I eat all fish and shellfish (oysters, mussles), no other fats, but for some lean meats, game meats like venison and bison. And only olive oil if any oil. Very low carbohydrates but a lot of berries, and a lot of seaweed and mushrooms (I am a FUT2 non-secretor and these are high in Fucose). Basically I eat like the Sami.
Before this, at around 45 years old I was a vegan (a good vegan) and my cholesterol was VERY high and HDL too low, hypertensive, IBS-D, and mood instability and they did a brain scan at one point because it looked like I was getting MS.
Note I have a family history of hyperlipidemia.
My cholesterol totally corrected and reversed, IBS is gone, BP is much better, still some mood issues but no need for meds anymore.
Basically the gene polymorphisms I saw that were relevant to my diet were FADS1, FADS2, FUT2 (non-secretor) CPT1A, BTD, PNP, and GCH1 among some others.
But yes, the CPT1A polymorphisms protects me from ketosis.
What do you mean when you say you are protected from ketosis?
Ketosis is a metabolic state that provides the brain with an extra energy source -- ketones -- when glucose is levels are low. As such being unable to go into ketosis seems like a bad thing.
Polymoprphisms in the CPT1A gene control the amount of fatty acids that enter the cell to be broken down into ketones. Since the Inuit eat so much fat, after generations this gene has selected to be slower so they are not in a constant state of ketosis and therefore save glucose. The Inuit have a very low glucose diet so this makes sense that they need to try to hoard glucose.
You will notice in kids with full CPT1A deficiency that they have an almost total inability to make ketones and suffer hypoglycemia when fasting.
The problem is that you are thinking like a Caucasian when it comes to ketosis and you all think ketosis is always good. It is not always good, it should be balanced.
The role that Omega 3 plays in all of this, for people like me who need it, is so underestimated it is depressing. I had to lower my Omega 6 fats so drastically before I saw any change sin my lipids. It was amazing honestly.
You see, only the Inuit and people with these genetics should be eating a very low carbohydrate diet. All you "Farmers", stick to your oily grains, nuts and seeds.
> Since the Inuit eat so much fat, after generations this gene has selected to be slower so they are not in a constant state of ketosis and therefore save glucose.
I'm not following - ketosis happens after glucose levels are low. How would making the switch to a ketogenic metabolic state a slower process save any glucose? Ketosis doesn't consume sugar, as far as I know.
Also, what are the detrimental effects of ketosis?
I worded that poorly, sorry. "and therefore save glucose" would have better read, "the body does not need glucose for energy".
This question is doing more for me than you know. I hope I can explain everything right now since it is all a just a picture in my head. So if this does not make sense I can go on.
I want to take a step waaaay back. Most people think it is ketones, glucose, protein, or fats that the body wants for energy. Well, they are all wrong. The body wants Actyl-CoA for energy. Acetyl-CoA drives the TCA cycle and that is what keeps us alive. All of those things are sources of Acetyl-CoA.
Next, the body does not prefer ketones as a source of Acetyl-CoA, in MOST PEOPLES (depending on genetics) it prefers glucose above all else.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493179/
"Most organs and tissues can use ketone bodies as an alternative source of energy. The brain uses them as a major source of energy during periods where glucose is not readily available. This is because, unlike other organs in the body, the brain has an absolute minimum glucose requirement."
So being in ketosis is a rescue situation when there is not enough Acetyl CoA being made from glucose. You want proof of this? Fasting increases ketones levels more than any diet.
They are turned into Acetyl CoA BEFORE it enters the cell and needs CPT1A to enter the cell. Both glucose and protein enter the cell and THEN are turned into Acetyl CoA.
But all this is NOT TRUE of the Inuit. Their preferred source is from fat, not glucose. Why? Because of the genetic changes resulting from a diet high in fat. So for the Inuit, a high glucose diet causes problems like a high fat diet does for most European caucasians.
Let's look at the problem for people with CPT1A deficiency. They enter a state of "hypoketotic hypoglycaemia". Low glucose AND low ketones. So we know that we need CPT1A to function to make ketones to power the TCA cycle.
