The Keto Diet can be Dangerous if You Have This Gene

The Keto Diet can be Dangerous if You Have This Gene

What is a Keto Diet?

What is a Keto Diet?

In the world of weight-loss diets, high-protein and low-carb have ruled for a decade. South Beach, Paleo, and Atkins diets are often considered “ketogenic” or “keto” diets.

True keto diets differ from the most popular high-protein diets because a keto diet is based on fat instead of protein. Fat supplies up to 90% of the calories in a “true” keto diet.

How Does It Work?

A keto diet is designed to force your body into burning a fuel that the liver produces from stored fat instead of using the normal sugars it derives from carbs.

This fuel from your liver is called “ketone bodies.”

To force your body to use this fuel, you must eat fewer than 50 grams of carbs per DAY. (One slice of bread, for example, contains 15 grams of carbs). After a few days, your body may reach a state of “ketosis,” where it is creating and burning ketone bodies. However, too much protein can also interfere with the process (usually limited to 75 grams per day).

Keto Risks

Recent research suggests that specific genetic markers can make a keto diet unsafe. (Read THE KETO DIET CAN BE DANGEROUS IF YOU HAVE THIS GENE)

A typical person on a keto diet will eat 170 grams of fat, 50 grams of carbs, and 75 grams of protein. And yes, that is a LOT of fat! Your fruits are restricted to a few berries, and your vegetables are very limited.

This can lead to heart disease risks and nutritional deficiencies. Other potential problems are stress on your liver and kidneys, constipation, and brain fog from the low-carb diet.

Keto Cookies
Keto Cookies

The Upside to Keto Foods

I send many of my patients to a local keto bakery. This is not because I want them to go on a keto diet, but because I want them to stop eating sugar.

Keto cookies, cakes, and sweet rolls have almost NO sugar OR carbs! It’s like a miracle! Not everyone likes them, but most people can find some great substitutes to be able to eat a cookie when they want to without messing up their immune system.  (See “Sugar and Your Immune System)

Trouble with diets
Trouble with diets

The Problem with Keto (And Other Weight-Loss Diets)

Everyone’s body is different. A diet that works for someone else may fail for you, or even damage your health.

Many patients who come to me for weight loss don’t need a diet. Their weight is coming from hormones, digestive problems, or allergies.

My Advice:

Stop trying to lose weight or improve your health based on trial and error. Stop reading about some “great, new thing” on the internet and thinking, “Hey, I should try this out and see if it works!”

Honestly, what are the chances that any given product or diet would work on your particular body? Also, what does “work” mean? If you lose 10 pounds and then gain it back but now will have much more difficulty losing weight in the future, was this a “success?”

HRV Heart Rate Variability Test
HRV Heart Rate Variability Test

Printout from Heart Rate Variability Testing, shows nervous system function

Testing, An (Apparently) New Idea

I can’t think of any single food, supplement, or treatment that would be appropriate for every patient I’ve had in the past year except for maybe clean water.  Every person is unique in many ways and needs different solutions.

You might ask, “But, how can you tell specifically what I should do?”

In health care today, the concept of TESTING is almost foreign. Most treatments, supplements, and drugs are recommended on a “try it and see if it works” basis.

But if you could accurately test someone to determine what foods, supplements, diets, and treatments would be effective and safe for them—why would anyone make any decisions without testing first?

My Universal Answer

I always have the same answer when asked about diets, supplements, or treatments:

“Why don’t you come in and let me test you to find out?”

After all, the only other option would be to GUESS.

So:

Why don’t you come in and let me test you?

GET TESTED: Take these four simple steps

GET TESTED and begin a treatment program designed specifically for you to handle your health problems.

WANT MORE INFORMATION? Fill out an online questionnaire

Submit your Questionnaire, and you’ll receive a complimentary consultation to get more information and your individual health questions answered.

The Gene That Makes the Ketogenic Diet Dangerous

Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., DACBN, MS, CFMP

With all the craze about the ketogenic diet it would behoove one to know if they are a candidate for this type of diet.

Keto Diet

First for those not familiar with the ketogenic diet here is a short summary:

The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used mainly to treat hard-to-control epilepsy in children. Here are 8 additional benefits:

  1. Triglycerides Tend to Drop Drastically
  2. Increased Levels of ‘Good’ HDL Cholesterol
  3. Reduced Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels
  4. May Lower Blood Pressure
  5. Effective Against Metabolic Syndrome
  6. A Greater Proportion of Fat Loss Comes From Your Abdominal Cavity
  7. Improved ‘Bad’ LDL Cholesterol Levels
  8. Therapeutic for Several Brain Disorders (Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease)

Now with all of these benefits the scientific literature has investigated if indeed this type of diet is beneficial for all people.

