This week’s episode is ‘ask me anything’ (AMA) which we wanted to answer questions from our listeners. Questions for our next episode can be submitted through http://fabulouslyketo.com/ama/

The following questions were asked by our listeners.  

Why have I stopped losing weight?  I lost 30 pounds over about a year. Now I’m stuck. Still very low carb - less than 20g

• Homeostasis is a state whereby the body reaches a steady-state
• Mix things up and keep tricking your body into giving up / losing fat
• This can be done by tracking - that you’re not over or under eating
• Carb creep from too much dairy and/or nuts
• Mixing things up like fasting for longer / shorter periods of time, different patterns.
• Watch out for the usual suspects such as stress, sleep or over-exercising.
• You may not be losing weight on the scale, but changing shape, so make sure you take pictures and measurements.  

Do you have any opinion on whether a strict keto diet is more beneficial than low carb, high-fat diet for autoimmune disease? 

• An autoimmune disorder is one whereby the body’s immune system mounts a response to a particular type of tissue in the body 
• Conditions such as Hashimoto’s, arthritis, lupus or MS 
• What are the symptoms - such as inflammation, pain, energy and then you need to find your personal threshold for symptom relief 
• Depending on the severity of the symptoms 
• As a suggestion starting with strict keto would be a good place to start and then reintroduce carbs to your threshold symptoms using a symptom diary to see the effects/results.  Conversely, the other way is equally as fine for compliance 

Do higher Ketones mean better weight loss?

• Ketones are a by-product of fat oxidation.  
• The Phinney and Volek range is between 0.5 - 3.0 mmol/L 
• There is no correlation between the amount of ketones and rate of fat loss 

Can I have more information about blood sugar and monitoring 

• For blood glucose can use a machine like the KetoMojo or CGM 
• Ketones can be measured in urine (dip strips), blood (monitor) and breath (Ketonix)
• Consider the cost of the strips into how and why you need to monitor your progress 

I’m worried about loose skin, can I do anything to help? 

• A really good resource to explain what and why there is loose skin is Ken Berry’s YouTube 

Are ground almonds the same as almond flour? 

• No, they are different 
• Almond meal coarser and darker as it is made from raw and unpeeled nuts
• Almond flour is finer as it is ground from peeled, blanched nuts which are softer 
• If needing larger quantities for baking, consider buying your nuts wholesale and mill yourself

Dr Boz YouTube on GKI ratio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?