science

Chris on the FanPress podcast – the history of Keto Chow, nutrition, and more

This entry is part 115 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

This podcast was recorded a while ago (January 28, 2018 to be specific), took Steve a while to get it posted – probably because it went kinda REALLY long. I have to say: this is by far one of my favorite podcast interviews so far. Steve let me (over) indulge myself and give a rather complete history of Keto Chow and my journey thus far. It was also nice to be talking to someone who really likes what I’m doing. I just checked my email and I have one from him way back from May 2015! This one will be tough to beat. It goes on rather long at nearly an hour and a half but if you’re up for it, I recommend checking it out!

http://fanpress.co/show3/

By Chris|2018-06-25T16:03:26-06:00March 16th, 2018|Categories: Future Foods, Keto Chow|Tags: podcast, background, Keto Chow, science, nutrition, cholesterol, User Experiences, 42dayExperiment, ketochow2.1|0 Comments

Keto Chow at the Low Carb Breckenridge 2018 Conference
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Keto Chow at the Low Carb Breckenridge 2018 Conference

Ketogenic Diet

Keto Chow at the Low Carb Breckenridge 2018 Conference

This entry is part 111 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

We returned yesterday from the Low Carb Breckenridge. It was really an awesome time. We met a lot of great people, hung out at the “cool kids” party house, ate some yummy fat (along with a little protein =) – I consider it a rousing success and I still haven’t even gone through the stack of annotated business cards to follow up with people yet! Photo Gallery:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tvZBAtxJoqfjR8qH3

I had a chance to do a “5 Minutes of Fame” quick presentation about my most recent experiment – ended up at 2:47 which left extra time for Siobhan Huggins to go 6:57 =)

By Chris|2018-03-06T15:59:25-07:00March 6th, 2018|Categories: Ketogenic Diet|Tags: video, Keto Chow, science, saturated fat, cholesterol, User Experiences, conference, 42dayExperiment, on location, breckenridge|0 Comments

Clinging with all their might

This entry is part 110 of 131 in the series Ketogenic Diet

OK, so I recently did an experiment where I consumed the same 2000 kCal a day for 6 weeks. I was messing around with the source of the bulk of those calories, mostly using different fats but the final week I substituted out all of the saturated fat I ate the week prior, and instead ate candy. Remember – still the same 2000 calories. I had been losing weight pretty consistently the 5 weeks I was living on fat. I gained weight the week I was eating the same 2000 calories from carbohydrates. It’s all documented ad nauseum on the experiment page, with data, graphs, DEXA scans, and more. I posted about it on reddit and have gotten some rather interesting comments from people who insist that the type of calorie is irrelevant and the only cause for weight gain is eating too many calories and not exercising enough. I’m rather forthcoming with my views on the subject (I think sugar is fattening and fat is not).

Today I got the best one yet. I said:

It’s like saying “Bill Gates is rich because he saves more money than he spends” or “The room is crowded because more people entered than left”. Sounds rather silly right? That’s because it’s the EFFECT and not the CAUSE.

To which they replied:

Bill gates isn’t rich because he saves more money than he spends. He’s rich because he takes in more money than he spends… which sounds an awful lot like calories in calories out.

Wait…. what? I’ve never had anybody actually think that “he makes money” is the CAUSE and REASON Bill is rich (as opposed to his ruthless business acumen and the lucky break he got with licensing QDOS, among other things) but if that’s what someone wants to believe, that’s what they want to believe.

By Chris|2018-02-26T15:37:14-07:00February 26th, 2018|Categories: Keto Chow|Tags: Weight loss, Keto Chow, science, saturated fat, nutrition, User Experiences|0 Comments

Results and conclusions from 6 week fat experiment (42 days of Keto Chow)

This entry is part 44 of 44 in the series 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment

I have my analysis done on the data from my 6-week experiment doing Keto Chow for all my meals and swapping out different types of fats to see how they impact my lipid panels. It’s all chronicled over on the page about the experiment, along with an extensive array of graphs and other fun stuff.

I also proved that at least in me: eating 2000 calories a day of mostly fat with some protein I’ll lose weight. Switch that to 2000 calories of mostly carbohydrates with a little fat and the same amount of protein (and again, the same 2000 calories), I will gain weight.

Fun stuff!

Fatty Acid Composition Effects on Biomarkers and CICO on Trial

By Chris|2018-02-23T14:18:58-07:00February 23rd, 2018|Categories: 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment|Tags: results, Macadamia Nut Oil, Coconut Oil, Keto Chow, science, saturated fat, nutrition, cholesterol, experience, User Experiences, Weight loss, Oil, blood test, 42dayExperiment|0 Comments

42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 42, done done done.
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42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 42, done done done.

