Here is my understanding of his key points:

• Land deteriorates into desert when it is bare and not covered with vegetation. The soil is then unable to retain water and rainfall either evaporates or washes away (with topsoil).
• When grazed incorrectly, livestock does increase the rate at which grassland turns to desert. So does modern farming…
• When livestock are grazed in a similar pattern to how they would graze in the wild, e.g. in large herds which move constantly to avoid predators, they actually restore the grassland. He explains why in the video, in short “manure + urine + trampled grass = fertilizer and compost”.
• If the majority of our grasslands adopted these livestock techniques we would be able to a) feed more people and b) capture enough carbon in the ground to bring down our carbon levels to pre-industrial era levels. This would help combat climate change.

It is an interesting perspective and is heartening to learn that using these techniques they have helped restore previously barren land, giving the indigenous people a way to sustain themselves without foreign aid.

Well I think I may have finally figured out why I was still hungry even on a ketogenic diet! Before I share, I’d like to start from the beginning.

Courtesy of icanhascheezburger.com

Over Christmas, I decided to eat some desserts that contained gluten. Well one meal turned into a few more… you know how it goes and by New Years, my digestive system was seriously pissed at me. I was in a ton of pain and things were not working right in the poop department. So I decided to give my guts a break. My husband had recently brought home a protein powder that tasted very good so quite arbitrarily I started a protein shake “reset”.

The first day I had 2 shakes, each shake is 12g carb / 27g protein / 52g fat, about 600 calories. I was hungry and cranky in between meals but I was ready to do whatever it took to get my digestion back in working order. The second day, I had my first shake in the morning and then lunch rolled past… and I WASN’T HUNGRY!

By the third day it finally sunk in that something about my silly reset had completely nuked my constant gnawing hunger, cravings and thoughts of food. I was eating 2-3 shakes a day with maybe a small snack of bacon or some faux chocolate mousse. In total it has been between 1,400 – 1,700 calories a day. Which is a huge reduction from what I have been doing lately, which has been around 2,200 (all the while still hungry I might add!). This was absolutely NOT originally a diet attempt. I was simply suddenly not hungry and this just happened to be how much I felt like eating.

I have been trying this for 2 weeks now and am still experiencing the same freedom from the constant hunger. As I have been transitioning from the shakes back to normal food, I think I know why the shakes were so successful. With the shakes, I am 100% confident that I know exactly how much carb/protein/fat I was eating. There just isn’t that much variation in either the powder or the heavy cream I was mixing it with.

The same can’t be said about what I usually eat, e.g. deli ham, pork shoulder, beef brisket, pork chops and ribeye steak. All are considered high fat foods and according to my food logs, I was getting at least 75% of my calories from fat when eating these foods. But really there is a lot of variation, sometimes I get a great piece of meat, well marbled and it’s amazing. Other times, maybe it’s leaner or when I cook it, much of the fat renders and is lost. What I am saying is that I am not nearly so confident in my macronutrient ratio when eating “real food”. I would not be surprised at all if the amount of fat is much lower and the protein much higher than expected.

My theory is that I was hungry because despite my best weighing, counting and logging efforts, I wasn’t really eating as high fat and low protein as I am currently with these shakes. Which could also explain why I was having such a hard time getting above the mythical 0.5 ketone reading….

I am not perfectly sure if that is really what is going on but for the moment I want to just bask in the glory of not being hungry for the first time in months. Oh dear lord what a difference it makes to be able to have my stomach shut up and get some peace and quiet. It feels absolutely wonderful and I am just hoping like crazy that I can figure out how to replicate this with real food.

When it comes to ketones, there are a couple things to look at:

1. Are you measuring using a blood ketone meter or a urine strip?
If you are using a blood meter, it usually registers highest in the evening and lowest in the morning. If you are using the strips, it’s the opposite, higher in the morning and lower in the evening.

2. How long have you been eating a ketogenic diet?
It can take weeks for your body to adapt and make an adequate amount of ketones. If you are measuring using a blood ketone meter, the range is 0.5 – 5.0.

3. How much protein are you eating?
Your body can convert a portion of the protein you eat into glucose. Have you tried calculating your suggested protein and seeing if you are within range? Try to find an amount that keeps you satisfied, as I’ve found going too low while it may raise your ketones, causes me to be constantly hungry!

4. How much fat are you eating?
When doing a ketogenic diet, please don’t try to go low-fat! Make sure you are getting enough healthy fats (saturated and mono-unsaturated, like avocado, pastured eggs, butter and animal fats). When doing a ketogenic diet, the majority of your calories will come from fat.

