If there’s one word that strikes a combination of dread and cynicism in the hearts of overweight people, it’s the word diet. So let’s clear up one bit of misinformation here: Keto is not a diet—it’s a metabolic process. It’s nothing new; it’s just nuanced. Its origins are deep in human history, as every single one of our ancestors did keto. Burning fat and using ketones is our primal birthright.
Every cell inside of your body is hardwired to use this metabolic process of fat burning from time to time. Did you know that soon after babies are born, they enter a natural state of ketosis? Yep, you read that right—research shows that newborn infants are in ketosis and remain in this normal, healthy state while breastfeeding. Furthermore, research confirms that breast milk from healthy mothers is actually made up of 50 to 60 percent fat, and the cholesterol in breast milk supplies babies with almost six times the amount that most adults consume in their diets.1 Keto-adapted babies can efficiently turn ketone bodies into acetyl-coA and myelin, which helps the development of the baby’s brain since it is made mostly of fat.
As we know, the body can burn only two types of fuel: fat and sugar. Earlier in the book, I referenced a study showing that 93 percent of U.S. adults are metabolically unhealthy, and I’m going to make the case that it’s because of a keto deficiency! The first step to metabolic freedom is teaching your body how to burn fat again.
In Chapter 3, we identified whether you are a sugar burner or a fat burner, and now we’re going to teach your cells to switch fuel sources from sugar (glucose) to fat (ketones). In this chapter I’ll share some of the extraordinary benefits of ketones, which foods to avoid as well as the best ones to add to your diet, and how to support your liver during this process.
As we established in previous chapters, epigenetics run the show: Ketones, or the state of ketosis, have been shown to turn off bad genes that were turned on from poor lifestyle behaviors.
In ancient times, our ancestors were forced into ketosis during times of famine or limited carbohydrates (such as the winter). This means that keto has been around since the dawn of humankind. I would go as far as to say that we wouldn’t exist today if it wasn’t for the metabolic process of ketosis. When our ancestors did not have food, they fasted. This fast could have been for only hours, but sometimes it lasted days to weeks. As glucose dropped inside the body and the brain, a metabolic switch to fat and ketones was made. This fueled our ancestors’ brains and bodies so they could remain sharp, focused, and energized to hunt and kill their next meal. If it wasn’t for this metabolic switch to burning fat and ketones, our ancestors would have been blubbering idiots with low energy—they wouldn’t have been capable of finding food, and they would have gone extinct.
You’ve likely heard the phrase “survival of the fittest.” In this context, “fittest” refers to those who can activate genes that promote longevity and deactivate genes linked to disease by harnessing the power of ketones.
The mechanisms of action for ketosis encompass a wide range of beneficial effects on metabolic health. Ketosis lowers blood sugar and insulin levels, while ketone bodies act as important signaling molecules that trigger a cascade of effects throughout the body. These include anti-seizure properties, alterations in neurotransmitter systems—such as increased levels of GABA and adenosine and decreased glutamate—and changes in ion channel regulation. Ion channel regulation is the process of controlling the movement of ions across cell membranes, which is essential for cellular functions like signaling, muscle contraction, and maintaining the body’s balance of fluids and electrolytes.
Ketosis also enhances mitochondrial function and production, reduces inflammation by upregulating antioxidants like glutathione peroxidase and lowering inflammatory cytokines, and decreases leptin levels. Additionally, ketosis positively impacts the gut microbiome, influences DNA methylation and gene expression, increases autophagy, boosts NAD+ levels (NAD+ levels reflect a vital molecule for energy and cell repair, declining with age), and activates sirtuin genes (sirtuin genes regulate aging, cell repair, and metabolism), all of which contribute to improved cellular health and longevity.
Research has shown that ketosis can play a significant role in managing and improving several chronic and complex diseases. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one such condition where ketosis has demonstrated benefits. Studies indicate that a ketogenic diet can help regulate insulin levels, which are often elevated in PCOS, thereby improving symptoms and fertility outcomes.2 Acne, another common condition, may improve with ketosis due to its effects on reducing insulin levels and inflammation, both of which are implicated in the pathogenesis of acne. Similarly, obesity and hyperlipidemia, both major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, have been effectively managed through ketosis. By promoting fat loss and improving lipid profiles, ketosis offers a compelling approach to weight management and metabolic health.
