Great to hear!

I'm glad you stuck with it. People make changes for a few days and when nothing instantaneous happens they think the experiment failed.

In Dr. Ead's blog she seems to have insomnia when she's too deeply in ketosis. Could that be your issue?

You've hit upon the same solution that worked for me. I had given up all the other aggravating foods (grains, soy, sugar, most fruit, etc.) but had resisted giving up dairy. But when I did, for a 1-month trial, I was surprised with easy weight loss - something I had NEVER experienced in 35 years of dieting.

I still have about 2 T. of half and half every day. I need to get that last little bit out of my diet. I could stand to lose the coffee too.

Great news, Costello, thanks for reporting on the changes you made besides eliminating dairy foods. And thanks for noting that the loss came in 2 chunks - good information. Congratulations on the progress!

Yeah. I read studies where the participants try an intervention for 2 weeks or 2 months or something, and I think: Seriously? You've barely scratched the surface. You've just recorded the body's initial reaction to the change. You certainly haven't learned anything about what happens over the long haul.

I think of the early researchers on PUFAs. They asked a friend to eliminate PUFAs from his diet to see if they were essential fatty acids. After six months he hadn't shown any negative effects, so they decided they weren't essential. Turns out it takes about a year to completely deplete the body's stores.


I doubt it. I think I'm getting too much carb to be in deep ketosis. I have had insomnia with ketosis too, and it is very much like what I have now - suddeny wide awake at 2 or 3 am.

I'm glad it's helping you. I think that easy weight loss is a sign you've hit the sweet spot.

I'm not sure what's going on with me. I suppose it could be the whole insulin thing. I still have a hard time believing the dairy I was eating is insulinotropic, but I guess I'm not going to overanalyze it - just hope it continues a while longer.

Yes, there are reasonable arguments to be made for both the grassfed beef and the chia seeds for helping in the weight loss. It could be a combination of several things.

The grassfed beef is high in CLA which apparently has helped some people lose fat mass in research studies.

The chia seed I started taking in larger quantities because I saw a study that showed it increased the plasma EPA in post-menopausal women (omega 3 is something I focus on sometimes). I was startled to see my fasting blood glucose go down. I wasn't sure if it was the chia which was helping with that, but I'm tentatively thinking it is. I have that chia seed pudding almost every night. When I miss it, I notice my FBG is higher the next morning.

What is plasma EPA? I hope it's not a government agency.

I'm a big believer in grass fed beef. I do wish it were not so expensive. I got spoiled when I lived in TX and could get grass fed at a very reasonable price. Still, it's a priority for us.

EPA is a form of omega 3. It's found in animal products, and it's the form I'd like to have for it's anti-inflammatory properties.

The form of omega 3 found in plants is ALA. The body can convert some ALA to EPA, but it's very inefficient - maybe 5% gets converted. That's why vegetarians are at a disadvantage here.

Then I read a study (or at least the abstract ) in which 10 post-menopausal women saw their plasma EPA rise 30% over baseline in 7 weeks. (Of course, if they were eating a SAD, baseline may have been pathetically low. ) I just thought it was an amazing increase in EPA from a plant source of omega 3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22538527 (they used milled chia, but I don't think it's necessary to use milled, chia is not like flax).



I'm becoming more and more a big believer. I live in Kansas, and there are a few farmers in the area who raise grassfed beef. Unfortunately low-fat is still a selling point. Since I'm eating this meat for the higher omega 3 and for the CLA, I don't want low-fat.

My top choice for beef is a local farm whose fattiest ground beef is available for $5.88/pound. Unfortunately they aren't a steady supply. The store where I buy it may be out for long periods of time. (I really need to invest in a freezer, so I can stock up.) I also buy their liver and stew meat when it's available.

My alternate source is from a bigger operation out of Colorado, I think. It's lean:fat ratio is 85/15 or 80/20 (I can't remember) and costs $8/pound. As you say, very expensive.

If I can't find what I want in grassfed beef, I go for bison which is usually grassfed. I did accidently buy some grainfed bison recently. I didn't know there was such a thing, so I didn't read the label until I got home.

Interesting! I will have to try this!

Let me know if it helps.

It's also possible that the whey or casein or other component is causing an inflammatory response. Whatever the cause, it needs to go.

Nancy, I still have ~1T of HWC/day split between my 2 cups of morning coffee. I did go cream and coffee-free for a month, and tried coffee with coconut oil (icky lip slick) but added back this little bit of HWC with no apparent consequences.

That's so interesting. I'd heard that flax was an incomplete form of Omega 3, now I know why. And, actually, I guess I'd been thinking of Omega 3 fatty acids as one type of fatty acid - I now better understand it's a cluster of FAs. Thanks for the clarification.




I used to buy from a Texas panhandle rancher who'd swing through Texas every 2 months delivering. I started buying from him right after I read Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, so maybe 5 years ago? It was interesting to watch his operation develop as he started pitching the low fat content of grass fed, but gradually began to offer higher fat options (90/10 and 80/20 ground beef). Organs were at first processed into "pet sticks", now there is so much demand they are sold separately, and they used discards from other ranchers to make the pet sticks. And recently he began providing pure pork or beef fat by the pound. I'm sure it's the influence of the Paleo Movement. He does ship meat by Fedex and if you are considering ordering from Colorado, you might take a look at his site as well. I'd be happy to send you his info if you like.

Liz, can you post the link? There might be others interested too.

Thanks!

Usually the shipping charges kill ya on shipping meat because it has to come very fast and be packaged expensively.

I don't order it from Colorado. I purchase it at a local Natural Grocers. It's my back up choice if the locally raised meat isn't available.

We've gotten so spoiled I think. We're used to finding what we want when we want in it the grocery store. These small local producers run out though. You go to the store with your grocery list in hand and ... the shelves are bare!

When that happens I go for this other meat at Natural Grocers which is always in stock.