I am still trying to reason why CPT1A transport slows down so much for the Inuit. But I know it is because of generational dependance on a high fat diet. It seems that Omega 3 might change the expression of CPT1A making it more effective. Omega 9 fats increase CPT1A activity.
"Given that the PUFA content of traditional Arctic diets may compensate for the genetic reduction of CPT1A activity, and that the absence of urinary ketones found in early studies in North America may reflect fat adaptation and limitations in testing technology, current speculation about the lack of a ketogenic state in traditionally living Arctic peoples cannot be considered settled."
I mean, if you think about it, having high ketones means your body is not USING the ketones for energy. Wow, that just blew my mind! Time to look at my ketone genetics!
And thank you for giving me more information about a topic you've obviously studied intensely :-)
I know that the 'standard' western diet has been catastrophic for the Inuit, but to me it's just been kind of obvious that it's because it diverges so much from what they've traditionally eaten for so long. Good to see that there's actually some research to back it up.
> I mean, if you think about it, having high ketones means your body is not USING the ketones for energy.
That said, I was curious about your comments about ketosis on a personal level. I have no Inuit blood that I'm aware of, but I never get 'keto flu', and any overabundance of free ketones (which also cause 'acetone breath', I think) disappear within a few days of strict low carb carb eating. Fasting also seems much easier for me than it is for my peers.
Would you still say it's harmful for a person like me to eat very few carbs and no sugar?
That you re aware of is the key point. You can get your full genome and find out if you carry these CPT1A polymorphisms. You do not need to be Inuit. As pointed out, my genetics come from the Sami people, but any cold adapted population should have these changes in these genes.
I do not recommend any diet until you know your genetics.
It may be that there are two keto diets. One that needs high omega 3 and another that needs high omega 6.
Do you worry about consuming too much mercury? I brought down my fish consumption after reading about this risk but I could be overblowing it. Do you have have any advice on how to deal with this?
This says the tolerable weekly intake for methylmercury is 1.6 μg per kg body weight per week. For a 200 lb man that is 80 milligrams of shark meat (p95 1835 mg/kg) or 11 lbs of sprat (p95 0.029 mg/kg) or 2.9 lbs of sardines (p95 0.112 mg/kg).
NO, for two reasons. I eat mostly salmon and sardines, and some small mackerel only. If you look up fish low in mercury there are a ton of links.
But secondly, they found that the nutrients, mainly selenium, in the fish actually help the body remove mercury through the thioredoxin system, so the worry might be exaggerated. I do not eat fish everyday as well, I eat shellfish on the off days and I fast. Oysters are really high in selenium.
Easiest step is if you eat tuna, don't eat Albacore, instead eat Skipjack.
If you can afford it then go with brands which have thorough testing (e.g. Wild Planet, Safe Catch, etc.). Granted best to go further down the food chain, but this is an easy first step to take.
This sounds a bit like you went from a low calorie diet that triggered various metabolic shutdowns to a high calorie diet that made your body work again.
Sounds like you went from hypogonadism ( which is associated with all of your listed issues) to something healthier.
Quite impressive if diet solved it, although it might be the calories, not the content.
If anything I am eating less calories now. I was heavier then as well. It was causing a multitude of deficiencies. B6, Zinc I know for sure because my doctor tested them.
But it is interesting you bring up hypogonadism, not that I had it, but I was born with a cryptorchidism and had to have the testicle removed when I was three. This is a known effect of zinc deficiency which is one reason they tested me.
Yeah, being overweight, having hypogonadism and eating a low calorie diet can result in no weight loss or even weight gain. The energy distribution is all over the place and the lack of calories affects cognition, hormone production etc.
If you were a "good" vegan, as you mentioned, I cannot imagine what kind of foods you ate to have more calories compared to fat (calorie) rich foods like fish, mussels or meat.
500 grams of raw beans is 2000kcal (very little for an avg 45 year old man), contains about 120g of protein, but is around 1.5kg of beanwater sludge when cooked. Impossible to eat in a day for most people. Adding rice, pasta, or other sources of calories still does not help a lot. It takes a lot of food to get to 2500-3000kcal.
