Why is Blood Sugar Sometimes Higher Than Expected on Keto?

We have a numbers problem in the keto community. 

We place too much stock in numbers without a good understanding of what they mean. 

We measure the level of every little molecule without an appreciation for the myriad feedback mechanisms and overlapping biochemical pathways that govern the systemic regulation that determines those levels. We assign way too much meaning to single measurements taken at single points in time rather than looking at longer term trends and patterns. It’s like seeing one frame of a movie—one isolated, frozen frame—and making wild guesses as to what the movie is about. It’s ridiculous. 

Allow me to tell you a story. Sometime in the early 1980s, when I was a little girl, my family took a trip to Disney World in Florida one winter. We lived in New York, so Florida was a way for me and my sister to see Disney World and for us to spend a few days away from the freezing cold and bask in the warmth of the Sunshine State. Well, a freak cold front happened while we were there. Yes, a freak, unexpected cold snap in Florida. Sea World was closed because some of the water was frozen. We had to buy winter coats down there, because who packs winter coats to go on vacation in Florida? 

Imagine if we knew nothing about Florida and based our assessment of Florida’s climate on the short-term weather of those few days. We would have assumed Florida was a bitterly cold place, rather than the hot, steamy swamp it usually is. The lesson here is, don’t mistake an acute occurrence for a general pattern, trend, or tendency. 

What does this have to do with blood glucose? 

(If you’re pressed for time and you want an abbreviated version of my take on this topic, watch this video. If you have a minute or two to read, the first part of this post will give you a brief synopsis of the most salient points. But if you have some extra time to spare and you want the juicy details, cozy up, settle in, and happy reading.) 

Big Updates -- TWO NEW BOOKS!

Hey Everyone!

Lots of good news to share these days.

First: Big news – my book, The Stall Slayer, is now available on Amazon!!

YES! If you prefer reading hard copies of books rather than electronic versions, you can now order a paperback copy of The Stall Slayer from Amazon. And not just in the US – it’s available in many other nations. Check your local Amazon site to see if it’s available where you live. I’ve already had some fans buy it in Japan, Brazil, the UK, Canada, and the Netherlands. (If you happen to be reading this in the Netherlands, I think you have to order from the German site…amazon.de.) I’m even working with someone who’s translating the book into Thai – cool!

If you prefer electronic copies, you can buy The Stall Slayer for Kindle from Amazon, or as a pdf. (Click here to buy the pdf.) Unfortunately, we’ve hit a little snag with Kindle: the book doesn’t appear to be available for Kindle Paperwhite devices, but it works fine on older Kindles and on the Kindle app for PC, Mac, phones, and tablets.

Second: I have another book coming out this year!

This one isn’t just me, though. It’s co-written with the one and only Eric Westman, MD. YES! Can you believe it? I kind of have to pinch myself to make sure I’m actually alive and awake and this isn’t a dream. (I’ve been reading Dr. Westman’s published research for about 15 years, and now I’m writing a book with him. Whaaaat?! The world is a strange, beautiful place, my friends.)

The book is tentatively titled End Your Carb Confusion, but that is subject to change. We have an estimated release date of early December 2020, which is right around the corner. (Insert head exploding emoji.) We’re in the editing stage right now. Thank goodness, our publisher seems pretty happy with it and their suggestions are mostly related to grammar and structure rather than the content. 

What is End Your Carb Confusion about? It’s a guide to finding your own carb tolerance and building your diet from there. *Gasp!* What?! Not everyone needs extra-strict keto for their entire lifetime? Nope! This book will help people figure out where they fall on the carb tolerance spectrum, and how to move from one level to another -- i.e., how to INCREASE your carb intake safely and logically, if you want to. (Everyone can do keto for life; not everyone needs to. There IS room in life for more fruit, beans, starches, and other higher carb foods if they’re appropriate for you. Our book will teach you how to navigate it all.)

Don’t let all that fool you, though. It’s also a SIMPLE, down-to-earth “get started” guide that’s perfect for the person in your life who’s living with all kinds of health issues that would respond well to keto but who feels totally overwhelmed (or turned off) by the nuttiness and zealotry they see about this way of eating on the interwebs. It’s written in very layperson-friendly plain English -- no intense scientific gobbledygook that you need a PhD to understand -- and I know, because I wrote it!

Does keto work if you eat conventional (non-grass-finished) beef? YES! Does keto work if your food isn’t organic? YES! Are you the worst person in the history of the universe if you drink diet sodas or use artificial sweeteners in coffee or keto baking? NO! Isn’t keto only for people who are trying to lose weight? NO! If your blood sugar is normal, why would you bother trying keto? READ THE BOOK AND FIND OUT!

Stay tuned to the blog and my social media accounts for updates as the book release gets closer. Obviously I’ll have lots more to say about it.

