Keto Clarity: Your Definitive Guide to the Benefits of a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet Hardcover – August 5, 2014

Why did Jimmy Moore and Eric Westman feel the need to produce Keto Clarity? Do we REALLY need another book about ketogenic diets?

Maybe they know that there are many people out there who think that the best a ketogenic diet can do is to cause bad breath, and at worst-- raise your cholesterol and risk of heart disease, and lead to fatal ketoacidosis.

Others have heard that a ketogenic diet is only useful for treating seizures in young children, and that it doesn’t work at all for obesity or diabetes in adults. The common belief is that we ALL need to follow a low fat or vegetarian diet in order to stay healthy.

Not so!

As a cardiologist I find a role for the low carbohydrate diet to reduce inflammation, shift small dense LDL to a less atherogenic pattern, and to reduce “risk factors” of obesity, high blood glucose, diabetes, and elevated blood pressure. It is the ketone that plays a role in the nutrigenomic "turn on" as well as the metabolic efficiency.

When I wear my "exercise physiologist" hat I have discovered the benefits of the ketoadaptive state for endurance training and competition.

And then as a nutritionist I have found the effectiveness of a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet for treating many disorders from Autism to Alzheimer’s. The properly formulated ketogenic diet can reduce seizures in children and increase fertility for hopeful parents-to-be. And for certain pregnant patients with gestational diabetes, or outright clinical type 1 or type 2 diabetes, there is also potential benefit to the mother and fetus. Now the ketogenic diet is being looked at as another therapeutic modality to prevent, retard, and maybe even cure some forms of cancer.

What is the difference between ketoacidosis, starvation ketosis, and nutritional ketogenesis? What are these ketone bodies? How do we make them? How do we get them? How do we measure them? And, just what do they do?

Keto Clarity provides the answers. Understanding these distinctions allows the practitioner to serve his patients with an expanded spectrum of nutritional therapies, and gives many discouraged, obese, tired, and depressed patients new hope.

Keto Clarity should be a required read for physicians and registered dieticians, and is highly recommended for all health care providers, patients, and anyone curious about nutrition.

The unique format of scientific fact, practical clinical pearls with technical tips, and patient commentary provides the full spectrum of information needed to prescribe and/or practice a low carbohydrate, ketoadaptive lifestyle, for disease resolution or health.

Men, you can skip this one unless you are looking to help someone of the female persuasion. Me and the ladies are going to chat. I'm not going to tell you much about what's in the book, because there are hundreds of reviews already, some going into that in great detail. I'm going to tell you my story:

When I was young, I could go low carb and lose weight so quickly, so easily. I loved the Atkins way, but I couldn't stay faithful. Now that I'm getting up there and coming into the beginning of menopause, things are just different. You know how it is. I have allowed so much weight to creep up on me, which led to pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, and general low quality of health. I would think to myself, "I can just go low carb and lose that, no problem." Well, it's a problem. Over the last 5 years or so, I have been losing weight, and it's been a terrible struggle with quite a bit of the roller-coaster effect. All in all, I am still down from my top weight, but not without tremendous strife. Often I would lose 10 or 12 pounds, think I was doing great, cheat once, and before I could blink an eye, 2 months had passed and I had gained that entire 12 pounds back plus 5.

So what was going on? After reading Keto Clarity, I learned that cutting my carbs just wasn't enough. I had been over eating protein, and it was converting to sugar in my body since it didn't have enough carbs to do that with. Oh, brother! No wonder I would wake up starving after a great steak and salad the night before! I was enjoying my steak a little too much. I am still tweaking my carb/protein/fat numbers, but I am getting closer to a good level for me.

Take heart, ladies. This was about a month-long process for me, and it might be for you too if you're in the same boat. My other exclusively female issue is that my cycles are getting shorter instead of longer as I age, which adds up to more time in the PMS state of mind/hormones/body. Stinks for me. During that time, it is extremely hard for a woman to experience ketosis and lose any weight. It had been a real source of discouragement. My husband went on a regular low carb diet and he has lost almost 20 pounds in the same month that I have been trying and trying to lose 3. But here's what I've observed in my body over the last month. The first thing that happened was my appetite disappeared. That was a huge thing for me, because I am prone to overeat and not really recognize when I am full, especially during those times of PMS. After about 2 weeks (still no weight loss happening) I noticed my fingers and ankles didn't have end-of-the-day swelling (from fluid retention) any longer. The next week I got up the nerve to discontinue my blood pressure medication, because it's a simple diuretic, and I am not retaining fluid. It never really worked that well for me anyway. Doctor said sure, as long as I keep a log and report back. My blood pressures have gone down slowly and steadily in the past week. This is great motivation for me, because I no longer view this way of eating as a quick-fix diet plan, but a medication for my body. Weight loss is a happy side effect of my "medication." That attitude is helping me stay faithful.

But even with that attitude, after 3 weeks and no weight loss, I needed to get serious about raising the feared fat and lowering my protein intake. Now that my appetite was under control, this was so easy to do. Here's what my day looks like now: I have coffee with cream and liquid Stevia in the mornings. I love my cream, maybe too much. I usually have 2 mugs of coffee. Then depending on my schedule I have a regular sized lunch and a snack at dinner time, or vice-versa. In the last week I have finally lost that 3 pounds I was talking about.

So here's the important part, and I'll put it in all caps so you can see it's really, really important -- DON'T TRY THIS FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS! STICK WITH IT FOR AT LEAST 3 MONTHS BEFORE YOU DECIDE IF IT IS OR IS NOT FOR YOU, AND LEARN ALL YOU CAN ABOUT IT, STUDY YOURSELF, TWEAK IT, MAKE IT YOUR OWN.

If after a few months, you've sincerely given it the old college try and seen no good results, then move along. But if you really educate yourself and do this thing, you are going to love it. I have more energy than any (still) obese person should have. My next purchase is going to have to be glucose measuring equipment because mine is out of date. I'll update this review when I get that technology. I also cannot afford the fancy ketone testing equipment, but the strips are telling me I'm finishing my first month very well.

My brain is clear. My moods are even. That angry time has turned into that mildly annoyed time. I am loving this food for the brain and hormones. The book also teaches many other ailments that a ketogenic diet can help with, and you will find it very hard not to share it with everyone you know. What a great mass-Christmas gift! But be careful, strangers at the grocery store don't necessarily want to hear that their autoimmune disorder just might be helped by this way of eating. Their loss.