I may have found a fountain of youth!

Thanks for having interest in this new take on a millennia-old pie-hole stuffing lifestyle! Before refined grains. Before Nestle and Kellogg. Before the FDA and USDA were captured by various megabig "food" corporations and Big Pharma. Before The Beatles. Before the InterWebs, even!

And now, before we dive in, let's take off our clothes! You start. Kidding!

Quick background

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the Spring of 2017 while living in Acapulco, Mexico.

I put the condition into remission. End of story. Thanks for reading. Bye!

Oh? You want to know more?

It ravaged my system in various ways, including:

• Loss of most of my muscle mass.
• Weakness and easy fatigue.
• Low energy.
• Nerve damage - about 1/2 of the area of both feet was numb and tingly. Random feelings, including pain throughout the body (felt like insect bites), and numbness in various areas. I started noticing these symptoms in 2015. By 2017, the only way I could sleep was to use a huge - and increasing - amount of Advil, which barely worked. Eventually I discovered that consuming THC infused coconut oil before bed insured sleep.
• Inflammation - expressing mostly as joint pain. This began in 2008.
• Foggy brain - I didn't even notice until it was not happening. Oh the clarity now!
• Deteriorating vision (including cataracts).

I had felt the approach of these symptoms for over a year prior to the diagnosis and suspected something was going on but was afraid to face it.

My diet leading up to the diagnosis was vegetarian plus occasional fish, chicken, turkey, and eggs. I often went a week or more without consuming animal products. I didn't have much of a taste for meat and ate it rarely. I had not eaten beef, pork, lamb, or drank milk in over 26 years. I ate an unrestricted amount of bread and pasta, usually gluten free, thinking that bread was okay. I ate an unrestricted amount of rice, too. I didn't know how the body converts carbs into sugars and the load they put on the liver and eventually, the rest of the body.

First, "keto" refers to a body state where we have conditioned our body to be in "ketosis," where we can process ketones in addition to glucose for energy. Hybrid!

Is autophagy a fountain of Youth?

What is autophagy and why does it matter?
There is an important "garbage removal and repair" process human bodies do naturally, if given the chance, called autophagy.

Autophagy is the major eukaryotic degradative process for cytosolic organelles, long–lived proteins as well as misfolded protein aggregates, playing an important role in development, adaptation, starvation, tumor suppression, and aging as well as innate and adaptive immunity. Although mostly referred to strictly as a degradative process, autophagy is also often described as a renewal process; a pathway by which metabolites generated through autophagic degradation are reused either as sources of energy or building blocks for synthesis of new macromolecules.

Important take-away: Autophagy repairs cellular damage. New studies are even showing it can slow or even reverse some of the effects of aging! Important: For it to work, a person needs to give their digestive system breaks. Nothing drastic is required.

You can quickly and easily get into ketosis (body using ketones for energy instead of glucose) and autophagy

A few days into my intermittent fasting (removed breakfast from diet and no night-time eating) with high fat, medium/low protein, and very low carbs and I put my body into a state of autophagy.

Day 125 into keto and intermittent fasting:

At least 2-4 times a week I cycle from two meals a day to one. The high fat intake means I have no cravings. Apparently, I've converted my body into a "hybrid" system (it's natural state) that can easily utilize fat and ketones as well as the carbs it has been trained to use for energy.
Fat falling off! Zero body pain. High levels of energy.

Where's the evidence this lifestyle is working?

• All muscle, joint, and "phantom" pain gone! I can now dance or do Kung Fu for 2+ hours and have zero joint pain; it's been a long time! I still get muscle pain, but it is the good kind because I'm quickly re-building massively atrophied muscles.
• I can sleep without drugging myself!
• Dry, scaly skin on my face gone.
• Higher testosterone (tested) - more energy, drive, and confidence.
• Some of my nerve damage has gone away, as in I can feel more parts of my feet now!
• Consistently high energy levels.
• An unintended side effect: I lost quite a bit of my body fat. As of day 160, I've put two new holes in my belt and cut three inches off the tip!
• Finally, in 2017 my A1C was 15.5% (extremely unhealthy; far into type 2 diabetes). As of latest test in mid-2021, it's down to 5.6%! Under 5.7% is considered normal.

What is A1C? https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/a1c-test/about/pac-20384643

DISCLAIMER

I'm not a biologist, doctor, physicist, oceanographer, cat trainer, astronaut, or dolphin therapist, so don't believe anything I say or follow my advice, which this isn't.

