Do Antibiotics Affect Ketosis

Robb Wolf On Joe Rogan Experience (#935) — Podcast Breakdown

Health and nutrition tips, ketogenic diet, gut microbiome, Zevia, coyotes in America, 120 lbs pitbulls and more I love podcasts and listen to hundreds of them a year. When I stumble upon ones packed with knowledge, I like to take notes. That helps me process and retain the information and gives me the ability to refer back to what was covered. The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) is one of my favorite podcasts. I love the long-form, informal conversation, and Joe’s ability to cover the nitty gritty details across so many fascinating topics: fitness, nutrition, personal development, space and more. I'm taking my notes a step further by producing a guide for other listeners. The guide will help listeners follow conversations more easily, identify technical terms discussed, review ideas and materials, and will directly link to products, people or other relevant content mentioned. Robb Wolf is a former research biochemist is the New York Times bestselling author of The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet. He has been a review editor for the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism and Journal of Evolutionary Health; he serves on the board of Directors of Speciality Health Medical Clinic in Reno, Nevada and is a consultant for the Naval Special Warfare Resiliency program. Where to listen (or watch) All JRE video episodes are free to stream on YouTube: Note: timestamps are based on YouTube version (no sponsors). Continue reading >>

Ketogenic Diet Faq

With all the new people finding, switching, and transitioning into a low carb diet, I figured it was about time I put together an FAQ on all the common questions that are asked when someone is starting out. I don’t go too in depth in the answers, but I tried to give a direct answer and then link to a more in depth article on the topic to help you fully understand it. If you have any other questions you’d like to be added, changed, or are unsure about – please feel free to leave a comment below so I can fully explain, or make changes to the answers on this page. Best wishes, and to all the new people out there – good luck and happy dieting! Frequently Asked Questions Click any of the questions below and it will take you to the answer. How Long Does It Take To Get Into Ketosis? A ketogenic diet is not a diet that you can whimfully choose to go on and off of at any point. It takes time for your body to adjust and go into a state known as ketosis. This process? Anywhere from 2 – 7 days, depending on your body type, activity levels, and what you’re eating. The fastest way to get into ketosis is to exercise on an empty stomach, restrict your carbohydrate intake to 20g or less per day, and be vigilant with your water intake. To improve the rate at which you enter ketosis, there is a method called Fat Fasting. I’ve written an article on Fat Fasting on a Ketogenic Diet and everything involved with it. Make sure that if you use this method, it is only for a few days, otherwise it can bring harm to you. Where Can I Find Low Carb Recipes? Everywhere on the internet! There’s recipes on almost every health website nowadays, and a quick Google of what you want will definitely help you out. You can even convert high carb recipes that use sugar or fruits in them to low c Continue reading >>

All You Need To Know About Protein On A Low-carb Ketogenic Diet

Proteins, which consist of amino acids, are essential nutrients for the human body. They are one of the building blocks of body tissue and can be used as a fuel source. Unlike carbs, which are not essential for our body, protein and fat are a vital part of our diet. Without these two macronutrients, we would simply not survive. There is a misconception that the ketogenic diet is a high-protein diet. This is a myth; the ketogenic diet is a diet high in fat, moderate in protein and low in carbs. Why moderate in protein? Too much protein can kick you out of ketosis, while too little protein may cause muscle loss and increased appetite. What is the ideal protein intake? Does quality matter? Is too much protein dangerous? Let's have a look at these frequently asked questions in more detail. Why is protein so important for weight loss? Studies show that protein is the most sating while carbs are the least sating macronutrients. In other words, if you eat enough protein, you will feel less hungry and eat fewer calories. That's why it's critical to eat adequate amount of protein if your aim is to lose fat. Protein has also been shown to increase energy expenditure. This means that by following a diet rich in protein, you will burn more calories. This metabolic advantage is not significant (around 100 kcal a day) but every little counts! Another way to burn more calories is to build muscle mass. Protein is the most important macronutrient for preserving and building muscle tissue, especially for physically active individuals. More muscles burn more calories and slightly increase your base metabolic rate. This means that you will burn slightly more calories even at rest. Although protein slightly increases insulin, there is no need to worry about negative effects on weight loss. Continue reading >>