If you are “doing everything right” and have given yourself enough time, you may want to try eating more coconut oil or MCT (medium chain triglyceride) oil as they are converted to ketones easily. Another idea is to switch up when you test. For example, since I have diabetes, my blood sugar rises quickly in the morning and that causes my morning ketones to read very low. However after eating breakfast, they rebound nicely.

One more thought is to ask yourself why you want higher ketones (assuming they are at least registering). Is it because you are feeling tired or experiencing poor blood sugar control? Or is it because you believe that higher ketones will result in better weight loss? If it’s the former, then keep tinkering and hopefully you will find what works best for you. If it’s the latter, I wish you the best of luck but must caution that I and a few others have found that there isn’t a great correlation between high ketones and weight loss.

www.threadless.com

I just found out about a research project that is starting up, American Gut. I believe the way it works is that you donate some money, some poo, and they will analyze it. You can find out what types of bacteria are in your gut, what’s dominant, enzymes, DNA… Interesting stuff!

They are also having participants fill out a questionnaire about their diet so that they can correlate gut bacteria and diet. FOR SCIENCE!

I am struggling with the $99 part but it would be very interesting to see what is going on in there. Plus since I keep pretty detailed food logs, I am full of … good data. Besides, who doesn’t want to know their pooper better? I know I do!

What do you think?

For the first few weeks the beta will be invitation only, while I work on any bugs. If you would like an invitation, register and you will be notified when you can join.

Bytes for Health Sample Food Log

Just a quick note, I have tried Cat Attract, Precious Cat Classic and Precious Cat Ultra this month. Honestly I cannot tell the difference between them! So my review is for the brand as a whole.

Clumping

I find the clumping to be mostly acceptable. The clumps usually stay together when I sift them out. The exception being when they pee against the side of the box and don’t cover the mess. That usually ends in pieces which is difficult to completely remove. If you cats don’t pee standing up or are good about covering their mess, then it shouldn’t be an issue.

Odor Control

What I like about Dr. Elsey’s is that they don’t add perfumes or baking soda. I have a reaction to all perfumes and have found that even “unscented” litters usually have a noticeable odor. Not so with this stuff, a new bag of clean fresh litter doesn’t really have an odor. My laundry room smells pretty neutral which I prefer.

I clean the boxes twice a day and can’t smell the box at all in-between cleanings. I was pretty surprised at how well it hides odor without any sneeze inducing additives.

Weight

This stuff is heavy! The clay alternative cat litters are all lighter.

Dust

I am happy to report that reality matches their advertising when it comes to this being a low-dust litter. I noticed immediately that the litter is mostly clay pebbles and doesn’t have a bottom layer of dust. I can pour an entire 18lb bag of litter into the box without having to cover my face (which I could NOT say for other clay litters like Arm and Hammer or Tidy Cat). Also when a kitty leaps out of the box and runs directly to me to be petted, they don’t have a fine layer of dust trapped in their coat.

Tracking

This seems to track the same as any other clay clumping litter. Luckily the clumps stick together very well so at least they don’t track any wet litter around the house like they did with the Blue Walnut litter…

Price

Cat Attract is more expansive than Precious Cat and since I can’t tell the difference between the two… I would go with whichever is cheaper. Cat Attract retails at $16 for a 20lb bag and Precious Cat at $9 for an 18 lb bag. However I have run into sales on both that end up making one much cheaper than the other or sometimes cheaper than my old standby Arm and Hammer.

Final Thoughts

If you are going to use clumping clay litter, I would go with Dr. Elsey’s without reservation. Yes, it still has silica in it but of all the clay litters I have tried, it has the lowest amount of dust. I LOVE that it truly is unscented too, not just “neutral” scented like some litters. Plus if you keep an eye out for sales, Precious Cat costs about the same as other brands.

However I have not given up on my goal of a clay alternative. I am working on getting the kitties to use World’s Best Cat Litter (slowly transitioning the test box from clay). Once they start using the test box on a regular basis, I will let you know how it went!

* 8g per wrap. They barely spike my blood sugar. When I tested with a ham and cheddar sandwich I spiked 13 points and came back down to my baseline in 2 hours.

Sopapillas

Sopapillas are a delicious Hispanic dessert that I just love. Think cinnamon twists from Taco Bell but … you know … real. I made this by heating a nonstick skillet and melting a bit of butter or coconut oil. Then lightly fry the wrap on each side until it starts to brown. Place on a paper towel and sprinkle with cinnamon and sweetener (I used Truvia). It will quickly crisp up as it dries and become crunchy and crumbly.