Now, let's dive in to that fountain of youth!

How do I do it? The basics

• 50% to 80% healthy fats - see below.
• 10% to 30% proteins - depends on your age, types and frequency of exercise, and goals.
• 0% to 5% carbs - generally, less is better. Your body can easily survive on less than 10%. Your body produces the glucose you need without a need for exogenous carbs.

Begin by seeing how long you can fast into the day. If you abstained from eating anything past dinner the day before, you have already fasted 10-12 hours! The longer you extend that fast, the more autophagy!

The easiest way is to just remove breakfast completely or replace it with coffee that has no calories (creamers or other additives). Stevia and monk fruit don't count (up to a point), so sweeten it if you need to, but only with those. Never with honey, agave, sugar, or processed sugar substitutes. More below on sweeteners.

Don't confuse habits with hunger!

If you get enough fats, you will find you don't have hunger pangs! It takes time to change a habit. But if you eat enough healthy fats, you will be surprised how easy this is!

You will also - probably easily and naturally - start to want to experiment with putting off your meals longer and longer into the day and may even find yourself moving into a one meal a day pattern, which I believe to be optimal.

SHOPPING ONLINE

In the following sections of this article, you will find many links to Amazon, Thrive, and other sources. Some items are lower or equal price while being higher quality on Thrive and some on Amazon. If you join Thrive via this link (http://thrv.me/GmUpxH), you will get 30% off your first order.

EXERCISE

This is highly subjective, of course. But with all my blood sugar testing, I found that a minimum of 30 minutes a day of light exercise (walking or bike riding) - for me - will at least keep me stable. BUT if you want to get more healthy, double or triple that number of minutes and throw in some higher intensity exercise and/or weight lifting. If you are diabetic like I was, the more exercise, the better. More muscle helps in MANY ways!

"But gyms are expensive and lame!"

You might be surprised how cheap it can be to get a used bench, bars, and plates (weights) off Craigslist and Ebay. Add 12' x 12' modular interlocking "extercise foam mats" for just $20: https://smile.amazon.com/Yes4All-Interlocking-Exercise-Foam-Border/dp/B07BF7F2PN

WHAT TO EAT: PRIMARY FOODS / NUTRIENTS

Some links below to what I consider to be the "staples" of a keto lifestyle. While it is best to get as much of your nutrient intake from whole foods, that can often be difficult, so I'll start here with the minimum supplements that I'm currently taking.

BERBERINE for lowering blood sugar when you know you are cheating too hard (Don't cheat. Use this as an opportunity to practice being in integrity with your word to yourself) and want to reduce your body's insulin response:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083V8UB4
As a still barely diabetic, I sometimes use berberine as a replacement for the popular diabetic medication Metformin. Both berberine and metformin are known to sometimes cause gastrointestinal issues like bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation.

MAGNESIUM, POTASSIUM, C, D2/K3, Zinc, and all B's VERY IMPORTANT

Here's a great site that rates supplement brands:
https://labdoor.com/

MULTI-VITAMIN
I did a lot of research before settling on this brand/product:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DDPYWFS
While this vitamin has a good amount of megnesium and potassium, I recommend getting more of these nutrients through whole foods. One such food is...

NUTRITIONAL YEAST
Here's an article giving the scoop on it: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/nutritional-yeast
I usually get mine in the bulk food section at Sprouts or Whole Foods. Often works great as a cheese substitute, depending on what you are adding it to. I use it to thicken my home-made dressings, sprinkle it on eggs, keto pizza, and many other uses. $15/lb - https://smile.amazon.com/Anthonys-Premium-Nutritional-Flakes-Fortified/dp/B06Y1JPZ4F

SPEAKING OF CHEESE
While most cheese tends to be at least slightly inflammatory in nature, there are some that are more keto-friendly than others. Here's a list of the better ones:

• Goat cheese for lactose intolerant.
• Blue cheese.
• Feta (from goat or sheep best).
• Mozzarella (from buffalo is best).
• Swiss.
• Parmesan.
  Most other cheeses tend to be highly processed. You can find the other cheeses unprocessed, but might be difficult to find. An example is Muenster. While it is possible to find it unprocessed, it may be difficult. I've found nutritional yeast works really well here as a super healthy cheese substitute.