42 days of Keto Chow Experiment

42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 42, done done done.

This entry is part 42 of 44 in the series 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment

Final day. Honestly could have gone longer if it wasn’t for the stupid sugar this week, the rather bad tasting Macadamia nut oil, or the gastrointestinal duress of liquid coconut oil. I’m looking forward to going back to my preferred heavy cream and avocado oil mixture. These last 2 days I have had diarrhea, it might be from the sugar – or it could be that the stomach flu is making the rounds among my kids and if I’ve managed to NOT contract it, that would be a miracle (ever tried to convince a sick kid to clean up their own throwup? Isn’t happening, buddy).

I started adding the blood tests, graphs, and other assorted data to the page about this experiment. It’s looking pretty good so far!

I got the costs for Keto Chow 2.1 this morning and I’ve been having lots of fun with spreadsheets all morning. The short version is: prices on current flavors will be the same, the new flavors are slightly more expensive to make so those will be a bit more… except the “Natural Strawberry” that’s sweetened with monk fruit instead of sucralose. That one is significantly more expensive to make and will likely be priced at or above the price of the peanut butter.

By Chris|2018-02-15T11:22:47-07:00February 15th, 2018|Categories: 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment|Tags: blood test, science, 42dayExperiment|1 Comment

42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 41, blood tests back

This entry is part 41 of 44 in the series 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment

I was watching a video by Dave Feldman (where he had to keep pausing to eat skittles, it was great) and he talked about fructose malabsorption causing him digestive issues. I don’t think I have that problem which is why I haven’t had really bad problems during this phase. Again it seems that I dodged another bullet for which I’m grateful. I’m still anxious to get back into keto. Yesterday I bought the brisket and ribs for the meetup, they’re currently in the Sous-Vide cooking for a few days and I’ll finish them in the smoker on Saturday.

Got my Coconut Oil week blood tests back – REALLY interesting stuff. I’ve entered the data into the spreadsheet (check it out!) but here are some of the highlights:

I hit an all-time low LDL-P (particle count): 567. It’s down 43% from 996 the week before. ? (you’re looking for under 1000)
All time low LDL-C: 56, down from 78. ?
I brought back down my triglycerides from 148 to 103 ? (you want this below 100)
My HDL-C went WAY up (52% to be exact): from 40 to 61 ??? (you want this as high as possible)
A1c is still steady at 4.8 ?
Fasting insulin went WAY up, from 5.2 to 8.4 – the highest I’ve recorded so far. ?

This test was the first time I saw a departure from the previous inversion pattern of LDL-C and Triglycerides which would go up and down opposite of each other. I don’t know if it was the high amount of MCTs in the coconut oil or what. Regardless, I can handily say that consuming almost entirely saturated fat for a week made my blood tests look AMAZING.

Here are some of the graphs from the spreadsheet:

By Chris|2018-02-14T11:36:53-07:00February 14th, 2018|Categories: 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment|Tags: Oil, 42dayExperiment, blood test, Coconut Oil, science, saturated fat, nutrition, cholesterol, User Experiences, experience, video|6 Comments

42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 40!

This entry is part 40 of 44 in the series 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment

So close… only 9 meals left! It’s getting harder and harder to only eat the food in my experiment. I thought I had some kind of superhuman ability to stay on track, turns out it was likely just the result of solid keto eating. Making dinner for everyone else and not eating any of it hasn’t been a problem and now it’s REALLY hard to not take a bite.

For kicks, I made a crono-o-meter “recipe” of what I’m eating this week – mostly so it would generate a nutrition label so I’d have something to show people that question what I’m eating this week. Here’s a comparison of that and when I’m doing heavy cream:

Carb Week	Heavy Cream Week

Those that say “nay” will likely take issue with the amount of sugar and sodium in the carb week, but if you click on the image and pull up the full nutrition info and check out the vitamins and everything else you’ll see it’s nutritionally complete still.

By Chris|2018-02-13T09:50:31-07:00February 13th, 2018|Categories: 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment|Tags: video, science, nutrition, 42dayExperiment|2 Comments

42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 36: Carb Week Begins (with a live stream)
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42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 36: Carb Week Begins (with a live stream)

42 days of Keto Chow Experiment

42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 36: Carb Week Begins (with a live stream)

This entry is part 36 of 44 in the series 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment

https://youtu.be/w_MnfN8KWp4

OK, here we go!

You can view my glucose tests as I take them on the “Sugar” tab of the spreadsheet here.