Epilepsy, particularly drug-resistant forms, has long been treated with ketogenic diets, with numerous studies validating its anti-seizure effects.3 This approach has been so effective that it’s considered a gold standard treatment for epilepsy in both children and adults. Moreover, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease may benefit from ketosis, as ketones provide an alternative energy source for brain cells, potentially slowing disease progression and improving cognitive function.4, 5 Autism spectrum disorders may also benefit from a ketogenic diet, with preliminary research suggesting improvements in behavior and cognition.6
Emerging research also suggests that ketosis might play a role in cancer therapy. Some studies propose that because many cancer cells rely heavily on glucose, a ketogenic diet, which lowers blood sugar, might slow tumor growth.
In the realm of metabolic diseases, ketosis has shown promise in managing diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity and glycemic control. Additionally, ketosis has been linked to improvements in cardiovascular health, reducing high blood pressure, and ameliorating conditions like fatty liver disease by decreasing liver fat and improving overall liver function.
When you conduct a quick search on “Dr. Google” for the keto diet, it will provide you with over 200 million results! It’s enough information to confuse the heck out of you. One thing’s for sure: There’s not one way to do it. Many people who supposedly teach keto do not do so with respect to the body at the cellular level. Yes, there are certain foods that will get you into ketosis, but will they actually help you achieve perfect health? In this section we’ll cover the foods you definitely want to avoid, such as inflammatory fats and artificial ingredients.
One of the most important nuggets of keto research I’ve encountered over the years has been about bad fats. They’re considered bad because they’re unstable, rancid fats that wreak cellular havoc inside the body. (See Chapter 4.) I remember sitting down for a Metabolic Freedom podcast interview with MIT research professor Brian Peskin, where I asked him about these bastardized fats. I asked him which he believed was worse for our health, these unstable fats or smoking cigarettes. Given his analytical mind, he said, “Let’s look at the research.” It turns out that if someone smoked two packs of cigarettes every day for 28 years, their chance of developing lung cancer within those 28 years is 16 percent. Compare that to someone consuming cooked vegetable oils every day for 28 years. Their chance of developing cancer and/or heart disease is 86 percent. Yikes!
When I later interviewed Dr. Cate Shanahan, M.D., author of Deep Nutrition and Dark Calories, on my podcast, I asked if her research aligned with Professor Peskin’s. She said that when you consume these industrial seed oils it raises your risk of disease closer to 100 percent! During this same interview, I presented Dr. Shanahan with three scenarios that lead to disease:
I asked her which scenario will create disease faster inside of the body. She chuckled and said, “Easy question, Ben. It’s the vegetable oils.”
Dr. Martin Grootveld estimates that in the average 5-ounce serving of fries, “aldehyde contents are not dissimilar to those arising from the smoking of a [daily] allocation of 25 tobacco cigarettes.” A large order of McDonald’s fries contains 20 to 25 fries. For each French fry you eat, you can imagine that you just smoked a single cigarette.7 Aldehydes can cause cancer by damaging DNA and proteins, leading to mutations and cellular dysfunction.
These unstable fats offer no value to the body. When they’re consumed, they gunk up your cell membranes and integral membrane proteins (receptor sites), which leads to an increase of inflammation. Dietary fatty acids incorporate into your cell membranes within hours after consuming them through a process called lipid membrane reorganization. Yes, you really are what you eat, and it happens a lot faster than most people think. When rancid fats embed into your cell membranes and mitochondrial membranes, they block the communication from your hormones, nutrients, and oxygen. When you have cellular membrane inflammation, toxins can’t get out of the cell and nutrients and hormones can’t get in. This eventually leads to disease, which first shows up as a symptom.
In addition, cell membrane inflammation remains long after the inflammatory vegetable oils have been removed. Studies suggest that the half-life of linoleic acid (omega-6 fats) is 680 days! Meaning, if you removed these bad fats from your diet today, 680 days later, about half of them will still be in your body fat creating problems.
Imagine a childhood friend who shows up to your house uninvited. He enters your house and plops himself on your couch, eats your food, makes a mess in your bathroom, and doesn’t leave for 680 days! This is what you’re doing to your cells each time you eat these unstable fats. Yes, these fats may help you enter “ketosis,” but they will lead to a destructive path.
