On Wednesday, the company I work for had a party to celebrate the reopening of our campus. What a joy to be around great friends, many of whom I had not seen in person in well over a year. And there were adult beverages. And I’m following a strict ketogenic diet. I had a couple of glasses of dry red wine with my friends. But cheating has consequences.
I recently learned from Dr. Annette Bosworth that it takes a long time for the human body to run on ketones (fat) by default. My body spent five decades operating primarily on carbohydrates. I have trained my body to burn sugar and turn any surplus sugar into fat.
I recently starved my body of its sugar addition, providing it less than 20 grams of carbohydrates a day. And I shocked my system with a five-day water-only fast (zero calories of any kind) to kick off this rejuvenation.
After two weeks of fasting a strict keto, I got my glucose-ketone index below 3.0 for 17 consecutive days, below 2.0 for five straight days, and below 1.0 two days in a row.
And, while alcohol is not a real carbohydrate, it stops ketogenesis while it’s in the body. The body will use alcohol, a very efficient fuel, before producing ketones. (The liver can only do one thing at a time.)
So how much of an effect do two glasses of wine have on ketosis? You might be surprised.
GKI soared to 2.4, then 3.1 in the 36 hours after consuming two glasses of wine.
Am I giving up? Hell, no.
Look, my GKI is still below 4.0, which means I have mild therapeutic ketosis going on. I’m still producing more HGH and stem cells than 90% of people my age. I’m still burning more body fat than dietary sugar.
And, I’m planning to do a full, 36- to 48-hour water-only fast every Friday (which I am in the midst of right now.) I ate dinner on Thursday at about 8:00 p.m., and I won’t consume another calorie, God willing, until afternoon on Saturday. (I fast on Fridays for both religious and practical purposes.)
I expect my GKI to be below 2.0 on Saturday morning, which means I will back into high therapeutic ketosis.
No diet or dietary lifestyle should make you miserable. Just know your numbers, so you know how to compensate for cheating. And make cheating a rare, happy event, not a daily practice. The daily routine is to poke the “Bigs” in the eye so you can live happily, healthily, and vibrantly for as long as God keeps you in exile in this valley of tears. You want stamina, resilience, and energy to stand when all about you fall.
Eat meat, lose weight, get strong. That’s what this is all about. The side effect will be fewer prescriptions, less pain, more energy, and smaller-sized clothes.
Not bad.
Ad majorem Dei gloriam