The Heartwarming Story Of A Fibromyalgia Cure

One of my favorite sites is cpnhelp.org, formed to help chronic disease patients suffering from infections with Chlamydophila pneumoniae, a parasitic intracellular bacterium. When I first discovered this site I immediately recognized many of my own symptoms in the reports of other patients. Although I had already cleared many symptoms through diet and supplements, cognitive and neuropathic symptoms remained, and my doctor agreed that the evidence for a persistent bacterial infection was strong. Three months of antibiotics cleared nearly all my remaining symptoms. I’m far from the only chronic sufferer to benefit from antibiotics. Yesterday cpnhelp had a lovely and inspiring post from Ladybug, an Australian painter who suffered from fibromyalgia, a condition that produces debilitating muscle pain. She describes her condition: The hallowed shrine of my body was invaded by ugly bugs. They put on their own ugly bug ball in my central nervous system and invited all their friends and relatives. They feasted and made merry and committed unspeakably rude acts wherever and whenever they wanted. They poured waste matter down the drains and left rubbish lying about all over the place. [1] The medical professional has badly failed at diagnosing and treating chronic disease. I’ll have more to say later about why that is – partly it has to do with the ineffectiveness of antibiotics on a bad diet, and partly with some defects in modern medical research and clinical practices. But there is hope for chronic disease sufferers: I [have] really overcome the scourge of fibromyalgia, despite the rhetoric carved into the stone walls of western medicine: Australian Association of Musculoskeletal Medicine (AAMM): “What is fibromyalgia? Pathology: not identified.” Australian Rheumatolo Continue reading >>

Treatment

Treatments supported by literature and known to be effective: Antibiotics – The length of treatment is varied in the literature from 2 weeks to 2 months, with 1 month appearing to be the average. Doxycycline100 mg twice a day (or 200 mg once a day) for 1 month Doxycycline is emerging as the preferred antibiotic because of its better side effect profile Minocycline 50 mg twice a day (or 100-200 mg once a day) for 1 month Clarithromycin 250 mg twice a day for one week Antibiotics that have fallen out of favor Some papers suggest that the reason these medications are effective is because of the anti-inflammatory effects of antibiotics rather than their anti-microbial properties It’s also unclear how long the effects of the antibiotics last. While most papers indicate that antibiotics treat the rash permanently, these papers also couple the treatment with a change in diet (ie stopping the fast or attempted weight loss, or adding carbs to stop a ketogenic diet), so I don’ think you can say for certain. Here is one paper showing the return of the rash despite antibiotic therapy once patients resumed their dieting attempts. Stop Fasting – This has been repeatedly shown to work in patients that present with this rash after they start fasting. Increase carbohydrate intake – This has also repeatedly been shown to work in patients that develop this rash when in ketosis, whether as a result of another disease, or by choice (as with a ketogenic diet). This is the treatment course I’ve chosen. I can make this rash appear within a few days of eating a ketogenic diet, and then I can make this rash disappear by increasing my carbs. I even documented this with a photo journal correlated with blood glucose and blood ketone testing here. Some commenters have found success by sl Continue reading >>

Ketosis, Ketogenic Diet And Food Intake Control: A Complex Relationship

Go to: Role of nutrients in food intake control The hypothalamus is the brain's main center responsible for hunger/satiety (H/S) control. In the theory that Mayer proposed more than 60 years ago, he assigned a central role to glucose levels in the H/S control: the so-called “glucostatic theory” (Mayer, 1955). Mayer suggested that depletion of carbohydrate availability leads to hunger, and the hypothalamic centers with receptors sensitive to glucose levels might be involved in the short-term regulation of energy intake (Mayer, 1955). The “feeding center” in the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), according to the glucostatic theory, reacts to the between-meal fall of blood glucose and stimulates food intake. The LHA contains glucose-inhibited neurons that are stimulated by hypoglycemia, a process crucial to mediating the hyperphagia normally induced by hypoglycemia. The subsequent post-prandial hyperglycemia activates the “satiety center” in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), which contains glucose-excited neurons and inhibits both “feeding center” and food intake. In 1953, Kennedy proposed the lipostatic hypothesis suggesting that lipid metabolites could also be involved in food regulation (Kennedy, 1953), and in 1956, Mellinkoff studied the effects of protein metabolism suggesting an aminostatic hypothesis (Mellinkoff et al., 1956). Glucose-sensitive neurons have been identified in a number of CNS regions including the metabolic control centers of the hypothalamus. Medeiros et. al. have used patch-clamp electrophysiology to examine whether neurons in a specific specialized region known as the subfornical organ (SFO), an area where the blood-brain barrier is not present, are also glucose sensitive or not. These experiments demonstrated that SFO neurons ar Continue reading >>