It’s important to note that not all omega-6 fats (seed oils) are bad for you—it’s the processed, adulterated versions of these fats that make them highly inflammatory. Most of the time, these oils are the adulterated version. If you can find unadulterated versions of seed oils, such as organic, cold-pressed sunflower, safflower, or grapeseed oil, they can help protect your cell membranes—provided they are not heated.
It’s estimated that 80 percent of the food supply in the United States contains inflammatory seed oils.8 It’s a shame the American Heart Association puts their stamp of approval on these oils, stating they are “heart healthy,” when in reality they are the complete opposite.
The harmful oils you want to avoid are:
You also want to avoid a group of foods filled with chemicals that create inflammation inside your body, which ultimately will make your keto experience really hard. As we discussed in Chapter 5, these chemicals are often referred to as obesogens. Many of them can spike both glucose and insulin and can stimulate the hunger centers in your brain, which makes the keto lifestyle more difficult to sustain. They are in many popular health products, such as cereals, flavored yogurts, protein bars, low-calorie snacks, sugar-free beverages, and light salad dressings, so make sure you read the labels.
Common synthetic ingredients to avoid:
I don’t advise avoiding carbs altogether or adding more of them, so they don’t really fall into the “foods to avoid” or “foods to add” sections. In general, most people can achieve ketosis by dropping their total carbohydrates to 50 grams per day. Others might need to be more restrictive, usually those who have been sugar burners for a long time. I don’t recommend dropping your carbohydrates below 50 total grams too soon; instead, I suggest a gradual approach. When you aggressively lower your carbohydrates, it can lead to symptoms such as weakness, fatigue, and headaches, causing people to quit keto.
As you’ll see in Chapter 12, I’ve outlined the exact steps for you to achieve a fat-burning state in less than a week. Most of your carbohydrate intake should come from non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, arugula, cauliflower, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, zucchini, and asparagus. These nutrient-rich vegetables provide healthy carbohydrates that won’t cause a significant spike in glucose, helping you stay in fat-burning ketosis.
As you begin to remove some of the harmful foods that you’ve been consuming throughout your lifetime, you may be wondering what to replace them with. The goal is to prevent unwanted symptoms, such as cravings. The best way to stop these cravings is to stabilize your blood sugar and subdue your hunger hormone ghrelin. This can be accomplished by following the gradual decrease in carbohydrates, which will be outlined for you in your 30-Day Metabolic Freedom Reset, and by adding more good fats and protein to your diet.
Healthy proteins to add:
The best fats for cooking at high temps:
The best fats for salad dressings, dips, and low-heat cooking:
Approved alternative sweeteners:
The liver is the “MVP” organ, because it completes so many important tasks for the human body, especially when it comes to detoxification and fat loss. After taking over 5,000 people through a keto protocol, I discovered the number one reason why people fail to achieve success on keto: a sluggish, backed-up liver.
Many people have a sluggish liver from medications, toxins, processed foods, and/or alcohol. One of the liver’s roles is to produce bile acids (also called bile salts or hepatic biliary sludge). Bile is a fluid that is made and released by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Along with bile acids, it contains water, cholesterol, bilirubin (a breakdown product of old, recycled red blood cells), and other trace elements, and it helps to break down fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). When you start to increase healthy fats but fail to break them down properly, digestive distress occurs. The most common symptoms are loose stools and diarrhea. Thick, biliary sludge also leads to fatigue, since the process of bile production and secretion by the liver, known as choleresis, is a metabolically active process that requires a ton of energy. Not to mention, a significant amount of the sugar your body has stored over the years is housed in your liver, primarily in the form of glycogen. The liver plays a key role in regulating blood sugar levels by storing and releasing glucose as needed, especially during fasting, intense exercise, or between meals. When we consume high-sugar foods, any excess glucose not immediately used for energy is stored in the liver. Over time, these reserves can build up, leading to an overburdened liver, which may contribute to metabolic dysfunction. Reducing stored sugar allows the liver to operate more efficiently, which benefits blood sugar stability, fat metabolism, and overall metabolic health.