Genetics Well it may ultimately come down to your genes. Most specifically, your APOE genotype.

The three different types of APOE genes are as follows:

APOE2 – Best suited to a High Fat / Low Carb Diet (saturated fats are good)
APOE3 – Suitable For Both
APOE4 – Best Suited For A High Monounsaturated Fat / Low Carb Diet (Avoid Saturated Fats)

Research studies have shown that APOE4 carriers are most effected by high cholesterol, and benefit more from a low saturated fat diet, instead using monounsaturated fats,  low carb diet, whereas APOE 2 carriers suit a high fat low carb diet, regardless of the saturated fats.

So what should you do?

Ask your doctor to order the APOE genotype blood test and see if you are in fact a carrier of the APOE4 gene.

If you are a carrier of the APOE4 gene, I recommend decreasing your consumption of saturated fats and focus more on monounsaturated fats.

Compliments from Functional Medicine University

A Natural Way Out of Menopause Problems?

A Natural Way Out of Menopause Problems?

A Way Out of Menopause Problems?

My sister-in-law was at my house a week ago and complained, “I just hate getting old” (she’s 53). She was discouraged that she couldn’t remember words and felt mentally sluggish.

I explained to her that this was a common symptom of menopause due to low estrogen levels. At first, she was excited by this information—something could be done about it! But then she realized she couldn’t take any estrogen with her breast cancer history.

Toxic Soup

The Toxic Soup

She’s not alone in wanting to avoid the use of hormones or drugs to treat menopause symptoms. A visit to your OBGYN with typical menopause symptoms can result in prescriptions for any or all of the following:

  • Hormone Therapy: Estrogen is what works, but it can be a risk. So your doctor will probably prescribe the lowest dose over the shortest time. Many women are not interested in the risk and will pass on this.
  • Vaginal Estrogen: Same story as hormone therapy.
  • Low-dose Antidepressants: These SSRI drugs are prescribed for hot flashes and “mood disorders” caused by hormone imbalances. All of these drugs have side effects, and many are addictive.
  • Gabapentin: A seizure drug repurposed as a treatment for night sweats.
  • Clonidine: High blood pressure med repurposed as a treatment for hot flashes.
  • Osteoporosis drugs: The most popular drugs build “bone density” by inhibiting the destruction of old or dead bone cells. This increases bone density but without increasing bone strength.

Surely there must be another, better way.

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Angry Woman
Angry Woman

Why Hormones Go Whacky

Your hormones are a communication system in your body. Like bulk mail, trillions of molecules of your hormones plug themselves into “mailboxes” on your cells. Your cells then read the mail and know what your brain wants them to do.

Hormones are very specialized chemicals. Sadly, in our high-tech society, we use similar chemicals for pesticides, insecticides, drugs, plastics, etc. The molecules of these toxic chemicals in our environment are so identical to your hormone molecules that your body can’t tell the difference.

These toxic molecules interfere with your natural hormones, creating stress that has been linked to hundreds of chronic diseases.

These toxins are called ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS. Here is a link to the EPA’s Endocrine Disruption webpage.

My experience has been that these toxins are a significant factor in menopause symptoms.

An Effective, Non-Drug, Non-Hormone Solution

There are many imbalances that create menopause symptoms. Each woman’s answer is different. I do a great job of finding your problems and rebalancing your body so you feel great—even in menopause.

One of the techniques I use to help women with hormone problems is an acupressure treatment called “Systems Balancing Technique,” or SBT. I have been using this technique since 2001 and have helped thousands of women to improve hormone imbalances related to sex hormones, adrenals, thyroid, and many more problems.

How SBT Works

In 1. below, a natural hormone (letter) can’t get to the cell’s mailbox because it’s being blocked by a toxic chemical (ED stands for “Endocrine Disruptor,” a toxic chemical that mimics a hormone and fools the body).

SBT treatments bring the body’s attention to the ED molecule with the intention that the body will realize this isn’t a natural hormone and eject it from the mailbox.

In 2. below, the hormone letter can plug into the receptor site freed from being blocked by the ED.