KETO PIZZA
Lowest carb tasty sauce I have found so far:
https://www.heb.com/product-detail/mom-s-organic-roasted-pepper-pasta-sauce/228114
Organic cauliflower crusts:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07B4PRGX7
https://thrivemarket.com/p/cappellos-naked-pizza-crust

DRESSINGS
A super healthy dressing I often make may include a combination of the following: Sesame tahini, mayonnaise, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, turmeric, pepper, mustard, coconut aminos, and nutritional yeast.

Regarding coconut aminos: This is a sweet sauce that will not spike blood sugar. https://thrivemarket.com/p/thrive-market-organic-coconut-aminos

OMEGA 3 VERY IMPORTANT: Fish oil capsules and other ways of getting Omega 3:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-omega-3-rich-foods
And of course best getting it through foods like wild caught salmon (If you can afford to, avoid farm raised because of PCBs).

SALT
Most humans don't get enough sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Note: Taken alone, salt won't give you all the magnesium and potassium you need.

It's a myth that you need to regulate your salt intake. Eat as much as your body asks for! If you consume "too much," the "overflow" will be safely expelled via urine.

Get the good stuff! This is even better than Himalayan and sea salt:
https://smile.amazon.com/REDMOND-Real-Sea-Salt-Unrefined/dp/B000R5PKD0

Random related myth: LDL Cholesterol is bad. Nope. Your body and brain desperately need this as an essential building block. Sadly, the cholesterol myth has survived one faulty-but-popularized study from the 1950s. Thanks Big Agriculture and Big Pharma for all the lobbying and "studies" you have funded to create fear around one of the most bio-necessary building blocks of the human brain, eyes, and much more!

TURMERIC (best to mix with pepper when cooking). Primary benefit: reduces inflammation.
https://smile.amazon.com/Turmeric-Bioperine-Available-Standardized-Curcuminoids/dp/B01DBTFO98

BEST SUGAR SUBSTITUTES
Monk fruit powder <-- amazing stuff! tastes like sugar, takes about 1/10 the amount, and has zero glycemic index. Also, this product, for $15 lasted me over six months! And trust me, I have a huge sweet tooth!
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07T3QC2MC

Here are a couple other zero glycemic index sweeteners I like to carry with me to restaurants as they are a bit more convenient to add to cold tea than the monk fruit powder:

English toffee flavored Stevia drops*
https://smile.amazon.com/SweetLeaf-Liquid-Stevia-Sweetener-English/dp/B000ELQNRE

Orange flavored Stevia drops*
https://smile.amazon.com/SweetLeaf-Liquid-Stevia-Sweetener-Valencia/dp/B000E8O6CG

*Be sure it is dextrose (neurotoxin) free!

Finally, two I just discovered: Erythritol and Allulose. Here's some info on Allulose, which is purported to have a NEGATIVE glycemic index! http://allulose.org/allulose-professionals/latest-science/glycemic-index/

And here are some food products made with Allulose: https://knowfoods.com/products/know-better-syrup

New discovery: Keto-friendly ice cream that tastes great and has many flavors! Look for 320 and Rebel brands. HEB grocers have some of them. Sprouts has both milk-based and alternatives.

IMPORTANT: Honey, agave, Stevia-with-dextrose, Splenda, and all processed sugar substitutes are BAD! Be sure, also, to study up on fructose, which I talk only a bit about below.

OILS
Unrefined Coconut Oil (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HFEMQ5A)
Avocado Oil
Ghee (https://thrivemarket.com/p/thrive-market-organic-ghee)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Butter

For all oils, please read the label carefully because they will often "pad" the oil with "vegetable" (chemical) oils like canola.

This will help you get the "good fats" you need to train your body to be able to process fat as well as glucose for energy. I put coconut oil in coffee and cook with it. Anything that would normally require butter or oil. Vegetable oils are BAD. If you are good with dairy, then real butter works as well for many. NO MARGARINE OR FAKE/PROCESSED BUTTERS! Poison!

NUTS
Pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, and brazil nuts are best because these have the highest fat-to-carb ratio.

I was eating almonds and cashews before and recently found those two are not good for various reasons, including high carb content.

Here's a good deal on a big bag of pecans that I keep re-ordering:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N49HPHK
Note: Be sure to note the amount of carbs in the nuts you consume. Even with all the benefits of many nuts, they often have too many carbs and/or other issues. For example, research the issues with almond skins and digestion. That said, zero sugar almond milk without carrageenan is good stuff for a keto diet!