Third: Sign up for my newsletter!

I’ve been threatening promising for a while now to resurrect the blog and start writing more regularly. Considering the two previous posts were from November 2019 and this past April, obviously that has not happened yet. I’ve just made a relatively big change in my professional life, though, and I might have some more time to devote to more frequent blogging. (If this actually comes to pass and I do manage to get myself to follow through with this, the posts will likely be shorter than my past fare, but more frequent. This is probably best for all of us – for me and for you, my readers. More succinct posts, but ones that show up more often.)

In the meantime, you can keep up with current goings-on in my corner of the keto universe by subscribing to my newsletter. The newsletter includes updates about my work, links to featured videos from my YouTube channel, plus book or product reviews & recommendations, supplements I trust, and whatever else I think is worth sharing at any given time. And I promise—no spam! (If you‘ve been around the blog a while, then you’ve come to know that I’m a total dinosaur with regard to technology and I wouldn’t know how to spam you even if I wanted to—which I do not.) The next newsletter will be coming out Monday July 13 – sign up now so you don’t miss it! (And it’s definitely coming, because I’ve already written and saved it, and it’s pre-set to go out that day.)

Fourth: I’m on Patreon!

Do you like my message of Keto Without the Crazy™? Want to support my writing books and blog posts, making videos, and being able to devote time to reading scientific papers and keeping up with the latest research about ketogenic and low-carb diets, plus nutrition, health, and physiology more broadly? Consider joining me on Patreon.

You can subscribe for as little as $2/month, although for $5/month and above you get special patron-only content. For $5/month, you get exclusive videos that are for patrons only and not for my public YouTube channel. (They’re shorter and a bit more ranty and free-form than my public videos. These videos are a place for me to vent about the craziness I see going on the keto world these days, but even more, they’re a place for me to think out loud and share with you various issues I’m tossing around in my head and trying to get a good perspective on.)

For $10/month and up, you get a monthly research review, in which I discuss in detail 2-4 scientific papers I’ve read that month. They’re always health- and nutrition-focused, but not always specifically about ketogenic diets. If you want to get your science on, that level is for you! A bit geekier than my public videos, but I try to keep things layperson-friendly to accommodate all who might be watching.

For a very generous $30/month, you get a weekly group Zoom call with me – ask me anything! (Well not anything. Do try to keep it related to keto/low-carb, health and nutrition, food, physiology, biochemistry, etc.) Keto Q&A, tips for eating this way long-term, and whatever else comes up in the conversation. My audience is very savvy, so you get to benefit from listening to everyone on these calls, not just from me. Ask questions or just listen quietly while the rest of us “think out loud.” Participate as much or as little as you like. At this level of support, you’ll get an hour with me each week – much cheaper than a single one-hour consultation!

Check out all the details and the different support levels here: Tuit Nutrition on Patreon

Thanks for sticking with me, everyone. I know that my actions don’t reflect what I’ve been saying for a while: that writing is my first love and always will be. (Then again, I did just finish writing two books…) Anyway, it was never my intent to abandon the blog. I guess I just started to get a little intimidated by my own blog style – sharing every detail about a topic and exploring every possible nuance to the point that blog posts could take several days to write (in addition to the time spent researching). I’ll have to go a little easier if I’m going to write more often. Making videos is so much quicker – I can get information out a lot faster when I talk than when I type. (It also seems that many more people prefer to watch videos these days rather than reading blog posts, so I can reach a larger audience with videos.) When it’s been a while since there’s been a new blog post, I welcome you to check out my videos, but I also vow to not let it be quite so long between blog posts going forward. Yes, I realize I have made this commitment several times in the past and not followed through. Thank goodness for second … and third … and fourth chances, eh?

See you again soon.

P.S. Do you live near the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area of North Carolina? Greensboro or Burlington? Guess what? I work at a farm in Efland! If you’re near the Triangle area of NC, check us out: Fickle Creek Farm. We do beef, pork, lamb, poultry, eggs, and produce. We’re normally at several area farmers’ markets, but with the virus situation right now, you can pre-order for on-farm pickup, and there are some drop-off/delivery points, too. You might get a dozen eggs that I gathered or washed, or some lettuce, cilantro, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, peppers, or squash that I planted, weeded, tended, and harvested! The work is absolutely backbreaking and exhausting (especially in the heat of a southern summer), but it’s also satisfying and fulfilling in a way that sedentary work in front of a computer isn’t. (They both have their place in my life, though.) Here’s a video I did a while back talking about working on the farm: Dispatch from the Farm. (That was way back from last October. I had only been working there for a few weeks at that time. I’ve learned so much more since then…and lost a couple thousand buckets’ worth of sweat, if you must know. Also: a few educational and painful encounters with fire ants! Fun, fun, fun.) If you’re in the area, definitely check out our animal and plant foods, all raised and grown with love, care, and integrity. 

Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.

New Book -- Free Preview!

OH MY GOODNESS, EVERYONE!

My new book is almost done! The text is entirely written and it’s all laid out and formatted. Just waiting for my designer to put the final touches on things so we can make sure it's ready to go.

WHAT? I wrote a new book? Yes, sir, I did! And you can download a free sneak peek right here. (Download of the pdf will start immediately when you click that link.) 

As you can see, it’s called The Stall Slayer, and in case the title doesn’t make it abundantly clear, it’s about breaking fat loss stalls on ketogenic/low-carb diets. This is the most common reason people write to me for help – “Why am I not losing weight?” So, rather than write out the same email reply eighty-six thousand times (just kidding...not quite that many people have written to me), I decided to put it all in a book. But if you’ve been reading my blog for a while and you know I tend to over-deliver information (for better or worse), then you probably already figure the book is chock-full of helpful information that goes far beyond roadblocks to fat loss and what to do about them. 

What about fasting? What about exercise? What about thyroid problems? What about alcohol?!All in the book, along with lots of other helpful information and education on SIMPLIFYING things and doing what I've come to call “keto without the crazy.”™ Do you need to count macros? Do you need to measure ketones? Should you use MCT oil? If so, why, and if not, why not? 

I was tempted to post the table of contents so you could see all the juicy details, but...well...I’m kind of paranoid and didn’t want anyone stealing the ideas. I’m hesitant even about posting the cover and title here, but my excitement is outweighing the paranoia. 

The preview pdf here has one error...on page 2, my Twitter handle is @TuitNutrition, not @AmyBerger. (This will be corrected for the final version, but I couldn’t wait to get this posted for you and I knew you wouldn't mind this one little snag for now.) 

I hope to have the book out before the end of the year, but there’s a chance it won’t be available until January. That’s not a bad thing, though: considering the avalanche of people who’ll be looking for fat loss tips after the new year, maybe that’s actually the perfect time. *Shrug.* It’ll be available as a pdf, plus a Kindle version, and there’ll also be a print-on-demand option for people like me who still, in 2019 and beyond, prefer to hold a physical book in our hands – one we can highlight, fold down pages in, and simply have the tactile sensations that come along with reading a hard copy. (But remember, if you buy the pdf, you can always print it out at home or have a store like Staples or Office Max print it for you -- much faster! I assume there are similar printing services at office supply stores outside the US as well. [Pro-tip: If you go this route, consider having the store print it in black & white -- much cheaper that way, and even though I love the images in the book, you won't lose anything critical if you don't see them in full color.] )  

Special thanks to my designer, Sterre de Jager, without whom this would not be happening. (Y’all know I can write, but graphic design is not my forte! Exhibit A, this website!) How did I get connected to Sterre? I’ve actually never met her person. Her father is a fan and follows me on Twitter – all the way from the Netherlands! I tell you, friends, the world is a strange, beautiful place. You can find out more about this amazing serendipity in this video, in which I introduce the book.  

I hope you enjoy the preview, and of course, I’ll be making plenty of buzz when the final version is available for sale, so don't worry about missing it.

THANK YOU, as always, for your support and readership!   

Use this link to download your FREE sneak peek of my soon-to-come book, The Stall Slayer: Get my free preview! (Download of the pdf will start immediately when you click that link.) 

Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS, NTP, is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.

Get Early Access to Blog Posts

Hi all!

Just a quick note to let you know there’s a way to get early access to blog posts from now on. I’m on Patreon, and I’ve added a benefit to patrons who support me at the $5/month level. For the price of two or so cups of coffee, you can read new blog posts a few days before the rest of the world. If you have the means and want to check this out, see here for details.

In case you’re wondering what topics I'll be writing about next, right now I’m working on a post about the effects of chronically high insulin on the skin, and one on why people need to stop freaking out about slightly high blood sugar at random points in time. (See here for a preview of the one on insulin & skin. It’s a post I wrote on this topic for Designs for Health, but they don’t give me a byline. Trust me, it was me.)

The $10/month level gets you access to my monthly research review, wherein I discuss scientific papers I’ve read over the preceding few weeks. The papers cover a range of topics – whatever strikes my fancy that particular month, or whatever things I happen to be reading and learning more about. Sometimes it’s low carb and ketogenic diets, sometimes it’s diabetes, sometimes Alzheimer’s, sometimes cholesterol and statins…whatever papers catch my eye and that I think I’ll learn something valuable from.

You can also support me for as little as $2 or $3/month, but there are no special perks for that…unless you count my deep gratitude and appreciation for your generosity!  

