Nutritional ketosis may have health benefits in conditions such as epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS, MS, autism, traumatic brain injuries and much more.[14] By now you've heard all the rage about ketosis, also known as the ketogenic diet. It's the new diet that everybody's doing, right! Actually, ketosis isn't new at all... it's been around for... well... since we (human beings) have been around. Ketones provided the energy substrate for our brains and bodies when glucose wasn't available, such as in times of famine which was a common occurrence for our early ancestors. Fortunately for us, biology figured out an elegant solution to the problem of inconsistent food sources and a large, hungry brain... ketosis.
- Ketosis certainly helps people with neurodegeneration conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, aging-related cognitive decline, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s disease
- An outpouring of anecdotes suggest that otherwise healthy people can experience cognitive benefits from brain utilization of ketones. Wife and I belong to this outpouring... love the upgraded mental performance!
- Ketosis up regulates mitochondrial biogenesis in the brain. It literally creates new power plants in the brain that are good at burning fat-derived fuel and mopping up brain fog
"People whose brains suffer from impaired glucose utilization see cognitive benefits from ketones. In Alzheimer’s disease, aging-related cognitive decline, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s disease, brain glucose uptake is depressed—even
before any actual cognitive decline appears. Despite high glucose availability, the aging, epileptic, Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s brain can’t utilize enough of it to handle cognition. Enter ketones. Ketones act as an alternative energy source for the glucose-starved brains. It’s no coincidence that ketogenic diets can
improve symptoms (and in some cases abolish them) and cognitive function in all four conditions." [16]
For the record, unless there's a neurodegenerative, mood and/or memory condition on board, I don’t think we all need to be on a ketogenic diet, nor do we all need to remain in ketosis for extended periods of time; however, I do think we need to slip in and out of ketosis on a regular basis... just as our early ancestors would have done. After all, we seem to be purpose-built for doing it and we derive massive health and happiness benefits from it. We know it seems to stave off neurodegeneration, as well as improve the brains of people already suffering from it.[16]
NOTE: Ketosis is a high fat, moderate protein, low carbohydrate way of eating. Medium chain triglycerides (MCT oil), intermittent fasting (IF) and fasting all elevate ketone bodies. Have a look at what I eat (see below) but be careful with too much protein as this can kick you out of ketosis. A typical keto meal should consist of 70% to 75%
healthy fats, 20% protein and 5% carbohydrates. The best book, that's also available on Audible, that I've read on ketosis is
Keto Clarity.
For these reasons, my tribe (my family) and I follow seasonal eating patterns that allow us to slip in and out of ketosis. If we're feeling really good, we may stay in it a little longer. It helps us to think, to perform, and to produce. The following is an idea of how and what we eat... notice that we also go through periods of feast and famine with twenty-four hour fasts and huge refeeds where almost nothing that resembles primal food is off limits.
Our typical 1st meal is a delicious shake and it looks like this... - Wallaby Organic / Grass fed yogurt (2 cups or 150g)
- NOW Brand MCT oil (1-2 tablespoons; up to 30g- dose to tolerability). NOTE: MCT always produces elevated ketones.
- Organic raw virgin coconut oil or organic ghee (2 to 3 tablespoons or 30 to 45g)
- Organic almond butter (2 tablespoons or 30g)
- Organic unrefined red palm oil (1 tablespoon or 15g)
- Grass Fed Collagen / Gelatin (10-20g)
- Himalayan sea salt -- 1/4 tsp (2g)
- Organic cinnamon -- 2g
- Organic / Grass Fed vanilla protein powder (1 scoop) — I like Bluebonnet Grass Fed Protein
- Organic banana (optional when not doing strict keto or if sleep if affected by too low carb consumption)
- Organic / Pasture raised raw eggs (4 to 6 large eggs)
- Organic raw milk (1 cup or 150g)... raw is best but Whole Kalona Brand Milk is a good second option if you don't do raw milk
This shake takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to make... It's super convenient... and, it's downright delicious. If I don't make a shake, I will have a bunch of pasture-raised eggs (8 or so) that are smothered in butter with a side of avocado, nitrate-free, sugar-free bacon and a dollop of sour cream.
Our typical second meal is cooked... It's hot... It's better than any restaurant food... It looks like this... - Homemade Bone Soup (simmered for two to three days with tons of marrow)
- Serving or Kimchi
- Organic Avocado
- Grass fed butter or Ghee (2 tablespoons)
- Organic unrefined red palm oil
- Salad of dark leafy greens w/ 2 tablespoons of Organic, fresh pressed olive oil and sea salt (I get mine from Apollo Olive Oil)
- Grass fed beef/organs (6 - 9 oz ground peleo and various organs)
- Organic almond butter (2 tablespoons) mixed with organic raw coconut oil (2 tablespoons) and a tablespoon of Bluebonnet's Grass Fed vanilla protein
- Organic banana with raw local honey (Optional when not doing strict keto or if sleep if affected by too low carb consumption)
- 100% Cacao block for dessert
We generally carb reload on the weekends with plenty of sweet potatoes, raw local honey, the occasional sorghum and various in-season fruits. We also do a twenty-four to thirty hour fast on Sundays... it's not as bad as it sounds. We eat an early dinner as we normally would on early Saturday evening... skip our first meal on Sunday, and eat an amazing fish-based dinner (usually wild caught sardines) with the entire tribe on Sunday. We also do heat and cold exposures together and we go on barefoot hikes every Sunday. Connecting to mother earth creates strong parasympathetic tone for enhanced recovery for the week to come. The basis of how our tribe lives is this... if our early ancestors did it, we do too... or at least we try to. See our most up-to-date tribe life on our "
About Us" page.
Supplements That We Take - Transdermal Magnesium Oil - We use magnesium oil every night.
- Vitamin D3 - Only when we're not able to get adequate sun exposure (this is rare)
- Vitamin K2 - Only when we're not regularly eating my kimchi (this is also rare)
- Grass Fed Liver
- Grass Fed Beef Organs
- Grass Fed Bone Marrow
Keep in mind that my tribe and I eat a very nutrient-dense diet. We consume the whole animal just as our ancestors did... That's right, we eat the liver, kidney, pancreas, spleen, heart, thymus, bones, tendons, ligaments and more... and we eat this way every day (except on vacation we take Liver, Beef Organs and Bone Marrow supplements). We love our bone broth (this is my wife's specialty), and we eat tons of pastured eggs. Wife is awesome enough to sprout chickpeas for us. Then, she turns half of the batch into the best homemade hummus in the world. Super high in folate (NOT SYNTHETIC FOLIC ACID, big diff)!!
You never know, ketosis could easily be the missing link to the mood, memory and mental performance benefits that we are all after. Why not give it a try. Send me an email... let me know your thoughts... let me know your questions. I'd love to hear from you. Our mission is our purpose... putting back in, what the modern world has left out.
Stay positive... think about the wonderful things in your life that you're grateful for... eat like our early ancestors did... move around like our ancestors did... avoid danger like our ancestors did (think lions, trans fats, sugars, fluoride, excessive wifi, emfs, vaccines, mercury, etc)... slow down... go barefoot, connect to the earth... get sensible sun exposure... get cold (environmental conditioning)... mind your magnesium... sleep like a rock... keep stress in check... and breathe like Wim Hof.