KETO: What You Need To Know

It’s been a minute since I stated this, so here we go, diving into one of the most misunderstood and wrongfully bashed or praised of all diets. The keto diet.

Let me start by saying this, keto is NOT bad. It’s one of the most incredible and therapeutic ways of eating that can help people on a profoundly deep level. This isn’t an opinion. This is highly back by endless nutritional science dating back many decades, long before this most recent trend of keto emerged. But it goes much deeper than most people realize, and it’s not black and white.

The ISSUE, is that most people dive in with practically zero research, zero understanding of the appropriate way to do it, possible contraindications, or even the basic mechanics of the process and physiology that is at work.

A few major flaws, is newbies virtually NEVER track macros, test blood ketones and glucose, or take extra consideration for electrolytes. They also generally go straight dirty/lazy keto with the WORST type of fat that wrecks someone’s health, Polyunsaturated fats (PUFA). These are the fats that are in your ranch dressing, your processed keto foods, your deep-fried wings etc. These fats are the REAL evils, not saturated fats by the way.

Generally, on this surface level bandwagon, people jump on they don’t have a clue how 100% eliminating both pre and probiotic fiber affects their microbiome and the longer-term issues that can cause. Lastly, but most importantly, their organs are rarely in a good starting place to process and break down such high fat, and boom add liver and gallbladder issues on top of the cluster of negatives.

The result, you have people barely in keto, which means all that HIGH fat is causing serious health issues (you can NOT eat high fat without entering ketosis unless you want to really screw your body up). They eat the most unhealthy foods, never actually get in keto, neglect tracking, and are not nourishing their body with minerals, fiber, electrolytes, modifying their workouts or anything else and it ends in a pure disaster. That workout element is HUGE since your entire hormonal makeup changes dramatically when you’re in keto. You simply cannot work out the same.

I did keto for roughly 2.5 years back in 2015-2017 and it helped me in ways nothing else has. Ways only in the past few years have I fully understood why (learning about my mitochondrial disease). My body has always struggled with glucose regulation, and the past few years when those mitochondria became more compromised my ability to convert carbs into usable energy diminished even more.

Over the past 6 or so years I studied every single piece of ketogenic science in existence and went even deeper during those few years I was consistently in keto. I trained better, felt better, slept better, focused better and had less pain than I’d had for years prior. I was also the most effortlessly lean I’d been in my whole life with ZERO food addiction/craving/binging issues, something I spent plenty of years battling. So the point is, I’ve not only researched and studied it, but I have years of personal experience and health wins with keto. However, there was a point that things went south.

The one thing that dramatically changed what was working so well for me was when stress and business went to a whole new level. My adrenals reached a breaking point and parts of the above key necessary elements mentioned above started to crumble. What really put me over the edge though was getting severe strep after a long trip to Italy on top of tons of other chronic stress finally becoming too much. My body was beaten up, and couldn’t seem to get over the strep after two weeks. Out of desperation (I had a busy gym to take care of) I broke down and took antibiotics which wrecked my whole gut and system. This caused my keto journey to especially to backfire.

My adrenals were tanked, my gut was messed up, my habits got sloppy and it was a NO GO. And you know what, despite thinking I’d be keto for the rest of my life, knowing, seeing, and LIVING the benefits, I wasn’t married to it. When I started to not feel right, I allowed myself to shift into new and different things because clearly, my body needed that. I explored, I researched, I changed, and think we should all always keep that flexibility in our lives no matter what diet we are in the midst of. Because no matter what each philosophy or health approach you have had success within your life, what I think people really need to know is that our health changes often, and with that so do our needs. No matter how much keto/vegan/paleo helped you at one point, it doesn’t mean it is your lifetime optimal diet. Talk to anyone who’s done vegan, keto, carnivore, long-term etc and you’ll find many examples of people who ran into health issues and needed to shift. It is simply VERY rare to find someone who has been on a single, strict or limited way of eating for decades without any health issues because of it. On the same note, those who allow total food freedom also generally reach a point they have to take dietary inventory and make changes due to a surfacing health issue (the “if it fits your macros” people fit into this category).

