"Induction Flu" isn't this bad!
Transgressions: none
Exercise: none
Comments
I learned about a new concept—to me anyway—over a LowCarbFriends.com. “Induction flu” is the mild muscle achiness and dizziness I experienced on days 3-4 of this very low-carb diet. Intensity varies from person to person, of course. It might also include “brain fog” described by Isaac at his blog.
-Steve
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Filed under My KMD Experience
Vinegar and oil
Transgressions: 1 Metamucil fiber wafer
Exercise: none
Comments
Vinaigrette (Olive Oil & Vinegar Salad Dressing)
Ingredients: 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp parsley (fresh, chopped), 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper (freshly ground), 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard, 1/4 tsp paprika, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 garlic clove (minced)
Instructions
In a bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk together. Alternatively, you can put all ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake vigorously. This tastes even better if you let it sit for several hours before using as a salad dressing or drizzling over fresh or cooked vegetables. Refrigerate any remaining. Servings per batch: 6. Serving size: 1 tbsp. Digestible carbs per tbsp: 1 g.
With the size of the salads I’m eating these days, I’d use 2 tbsp.
This recipe was in The Advanced Mediterranean Diet. Find many more vinaigrette recipes at Allrecipes.com and RecipeZaar.
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Jalapeno peppers put the "pico"in pico de gallo
Transgressions: none
Exercise: none
Comments
A friend made me some pico de gallo to put on my sautéd breakfast eggs. Here’s the quick, easy recipe for “pico de gallo a la Rosa”:
Ingredients
tomatoes 6 oz, onion 2 oz, one jalapeno pepper, cilantro3-4 tbsp chopped, salt
Chop all vegetables very finely. Use the entire jalapeno, including seeds. Use less jalapeno and discard the seeds if you want it mild (no pico!). Cilantro amount is 3-4 Tbsp. Combine all ingedients. Salt to taste. Makes 1.25 cups. Serving size is about 1/2 cup over three fried eggs or whatever. A half cup serving size (80 g) has 3 g of digestible carbohydrate. Recipe makes 1.25 cups or about three servings. Eat at room temperature, chilled, or heated at medium heat in a saucepan (about 5 minutes, until jalapenos lose their intense green color).
I used NutritionData’s “My Recipe” function to analyze and record this recipe. Their analysis provides everything you would want to know about macro- and micronutrients in the recipe. And it’s free!
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Weight: 157.5
Transgressions: 1 Metamucil fiber wafer
Exercise: none
Comments
I was in the mood for something sweet and crunchy, like a cookie. The Metamucil wafer was a good substitute, with only 5.5 g of digestible carb per wafer. According to the database at NutritionData, a commercially prepared 15-g sugar cookie has 10 g of digestible carbohydrate—I figured it would be more. Maybe I’ll just add two wafers per week to the KMD, then it won’t be a “transgression.”
I’m aware there’s a whole world of low-carb, refined, processed sweet treats that I have not explored. Probably best for my body to keep sweets to a minimum.
Do you have a favorite low-carb sweet treat?
Filed under My KMD Experience
Nuts are a rich source of potassium
Transgressions: extra 0.5 oz sunflower seeds (above the 1 oz nut allowance)
Exercise: none
Comments
My nutrient analysis at NutritionData suggests that the un-supplemented Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet may be deficient in potassium. Here’s a summary of potassium physiology from UpToDate:
Potassium’s Role
Fluid and blood mineral balance. Cell integrity. Muscle contraction. Nerve transmission.
Dietary Sources
Very high in molasses, seaweed, dried figs. Nuts, dried fruits, avocado, wheat germ, spinach, bran cereals, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, winter squash, oranges, bananas, kiwis, cantaloupe, and meats (ground beef, steak, pork, veal, lamb). Also salt substitutes (potassium chloride).
Centrum multivitamin/multimineral supplement has very little potassium.
Signs of Deficiency
Weakness, easy fatigue, paralysis, belly distension, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps, numbness or tingling, sore muscles, heart rhythm disturbances.
Implications
You have a several options if you have minor signs or symptoms suggesting potassium deficiency: 1) consult your physician for an accurate diagnosis, 2) have your physician draw a blood level of potassium , 3) increase your intake of potassium-rich foods (e.g., meats, avocados, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli) for a few days and note your response, 4) try a salt substitute (potentially dangerous if you have kidney disease or your blood potassium is already high and you don’t know it).
If you have physcal signs or symptoms to a moderate or severe degree, consult your personal physician.
Disclaimer: All matters regarding your health require supervision by a personal physician or other appropriate health professional familiar with your current health status. Always consult your personal physician before making any dietary or exercise changes.
Filed under My KMD Experience
Weight: 158 lb
Transgressions: none
Exercise: none
Comments
I’m getting a few nocturnal leg and foot cramps waking me from my sleep. Or they’re there when I wake up. Not sure what’s going on. Perhaps a mineral deficiency (magnesium, calcium?). Not enough exercise? Just a fluke? Most people get leg cramps now and then. Will monitor a while for spontaneous resolution.
LowCarbFriends.com has a message board that discusses muscle cramps. Us the “search” function.
-Steve
Filed under My KMD Experience
Weight: 158 lb
Transgressions: none
Exercise: none
Comments
Too busy. See ya!