As always, however, my blog itself is free and always will be. So if funds are tight and $5/month is beyond reach, no worries whatsoever. All posts will still be right here too. Patrons simply get to read them a few days in advance of the general public. And if you want to experience more of my approach to “Keto Without the Crazy,”™ remember my videos are all free as well, as is my Twitter account.

Here’s the link again to my Patreon page.

Thanks, everyone. I’m glad you’re here. In this age of quick sound bites and instant gratification, I’m thankful anyone out there still likes (prefers, even!) reading long, in-depth blog posts. I do love writing them, even if I don’t do it as often as I’d like to.

Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS, NTP, is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.

Turning Wednesday into WINEDAY

Hey all!

Love keto? Love WINE? Join me and my friend Casey Durango (of Go Keto with Casey fame) on Wednesday September 4 for a fun & casual Wednesday “Wineday” evening. We'll sip wine, chat about keto, wine, the meaning of life, and whatever else comes up. (I’m guessing cheese and charcuterie at a minimum...probably because I’ll bring them up, hehheh!) It's online, so you can participate from anywhere...and there's zero travel required so you don't even need Uber or a designated driver. Get comfy in your PJs, grab a glass of your adult beverage of choice and log on.

Not an alcohol drinker? No problem! Water, coffee, tea, broth, or whatever else you prefer is most welcome. We just want your company; we don’t care what you’re drinking.

Click on this link for more information.

This is a great way to interact with me if you’ve been unable to attend any of the keto and low-carb events I’ve been at in the past couple of years. (See here for my upcoming public appearances; maybe I’ll be in your area soon.)

If you don’t know who Casey Durango is, she’s only one of my favorite people in the keto world and in my actual, “real life,” away from the interwebs. She has a fabulous transformation story and now shares the lessons learned, the trials and tribulations, and the straight-up way it works with others via her videos and other content. (By the way…how’d she lose almost 100 pounds? By following page 4 … with some wine here and there, of course. Let’s get real, friends…for some of us, it’s a lot easier to ditch the bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereal, cookies, and cake, if we can sip on a cabernet or pinot noir from time to time.)

See you on Sept 4!

P.S. Wondering if alcohol is allowed on keto? (First of all, who gets to say what’s “allowed” and what isn’t? Who died and made anyone else their food police? No one, that’s who!) Is wine keto? YES, you CAN enjoy alcohol on a ketogenic diet, provided you're intelligent about it. (See here for a video I did on this topic.)

P.P.S. I’m on Instagram now! I am clueless about how it works, so bear with me while I learn. You know me here; I’m a writer, not a photographer. I’ve been posting pictures of some of my meals, but I refuse to turn into one of those people who is physically incapable of consuming a molecule of food without telling the whole world about it and providing photographic evidence to go along with it. I don’t really know what I’ll be posting there, or even if I’ll stick with it. (There are only so many platforms and accounts I can keep up with. I'm an introvert, for goodness sake; this is all totally overwhelming for me!) I’m just trying it out for now, testing the waters a bit. I didn’t think I would like YouTube all that much, but it turns out I do have a few things to say and there are a lot of people who aren’t big on reading long blog posts who still need sanity and simplicity regarding keto. I’m happy to be filling that niche. 

Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS, NTP, is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.

Hair Loss on Keto

Let’s say you adopted a ketogenic or low carb diet not long ago. And let’s say some or all of these have happened:

• You lost weight.
• Your acid reflux disappeared.
• You stopped having migraines.
• Your menstrual cycle normalized after years of living with PCOS.
• Your gout went away.
• Your blood pressure normalized.
• Your skin cleared up.
• Your lipid profile (cholesterol, triglycerides) and overall risk for cardiovascular disease improved.
• You reversed your type 2 diabetes. Maybe you were even able to stop your insulin injections (under a physician’s guidance, of course).

  

Basically, keto has been working AWESOMELY for you so far. You have more energy, your joint pain is gone, and you can go comfortably for several hours without food and not turn into a pile of white-hot, murderous, hypoglycemic human rage. (Not to mention, you get to eat insanely delicious food.)  

Everything that’s happened to you since going keto has been great.

Except for just one thing.

You’re losing hair.

Like, alarming amounts of hair. Massive amounts. Hair coming out in clumps. You see a frightening amount of hair in your shower drain or hairbrush every day. It’s so bad that you’re worried if it keeps up, it won’t be long before you have no hair left at all.  

What gives? Is it possible a way of eating that’s been so good for the entire rest of your body is doing damage to your hair?

If you’re worried about hair loss on keto, you’re not alone! This is a common issue—very common!

I wrote a detailed blog post about hair loss on keto for the KetoDietApp site. KetoDietApp is run by Martina Slajerova, who’s authored several keto cookbooks, all of which are pretty fabulous. (Check them out here.)