Keto Rash – Why Some People Itch On Low Carb, And What To Do About It

This is not a common problem on low carb or keto, but for the few people experiencing it, it can be really annoying: Itching. This itching – sometimes called the “keto rash“ 1 – can be troublesome, sometimes even interrupting sleep. The itching and rash are almost always symmetrical on both sides of the body. It most often develops over the chest, back, armpits and sometimes in the neck (see image above). What is the reason for this problem, and how can it be cured? There are many posts about this online, and many different theories. The time has come to make it simple, Diet Doctor style. Here’s everything you need to know. The cause of the keto rash While there are dozens of theories about this problem, each more weird and unlikely than the next, I believe there’s a very simple answer. This is based on many people’s experiences, 2 and the limited scientific studies available. 3 Here are the clues, and the conclusion: The itching usually starts soon after people get into ketosis. It stops within a day or so if people eat more carbs and exit ketosis. It can often get worse in hot weather, or after exercising. The usual distribution of the itch and rash matches areas where sweat can accumulate. When in ketosis sweat can contain the ketone body acetone. Acetone can be irritating at high concentrations. I think there is good reason to believe that the itching that some people experience in ketosis is caused by ketones in sweat, perhaps as this dries on the body. How to cure the keto rash There are several things you can do to cure keto rash: Clothing: Wear comfortable clothing for the climate, so that you don’t sweat more than necessary. Use air conditioning when appropriate. Shower: After exercising it might help to take a shower – after you’re finished Continue reading >>

Can Caffeine Kick You Out Of Ketosis?

Low-carb dieters who consume very few carbohydrates often go into ketosis. Ketosis develops when you use up your glycogen stores and need an alternate source of energy. Your body forms ketone bodies as it breaks down fat to use for energy, and you excrete ketones in the urine. Low-carb dieter use ketone test strips to ensure that they're following the diet correctly and burning fat. Caffeine might disrupt glucose metabolism, which could affect ketosis, although only anecdotal evidence of this exists. Video of the Day Insulin resistance, the inability of cells to respond to and absorb glucose, can raise glucose levels and cause weight gain. Ketosis decreases insulin resistance by improving insulin sensitivity, meaning the ability of cells to absorb glucose. Insulin helps cells take glucose from the bloodstream to use for energy. Improving insulin sensitivity helps you lose weight. Caffeine might increase insulin resistance. Caffeine and Insulin Resistance Caffeine might increase insulin resistance, which might make losing weight more difficult and also increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes, although this has not been clinically proven. A study conducted by researchers from Duke University Medical Center in the August 2004 issue of "Diabetes Care," published by the American Diabetes Association, discussed the effects of caffeine on blood glucose levels and insulin sensitivity. This study showed that 250 mg of caffeine did not change fasting glucose levels but did raise glucose levels after consumption of 75 g of glucose compared with placebo. Although caffeine might raise glucose levels after eating a meal high in carbohydrates, it's unclear that this effect occurs after a low-carbohydrate meal such as those eaten by low-carb dieters. It's also unclear wheth Continue reading >>

The Ketogenic Diet & Gut Health

Why We Are Suffering From Unhealthy Guts? The real issue is that good health starts with a healthy gut. Over 70% of your immune system is in your gut. More than likely, yours has been compromised by a diet consisting of sugar, chemicals, additives, artificial sweeteners, antibiotics and pesticides. These are only a few of the factors that work to destroy the good bacteria we need in our intestinal tract. Having a healthy gut is key to proper digestion, absorption of essential nutrients, and becoming a fat burning machine. Many of us have taken antibiotics once or twice in our lifetime. Antibiotics not only destroy the bad bacteria, but they also destroy the good bacteria that protect you from illness and chronic disease. The Ketogenic Diet & Gut Health go together. How Does This Affect Us? When poor diet and antibiotics strip that good bacteria from your intestines, it gives bad bacteria an opportunity to thrive. These bacteria can lead to inflammation and all sorts of health complications such as a weak immune system, food allergies, leaky gut, sluggish digestion, poor nutrient absorption, depression and chronic disease. Having a bad gut can also affect your transition to becoming fat adapted. Some Symptoms Related To An Unhealthy Gut: Bloating Acne Fatigue Joint pain Food intolerance Allergies Autoimmune disease Hair loss Weight loss or weight gain Trouble losing weight Brittle nails Diarrhoea/constipation Sugar cravings Hypothyroidism Malabsorption Blood sugar dysregulation Migraines Hypoglycaemia If you have been experiencing at least a few of these symptoms for a while, you may want to address restoring your gut health. In doing so, most people find their cravings, especially for sugar, dramatically decrease. Other benefits include: mental clarity, increased energy Continue reading >>

