It’s counterintuitive but true, a high fat diet can help on weight loss, I’ve lost over 50 pounds eating as much as I want, Tammy has lost 45 pounds, and we do not count calories or practice portion control, and most of our calories come from fat. It’s called the keto diet. Pictured above is one of our favorite dishes we enjoy at home, Greek flaming cheese, saganaki. Cheese is very keto!
I go through almost two sticks of butter every week just in my coffee. “Bulletproof coffee” is where you put butter and coconut oil in your coffee, and it sets the tone for the day. Your body learns to shed fat and burn fat instead of storing fat and burning carbs or sugar.
Most people think the Keto diet is about losing weight, and they think the diet is relatively new. Ketogenic, a diet that burns ketone acids from the liver instead of sugars and carbs, was originally designed in 1920 by Dr Wilder at the Mayo clinic to help with epilepsy. When people fast their seizures typically stop, so the keto diet mimics fasting.
Tammy wanted to start the diet years before I did, I didn’t think I could give up potatoes, pasta, or bread. I’m glad we began this diet and I intend on staying on it for life. Why you might ask…
We began in March 2023, and since then as I have said I we’ve lost a lot of weight but I didn't start the keto regimen to lose weight, I did it for my mental health. I had come to terms with my depression and my struggles with suicide and accepted that I would end my life, the struggle was so great and I had tried counseling and several mediations, none of which helped me. I felt the only relief would be to end it all.
Then, I stumbled on a paragraph in a book on the brain that discussed the potential for the keto diet to help with depression and anxiety. And I gave it a shot.
The keto diet has helped my mental health and it has resulted in greater mental clarity. I used to experience a lot of brain fog and fatigue, the keto diet has transformed my brain quite a bit.
In the two years running on being on this diet, my body and brain has changed. No, there are no silver bullets for depression, and while I have greatly improved I occasionally have setbacks. I went from considering suicide a few times a day, to then a few times a week, then to even further periods of time. Overall my mental health is much improved, and I know it’s due to the keto diet, if go off the diet two or three days in a row I’m a wreck.
Beyond weight loss and mental health benefits, I have been surprised to discover how the keto diet changed my metabolism. For my entire life I have wrestled with hypoglycemia, low blood sugar and extreme blood sugar crashes. I used to wake up hungry and eat several times a day, never really satiated. Now, on the keto diet, I go several months without blood sugar issues and while I eat as much food as I want, my appetite has decreased and I typically only eat once a day now.
Another discovery is also the strangest one of keto, I used to have gas all the time, I farted like crazy. Since we started the keto, I hardly ever have gas.
Stanford university has published studies on the effects of the keto diet indicating it helps with diabetes, mental health, schizophrenia and it might fight cancer and possibly help prevent or treat Alzheimer’s. The hype is real whenever you hear about the benefits of the keto diet.
Without sounding melodramatic, I truly feel like the keto diet has saved my life. No one will be your health advocate, you have to decide what is best for you and decide if you want to be healthier. The keto diet requires self-discipline, yet this diet is a proactive lifestyle choice that will improve your overall well-being, physically, mentally, and emotionally and you will experience immense benefits that are extremely rewarding and worthwhile. So instead of waiting until your habits cause illness and disease have the fortitude and foresight to eat healthier and become healthier, this is a decision and choice that you will not regret.
Here’s a link to an article on the Stanford research: