Keto when over 40 - men
Hey guys,
So I'm 42 and have been on Keto for 9 months now and it's GREAT! (though I rarely register any keytones on the urine test strips - apparently that just means I'm using them...)
I've heard LOTS of advice around vitamin supplements and the need for them especially when over 40 and more so 60 and want to check whether any of them are:
a) negatively affecting my results
b) pointless
SO first off I've followed the advice of Thomas DeLauer and increased my protein intake from 25% to 30% (to reduce muscle atrophy due to protein processing being harder above 40). and I'm currently on (daily):
500mg L-Carnitine
400mg Turmeric
200mg Bio-Ubiquinol Active QH
1000mg Marine Collagen
500mg Psyllium Husks
I also:
* take a couple of tablesoons of Apple Cider Vinegar after having a cheat meal
* regularly do intermittent fasting - though (after more advice - Thomas) going to try changing to just periodic fasting like 24-48 hours one or twice a month.
THIS all seems like overkill but it's my first time over 40 so what do I know! 😁
Advise please from any of you hardened/wisened Ketoers much approciated!
-
The only way to be truly sure your in ketosis is to test for ketones in your blood. I am 53 and restarting my trek into keto again. It only took me a couple of days to get back into ketosis, I generally haven't eaten a lot of carbs for the last couple of years so I was probably never to far off from being in at least I mild state of ketosis.
At the moment I am still turning the pee strips purple and I am also registering between 2 and 4 mmol/l on the blood ketones so I know it is for real.
I haven't bothered upping my protein, I want to avoid having that converted into sugars and throwing me out of ketosis, which it can. I think you have to be in a pretty high state of ketosis (5 mmol/l or more consistently) before muscle autophagy becomes a real concern.
I have used multi-vitamins in the past and found it had no noticeable effect on my ketosis one way or the other. I am not taking any supplements at this time.
The way I view it the pee test gives you a cumulative result, it basically it tells you that between the previous urination and the one you tested your body was producing excess ketones that it couldn't utilize and therefore it got rid of them. The concentration level in the urine just indicates how much is being flushed out.
The blood test on the other hand is a point in time measure, it tells you whether or not you are in ketosis at that moment. You can somewhat infer based on when and what you last ate and how much you have exercised recently as to whether or not you were in ketosis the whole time or not.
I know when I was just restarting my keto diet that I was going in and out of ketosis between meals. I was testing twice a day morning and evening. After fasting over night I was in ketosis, by evening after meals through the day I was border line.