Common Ketosis Killers

“I’ve tried your low-carb diet, Dr. Nally, and it didn’t work.” “Hmm . . . really?” If your mumbling this to yourself, or you’ve said it to me in my office, then lets have a little talk. I’ve heard this statement before. It’s not a new statement, but it’s a statement that tells me we need to address a number of items. If you’ve failed a low carbohydrate diet, I’d suspect you are pretty severely insulin resistant or hyperinsulinemic. You probably never really reached true ketosis. I’d want to have you checked out by your doctor to rule out underlying disease like hypothyroidism, diabetes, other hormone imbalance, etc. Next, switching to a low-carbohydrate lifestyle is literally a “lifestyle change.” It requires that you understand a few basic ketosis principles. And, it takes the average person 3-6 months to really wrap their head around what this lifestyle means . . . and, some people, up to a year before they are really comfortable with how to eat and function in any situation. I assume, if you are reading this article, that you’ve already read about ketosis and understand the science behind it. If not, please start your reading with my article The Principle Based Ketogenic Lifestyle – Part I and Ketogenic Principles – Part II. If this is the case, then please proceed forward, “full steam ahead!” There are usually a few areas that are inadvertently inhibiting your body transformation, so let’s get a little personal. First, this is a low carbohydrate diet. For weight loss, I usually ask people to lower their carbohydrate intake to less than 2o grams per day. How do you do that? (A copy of my diet is accessible through my membership site HERE.) You’ve got to begin by restricting all carbohydrates to less than 20 grams per day. Continue reading >>

The Johns Hopkins Ketogenic Diet Fact Sheet

This fact sheet contains answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about the diet. Further information about the ketogenic diet may be obtained from a video and a book about the diet. The video is available from The Charlie Foundation, 501 10th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90402. Phone 1-800-FOR-KETO (1-800-367-5386). The book, The Epilepsy Diet Treatment: An Introduction to the Ketogenic Diet, by Freeman JM, Kelly M, and Freeman JB, may be obtained from Demos Vermande Publishers, 386 Park Avenue South, NY, NY 10016. Phone 1-800-532-8663. Further information about epilepsy in children may be obtained from: Seizures and Epilepsy: a Guide for Parents by Freeman J, Vining EPG, and Pillas DJ. 2nd ed. 1997 Johns Hopkins University Press. Balt. ************************************************************************** What is the ketogenic diet? The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, very low carbohydrate diet used in children who have epilepsy that is difficult-to-control with current medications. The diet should be considered for children who have more than two seizures per week despite treatment with at least two different anticonvulsant medications. The diet is also used when the frequency of seizures, despite medications, interferes with the child's function, or when the medications themselves cause substantial adverse reactions. This diet is not currently being used in adults. Who can be helped by the diet, and how much? Many children with epilepsy can be helped by the diet. There is no way to predict whether it will be successful – except to try it. Traditionally the diet has been used in children between 2 and 10 years of age; however, we have used it in children as young as one year, and in teens. Its use in adults has been limited and there is, as yet, no inform Continue reading >>

Antibiotics And Weight Gain

In observational studies, antibiotics have been linked to an increased risk of childhood obesity. For this reason, a recent study examined this association. This is the first large-scale observational study to examine this link across a large range of healthy children and adolescents. Below is a detailed summary of the results. ANTIBIOTICS MAY PROMOTE WEIGHT GAIN IN CHILDREN Antibiotics and Weight Gain BACKGROUND Antibiotics are sometimes added to animal feed to increase growth in livestock. For this reason, scientists have speculated that antibiotics may have similar effects in humans. Many observational studies have examined this association in humans. Here are some of their findings from over the years: 2013: Antibiotic use in the first 6 months of life was associated with increased body weight at 10–38 months. Later exposure was not consistently linked. 2014: Repeated use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in the first 2 years of life was linked with a greater risk of obesity at 24–59 months of age. 2014: Using antibiotics in the first year of life was linked with an increased risk of being overweight or obese at ages 9 and 12. 2014: Receiving antibiotics in the first year of life was associated with a slight increase in body mass index in boys aged 5–8 years. 2014: Antibiotics improved weight gain in children with malnutrition. 2015: Antibiotic use within the first 6 months of life was linked with higher body mass in childhood. This was strongest for macrolide antibiotics. 2015: When women received antibiotics in the second or third trimester of pregnancy, their children were at a higher risk of becoming obese. 2016: Receiving antibiotics within the first 6 months of life was not associated with weight gain up to age 7. As a possible explanation, studies indicate Continue reading >>

