and cholesterol measurements across the lifespan, in some cases researchers had to estimate how many younger adults had these risk factors based on the data they had for participants at older ages.

“Heart failure and heart attacks are the result of years of exposure to risk factors like high blood pressure and cholesterol,” said Dr. Samuel Gidding, coauthor of an editorial accompanying the study and medical director of the FH (Familial Hypercholesterolemia) Foundation in Pasadena, California.

“Both cause the buildup of fat in the coronary arteries beginning in childhood; this leads to heart attack later in life,” Gidding said by email. “High blood pressure puts extra strain on the heart and adapting to that stress leads to heart failure.”

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