ED Blocks Receptor

Neither I nor anyone else can know what is happening inside the body on a molecular level. The explanation above is my “working theory” of how SBT works, but I have no way to know for sure.

However, the results I have obtained with this technique speak for themselves!

 

A Plan to Balance Your Hormones

If you’d like to find out if a non-drug, non-hormone solution could work for you, here are two possible actions for you to take:

Neither I nor anyone else can know what is happening inside the body on a molecular level. The explanation above is my “working theory” of how SBT works, but I have no way to know for sure.

However, the results I have obtained with this technique speak for themselves!

A Plan to Balance Your Hormones

If you’d like to find out if a non-drug, non-hormone solution could work for you, here are two possible actions for you to take:

PLAN A: Take these four simple steps

Begin a treatment program specifically for you to handle your health problems.

PLAN B: Fill out an online questionnaire

Submit your Questionnaire, and you’ll receive a complimentary consultation to get more information and your individual health questions answered.

Do You Have a Stubborn Health Problem?

I may be able to help you.

Dr. Billiot Photo

Dr. Melodie Billiot

Would you please take five minutes to fill out a health assessment survey and send it to me? I’ll review your information, then have my assistant call you for any additional information. Then, I’ll let you know if your case might be a good fit for my clinic. This assessment is complimentary, with no strings attached. Either I can help you–or point you in the right direction to get help.

Don’t give up! You can recover your health if you persist.

Anxiety: It’s A No-Brainer

Anxiety: It’s A No-Brainer

Anxiety: It’s A No-Brainer

Chronic anxiety isn’t always caused by a problem with your brain

Anxiety. It can be a horrible, twisting feeling of dread and fear in your stomach. You may be hot or cold, tensed, sweating. It can be debilitatingly severe or just under the surface and slightly coloring everything you do and think.

It’s not anything that you want to experience, ever.

If you’re living day-to-day (and possibly with sleep-deprived nights) with anxiety, you only want it to end. Remember how it feels when, for any reason, the anxiety lightens up a little? It’s such a relief, only to start all over again.

Anxiety can prevent your happiness, but it can also wreck your productivity. It can make you much less effective in all of your endeavors: in your job, your marriage, and as a parent.

The stress from anxiety can create health problems. In particular, digestive problems often are caused or worsened by anxiety. Other symptoms can get worse, from blood pressure to skin conditions.

Brain

The Anxiety Myth

Anxiety is very hard to treat effectively.

People do many months or years of therapy trying to reduce their anxiety. They take drugs. They use breathing exercises, meditation, and yoga. But very few anxiety sufferers ever feel that their problem is “solved.” At best, it’s “under better control.”

An important reason for this is that the cause of chronic (continuing) anxiety has been misidentified. If you treat the wrong cause, it’s a sure bet that you won’t solve the problem.

Your brain doesn’t always cause chronic anxiety. This is the myth.

Sure, the brain can signal your body to have anxious feelings. This is a survival reaction, like a healthy fear reaction from getting too close to the cliff edge.

A good shot of anxiety for a few minutes or hours can be completely normal.

Anxiety becomes a problem when it won’t stop.  When it continues and worsens and interrupts your life, this is often caused by a physical problem with your body.

Chronic anxiety can be caused by digestive problems, hormone problems, and even blood sugar issues.

An End to Your Anxiety

Correctly testing for and identifying the problems causing anxiety may lead to a real solution and an end to the problem.

I understand anxiety so well because I’ve worked with it extensively. In the past 28 years, I have helped over 10,000 patients with chronic health conditions, and more than half of them have complained of anxiety as one of their problems.

 

Your Plan

If you would like to put an end to chronic anxiety, I have two plans for you to follow:

PLAN A: Take these four simple steps

Begin a treatment program specifically for you to handle your health problems, including anxiety.

PLAN B: Fill out an online questionnaire

Submit your Questionnaire, and you’ll receive a complimentary consultation to get more information and your individual health questions answered.

Do You Have a Stubborn Health Problem?

I may be able to help you.

Dr. Billiot Photo

Dr. Melodie Billiot

Would you please take five minutes to fill out a health assessment survey and send it to me? I’ll review your information, then have my assistant call you for any additional information. Then, I’ll let you know if your case might be a good fit for my clinic. This assessment is complimentary, with no strings attached. Either I can help you–or point you in the right direction to get help.

Don’t give up! You can recover your health if you persist.

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