A Low Carbohydrate, Ketogenic Diet Manual – Eric Westman
Browse on Amazon!
It’s a small book, so this will be a brief review. Just how small it is may, in fact, surprise you though. It’s all of 24 pages in length, including disclaimers, table of contents, etc… Anything this brief will by necessity keep things to the bare minimum, especially when tackling a subject as complex as obesity and the ketogenic diet.
And this does just that. Which is ok, I suppose. While I get bummed by the fact that there’s no real new information in there for people who have been practicing a low carb ketogenic diet, it’s easy to see where there’s value for the unindoctrinated who have just been advised by their health care providers to start a ketogenic diet.
So it’s not the brevity or the superficial nature of the content that bugs me about this book. It’s actually the poor attention to design that I find distracting. It looks like it was formatted on a typewritter by someone who doesn’t know anything about document design for readability and usability. Granted, I’m more sensitive than most when it comes to these issues (and given my disclaimer about this site’s design, maybe I should bite my tongue entirely), but the chapbook is rife with inconsistent use of headers, whitespace, bold text, etc. that could easily be addressed, cheaply. Throw in a good font selection, and I’d wager that you’d increase the usability of the book manyfold.
OK. I’m not going to harp on these issues any further. Once we move on from there, we have a very brief introduction and manual for following a low carb ketogenic diet limited to 20g of carbs a day. It introduces the Whats? and Whys? of the diet, possible side effects, recommended foods, supplements, etc… and all in short order. Before you know it you’ve made it through the meat of the book, and are browsing through the inspirational quotes. Here there are a few gems, including:
“It’s not YOUR fault — it’s the carbs’ fault!”
And…
“Fruit is nature’s candy.”
OK, I find it a little campy… but for less than a fiver, why not?
I like to read more ideas about ketogenic diets. I also like the studies that combined a ketogenic and Intermittent Fasting. I find the two diets blend well and compliment each other. The ketones and fat make hunger a thing of the past even on my tipical 36 to 40 hour modified fast. It is interesting to see the almost religious zeal for 20 vs 30 vs 50 grams of carbohydrates or the 60 vs 80 grams of protein. With IF and Keto combined I let my Blood ketones, sugar, A1C, lipid levels etcetera give me feedback to adjust. If blood ketones are above 2.5 mm and blood sugar below 83 for fasting and A1C 4.5 then 189 calories from carbohydrates seems OK for me on an every other day basis. Eric
Hi Eric!
I’m the same way about liking to read about ketogenic diets.
I agree about the zealotry…there’s far too much of it in the nutrition, diet and lifestyle communities.
I know that for me, 20g/carbs a day has been a tremendously helpful target. Others have much higher daily targets…and I’m OK with that (with all the usual caveats). What’s important is not the number of carbs a day (unless you’re exceeding a threshold that slows you down), but whether or not you’ve found something sustainable and healthy.
-Michael
I find it encouraging to read about others who are very low carb for long periods. I started on the old Atkins “Induction” phase and thought that I should only do it for two weeks. I dread going much beyond a 20g carb intake and having cravings for carb return. Also, I have incredible mood stabilization. I used to get PO’s a lot. (Hey, still do… drivers, cell phone yakkers, etc.) but it’s just a slight irritation that passes. I’m also more focused at work, where before, to achieve focus, I’d have to repeatedly reach for crap in my desk– candy, a donut. Anyway, I hope I can stay very low carb permanently.
Hello I jsut placed an order for the book thank you for pointing this out!! I also like to combine fasting with ketogenic diet although with a paleo twist where in late spring and late summer I allow for greater fruit consumption to go with seasonal availability. otherwise I strive to keep well below 60g a day!
I also make some meals exclusively ketogenic and other meals fruit and veg only. It is fascinating to see how the body reacts. My only problem unfotunately is that without a gall bladder (mine was removed in 2005) I not been able to keep fat levels high enough at any one meal. I could break my food intake into several smaller meals but this goes against my fasting philosophy, my aversion for snacking and grazing all the time and the practicalities of life. With a few greens and some complex unprocessed starches in the form of things like radishes, carrots etc I seem to be able to tolerate more fat in my gut with fewer bad side effect…nutrition is a journey of self experimentation after all… 😉
I find ketogenic and Intermittent Fasting compliment.
I do a modifird fast for 36 to 40 hours (360 high fat cream) followed by a 8 to 12 hour eating window of 315 Calories protein 185 Carb calories and rest fat. Have been IF’ing for over 1 year.
Great for blood sugar, Lipids, IGF-1 (I checj blood sugars and ketones. Eric
Hello Eric. Can you tell me some more about this ketogenic and intermittent fasting. I have lost weight on low carb and have been thinking about fasting. Have you lost a lot of weight this way? Is there some written info somewhere? Thanks so much!!
The internet s many articles and posts with many variations. The only thing close would be paper on ketogenic diets an IF combined for kids with epilepsy (Do a search) On a fasting day our body still needs enegy. It will get it (80% from fat an 20% protein) rom the body. Every Oter Day eating seemsto recycly the protein (Autophagy) and if any thing is beniit. Eric
Oh and as for weight loss From 350 plus pounds to under 200 is not bad but others haelost more. Read the Swedish blog (In English) Dietdoctor,com) for many examples Eric
Thanks so much Eric!! Good job on the weight loss. Fantastic job. I will check out that web site now.
Hey I’m just beginning my Keto journey and I’ve been flying all over the net trying to glean the best methods and it never dawned on me that I too have my gallbladder out and it might effect my weight loss.
What problems do you have with the fat? Any other problems with this diet and no gallbaldder?
Thanks for any advice you might have.
Thanks for the heads up about this and for writing this great blog.
Carole 🙂
Awwww, thanks for the kind words, Carole!
i am 61 just started ketogenic,because of age any things I should watch out for,effects of high fat on the heart,i do take high blood pressure medicines,the doctor it is because of weight? any advice?thanks
Garry – do watch diet doctor on YouTube — note well- not diet doc – fat will not hurt your heart or so latest thinking is
Are scallops really allowed on this diet as stated in the diet manual. It appears they do have carbs.
It’s an interesting question, Jane… I’ve seen a high degree of variability regarding carbohydrate content of scallops, and I’m not sure why. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the nutrition data on cooked scallops from FatSecret is accurate, we can assume that we’re consuming about 1.7 grams of carbohydrate per scallop. Round it up to 2g, and you should be able to easily modulate your intake to make sure you don’t knock yourself out of ketosis.
With that said, I’ve never heard of anyone having an issue with scallops and ketosis, but if it were the case, I’d presume they are either extremely sensitive to very low levels of carbohydrate, or (more likely) they were eating breaded scallops, scallops with pasta, or some other dish method of preparation that includes the addition of carbohydrate.
For what it’s worth, I’ve enjoyed scallops -especially when on vacation in coastal locations- and have never had a problem. Get them wrapped in bacon, not crusted with breadcrumbs. 🙂
-Michael
I would love to have a printed copy of the diet, the rules, the “page 4 that is mentioned in your video”, food lists etc. Thank you.