Prurigo Pigmentosa – The Ketosis Rash Nobody Warned Me About

While I haven’t had this rash, I have been on ketogenic diets a few times, usually with herxheimer symptoms. I believe this origined from candida die-off because I had the exact same feeling when on antifungal drugs. It was worst the first times, then substantially less, and during my third course of antifungals I felt nothing. This would suggest the fungal infection had diminished a lot by then. Also, my reactions when on a ketogenic diet were worst the first time, but less so (and with later onset) during subsequent diets. I never dieted in order to lose weight – I am skinny already – but only as a remedy (somewhat desperately) against candida. I had some very bad years where I would react from all kinds of simple carbs, and since doctors didn’t help me a lot, I had to find something myself. In the end, however, my GP did prescribe fluconazol for a month which helped. I did have a rash once, however. All over my torso when I was 22, 16 years ago. My doctor first thought this was pityriasis rosea, a common and harmless rash. Then I got transferred to a dermatologist who diagnosed psoriasis, but at that time, the torso rash had disappeared. Since then, I have had a litle psoriasis on my elbows, but rarely elsewhere. Skin rashes are often a sign of immunological changes – and of infections, of course, as we know from common childhood diseases. (But isn’t the rash of e.g. measles caused by the immune reaction, rather than directly from the infection itself?) But regarding that many of you had a month or year-long and stable rash when being in ketosis, there might be other causes. As I understand, the effect of doxycycline here is not as an antibiotic, but because doxycyline has a direct impact on neutrophils (a sort of white blood cells). It is also well-known Continue reading >>

Not Losing Weight On A Low-carb Ketogenic Diet? Don’t Give Up And Read Further

The ketogenic diet is not only known to be one of the most effective weight loss tools, but has proven to have many health benefits. Ketosis is a state at which your body produces ketones in the liver, shifting the body's metabolism away from glucose and towards fat utilization. Unless you can check your blood ketones, using Ketostix is an easy way to detect urinary ketones. It's not the most accurate method, but may be good enough to find out whether you are in ketosis. In some cases, weight loss may be difficult even on a low-carb ketogenic diet and there may be a few possible reasons for weight stalling, which I have listed in this post. If you want to know more about the ketogenic diet and how it can help you lose weight, have a look at my Practical Guide to Keto Diet which is freely available on my website also as PDF. 3 free diet plans to help you kickstart your diet, lose weight and get healthy Recipes, giveaways and exclusive deals delivered directly to your inbox A chance to win the KetoDiet app every week Top Reasons You Are Not Losing Weight on a Keto Diet 1. Carbs are Too High Your carbohydrate intake may be too high. Try to decrease your daily carbs limit. Also try to include coconut oil in your diet. Coconut oil consists of MCTs (Medium chain triglycerides), which are easily digestible, less likely to be stored by your body and are used for immediate energy. MCTs are converted in the liver into ketones, which helps you enter ketosis. If you want to know more about carbs, check out this post. For more about ketones, have a look at this post. 2. Protein is Too High or Too Low Your protein intake may be too high/ low. Protein is the most sating macronutrient and you should include high-quality animal protein in your diet. If you don't eat enough protein, you Continue reading >>

Ketosis And Uti-like Symptoms

Every time I go into ketosis for more than I a week or two, my bladder gets irritated and I experience UTI-like symptoms. The last time I experienced this in ketosis, I ended up doing a round of antibiotics (big mistake), seeing a urologist, and getting my kidneys checked via ultrasound. The antibiotics didn't cure the discomfort, the urologist couldn't even find bacteria in my urine, and my kidneys checked out fine. The only thing that finally helped was when I discontinued my all meat and fat diet and took a month off from tea. I suspect that my bladder is just getting irritated by the ketones. Has anyone else experienced this? Any idea how to treat this? Continue reading >>