Learning about ketosis

Rather to my surprise over the past few months, I’ve become convinced that eating a ketogenic diet (in which body energy is mostly supplied by free fatty acids & ketones derived from body fat, rather than glucose from carbs), at least for a time, might be exactly the route I need to go. But I needed to know more, because most of the info I’ve seen on ketosis is warped by the epic battle between low-carb cheerleaders who consider ketosis the be-all & high-carb cheerleaders who consider ketosis the great evil that will lead without inevitably to kidney disease (which, best I can tell, is absolutely not the case, unless one’s kidneys are already compromised).

So, I plugged the word “ketosis” into the Search field at Amazon.com, & low & behold came upon the book that I think can absolutely answer my questions, not only about ketosis itself but also about how to still have kick-ass powerhouse workouts (whether cardio or strength training) through targeted nutrition around a workout(i.e., having carbs pre, during, & post-workout, because otherwise your workout will really really suck).

The book is by Lyle McDonald, The Ketogenic Diet: A Complete Guide for the Dieter and Practitioner. Amazon is out of stock at the moment, so I ordered it directly from McDonald’s website. Since coming across this book, I’ve seen references to it elsewhere, which agree with McDonald’s own assessment that it’s a thoroughly researched from the scientific literature, at least to the point of its publication in 1998, along with being the best “bible” out there about how to do a ketogenic diet, including support for workout-related nutrition. So.

I might add that an ultra-low carb (ketogenic) diet is pretty much what is prescribed by Dr. Richard Bernstein for his Type 1 & Type 2 diabetic patients (Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution) which I think is arguably the best single source on diabetes treatment through nutrition & medicine. It’s more restrictive on carbs than what I may need for my metabolic state — I’m insulin resistant but not, at this point, diabetic — but it’s a damn good starting point. Bernstein is all about making diabetics as healthy as they possibly can be, which is a damn site healthier than the American Diabetes Association has ever remotely imagined: Bernstein’s methods lead to (1) normal blood sugars; (2) the remission/reversal of virtually all diabetic complications except for those that have already led to irreparable damage; & (3) diabetics who are overall more healthy than most nondiabetics. Bernstein doesn’t talk about ketosis in his book, but it’s obvious from the low levels of carbs that his way of eating includes that it is ketogenic. Bernstein himself has been eating that way since around the mid-1970s.