By Chris|2018-02-09T13:19:02-07:00February 9th, 2018|Categories: 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment|Tags: experience, video, 42dayExperiment, Oil, blood test, Coconut Oil, science, saturated fat, nutrition, User Experiences|0 Comments

42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 20, off to S.F., Grape Seed Oil results

This entry is part 20 of 44 in the series 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment

I’m heading off to San Francisco in a few hours. Rather than worry about how to transport my shakes, I’m just going to do time-restricted feeding (“intermittent fasting”) by drinking all my meals this morning and afternoon, then I’ll eat again after I get home tomorrow. I had to bring everything I need with me to work, including an umbrella. Fun fact: I’ve been to San Francisco almost 10 times now, I’ve never been rained on (misted on, yes, but no rain) looking at the forecast, this might break that streak.

This morning I got back my blood tests from the week of doing Grape Seed Oil. Feel free to head over to the spreadsheet of results and check them out. Grapeseed oil is on Column O.

Let’s see… my LDL-P came way down (1242 to 849) – into the “normal” range thanks to the PUFAs, my LDL-C also came down (116 to 72) – again into the “normal” range. My triglycerides did indeed go up, though nowhere even close to the result I got with avocado oil in November: that one went from 113 to 199, this new test with grape seed oil went from 104 to 117. I guess we’ll see what happens with the subsequent tests with Saturated and MUFA: will the triglycerides go down or not?! While you’re on the spreadsheet, you can pop over to the other tabs and see the ongoing results coming in from the n=3 experiment that’s also going on. Both females have had really stable triglyceride levels, regardless of heavy cream or avocado oil. Makes me wonder if the 199 was a freak aberration (yes I was fasting at least 12 hours before the test).

So what else does the blood test show? On PUFAs my cortisol increased dramatically (9.8 to 12.7) and my fasting insulin predictably went down to 2.4. That’s actually the lowest I’ve ever gotten, 2.7 was the level when I did Avocado Oil. Oddly, my CRP (which along with cortisol is a marker for inflammation) was slightly up but still far lower compared to what I was getting in November.

By Chris|2018-01-24T10:11:49-07:00January 24th, 2018|Categories: 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment|Tags: results, science, saturated fat, nutrition, cholesterol, User Experiences, experience, video, Oil, 42dayExperiment, blood test|9 Comments

42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 15, back to heavy cream, self employed, history of Keto Chow shipping
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42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 15, back to heavy cream, self employed, history of Keto Chow shipping

42 days of Keto Chow Experiment

42 Days of Keto Chow – Day 15, back to heavy cream, self employed, history of Keto Chow shipping

This entry is part 15 of 44 in the series 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment

In a fitting end to my week doing grapeseed oil for my fat source, last night my blood ketones were 3.9 mmol/dL (again: not chasing ketones but it’s nice to see those rise, especially since I got another person that emailed me yesterday claiming that you can’t do keto while consuming sucralose… whatever =) Why did I get higher ketones (5.5) when I did avocado oil before? It may have something to do with that I was also using MCT oil at the time and this round I’m not – in a few weeks when I do the week of liquid coconut oil (which has a LOT of MCTs) we’ll see what happens then. For now, I’m back on 400ml of 40% fat heavy whipping cream per day. Confession: the week I started this experiment I went through cron-o-meter and added EVERYTHING I would be eating for the following 6 weeks, it’s really easy to copy and paste. Each day all I have to do is enter my ketone level and mark the day as complete =) It’s kinda like cheating but not really.

I can feel my plantar fasciitis starting to act up again in my right foot. It could be psychosomatic but I’m guessing that it’s legitimately acting up due to the inflammatory properties of the poly-unsaturated grapeseed oil I’ve consumed all week (1323 ml over 21 meals). I’m really quite happy to be going back onto heavy cream again, it’s like an old (non-inflammatory) friend. In case you need a refresher, here is the breakdown for heavy cream (mine is a little different as it has a slightly higher fat content at 40%):

[visualizer id=”23814″]

I went in for my weekly blood test this morning and then did my exit interview at my ~~day job~~. Exciting and scary all at the same time, I’m now officially self-employed full-time. To top it all off, the post office just delivered a pair of shipping cages for Monday. They’re going to start picking up our mail every day instead of us needing to take it to the post office and unload it manually. I’m pretty stoked!

Hey, tomorrow we’re hosting a Keto Meat-up here!

By Chris|2018-01-19T14:33:19-07:00January 19th, 2018|Categories: 42 days of Keto Chow Experiment|Tags: blood test, Keto Chow, science, 42dayExperiment|2 Comments