If you’re wondering what the deal is with losing hair on keto and you want an answer to the most important question of all—will it ever grow back?!—check out my article:

Why Am I Losing Hair on a Keto Diet?

Happy reading!

Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS, NTP, is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.

The PCOS Post: Hormonal Havoc From Hyperinsulinemia

As I mentioned in the previous post, I’ve been plugging away this blog since 2012. It’s hard to believe it’s been seven years, but even harder to believe that in all that time, I’ve completely neglected the topic of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). I’ve written a ton about insulin, glucagon, thyroid hormones, digestion, cancer, and more, but not one word about PCOS, except for a brief mention in this post. This is a glaring omission, because PCOS is a huge issue for reproductive aged women these days, and, no surprise if I’m writing about it here, it’s intimately tied to chronic hyperinsulinemia and metabolic dysregulation.

A while back I wrote about the effect of elevated insulin on men’s hormones, explaining the concept of a “male equivalent to PCOS,” and I didn’t realize that I hadn’t even yet written about actual PCOS. I don’t know how such a huge gap has existed on my blog for so long, but this is being corrected right now. Whew!

I’ve seen online in various places women saying that they’re at increased risk for type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome because they have PCOS. It’s actually the other way around: chronically high insulin (basically metabolic syndrome, whether you know you have it or not) is the main driver of PCOS. The reason so few women who have PCOS are aware of this is … surprise, surprise … most doctors are clueless about insulin’s many functions unrelated to blood sugar and they never bother measuring insulin levels.

Women with PCOS are often given unhelpful and condescending advice.  There is a lot of "blame the victim" that goes on with this condition. I sincerely hope this post does not come off that way. That is the very last thing I intend. I have only one goal here: to provide information. Information that can be empowering to women who have PCOS. If you are living with this condition and you feel disappointed by the help you've gotten from healthcare professionals so far, please know that you can take control. You have more power than you might realize. I hope what follows here is helpful.   

This is a long post (some of you are rejoicing now and others are groaning), so grab yourself a beverage of choice, a bag of pork rinds or some string cheese, and happy reading!

Blog Update & the Famous Dr. Westman "Page 4 Diet"

Hey Everyone,

 

Man, I have really been neglecting this blog. I’m very active on Twitter and I’ve been posting videos on my YouTube channel, but the blog, sadly, has been collecting dust. This is a shame for two reasons:

First, even though I seem to be reaching more people with my tweets and videos, writing is, always has been, and likely always will be my first love. I consider myself a writer first and a nutritionist second. I truly like writing, and the beauty of writing my own blog, as opposed to some of the paid “day gig” writing I do to keep my bills paid, is that I get to write about whatever I want to write about, and say things the way I want to say them. I don’t have to answer to anyone, censor myself, or present things in a certain light in order to fit in with someone else’s “message” or brand. Tuit Nutrition is me. My voice, my perspective, and yes, my sarcasm and snark. I start to feel not-so-good when it’s been awhile since I’ve written anything substantial on the blog—something I think is truly educational and helpful for people navigating the crazy world of low carb & keto. Sharing little snippets of this & that on Twitter is great, and I’ve made some important professional connections there, but my blog is where I can really get deeper into things. Write something meaty, something detailed, something to make people think. When I hit publish on that kind of post, I feel a sense of satisfaction and purpose that I rarely ever experience otherwise.

The second reason it’s a shame I’m not blogging regularly is that I know many of you prefer to read, and even though you can hop over to YouTube anytime and watch me talk about any number of keto-related issues, you’d prefer to wait for the next written post. Frankly, my dear readers, I don’t blame you! I, too, prefer reading, and long posts don’t scare me away. My attention span hasn’t yet been decimated to the point that anything longer than a 15-second read gets passed over in favor of a meme with a whopping 4 words on it. (Not that there’s anything wrong with funny memes.) My point is, I know some of you enjoy reading my posts as much as I enjoy writing them, and I feel bad leaving you without something to dig into for such long periods of time. (And I love hearing from those of you who’ve told me you don’t mind my very long posts. Some of you actually like immersing yourself in something a bit more substantial. In that case, we’re a perfect fit.)

With this in mind, I’m committing to blogging a little more regularly than I have been in the last year or so. I won’t commit to once a week because I know myself too well, and I just won’t be able to keep up that pace. But twice a month? I think that can work. And I can’t promise every post will be something of great substance (in fact, I can promise some posts won’t), but I think just getting back in the habit of writing regularly at all will be a good move for me.

Here’s what I have in mind for the coming weeks and months:

A New Look at Insulin, Glucagon & the Pancreas (a.k.a. ITIS part 9)

“Contrary to popular belief, insulin is not needed for glucose uptake and utilization in man.” (Source)

What? Insulin is not needed for glucose uptake? Did I just blow your mind a little?  If so, hang on to your hat. Lots more of that to come.

