Last year I experimented with Keto and I loved it. I was able to control my hunger and I felt satiated a lot of the time. I was doing this as a means of controling my diabetes. Then I got health insurance and was able to get on some decent diabetes meds. The doctor had said somethings that suggested that I didn’t have to adhere to the keto diet. The meds were helping, but not quite enough. Clearly I was eating all the wrong things. And a I wanted to go back to keto. My GF thought it was a bad idea and suggested that I go talk to the nuritionist at my Dr’s office. The nuritionist looked at my lab results from my physical and was worried I might have the genetics that classify me as APOE4.
For those that don’t know, APOE4 is a genetic trait that \~25% of the population has that fucks over the whole healthy/unhealthy fat paradigm that is standard for most people. Animal fat and a glass of wine in other people is considered a healthy thing because it becomes healthy chloresterol. Unfortunately, in a person with APOE4 it becomes unhealthy chelesterol.
My nutritionist has the Doc’s office get my genetics tested for everything (I wish I’d gone with 23&me instead, but that’s another story), including the APOE genetic markers. Suffice it to say my triglycerides was sky high, which is why my doc put me on Vacepa prior to this and was one of the things that worried the nutritionist.. The tests come back and I find out that my favorite things to eat are now offlimits…. namely animal fats of all kinds.
Jump to this past weekend and I learn about theraputic fasting, Dr Fung and his wonderful crew. I’m watching all the videos on YouTube that I can…. Megan seems to be the one that gives more useful info on how to actually fast given your health condition and goals… Jason is great at explaining why fasting is the way to go, but doesn’t really get into the details of how.
I’m watching Megan’s videos and she keeps talking about LCHF/Keto and low carb diets… mostly keto… And I have to wonder if there is a way to do keto given my genetics that is healthy for me. I don’t want to “overdose” (metaphorically) on avocadoes and EVO. Variety is the spice of life and if all of my healthy fats only comes from like 2 or 3 things, then I’m going to get really tired of eating them pretty quickly.
What advice do you fine folks have?
Additionally, I’m looking for a different Dr’s office since my current one is not supportive of theraputic fasting and I know I need one to manage my medications while I’m getting to a healthy weight that will cancel the diabetes out. Think I found one, but we’ll see.
I was unaware of APOE4. I’m going to have to do some research on that.
I think diet is always #1 but fasting is a close second. I see diet to fasting as peanut butter to jelly. They’re not accomplishing the same things, necessarily, and they can work their magic independently; but when they’re combined you have a fantastic combo.
That said, I really think the advice you get should be coming from a doctor - specifically with you having APOE4.
Personally, I eat OMAD and will do a couple of extended fasts every month. My diet is usually pretty clean day to day but I’ll usually do one or two cheat days a week lately and it doesn’t seem to drag me down. I feel great and I think the secret is figuring out what works best for you and, in your case, getting approval from a medical professional first.
This sounds well outside the realm of amateur advice here - the best you could hope for is someone with APOE4 who’s already researched or been informed.
I’d second trying to actually get advice from the IDM people. As many of us know all too well, a random GP is quite likely to forcefully assert counter-productive advice on diet, along with drugs as a first resort, but that doesn’t mean entirety of the medical profession is unhelpful.
While I’m sure they make a lot of money out of their overall schtick, they don’t really make more money based on persuading every individual to fast. I don’t think they have an incentive to persuade people to fast if there’s any doubt it is appropriate.
I would even consider reaching out through their www.dietdoctor.com website, maybe someone can give you even better advice. Definitely smarter to talk to a dr about it, especially if it effects that many people. They’ve definitely seen it before. Good luck!
Keto isn’t the only way. Why not try vegan low carb? There are lots of fats and proteins that don’t come from animals
While vegan is generally higher carb diet, it is possible to do a vegan keto. There’s even a sub reddit for it.
And although people love keto because it works, I don’t follow a keto diet. I just stay away from animal products and oily foods and my blood glucose has dropped significantly. Now I’m incorporating 36 hour fasts and I’m surprised at how my blood glucose levels are reading today., despite my high carb intake.