Imagine your liver as a factory that never stops working, constantly producing a special detergent called bile. This detergent is essential for breaking down fats in your diet, much like how a dishwasher detergent breaks down grease on dishes. Even when the kitchen is closed and no meals are being served, this factory keeps churning out detergent to be ready for the next meal. Now, if the production line slows down and the detergent piles up, the factory must use extra energy to manage and recycle the leftover detergent. This energy comes from the factory’s power source, ATP, which is also used for other important tasks like burning fat. So, when the factory diverts its energy to handle the excess detergent, it has less power available to keep the fat-burning processes running efficiently.
Sluggish bile production can drain your metabolic energy, impacting your overall metabolism and ability to burn fat. Harvard Medical School researchers have explored the relationship between bile acids and metabolic health. Studies from the Department of Molecular Metabolism at Harvard indicate that bile acids play a critical role in regulating metabolism by influencing gut microbiota and immune function. For example, bile acids can activate specific signaling pathways that improve metabolic processes and reduce inflammation, potentially leading to better overall metabolic health.9
A study conducted at Tampere University Hospital in Finland found that people with decreased bile flow are seven times more likely to experience hypothyroidism. This connection is believed to be due to the role of bile in the conversion of thyroid hormones. Specifically, bile helps trigger the release of an enzyme that converts the inactive thyroid hormone T4 into its active form, T3. This process is crucial for maintaining proper thyroid function. Additionally, gut bacteria involved in bile metabolism also play a role in this hormonal conversion, further linking bile health to thyroid function.10, 11
Research also suggests that poor bile production and flow may be linked to chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), as well as migraines. In fact, studies have indicated that there is a higher prevalence of migraines among individuals with CFS, with symptoms often exacerbated by chronic fatigue and systemic pain.12, 13 Additionally, gut inflammation, which can be influenced by bile production, has been identified as a significant factor in CFS. Altered gut microbiota and increased gut permeability, resulting in higher levels of inflammatory markers, have been observed in CFS patients.14
The solution is bitter foods, so let’s take a moment to discuss them now. Ever wonder why coffee is so popular? Here’s one reason: It’s one of the few truly bitter foods remaining in the typical American diet, and it’s also one of the few foods rich in antioxidants. In fact, research has revealed that coffee provides up to 45 percent of the antioxidants in typical Western diets.15 Even though coffee is a small percentage of our total food and beverage consumption, because it’s so rich in antioxidants, which is also what makes it bitter, it can account for a large percentage of our antioxidant intake.
These bitter antioxidants provide a wealth of health benefits, especially when they’re eaten in keto-friendly foods as part of your regular diet. Research has shown that they reduce inflammation, improve blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity, increase metabolism in fat cells, and reduce blood pressure. They also support your gut microbiome and may even help protect against cancer.16
You can dampen the bitter flavor of many vegetables while keeping the health benefits by leveraging fat to make delicious recipes. The great chef Julia Child, who had no tolerance for fake foods, said, “With enough butter, anything is good.” Her love of butter went against the mainstream attitude. Many “experts” preached that butter led to heart attacks. As usual, Julia Child was ahead of her time. She also reportedly said, “If you don’t like broccoli, put more butter on it.”
Bitter foods—including many herbs, leafy greens, ginger, lemons, limes, apple cider vinegar, cacao, and bitter melon—all contain fat-soluble vitamins as well as liver-boosting nutrients such as sulfur. These are necessary for the body to be able to produce bile, which, as I mentioned before, is needed for optimal digestion and to help the liver work at prime level. It breaks down fats into fatty acids, which can be taken into the body by the digestive tract.
For thousands of years, people have used “bitters” as digestive tonics. These have typically included leaves, roots, or flowers in an alcohol base, which are imbibed after a large meal. There may be solid science to support these beliefs. That’s largely because bitters may trigger the production of stomach acid, which facilitates a variety of digestive processes when the food you’ve eaten makes its way to the intestinal region. Additionally, bitters may increase the production of digestive enzymes, which further aids food absorption.
Bitter foods to support the liver in breaking down fat:
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Once you are fat-adapted through ketosis, the next step is to add intermittent fasting into your lifestyle. Keto and fasting pair perfectly together like bacon and eggs. They are both ancient healing strategies that have been around since humankind. In the next chapter, we’ll explore the incredible metabolic benefits of fasting.