My point is lots of diets have lots of pros ad cons, and over the years, even during my plant-based journey, i’ve known and defended the benefits of keto when done RIGHT because it can be incredible. I’ve ranted about the bandwagon keto people because of all the above, and I don’t think keto is for everyone by any means. Yet, for some people,… it is actually the holy grail! There are some of the most brilliant minds in alternative medicine who have entire books on how transformational doing the keto diet can be for those with mitochondrial, neurological, and autoimmune illnesses just to name a few. Dr Sarah Myhill is one of them. I’ve personally learned an insane amount from her related to my own chronic illness ME/CFS.. Anyone who makes casual social media rants about the keto diet being bad, your body needing carbs, keto being dangerous etc should be required to read these types of books or at least listen to a few of the leading experts speak on this and actually look at the science.

Just as plant-based living can be great, healing, and transformational, so can keto. And I’ve seen tens of THOUSANDS of people who’s lives have been transformed by keto in all the years I’ve studied it, used it, and experimented with it. Many times the hormonal damage that other diets like plant-based, low fat, or the standard American diet cause, keto can help heal the hormones need of saturated fats and for cholesterol to be created.

The thing is, every diet needs to be done right, and it needs many other elements to align with and complement it. It needs to be the right fit for the person at that time. Keto may have a temporary or a more permanent place in your life, maybe plant-based does, maybe a Ray Peat style of eating does (a dietary approach based on very high simple sugars). It may change, in fact, it likely will.

The thing I encourage always is for professionals is stop speaking about things you’ve not studied IN-DEPTH, and for individuals to stop jumping half-assed into something they haven’t studied in depth. It’s just a no brainer for me, but everyday I see a health/fitness “pro” bash keto based on some surface level tidbit they heard, or someone jumping on the bandwagon trend looking for yet another quick fix to what always has to be a multi-faceted lifestyle change to health.

Personally, i’ve continued to cycle in keto, fasting protocols and other nutritional therapies over the years. The last year especially once my thyroid and adrenals were much stronger. They’ve continued to be a big part of my healing, but these CAN have negative effects when done in the wrong ways, at the wrong times, for the wrong people.

With various diet approaches I’ve done things the right and wrong ways, and learned more because of both. These experiences forced me to study deeper and go further, and be able to shift, modify or change things when needed. When my adrenals were tanked these were NOT things I could do. I had to go through phases of different healing and I always stayed open even when it was hard.

One big part of my learning is that various different macro and micro cycling have their places, and I know much better now how/when to ease in and out of certain protocols. Again many things are bad when taken to the extreme, done in isolation for too long of a period. This applies all areas of life including training, work, and of course diet.

So in summary. What I hope to encourage via this blog post is for people to stop dissing something if they don’t really know it inside and out. When you only look at information from one source, one perceptive or one “expert” you’re only seeing a tiny bit of the big picture. There is valid science to support so many dietary approaches, and we must maintain an open mind if we want to truly progress our collective health.

There are thousands of papers and endless pieces of research regarding low-carb high-fat diets. There are thousands of doctors and brilliant health professionals that teach it in a sound, legit way and millions of people who have changed their lives because of it. We’re not talking about an approach to just weight loss here. Keto and low carb diets are hands down THE most research-backed and proven approaches to a myriad of diseases and health conditions. It’s just that simple.

People are highly individual, our phases of life and our dietary needs are always changing, and our health is always changing with those needs. The worst thing a health professional can do is totally dismiss something because of their own personal experiences or their own limited study and we need more people willing to expand into all areas of nutritional science and be able to discern when and where certain approaches may benefit someone most. I believe that is one of our core responsibilities as health educators, and I will continue to do my part to offer unbiased, science-focused information on various different aspects of eating

I hope you found this educational, if you have any questions, or need extra support along your own dietary journey, please reach out via the WORK WITH ME page and let’s work together. ✨💖

Love & Zen
Holly Joy