As I mentioned in my previous post on the personal fat threshold concept, what I enjoy most about writing my blog is that I get to share with you the fascinating and surprising things I learn. And one thing I can say with certainty is, the more I learn, the less I know. It seems like I barely hit publish on a new blog post before coming across a bunch of papers that teach me even more about the subject in question, or make me rethink what I wrote about it in the past.

One subject I’ve learned more about since I last wrote about it is insulin. If you’re new here, I recommend digging into my 8-part series on insulin. If I do say so myself, it’s some of the most important and educational stuff I’ve written.  But you don’t need to have read that to understand today’s post.

If you’re accustomed to thinking about insulin as a “blood sugar hormone,” you’re about to have your world turned upside down.  What I’ve learned about insulin over the past couple of years makes me think that lowering blood glucose might be one of the least important and impressive things it does.

Another very long post coming your way here, so grab a coffee or some pork rinds, and happy reading!

Before you dive in, though, I recommend scrolling way down to the bottom of this post where it says “End.” You might want to spend a while reading the whole thing, or you might not…that will help you decide. 

Keto & ApoE4

Hey All!

  

If you’ve been around the low carb and keto communities for a while, you might’ve run across the term “ApoE4.” ApoE4 is a gene that increases risk for cardiovascular disease and even more so for Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, if you’re homozygous for ApoE4 (meaning that you have 2 copies of the gene), you have between a 50-90% chance of developing Alzheimer’s. YIKES! That is not something to take lightly, so what’s the deal here? What is ApoE4 and why does it make people so much more susceptible to this frightening form of cognitive decline & impairment? And what are the implications for people following low-carb, high-fat diets? ApoE4 carriers are often cautioned to go lower in dietary saturated fat, but why? Is this truly warranted? Do you have to give up your beloved butter & cheese if you're E4?  

If you’ve heard of the ApoE4 gene and you’re curious about what it is and what it means, or if you know you carry one or two copies of ApoE4, you’ll want to check out my latest video. I cover the basics on what the gene is (it codes for the epsilon-4 [ε4] variant of the apoE protein, short for apolipoprotein E), why this matters, and what to do about it to potentially reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s and the other issues E4s are at greater risk for.

Most of what I know about ApoE4 is in relation to Alzheimer’s, owing to research I did for my book, The Alzheimer’s Antidote, which is about using a ketogenic or LCHF diet as a nutritional intervention for Alzheimer’s and other forms of cognitive impairment. (Didja know they regularly call Alzheimer's "type 3 diabetes" or "brain insulin resistance?" Now you know why it might be wise to adopt such a dietary approach to support healthy cognitive function.) But I would say that even if you don’t have any ApoE4 genes (the other forms are ApoE2 and ApoE3), or you’re not concerned about Alzheimer’s disease, I encourage you to watch the video anyway, because you might learn something that helps someone you know, and there’s a lot of information in the video that applies to everyone, regardless of your genetics.  

For those of you who prefer to read rather than watch videos, stay tuned. I’ll have a blog post on this in a few weeks. It won’t be a transcript of the video, but it’ll include all the same pertinent information and links to relevant research. But in the meantime, if you can’t wait to learn more and you’d really like to get some clarity on the whole ApoE4 “thing,” hop on over to my YouTube channel and watch the video.

For other videos and podcasts I’ve done on Alzheimer’s, covering issues far beyond ApoE4, you might enjoy these: 

• Video: Alzheimer’s talk at Low Carb Houston (October 2018)
• Video: Alzheimer’s talk at KetoCon (June 2018)
• Podcast: Interview on Ketovangelist (one of my best & most informative ever!)

Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS, NTP, is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.

The Personal Fat Threshold Concept

Hey Kids!

It’s been ages since I’ve posted what I would call a “real” blog post. Something meaty and educational. Something you can really sink your teeth into. The last one was way back in August, when I wrote about whether protein is bad for the kidneys. (Hint: it’s not.) I’ve posted a few things since then, but nothing all that substantial. I’m glad to say today’s post makes up for lost time, because it is LONG. So grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea (or...*gag*...broth, if you must), put your phone on silent, and dig in.

I’m excited to share this with you. So excited, in fact, that I’ve been procrastinating on writing this for no less than 6 months. In looking at the folder of blog post drafts on my computer, I started jotting down notes for this in July 2018. The reason I kept putting it off is that I knew this was going to be a LONG post—massively long, even for me. But then I gave a talk on this topic at a keto event in Canada in December, so I finally had to organize my thoughts and put them together coherently. Once that was done, I figured it would be easier to get this written, since I could just flesh out the details of what was on the slides. Don’t kid yourselves, though. This still took four days to write and edit. (It’s much faster to talk and show images on slides than it is to type everything out in detail in a blog post!) Nevertheless, I’ve wanted to write this for a long time, so here we finally are. And the benefits a blog post has over a talk is that you can read this at your leisure, click on whatever links you’d like to explore further, and go as deeply down any of those rabbit holes as your heart desires. And to any of you who are happy at such a long post and who prefer reading to watching videos, I’m with you. I started my YouTube channel to bring my message of Keto Without the Crazy™ to a wider audience, but I, myself, prefer reading.    