Many vegans lack calories in their diet. Older and sedentary vegans that are starting to develop protein resistance (due to age or sedentary lifestyle) also consume way too little protein. A perfect recipe for various metabolic issues and aging related diseases.
It is not just about calories. I cannot metabolize short chain fatty acids well and they all come from plant food.
Stop assuming you know anything about my life to fit your paradigm. I was always starving when I was vegan so I ate more. I know how many calories I eat it is is way less.
It is NOT just about food, it is also about genetics.
Everything you are saying is pointing to starvation induced metabolic disease.
You said it yourself that you were always starving as a vegan. Given that you were a "good" vegan, living on low calorie foods, I cannot see how you think you ate more calories, but were starving.
If you told me you had a 150kg squat, 200kg deadlift and did 6+ hours of hiking every week, but still had issues with weight and always felt hungry, I would be quite surprised, because there's no way you could maintain maximal force production with low calories. All of that muscle would also not be there with low calories.
Vegan food is rich in carbs, so saying you cannot metabolize short chain fatty acids is irrelevant when most of your calories came from carbs. Your body can turn these carbs to fatty acids that your genes can deal with (to create hormones, if you had enough protein too). If we think about essential fatty acids, then your hypothesis is testable, either by taking a long essential fatty acid supplement (EPA + DHA), or by measuring your EPA/DHA plasma levels after consuming ALA rich plant oils like flexseed (not olive oil, and most definitely not sunflower oil). Still, no way deficiency of ALA metabolites is going to put you in a weird starvation mode. It's the starvation that is causing your metabolism to shutdown. Of course you will have trouble metabolising ALA if you are starving.
Yes, it's not about food, it's about calories. Individuals that want to function well need to eat enough. If your issue was short fatty acids, then it's quite impressive that your diet fixed it. Long fatty acids are not essential, and to function you need to be able to create metabolites from short fatty acids, because not all long fatty acids required for human hormones and metabolism are present in your food.
Not being satiated is also a sign of having low calories on a "good" vegan diet.
If you ate 500 grams of raw beans (cooked), having 1.5kg of excrement going through your bowels will leave you quite satiated.
On my plant-only days, whenever I eat that much volume of food to get to 3500kcal (I weigh 220lbs and eat 4000kcal+ on regular days), I am basically satiated after first 2000kcal for the whole day and have to force myself to eat more. This is whole plants, no oils.
Of course, the massive poop next morning makes it worth the trouble :D
I cannot metabolize short chain fatty acids well and they all come from plant food.
Is the cellular mechanism for this known? I seem to have trouble processing long chain triglycerides and I do better with animal fats, like butter and bacon.
Any resources you could link to or thoughts you might share on this detail would be potentially of value to me for better understanding my genetic disorder and practical approaches to managing it with diet.
First, I am not talking about the metabolism of triglycerides, only the metabolism off PUFA. And can you give me an example of what you mean by "I seem to have trouble processing long chain triglycerides", and what genetic disorder?
But yes, very will known. There are thee enzymes, FADS1, FADS2, and EVOL5 that turn the short chain fatty acids like ALA in flax seed into the DHA you find in fish. The FADS genes are the most studied and polymorphisms in the genes have been linked to different cultures and therefor the reliance on certain fatty acids.
Digestion relies on your gut microbiome and how much fiber you eat; both those things are much more variable than your DNA and so are more likely to be personalized to you than anything else is. Unless you actually had a medical-grade genetic test?
Yes, full genome from Nebula genomics. Take a look at what it means to be a FUT2 non-secretor and you will soon see how much genetics plays a role. Knowing this cured MY IBS. I am in no way saying it is everyones issue, but it was mine.
We know the genome changes so much of us, from our eye color to height to susceptibility to ideas. Why would it not also determine what foods we should eat?
Yes, but mostly all seafood and I eat berries as well. So it is not really either. I do not aim for ketosis of anything like that, mostly becasue my genetics protects me from it.
I would be interested in hearing more on that if you are willing to share. (You can email me if you don't want to say it here.)