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Diet and Sleep section on the forum and a quick question

This is actually a site suggestion. I know this forum tends to focus on implants and wearables but part of biohacking has also been making what we have perform better. Since the most of the body, as a machine, tends to perform better than we can hope to improve upon, why don't more of us focus on boosting what we have. Yes, there are threads about bulletproof coffee, soylent, phasic sleep cycles and other things, but there is no real section to promote communication on this subject which has no potential. I came here just now thinking there would be some people trying to research and share things like the keto diet with others. I found a few users have gone keto or vegan or whatever they believe is the best but no real talk. I'm putting this thread here as a suggestion but also as a placeholder to talk about diet in particular until a change put in place or denied. Now to the real post I guess.

Hello everyone I have been looking into starting a ketogenic diet. Have any of you tried keto/paleo or any other low carb diet in the past and what were your experiences?

Comments

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  1. I've never actually considered it before but I suppose my diet is ketogenic, but higher in protein than characteristic.  I am a vegetarian and eat low-carb, high protein.  I have found that reducing simple carbohydrates has given me a lot longer-lasting energy and replacing it with a more "good" fats or protein makes me feel hungry less often.
  2. I guess it depends on what your goals are. If you want to go paleo/keto just because you want to see how your body reacts, go for it. If you're an athlete, going low carb will probably make your life very difficult.

    As someone who walks at least one hour every day (more often than not probably closer to two) and does resistance training 4 times per week, I need my carbs. I found I just can't train as well as usual with reduced (let alone low) carb intake. I've reduced my carb intake as ways of an experiment, but found I felt weaker, and drowsier throughout the day (cut my carb intake by about 50%). Right now, I eat about 8-10 slices of whole wheat bread and 3-4 pieces of fruit throughout the day, plus some carb source like potatoes or rice with dinner. Right after a workout I'll often eat a table spoon of honey or some dates. I also get in quite some protein (mostly from eggs, milk, and quark) and a handful of nuts and seeds every day, and about half a kilo of vegetables. I've been living like this for about a year and I feel great (although I get hungry quite often).

    I sleep at least 8 hours every night.
  3. @Slach Keto isnt really recommended for athletes my most people. There are however many that do quite well in ketosis. Dr. nun amen ra set a record for deadlifting while practicing intermittent fasting where he was only eating 1200 calories a day. The only real problem ive seen in a bit of research with keto and athletes is not maintaining glycogen in the muscles. Its very different to maintain glycogen in the muscles without eating too much glucose and coming out of ketosis. I just yesterday went through every item at my colleges cafeteria and the only things without sugar or vegetable carbs was pepperoni and chicken salad. They have several flavors of yogurt but not a single unsweeted version. They have vegetable shortening instead of butter. Cmon guys will all the low or nonfat dressings. The excess carbs are in everything. My only other option now is to go back to intermittent fasting.
  4. I'm in a similar boat as ya Larry.  College dining halls really don't allow for the keto diet very well right now.  You probably could purchase a big bag of nuts and maybe some cheese to supplement your cafeteria foods.

    In general I would suggest the keto diet for anyone not doing resistance exercise, anyone who wants to try it (really I think everyone should for at least one week), anyone with epilepsy or seizures, and maybe for people wanting to avoid dementia and in result of a TBI (traumatic brain injury)(only some research on this, might be better to be keto for brain simply because of more fats and normal diet is relatively low in healthy fat).  

    I have tried keto and paleo.  Paleo didn't really work for me as it was too constrictive and just felt kinda silly to me.  Keto I've gone in and out of.  I did it for a few months ending a few months ago.  I kinda liked it, but I'm not too sure I felt much different from usual.  There were a few things that felt a tiny bit different, like some cognition, but it's hard to say.  My normal diet is high in healthy fats and low in processed carbs anyway (but kinda high in "healthy carbs").  Anyways right now I am on keto as I received a concussion a little ago and have read some on how the keto diet may help that, so far I can't say whether it's better or worse.  I'll know more in a week or so.
  5. Exactly. Keto leaves my feeling better but its probably because my diet before now was mostly high sugar snacking all day long. I have been trying to get it under control and keto made it easier to eat less. Fasting however leaves me feeling fantastic. I've only gone up to 3 days at a time for now (because I really love food) but it always surprises me how good I feel where before if i didn't snack every 2 hours I would feel terrible.
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