One of the things I love most about writing my blog is sharing with you, my beloved readers, the fascinating and important things I learn as I deepen my understanding of human metabolism and physiology. The reason they call it “commencement” when you graduate with a degree in something is that it’s the start of your education, rather than the end of it. This has certainly proven true for me since getting my M.S. in nutrition.

One of the most intriguing things I’ve come across recently is the concept of the personal fat threshold. I don’t know who first coined this term, but it appears to have been Roy Taylor and Rury Holman, in their 2015 paper, Normal weight individuals who develop type 2 diabetes: the personal fat threshold. Other researchers wrote about the concept long before this paper, but I think Taylor & Holman were the first to use the phrase personal fat threshold. (Their paper is the first place I ever saw it in print, anyway. A researcher named Keith Frayn wrote some outstanding papers on the same topic years before without using the term. I cite his work liberally throughout this post. If you’d like to read the full text of any of the key papers I cite here, feel free to email me and I’ll send you a copy.)

Tuit Nutrition Newsletter!

Hey Everyone,

I am close to helpless when it comes to technology, but after procrastinating out of fear and confusion for over a year, I finally mustered the patience and courage to figure out how to create a mailing list. If you’d like to keep up to date on my upcoming speaking engagements and public appearances (come meet me in person!), and catch up on recent blog posts or videos you might have missed, please sign up here for my newsletter or look at the right sidebar on the homepage of tuitnutrition.com and you’ll see a place to join the list. (What? Videos?! You didn't know I started a YouTube channel? Yep, check it out here.)

What else can you expect in the newsletter? I plan to give thumbs up or thumbs down on nutrition & health books I’m reading, and share about scientific papers I’m delving into. (Let me know if you’d like me to keep posting detailed book reviews on the blog, in addition to the quick yays or nays that’ll be in the newsletter.) Maybe I’ll include links to blog posts or other articles I think would be worth your time to read, or recommend someone to follow on Twitter. I might also do product reviews here and there if I’ve come across products or food items I think my audience might like. I don’t have many affiliate links, but if any of these are affiliates—meaning that I would receive a commission from the sale—I will be upfront about that and make that disclosure. If you’ve read my blog or watched my videos, you know I’m a straight-shooter and you can expect honesty from me. What you see is what you get.

The good thing is, I’m not tech-savvy enough to spam you. Wouldn’t know how if I wanted to, and I most definitely don’t want to. It took me forever to figure out how to even set up this mailing list! And I have no idea when the first newsletter will go out, or how frequently after that. Right now, the priority is getting back to writing meaty, educational blog posts. But I plan to keep the newsletters relatively short & simple, so I should be able to put something out every few weeks. (“Should” being the key word there, hehheh. I should be able to publish good blog posts more often than I have been the past few months, but alas…)

Thanks for being part of my little corner of the low-carb/keto world, where we aim to keep things simple and sane, and help others learn how to navigate this way of eating without losing their minds or their life savings. Cheers!

Sign up for the newsletter here!

Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS, NTP, is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.

A Couple More Videos and an Update

Whaddup, y’all?

I am going to get back to writing “real” blog posts soon, I promise!

Just been a bit swamped with travel to speak at a couple of nutrition and health events, plus a move!

First, I spoke at the Weston A. Price Foundation’s annual Wise Traditions Conference. My Alzheimer’s talk was such a hit last year that the president of the foundation asked me to give the same talk again this year. Nice!

I also gave two talks at a keto event in Kingston, Ontario. If you’re in Canada and you’d like to find out when more such events will be taking place in your beautiful country, check out https://keto-retreat.ca/  (They also have a Facebook page where you can get updates.) Videos of both talks will be available soon, and I’ll let you know when they are. One of them was on the concept of the personal fat threshold, and the other was a talk unlike any I’d ever given before. In fact, I think it was unlike any talk anyone has ever given in the keto community. I opened a conversation that is long overdue and brought up some issues I’d love to see us all talking more about. I’ll leave it at that until the video is available to the public and will explain more when the link is live and I can share it. I’m excited to see what you’ll think of it. Like I said, a talk unlike any I’m aware of in 15 years of following a low carb diet.

