When you don’t see results with the Ketogenic diet
For professional help, feel free to contact me at: matthewcress79@gmail.com
Microbiome
Disease-causing bacteria and parasites can make you bloated and cause stomach pain. Sadly, this can completely stop weight loss. When these kinds of bacteria and parasites are present in your gut microbiome they can cause internal inflammation and mess up your iron metabolism (see below). When your iron metabolism is out of whack, your metabolic rate will slow down and stop you from losing weight. * (*=source)
Furthermore, these human gut microbes, the good and the bad, are closely related to how fat you are.* The good news is that your gut microbiome will naturally change with weight loss and your gut flora will become healthier as you become healthy yourself.
Your microbiome flora also adapts to change quite easily, this study shows that your microbiome can shift and change to a healthy or unhealthy one from a day-to-day basis.*
You can find out more about your microbiome by sending in a sample for analysis for pathogens. If pathogens are found you can have your doctor order you antibiotics. The side effects of stomach pain and bloating should disappear with the weight loss.
Iron deficiency – Stalled weight & Red meat
If you have been doing the keto diet without red meat and you have stalled with your weight loss, you may have an iron deficiency. Yes, you will have sources of iron from other foods, but if it is not heme-iron from red meat you will not be absorbing it in your hemoglobin in your Red Blood Cells, where you need it most.
Having low heme-iron levels (see ferritin in a iron blood panel) can 100% stall weight loss. This is because heme-iron helps the heme-protein cytochrome c.* The Cytochrome c protein is an enzyme that plays a role in your energy metabolism, if it does not work properly you will not be able to metabolize your stored fats and use them as energy.* This also means that if you do not have enough active cytochrome c you will have a lowered metabolic rate because the body will adjust to how much energy can be liberated.
The good news: Most heme-iron deficient individuals can lose weight without changing their diet, all they need to do is add in heme-iron supplementation.*
Too much fiber is wreaking your gut
Yes we have all been told that fiber is good for you, but too much of it can lead to a great deal of digestive discomfort. The ketogenic diet is one of those lifestyle where some of us consume vegetables like no other.
You might want to lower your fiber intake if you suffer from:
- Anal bleeding
- Constipation
- Bloating
- Strain with a bowel movement
- Abdominal pain
Giving you GI tract a break for a little by reducing your fiber intake can completely eliminate these digestive issues.* As a side note, the 64 subjects in this study (see *) were all put on a low fiber diet for two weeks then they were given the choice to eat how they wished after. Only 6 individuals went back to consuming a high-fiber diet (some due to religious reasons), while 41 people chose to stick with the zero-fiber diet, and 16 people chose the reduced-fiber diet, respectively.
Plants have fiber just how like humans and animals have bones. In order to lower the fiber content of the food you consume, you will need to take out a lot of what gives the plant structure. Peeling and taking the seeds out of your plant products are a great way to reduce fiber.
Please note that cooking has ZERO effect on fiber and will not change its content.
High fiber foods on the keto diet are:
- Nuts and seeds
- Avocado
- Berries
- Cauliflower & Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Eggplant
- Cabbage
For those with chronic constipation, know that it gets worse with increased dietary fiber intake.*
And for those worried about constipation, there is evidence that low fiber intake does not lead to constipation.*
This low fiber diet may be hard to accept with all the “fiber is good for you” conditioning we have been told, but this is a viable option and you can always turn back to fiber after a 1-2 week experiment. If you need guidance, feel free to contact me.
Sleep and Stress – Cortisol
Cortisol is the lifestyle hormone that gets elevated when you are under extended periods of stress. Cortisol also gets elevated if you’re not getting enough sleep*. What you need to know is that this high stress/ low sleep plus high cortisol levels cause insulin resistance (yes, just like when you consume too many carbs)*
Yes, high cortisol makes you fat *
Coffee is making you fat
Coffee not only wakes you up, but it jacks up your cortisol levels when you drink coffee on the regular. *
See previous paragraph for more.
Combine that coffee-cortisol spike with the sleep deprived cortisol spike and you’ve got yourself a double whammy.
