I hope you had a chance to read my previous blog on the many health benefits of an alkaline diet and my blog on the benefits (and potential drawbacks) of a keto diet... If you haven’t, I would suggest that you do so prior to reading this blog, as this information builds upon that material.
In this blog I’ll be talking about the benefits of combining a ketogenic diet to your alkaline diet and lifestyle.
First some history.
While research studies overwhelmingly showed benefits to a ketogenic diet (you can see a lot of this research in the previous blog here), I had found a lot of patients and clients had had side effects. Here's just one example:
“Nausea and fatigue overrode any benefits like weight loss or improved health,” 47-year-old Liz told me about her massive misfire trying a ketogenic diet for three months.
For a long time I weighed the benefits and frankly, some of the negative feedback from clients, relating to a ketogenic diet.
But after a good deal of research I still became a huge supporter of keto. Why? Well, read on!
Traditional Ketogenic Diets Neglect Alkalinity
Over the years guiding patients through ketogenic diets, I eventually discovered the missing component creating many of these roadblocks and negative reactions. Traditional ketogenic diets neglect alkalinity, which for women this can especially become disastrous.
After years combining research with empirical evidence from hundreds of patients, I juxtaposed a ketogenic diet and alkalinity with my Keto-Green® Diet, which becomes the perfect plan for fat loss and optimal health by allowing your body to use fat for fuel while staying alkaline.
Ketogenic proponents got it partly right by utilizing fat as fuel. So did alkaline-diet folks by recognizing how crucial staying alkaline becomes to stay lean and healthy.
But combine the two and bam, you’ve got a really powerful plan.
When you stay in ketosis too long – this especially becomes true for women – your body becomes acidic, creating chronic inflammation that forces your body to hold onto its fat stores.
I’ve seen this play out numerous times among female patents: The very diet that supposedly helps you lose weight and get healthy actually makes you fat and sick!
That’s where the alkaline part comes in: You create a win-win dialing down inflammation and other problems while maintaining a fat-as-fuel state.
Getting Alkaline Before Going Keto Stacks The Fat-loss And Health Benefits In Your Favor
I’ve seen this time and time again in my hormone reset programs, like Breeze Thru Menopause and Magic Menopause. So believe me… it makes everything work.
It’s really a simple concept at the surface, a bit more complex when you look at the actual physiology.
So focus on alkalinity first. Use my Keto-pH® Uric Acid Test Strips (they test your urine pH and also for ketones once you start the keto diet).
Ready To Add In Keto?
A Ketogenic diet puts you in a fat-burning state called ketosis. (don’t you just love the sound of “fat-burning state”?)
Ketosis is all about what your body uses as fuel.
Eating high carbs = high blood glucose (sugar), high insulin, stored fat… and low fat burning, low metabolism and belly fat. Your body’s fuel source is glucose, not fat.
Let me explain.
When you eat carbs your body’s blood glucose increases and spikes your blood sugar. Your body releases more insulin as a reaction to elevated blood glucose levels. Insulin is produced to get the glucose from your body and into the cells. There it gets converted to energy. Your body burns the glucose to make its energy and then insulin tells the cells to store their energy as carbs or fat (the unhealthy and dreaded belly fat).
When you eat a lot of carbs on an ongoing basis (like many Americans do, eating a lot of processed foods, sugar, alcohol, soda and such!) insulin is continually stimulated. This can lead to a health condition called insulin resistance, where the cells start to resist the insulin. When this happens, your blood sugar just continues to rise and you can become diabetic. Along with diabetes, many other health issues including heart disease and even dementia have been associated with insulin resistance.
Continue reading much more about Ketosis here, including:
- What are the health benefits of Ketosis supported by research?
- How Ketosis supports fat loss
- How we know our body is burning fat (hint: ketones!)?
- What a Ketogenic diet entails
- How intermittent fasting is a key component to success
- And that another key is to keep focused on your alkalinity, too!
WOW, I know that is a lot of information, but hopefully it helps explain why the combo, my Keto-Green® Diet, is the key to getting to your ideal weight…success and greater health!
“The Secret Science of Staying Slim, Sane and Sexy After 40“
7 Hacks To Get And Stay Keto-Alkaline
My Keto-Green® Diet provides a simple, safe way to lose weight and get healthy.