About the move…

I moved three and a half hours south, from Fredericksburg, VA, to Durham, NC. I’ve been crashing at a friend’s place while I buy furniture and get things settled, because in all the previous places I’d lived in the DC metro area since 2009, I always rented furnished places, so until recently, I owned zero furniture. (Unless a Squatty Potty counts!) Owing to this furniture deficiency and the travel, I’ve been living out of a duffel bag for almost a month. Eek! Even though I was living in Virginia for the past 9 years, now that I’m in North Carolina, I’m definitely in The South™. I’m already a natural at saying “Bless their hearts,” and I look forward to making homemade pimento cheese, because man, that stuff is gooood. (It’s basically keto as is, except if you read labels, many of the prepared ones you can buy at the supermarket have added sugar. It would be delicious without any sweetening at all, but for those who like a hint of sweetness to it, a pinch of Splenda, Swerve, or your low-carb sweetener of choice would mix in just fine. What? Artificial sweeteners? Yes. Yes, I use them. I’ve been using them for 18 years and I’m not dead yet. But maybe tomorrow.)

To pass the time until I post something more substantial, I wanted to share two more videos with you. One was an interview with me about Alzheimer’s recorded at Low Carb Houston. Many of you reading out there have probably already watched some of my other Alz videos (and maybe you’ve even checked out my book). If you’re new to the concept of Alzheimer’s as “type 3 diabetes” or “brain insulin resistance,” this new one is highly recommended. And it’s recommended even if you have already seen some of the other videos. This one is only 25 minutes long, and thanks to the good questions the interviewer asked, we covered a lot of educational information in that time. Here’s the link.

Toward the very end, I buck the keto police and explain that not everyone needs to be on a medically therapeutic ketogenic diet. We can’t deny the millions (billions?) of healthy people around the world who age gracefully and with their cognitive faculties intact who do not follow ketogenic diets. They eat fruit, they eat beans, they even … *gasp!* … eat grains. So no, a strict keto diet is not the only way to be healthy and maintain a body weight you’re happy with. (I have to find a new way to talk about weight, because I’d rather not use the phrases “healthy body weight” or “normal body weight.” I know people who are heavy and healthy, and people who are thin and quite sick. [In fact, this is exactly what the personal fat threshold is all about.] And who the heck gets to decide what a “normal” weight is, anyway? Certainly not me!) Yes, you can stick to 20g of carbs a day for the rest of your life if you enjoy that and it works for you. But many people have a higher carb tolerance than that. And not only can they “tolerate” more carbs, but they might actually feel better, physically and mentally/emotionally, with a bit more carbs in their diet. (Read this old favorite post for more on this. And here’s a video from my new YouTube channel on the topic of keto police in general.)

I’ve gotta say, I think I look pretty good here! I should wear bold makeup more often! (I would like to; the fact is, I’m usually just too lazy to take the time to apply it before grabbing my purse and heading out the door. Plus, I never really learned how to apply makeup correctly. I go into Sephora and I honestly have no idea what half the products are even for, let alone how to put them on my face without making myself look like a clown, or look 30 years older than I am. Anyone know any good YouTube makeup tutorial channels for normal people? I’m open to recommendations.) I should also probably smile more. That’s really the best makeup anyone can wear anyway.

The second video I’d like to share is even shorter (less than 22 minutes), and it’s also about Alzheimer’s. I make a few short cameo appearances, and there are appearances by some of my favorite Alzheimer’s researchers, Stephen Cunnane, PhD, Dale Bredesen, MD, and Mary Newport, MD. I cite and celebrate their work in my book and in every Alz talk I’ve given. The video is extremely well done and provides a fabulous overview of the metabolic aspects of Alzheimer’s, the latest research, and the therapeutic potential of ketogenic diets and exogenous ketones. (Link to the video here.)

About the next “real” post: I plan my next blog post to be on the topic of the personal fat threshold. There’s a sneak peek in this video I did a few months ago, but the blog post will dive a little deeper and will contain links to relevant research for those of you who’d like to learn more. (Or to verify that I’m not making this stuff up out of thin air. I try not to do that unless someone is paying me obscene amounts of money to do so.) I suspect this post will take a while to write, and if time gets away from me and I’d rather not go too long without anything new on the blog, I might post a book review or two. I’ve read several good nutrition books since the last book review post, and those are usually pretty quick to write. (See here for all the book review posts.)

If you’re into videos, don’t forget about my YouTube channel. Half ranting and half information that I hope is educational and helpful. (Kind of like my blog!)  

Back soon to what I love best: writing.

Disclaimer: Amy Berger, MS, CNS, NTP, is not a physician and Tuit Nutrition, LLC, is not a medical practice. The information contained on this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition and is not to be used as a substitute for the care and guidance of a physician. Links in this post and all others may direct you to amazon.com, where I will receive a small amount of the purchase price of any items you buy through my affiliate links.