Ketogenic Diet anyone?

Is this the same as the Adkins diet?

I just started reading up on this approach to treating BC. I fast before each chemo treatment, and this essentially does the same thing (or is supposed to) over a longer period of time, so I plan on starting tomorrow. I figure I'm already stage 4, so what's the worst that could happen? I feel pretty good about it honestly, as there is some pretty sound scientific evidence backing it. I'm still trying to gather as much info on it as I can. If you want we could always compare notes/ progress. Good Luck! I know I love my bread, rice, and noodles so it's going to be tough!!

Here is a great article about it.  http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/one-healthy-day-at-a-time/entry/ketogenic-diet-effective-against-metastatic-cancer

This diet came highly suggested for me, and it has me curious. How is everyone doing on it?

I'm not very good with diets but I do find that trying to eat 8 portions of fruits and veggies daily doesn't leave much room for high carb foods. I don't know if that is ketogenic. I do eat nuts and a salad with extra virgin olive oil everyday. Exercising vigorously also probably puts me in fat-burning mode at some point in the day. And increases oxygen uptake, although not as much as in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. (Thanks for the link, zogo.)

Sorry ladies, I had not bookmarked this thread and lost track. 

Vivian, you don't have to eat food that tastes like cardboard. The keto diet is full of REALLY delicious food. 

This week, I made my own pizza crust and also tried a new cauliflower casserole that was amazing. I liked it better than mashed potatoes!

Eggs, cheese, avocados, meat, veggies, nuts (pecans, walnuts, macadamia, almonds) grass-fed butter, organic heavy whipping cream in my coffee, are just some of the great foods I eat every day. My "dessert" lately is frozen blueberries, sometimes with fresh whipped cream. I bought one of those iSI cream whippers and just add some vanilla and a few drops of stevia. Yumm

There are so many great options. I have a huge file of recipes I want to try. This is so doable.

Also, I don't think exercise is very restricted. I should exercise more than I do. More light weights and walking is on my agenda. 

Zogo, I would love the cheesecake muffin recipe if you don't mind sharing... Have been doing the low carb/Mediterranean type diet for a few years now and agree that you can eat very well.



I would love a low carb smoothie recipe as I am now doing smoothies which I love. Bought some fresh kale at the local farmers market this weekend to add to it this week.

Zogo, I would love that cauliflower casserole recipe! All advice and help is welcome!

The reason I mentioned keeping activity down was because I read that this will help to get into ketosis when starting out the diet. I have read everything that I can get my hands on with this new (to me) approach to using diet as a treatment for cancer. I am scared to death because all my cancer treatments are not stopping tumor growth at this time (hopefully slowing it, though...). I have never eaten this "keto" way and it looks like I have spent an entire lifetime eating incorrectly with wrong assumptions. Any diet I have been on has always involved low fat , calorie counting, with exercise followed by eventual sugar craving and subsequent guilt. This is a whole new world to me. It is not a diet, but a lifestyle. I am also studying vits, minerals and herbs that are helpful. I have no one to bounce this off at home so any feedback from you all is much appreciated.

Thanks for your input Selena. I hope my body can handle it. What kind of foods are you eating now? I think if I have trouble I will just try to keep the raw sugars, sweets and processed foods away. It helps that I have more time to prepare and plan my meals now because I am out of work right now with SSDI and short term disability.

Six months.  Then my doctor and husband begged me to quit.  I was so disappointed, but my weight plummeted and I was in a horrid state.  Nowadays, I don't restrict myself from anything; just watch my portion sizes and keep everything in moderation.  I try to eat like a European; full-fat, but in small portions.  Dairy, but - again - in small portions and not every day.  I don't really like meat, so I don't eat a lot of that, but I do eat chicken, fish and seafood.  Whole grains and pasta.  Legumes.  A glass of wine now- and then.  I don't have a sweet tooth, so that's easy.  Coffee and tea; black.  I make from scratch wherever possible, even my bread and pasta.  Since I can't do ketonic, I do "whole food".   I love this time of year because the quality of the produce is so wonderful... made a Rustic Heirloom Tomato Pie last week with Brandywine and Carolina Gold tomatoes from the garden, with freshly-picked basil and chives, also from the garden.

I'm 5' 7" and have, finally, evened out at 130 lbs.  I walk 10 miles a week and cycle or hike on the weekends.  I like to MOVE!

Selena, sorry it didn't work for you. I'd love to be your weight! And I'm and inch shorter

TwoHobbies, I agree with you on the artificial sweeteners. When I started cooking low carb, I bought a giant bag of Splenda at Costco. The more I read, the less I used and ended up throwing pretty much the full bag out. I use stevia and erythritol. Lots of recipes call for a sweetener called Swerve that I have recently purchased. I found stevia glycerate, so just a few drops are needed. It comes in flavored and plain. I've also found monk fruit sweetener that seems to have really low impact on the glycemic index and no aftertaste. I have read some people get a headache from Monk Fruit, but it doesn't seem to bother me.

The Gary Taubes' book is fantastic. There is also a new book that came out just last week called "Grain Brain" by a neurologist, Dr. Perlmutter. My father died of dementia, and this book is even more validation for my eating low carb. I heard it is already on the best seller list.

As far as fat, I don't watch it so closely that I keep track of percentages. (Although I probably should). I try to limit my carbs to 20-30 per day though. And I'm adding some good fats like coconut oil, butter, fish oil. It is hard for people to get their head around the fact that saturated fat does not cause heart disease. And that cancer cells feed on sugar ...and sugar comes from eating carbs. 

So, between cancer, heart disease and dememtia all in my family, I know this is the right way for me to eat and have the best chance for a long healthy life.

Not all foods are converted to sugar. Once you use up all the glucose in your system, your body is fueled by ketones which is a more efficient form of energy and doesn't feed cancer cells. 

Here is a good article and video briefly explaining it.

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2012/december/starving-cancer-ketogenic-diet-a-key-to-recovery/

Zogo I am totally brainwashed on the saturated fat thing since I have early heart disease in my family. In fact that's also why I ate a lot of carbs because that was the advice of the day. More and more that appears to be wrong. So I'm loosening up some on that but still concentrating on the monounsaturated fats yet hoping it's OK to eat nitrite free bacon once a week!

I do have stevia but it seems Splenda tastes better in coffee. I'll have to look into some of those others you mention.

TwoHobbies, 

Yes, saturated fats can be great for you. I actually need to track mine in order to eat MORE fat. It is the LCHF (low carb high fat) diet that requires at least 60% fat in order to be healthy. The good fats I eat are coconut oil, butter, avocado oil and avocados, and olive oil. I'm also looking into Medium Chain Tryglycerides oil.