My personal experience...keto and fatty liver
CassondraJoy
So I did Keto for 3 months. My bf needed to lose about 60 #s. I have always followed a lowfat, good protein , and lots of veggies and fruit diet. Had gained about 10 pounds over the holidays and turning 50 coupled with menopause my body wasn't shedding the weight like it once naturally did. Positives....my bf lost 23 #s and having recently stopped working planning our meals took up a good part of my once full, (workaholic), day. I love to cook. I allowed myself to eat a whole lot of foods that I had denied eating for most my life. Negatives....I spent most my life reading recipes, plotting meals, tracking nutrients , reading recipes and cooking. ( Yes this is both a positive and a negative, I am a complicated woman, thank you!) I spent three months in the bathroom...artificial sugars and substitutes cause me ...sorry in advance for the graphic description... explosive continual diarrhea. Which eventually ended being mucus-like tissue with spots of blood. Now that was bad enough to keep me home many days, but recently I had blood work done. My liver tests came back elevated. The 70% fat diet for someone who has avoided fatty food most their life can cause fatty liver disease. I am not a drinker or a drug user and all tests before were normal. I visit my doctor yearly. So my take away from this is that the Keto diet is not for everyone. I actually lost 10 pounds within a week of returning to regular foods compared to the 3 on months of the ketogenic lifestyle. I feel it is very important to have a doctor monitor your health if you choose to follow this diet. I also feel that like most fad diets long term use of any diet that eliminates or strictly limits any basic food group can be dangerous to your health. If you choose to eat Keto, I suggest that you only do so short term as for some it can be a quick jumpstart if you have more than 20 pounds to lose. However, if you find yourself having unexpected physical issues that do not go away after a few days your body may be trying to tell you something. Listen
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More than likely the elevated liver enzymes and digestion problems came from you eating artificial sweeteners, not from the fat. You probably damaged your gut microbiome. Prebiotics, probiotics and the elimination of the artificial sweeteners probably would have allowed you to stay on keto without any problems. Fat doesn't cause fatty liver, elevated blood sugar, and excess fructose consumption does.
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Robert N. Bryant I'm no expert, but I have to agree with you. This is my 2nd attempt at keto and it's going much better because I kept things simple. I don't eat artificial sweeteners and this time I avoided all potatoes. No diarrhea this time. IMO, the biggest mistake people make when doing keto is thinking they can still eat the same way as they did before. I was under the impression keto is supposed to help you eliminate problem foods and eat more whole foods.
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Part of Keto or Low Carb is learning to eat real food in a more healthy manner. I don't think that frankenfoods are a good solution. It is best to move away from the artificial sweeteners and drinks.
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Fat does not cause fatty liver. As stated before fructose and sugars or sugar substitutes can though. When they want to make foie gras (fatty goose liver) they don't force feed geese olive oil, they force feed them corn, which breaks down into sugars. I did keto for over a year and a half with nothing but improvement in health and blood markers across the board. It is not a dangerous diet.
You can have issues with your gut biome while on keto, but consumption of good fermented foods and a probiotic will usually prevent any problems before they arise. I do agree that keto is not for everyone, but patently saying it could be dangerous is misleading.
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tiffany so true. I couldn't agree with you more. You should write an article about that?
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Robert N. Bryant I'd be interested in doing something like that!