Medication
“May cause weight gain” is what you need to look out for.
Culprit medications: Antihistamines (allergies), Steroids (Autoimmune conditions), Antidepressants, Insulin (for diabetes), and others…
Antihistamines, allergies calling for Zyrtec or Allegra cause weight gain when used over extended periods of time.*
Steroid medications, whether they are Glucocorticoids modifying your cortisol levels or Mineralcorticoids modifying your Aldosterone, they all have the potential to cause weight gain. They are found in:
- Respiratory medications (inhalers) for asthma, bronchitis, and any other respiratory condition
- Autoimmune disorders like Arthritis and IBS
Antidepressants, not all will cause weight gain, but those interfering with serotonin can cause an increased appetite and may experience weight gain.*
Insulin, the storage hormone necessary for those with diabetes also causes weight gain. The ketogenic diet can certainly help reduce your need for insulin due to its low carbohydrate content.*
Epilepsy medication, anti-psychotics, and some blood pressure medications can cause weight gain as well. Search the drug name on your prescription online to find it’s side effects.
Oxalate Imbalance – Kidney, leaky gut, gout, and skin problems
Oxalates are a part of a plant’s defense system, they resemble spikes and crystals that we ingest* (this is why we dont eat the leaves on trees or even the grass on the ground).
Link to study from the image on the right.
Oxalates cannot be metabolized or broken down by our body, they need to pass through our entire system before they are peed out (ouch). We can even have oxalate deposits throughout our entire body (face, hands, feet…) and are represent 80% of today’s kidney stones.*
They are found in all seeds, nuts, Swiss chard, spinach, beets, chocolate, rhubarb, berries, black pepper, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon and other non-ketogenic foods. If you find that these are major staples in your diet, you might want to consider reducing your oxalate consumption.
Oxalates are most dangerous to those with kidney issues, digestive issues, and those with gout.*
Oxalates are hard as sand and cannot be broken down by pounding or by cooking, they must be dissolved and passed through the system in the urine. You can alleviate and breakdown oxalate concentrations throughout your body and in your kidneys with citrate (or just lemon juice).*
Oxalates also binds calcium, magnesium, and iron which can lead to metabolic dysfunction and or weakening of the digestive system.*
Lectins, Autoimmune disease, and obesity.
Lectins are also part of a plant’s defense system just like oxalates. Lectins are these types of sticky proteins that cannot be digested and bind to certain cells causing them to clump.* When these lectins clump to different cells, they block these cells from accepting other things like nutrients or hormones in your system. This is why lectins are sometimes referred to as “anti-nutrients” from this nutrient-blocking mechanism.*
Lectins being this anti-nutrient are bad news for your autoimmunity due to their inflammatory properties.* They can make autoimmune diseases like arthritis, GERD, IBS, MS, eczema, allergies, plus many others diseases much harder to live with. The good news is that most people aren’t allergic to every single lectin, it’s just matters of finding which ones you can’t tolerate and eliminating them from your diet.
If you suffer from an autoimmune disease and wish to try eliminating the lectins that may be causing this, feel free to contact me at matthewcress79@gmail.com.
Lectins can make you fat too
Lectins can mimic insulin and increase how much lipogenesis (fat-making) happens in your body. This is especially true for wheat-based products.*
Furthermore, lectins can partially block your leptin hormone from acting properly. Leptins main role is to tell you “I’m full, I can stop eating” when you’re having a meal.* When this hormone is blocked you just keep eating and eating and eating. So maybe you don’t have an autoimmune disease, but eliminating lectins can be a viable option for weight loss as well.
Lectins are found in the skin and seeds of plant products, but especially:
- Grains (especially wheat),
- Legumes
- Squashes
- Nightshades (tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper, and potatoes)
- Nuts and seeds, and
- Certain oils
For those that are interested, a lectin-free diet consists of meats, certain green veggies, garlic, onions, mushrooms, and olive oil.
Lectins can be destroyed
That’s the good news! Unlike oxalates (see above), lectins can be destroyed by high heat, pressure cooking, and fermenting!
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