After 6 months on the ketogenic diet I was surprised by my blood test results, although in retrospect I suppose I should have expected what happened. My entire nutritional profile is low!
Apparently the ketogenic diet, although very good at supporting many health concerns metabolically, including anxiety, diabetes, heart disease and cancer, is not very nutrient dense. These results where also in light of focusing on as much veggies as the diet allows.
As part of my regular routine, I continued to take a high potency multivitamin (ultrapreventativeX), niacin, and several antioxidants (lipoid acid, carnitine, quercetin, NAC and Coenzyme Q10) on a regular basis throughout the experimental diet. Apparently this wasn’t enough to maintain my calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin C, vitamin B12, folic acid, vitamin b6, Vitamin B1, and Vitamin B2 levels. Yikes!
Although I would still not hesitate to suggest this extreme strategy for anyone battling cancer, it is apparent that high levels of supplementation must be considered to maintain nutritional status on a strict ketogenic diet.
Even though my experiment is only an N = 1 situation, I think it holds some value for people following a high fat diet or calorically restricted diet program for weight loss. Even more pertinent, this information should be a warning to those that have a poor diet, consuming high amounts of fast food and/or refined carbohydrates. I encounter this in my office on a regular basis and attribute nutritional deficiencies to a lot of chronic health conditions!
Above all nutritional sufficiency is what regulates the biochemistry of our bodies. It is important to make sure that our systems function optimally and are well nourished to do so. I’m happy to say that I’m off to the Mediterranean for 2 weeks to engulf myself in the rich culture and replenish my nutritional status with the most nourishing diet on the planet!
Incidentally my LpA is 459 down from 730 on the vegan diet.
To review my recent functional health report based on the ketogenic blood tests … click here.