Is a ketogenic diet good for poeple w/ Lymes?

I was thinking this diet may be better for us Lymies because the carbs are more restricted, which I think would be good for limiting sugar into your body which feeds the parasites and parasitic bacterial infections in us? And just the damage sugar does in generally with inflammation and other things..

Also I heard it gives you the more energy.. of course there are healthy and un-healthy ways of doing this, the one I was looking at allows you 50grams of carbs a day, which can be a large amount of greens and veggies

Has anyone here had positive results with this kind of diet for their Lymes?

I do a low carb diet (nearly all of my carbs come from veggies), but not necessarily a keto diet. I do need some grains weekly to feel decent.

The Keto type diets do help some people with Lyme, but not all.

I heard some people react very well with keto diet. Someone said that all candida symptoms disappeared very fast on that diet, so I tried it.

But after a few days, I felt like dying, literally.

I'm extremely thin, and I felt my internal organs were being literally being consumed.

After reading other people's experiences with diets, and trying so many approaches, I think there is no single answer, not even a couple of answers, but in fact, barely anyone is on the same diet for various reasons...

I guess the best is simply to try and see! Wish you good luck!

I've been on a ketogenic diet for months now, due to yeast/fungal issues. I'd prefer to be on a more balanced diet, simply due to the fact that I think it'd be more healthy overall, at least for gut health.

Many foods can contribute to leaky gut in their own way, but I've been very concerned with how so much protein and vegetables is affecting my gut. I eat a LOT of meat, and a lot of vegetables. Pounds. I wonder how that contributes to constipation issues, as well, which I've suffered from for the past couple years -- been doing vitamin C flushes a couplefew times a week. I should probably limit portions of those, and get my calories from healthy oils, but I don't know. I like having a sizable meal.

Like I said, I've been eating low carb for months, even a year or more, and have been on a number of antifungals, yet I still react to certain "problem" foods. I'm wondering if the mold presence in my home is to blame.

Anyway, in terms of feeling fed, maintaining weight, and the like, the ketogenic diet's been fine. Once you get past the adjustment phase, you feel normal.

Dunno. Needs more research, I think. Lots of people rave about the diet, and others not so much.

Keto diet isn't really the same as the anti-fungal diet, but they share the same foundation of focus on what kind of carbs to eat - or not eat.

San Antonio -

When you react to "regular" healthy foods like chicken, veggies, you're talking about leaky gut. The undigested food particles, fecal matter and other toxins, etc. seep through the damaged mucosal lining and enter the bloodstream, where your immune system recognizes it as "foreign bodies" and starts the reaction to it. If your damage is significant enough, you could react to everything you eat, even the good stuff.

My IgG/IgA tests showed reactions to EVERYTHING.

The only thing you can do, if the reactions are severe, is to just allow your GI to heal. It takes a long time. I had some foods that caused no physical ailments or sx but they showed up really high on tests and I kept consuming them - my ND at the time suggested it was probably OK (like almonds, almond milk, chicken).

Other things I made sure to avoid - eggs, legumes, dairy, etc. I think you're aware of issues with those foods but if not I can share.

One of the things that helped me was a slow ratcheting down of the volume of food I ate.

This won't work for everyone - especially people who are really physical. But it is possible to function with fewer calories for a short period of time. Eating less volume - grazing rather than real meals was also key to my healing. It was just easier to digest a smaller amount of food. It takes awhile for your body to not demand a bunch of calories, but in time my stomach shrunk and demanded less. The more I healed, the more I was able to get back to a more regular schedule and size and type of meal.

- When you overload your GI - even with the good, healthy foods - it struggles.

- And a lot of veggies, and all at once, is a lot of roughage and that's hard on the raw, damaged mucosal lining.

- This is why I consumed most of my veggies in pureed, soup form.

- I backed way off the roughage (including salads) for a few months also, because I didn't want to increase slow motility, which also lets food sit on the mucosal lining longer than it should.

So, try more liquid/pureed/"deconstructed" foods, soups (it's summertime - cold soups are "in"), baby-food consistency, lots of broth-based soups (add frozen veggies and protein for convenience), and eat very small but frequent meals, rather than as you say "a sizeable meal".

Hope that's helpful.

-p

Post Edited (Pirouette) : 6/13/2017 5:32:15 PM (GMT-6)

Yeah I mainly eat soups which I sauté lots of chard and veggies into,
Purée 'ing them into the soup sounds like a good idea. Also smaller meals! Good point. I've noticed my nervous system gets "twitchy" if I eat larger meals :-/

When I cut out gluten all my joint pain went away..
And lots of other pain, it took 6 months to heal in my gut tho before I really noticed (I also couldn't eat anything and tested high on the IgE test) now if I eat any gluten by mistaken, my entire body is in extreme pain for a month but now I can thankfully eat foods I couldn't before, which was pretty much everything.

Diet is important with this stuff. I'm interested in seeing what happens cutting out sugar now as I think I have parasite and yeast stuff going on..

How long were you sick when your body was adjusting to Keto?
I heard it's like a flu?

My friend who is doing this said there are dark chocolates you can do in this diet, like real dark! But he claims he found some tasty ones which he has every day and saves him from staying on this diet, and there are lots of healthy antioxidants that come with a darker chocolate are beneficial.

What startches have these healing powers you speak of?

Yes I think keto works. I read parts of Tim Ferris' book Tools of Titans. He says Ketogenic diet has mitigated his symptoms. I have luck and sometimes 80% or more symptom free with low glycemic, high fat (MCT or butter) and lean proteins. For instance, broccoli or asparagus or cauliflower and white chx meat, turkey breast or fish or tuna. Also raw cabbage and lean cuts of meat, peppered beef. Little or no starch, carbs, sugars, sodas, avoid caffeine maybe 1 cup coffee a day, try to avoid alcohol. Right now I'm about 30 hours into a water and coconut oil fast, feeling clear headed and productive for the most part. For Keto state to continue, Ferris recommends a tbsp of coconut oil intermittently during fast, 18 hours up to 3 days fasting at most, usually 2 days or 48 hours max fast for me. I may do the MCT oil now to continue keto state, unless I decide to break the fast. I think there is good Autophagy from ketogenic states.

about White Rice vs Brown Rice... Do some research, while Brown rice has good nutrients it has one of the highest arsenic levels in rice. My wellness/LLMD doctor said PLEASE feed your family white rice and for now stay away from any glutens or any gluten free items that are dessert like, crackers, breads, cereals etc. She has me on an anti inflammation diet and lots of supplements. As of Monday my WBC count is still high at 16.2 (normal range 3.4 - 10.8) along with Absolute Neutrophils at 14.1 ( normal range 1.4-7.0). Last time I tested they were a tad lower and she piggy backed AZythromyacin on top of my daily Docxy.

Also something to note, chicken, even free range chicken is also high in arsenic levels. The only chicken I am to eat is certified organic, she says I am much better off staying with beef and fish.