BEWARE:

MORE FAT, ETC
Avocado. More "good fat" as well as many other diabetic and keto benefits. I get those little $5-6 tubs of guacamole at my local grocer about every three days. Of course, you are probably better off making your own.

MAKE YOUR OWN SALAD DRESSINGS
I tend to use some combination of the following ingredients:

• Sesame seed tahini.
• Vinegar.
• Olive oil.
• Turmeric & pepper.
• Salt.

CINNAMON (GET "CEYLON")
Reduces insulin response. I add this to my coffee and anything else that might be sweet.
https://smile.amazon.com/Premium-Cinnamon-Naturevibe-Botanicals-Gluten-Free/dp/B071HSW2MY

CHOCOLATE (BAKING TYPE/NO SUGAR)
For baking (with almond flour or coconut flour, NOT wheat flour!) or adding to your coffee for flavor.

EGGS
VERY powerful in many ways to get the nutrients and "good fat" you need. Hopefully, you like eggs. I like em all ways, including fried (in coconut oil or olive oil) and hard boiled. Which brings me to...

MAYO
Good fats! Avocado oil mayo and olive oil mayo are best. Even your typical mayo has few or zero carbs.

KALE
Probably the best green leafy thing a diabetic can eat. To me, by itself, kale is too bitter. But hey fry it up in coconut oil, make kale chips in the oven, or put some fatty low carb dressing on it, add turkey or hard boiled egg, etc., and yum yum! There are enough other veggies that fall into low carb category. Don't eat the others. You don't need them. For example: stay away from carrots!
https://www.google.com/search?q=keto+friendly+veggies

OTHER VEGGIES

FRUIT
Fruit mostly bad. Mostly. As you probably know, most berries (including blueberries and strawberries) are better but still should be kept below 1/4 cup per day if you are eating ANY other carbs. And really, for a diabetic or someone trying to do keto: I'd stay away from bananas (SUPERBAD), apples, peaches, plums, etc. Grapefruits are unique and have some pro-keto properties. Investigate for yourself.

FRUIT JUICES
NEVER drink fruit juices! Concentrated sugar with no fiber. Superbad! You can increase the fiber/fructose ratio by blending berries* with things like ice, almond milk, your favorite keto sweetener, ground flax (fiber), high fat nuts, and/or protein powder.

COFFEE & GREEN TEA
Good. Aid ketosis. Reduce free radicals. Etc.

BEANS
Short answer: avoid beans. I'm not talking about green beans! I'm talking about pinto, kidney, lentils, etc. tend to be pretty carb heavy. But hey if you have had zero carbs that day and want a half cup of beans with your kale and salmon, go for it!

BREAD, PASTA, RICE, POTATOES
Easy answer: NO, NADA, NONE!
These items used to have far fewer carbs. Modern processed grains mess up our bodies. Part of the issue is the refining process. These modern processed and genetically modified grains irritate and even permeate the stomach lining; not good!

If you have a source of high quality old-school grains, then - watching your carb intake carefully - go ahead and have it as a treat from time to time. I recommend waiting until you have at least done keto to the point of having a consistently healthy diet and exercise routine.

Finally, in regard to breads, there are a number of great keto-friendly low-carb bread recipes out there that tend to use ingredients like almond flour, coconut flour, cauliflower, eggs, butter, and cheese.

FIBER
Because of the reduction in various "foods," keto people may find they need more fiber for better digestion and reduces the height of blood glucose spikes. I buy whole flaxseed and grind as needed because once ground, it can go rancid quickly.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T2793YS

SPECULATION

Many scientists, health nuts, doctors, and wizards are claiming that the keto lifestyle has the following additional benefits:

• Prevent cancer.
• Prevent Alzheimer's. Many are now calling Alzheimer's "Type 3 Diabetes".
• Prevent heart disease & heart attacks.
• Increase sexual function.
• Slow aging.
• Levitate like this guy:

RESEARCH ON YOUR OWN

The Keto lifestyle, while super old (like "paleo" diets, is based on a time when - for example - humans could probably only count on one meal every day or every other day), is newly popular and has become the subject of intense study, so a lot is being learned fast!

This guy knows his stuff and puts out a lot of content:
https://www.youtube.com/c/Highintensityhealth/videos

And this guy:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheTdelauer

Another good one:
https://www.youtube.com/c/DrEricBergDC

Here's another keto expert I recommend:
https://www.youtube.com/user/KenDBerry

I feel like I found the fountain of youth and I want this for everyone!