In my various hormone reset programs I’ve learned a lot about some secret hacks to get the best results…and here, I’ll share them with you.
- Be aware of underlying issues. Difficulties getting alkaline – which as I said, you should do before you go into ketosis – could signal numerous problems including toxicity, inflammation, high sugar, toxins, too little or much cortisol, or mineral insufficiencies. Some of these are easy to remedy; for others, a functional practitioner can pinpoint these and other underlying issues.
- Test, don’t guess. Rather than guessing, you can check your urine pH and ketones. Dark green signifies you are alkaline. Use my Keto-pH® Uric Acid Test Strips to easily measure your alkalinity and ketone levels. While not perfect, they are the only way to really know whether you are in ketosis. For clients like Liz, these strips provided a tremendous clarity to know exactly whether she was alkaline and keto – and to troubleshoot if she wasn’t.
- Upgrade alkaline. The few times Liz didn’t hit her mark with test strips, bumping up alkaline foods usually did the job. Great foods to maintain alkalinity include greens, bone broth, apple cider vinegar, and my favorite, Mighty Maca® Plus. Cook your greens more to absorb them better and get alkaline more quickly. Taking a teaspoon to a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar before your meals will help digestion and alkalinity. If you want to step things up, try my Alkaline Elixir recipe: six ounces of water, 1 teaspoon Bragg’s Apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon Lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda. Add Mighty Maca to get added alkalizing and detoxifying benefits.
- Always buy quality. Especially when it comes to fat, buying free-range, grass-fed, non-genetically modified (GMO) foods becomes crucial. Whenever possible, choose organic since conventional foods often grow in mineral-depleted, toxin-loaded soil.
- Do modified intermittent fasting. My Keto-Green® Diet is powerful enough, but to provide that additional fat-burning boost, I have patients like Liz go 13.5 to 15 hours between dinner and breakfast – really easy if you’ve eaten a substantial dinner high in quality fats – to force their body to find energy reserves beyond stored glucose, burning fat instead. Think of intermittent fasting as turning up the dial a few notches with an already-amazing plan. Additionally, research shows that intermittent fasting can significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence (JAMAoncol 2016).
- Don’t try to be perfect. “I had some red wine last night and, OK, some dark chocolate,” Liz emailed me one morning, confessing testing showed she definitely wasn’t in ketosis or alkaline. I told her “Me too!” and not to worry and get right back on track. Real life happens, and to stay keto-alkaline completely is rare. Do your best but give yourself a little leeway. The principles work! Keep at it.
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Look beyond diet. My Keto-Green® Diet isn’t just about food. Hydration becomes crucial. So does sleeping well. Stress, exercise, healthy bowel movements, and healthy relationships all contribute. Oxytocin, a hormone released when you hug, love someone, or have an orgasm, also creates alkalizing benefits. So many of us suffer from hormone effects as we age that impact our feminine parts and our happiness (and there are many things you can do to address these issues such as vaginal atrophy, dryness and the like… so that you will be able to have a happier life and relationship) The Keto-Green principles also temper cortisol and improve insulin sensitivity – this is key to healthy longevity.
So What Has Your Experience Been?
If you’ve done a traditional ketogenic diet, did you struggle like Liz did?
Try it again incorporating alkaline foods and focusing on an alkaline lifestyle. Did you find incorporating more alkaline foods helped? Were you testing or guessing?
If you’ve had success with my Keto-Green Diet, I’d love to hear your story. Share your thoughts below.
Yummy Keto-coffee…and so good for you, too!
And start your day tomorrow with a keto coffee or tea by adding a tbsp. of coconut or MCT oil, 1 tsp. ghee and maybe an egg yolk from a free range chicken – it’s really good!
And stay tuned…
I’m focusing on Keto-alkaline in upcoming blogs as well.
And if you didn’t read my earlier blogs on this topic, please do!
- All about alkaline diet and lifestyle health benefits – check it out here
- All about Ketogenic Diets and how the state of Ketosis puts you in fat-burning mode (and so much more) – check it out here
I’ll be talking more about my Keto-Green Diet in the future… please do download the free eBook, “The Secret Science of Staying Slim, Sane and Sexy After 40” and get started on your new diet and lifestyle today.
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