-Steve
Filed under My KMD Experience
Eat greens for vitamin K
Weight: 158 lb
Transgressions: none
Exercise: none
Comments
My nutrient analysis at NutritionData suggests that the un-supplemented Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet might be deficient in vitamin K. Here’s a summary of vitamin K physiology from UpToDate.com:
Roles
1) promotes blood clotting (coagulation) by working with key proteins such as carboxylase enzymes, 2) bone formation
Sources
1) green vegetables like spinach and broccoli provide vitamin K1 (phylloquinones), 2) intestinal bacteria produce K2 (menaquinone), which provides a portion of our K1
Note these vitamin K % Daily Values: iceberg lettuce (22%), romaine lettuce (60%), and spinach (181%).
Deficiency States
Deficiency causes easy bruising and bleeding. Rare in healthy adults, not uncommon in newborns. Occasionally seen in prolonged fasting or starvation, and after use of many antibiotics (which kill gut bacteria and reduce vitamin K activation in the liver).
Implications
Vitamin K deficiency seems unlikely to be an issue with the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet, especially if the dieter is eating some leafy greens and taking a multivitamin daily. The days on which my vitamin K intake was low probably were my days heavy on iceberg lettuce or non-green veggies.
People on a very low-carb diet not uncommonly experience easy bruising. Could be related to vitamin K deficiency. I wonder also about capillary fragility from vitamin C deficiency.
One Centrum has 31% of the recommended % Daily Value of vitamin K.
-Steve
Comments Off on My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 35 + Vitamin K Review
Filed under My KMD Experience
Fishin' for catfish
Weight: 159 lb
Transgressions: breaded fried catfish
Exercise: none
Comments
My wife surprised me with some home-made, lightly breaded, fried catfish. I had to estimate composition: 5-oz piece of fish (actual weight), 2 tbsp McCormick Seafood Fry Mix (18 g carb from corn meal and flour), and 3 Tbsp soybean oil. It got cold before I got to it, so she put it back in the frying oil to re-warm it. God knows how much oil was really in that piece of fish. Yummy, anyway. I entered the McCormick Fry Mix as a “custom food” at NutritionData.com so it could be part of my nutrient analysis for the day.
My nutrient analysis at NutritionData suggests that the un-supplemented Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet may be deficient in zinc. Here’s a summary of zinc physiology from UpToDate:
Physiologic Role
Important component of proteins, including enzymes. Contributes to protein structure. Functions in cell division and body growth.
Sources
Meat, chicken, nuts, lentils, fortified breakfasts cereals.
Deficiency
Impaired immune function, hypgonadism, delayed sexual maturity, growth retardation, hair loss, night blindness, impaired wound healing, skin lesions, change in hair color, loss of appetite, decreased sperm count, impotence. Seems to contribute to severity of diarrhea and upper respiratory infections. 45% of adults have inadequate intake.
Implications
I’m a bit mystified as to why the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet might be deficient in zinc, since it provides generous amounts of nuts, chicken, and meat. In any case, one Centrum multivitamin/multimineral tablet provides 73% of the Daily Value recommended for adults.
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Filed under My KMD Experience
Weight: 159 lb
Transgressions: 12 oz of 7-Up carbonated beverage
Exercise: none
Comments
I accidentally drank a 7-Up at the hospital physician’s lounge: the diet 7-Ups were right next to the regular 7-Ups in the refrigerator. It had 39 g of carbs, all sugar of course. I didn’t realize what I’d done until too late; the texture finally gave it away. I rarely drink 7-Up in any case. My favorite diet soda is Fresca. Nothing wrong with 1-2 daily for most folks. If I were going to cheat on purpose, it wouldn’t be with soda pop. Snickers bar is more like it!
My nutrient analysis of the un-supplemented Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet suggests that it may be deficient in magnesium. Here’s a summary of magnesium physiology from UpToDate.com and Medscape:
Role of Magnesium
Influences properties of cell membranes. Helps regulate other mineral levels: sodium, potassium, calcium. Works with enzymes, particulary in energy production. Helps with protein production. Most of our magnesium is in our bones.
Sources
Leafy greens, nuts, legumes, animal proteins. [All but legumes are on the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet.]
Effects of Deficiency State
Abnormal EKG (an electrical tracing of heart activity). Abnormal heart rhythms, especially ventricular arrhythmias. Weakness, convulsions, loss of appetite, low blood levels of calcium and potassium, seizures, apathy, delirium coma.
Causes of Low Magnesium
Gastrointestinal or kidney losses: vomiting, diarrhea, diuretics, genetic disorders, several kidney-toxic drugs little used in the general population, small bowel bypass surgery, inability to absorb from intestinal tract.
Miscellaneous: marked dietary deprivation, diabetes, alcohol abuse, high blood calcium levels, ketogenic extremely high-fat diets used to suppress epilepsy (usually in children: up to 10% have low magnesium).
Implications
Hmm…, causes of magnesium deficiency include …ketogenic extremely high-fat diets used to suppress epilepsy… The ketogenic anti-epilepsy diet may be even lower in carbohydrates than is the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet, so fewer leafy greens (and nut-free?). Since I don’t treat children with epilepsy, I haven’t done much research into the anti-epilepsy ketogenic diet yet.
One Centrum multivitamin/multimineral supplement contains only 13% of the recommended “% Daily Value” of magnesium. Might be a good idea for KMD dieters to take an additional magnesium supplement, probably available over-the-counter at pharmacies, supermarkets, or health food stores. Or get a blood level of magnesium drawn periodically.
-Steve
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