Fried Pure Wrap

Fried Pure Wrap with Faux Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Twist

It is killing me that I can’t remember the name of the candy I am trying to imitate (chocolate filled layered twist in the shape of a tube) but we persevere! I am calling it a Chocolate Twist and if you know what candy I am talking about, let me know!

Melt some chocolate (store bought, homemade or coconut oil themed) and paint/spread it over a wrap. Roll up and let it set in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes. Cut into whatever portions you think best.

Chocolate Twist

Other Uses

I have used the Pure Wraps in a few other less sexy ways. They have a slightly sweet taste so I don’t like them so much with roast beef but they work great with ham.

I have made a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with less than stellar success. I grilled the ham and let the cheese melt on top then placed it on the wrap. Unfortunately the wrap immediately soaked up all the moisture from the ham and become a soggy mess. That’s the tough thing about these wraps, they are very thin and don’t do well with wet ingredients.

Have you tried Pure Wraps yet? Let me know if you have any novel uses for them!

Monk kitty is more enlightened than you

After listening to The Paleo View’s podcast on dairy, I finally decided to listen to that little voice that has been telling me for years that “You are allergic to milk you dummy! Why are you still eating butter and heavy cream!?” See, I was diagnosed with a milk allergy as a kid and instead of taking it seriously, I spent my teens figuring out exactly how much and how often I could get away with dairy before the symptoms became too much. When I went paleo a year ago, I heard that some people allow dairy in their primal diet if they tolerate it… and well… I am a lazy contradiction filled SOB and decided to continue my grand experiment of seeing how much high-fat dairy I could get away with.

Well no more! The last of the heavy cream is out of the house and I have placed the coconut oil prominently on the counter to replace butter. My hope is that my chronic sinus inflammation will subside and I can breath easier at night. Yes, you would think breathing and sleeping are important enough that I would never have played games like this but it is amazing what we tell ourselves when we really want to do something even if we know it is bad for us.

Also, I am going full autoimmune protocol. I have two autoimmune related diseases, diabetes and endometriosis, and maybe this will help sooth the savage immune system. I have never in my life tolerated most of the foods banned on the autoimmune list like onions, peppers or most spices. Funny that I have no problem avoiding those other foods, but can’t stay away from dairy, even though both make me sick. I just learned that dairy activates opiate receptors in the brain, so I am making that my official excuse!

The only food on the autoimmune list that I actually want to eat are eggs. Lately every time I make deviled eggs, I get wicked heartburn, even when I tried making “Angel Eggs” stuffing the whites with avocado. So I figure, go full monk, cut it all out and watch for signs of improvement.

So starting today I am cutting out the following foods: ALL dairy, eggs, nightshades (potato, peppers, paprika, tomatoes, etc) and nuts. I am sure there are more items on the list to avoid, and I will cut them out as well as soon as I read up a bit more on the autoimmune protocol and learn what they are.

Wish me luck!

Energy

Every time someone talks about nutritional ketosis, just going low-carb or full blow ketogenic, they report that they have tons of energy. For me it wasn’t so cut and dry. Even when keto-adapted and with sufficient blood ketones, I still struggle with having enough energy. For example, I just got a new fancy standing desk but many days am too tired to stand for even one hour. Surely part of that is becoming used to standing but when I am too tired to even try… I feel like a wimp.

Without a doubt, I have more energy than when not keto-adapted but there is room for improvement. I get as much sleep as my body wants, no set bed-times or alarm clocks for this girl, and that ends up being around 9-10 hours a night. I am no longer restricting calories either. Maybe its those mythical adrenals?

One thing that has helped is switching from working out twice a week to just once a week. My trainer and I are thinking that while I have been able to progressively lift greater weights over the months, my ability to recover from a workout has not increased at the same pace. Another note on the exercise front is that my progress in the gym has neither been harmed nor helped by being in ketosis. I swear I have lazy mitochondria which would explain why my performance is quite lack-luster in either state!

Hunger

Again, most people report no longer being hungry all the time, reduced cravings and even the ability to skip meals. For me, not so much. I still get true hunger 3x a day (about every 4 hours). I still have intrusive thoughts and cravings in between which I know isn’t real hunger but is still effective in getting me off my butt and foraging for a snack…

Some of my worst cravings have subsided now that I am eating higher protein. When I was eating about 0.4g/lb, I was able to get my ketones higher than 1.5 in the morning but the cost was constant, REAL hunger. Now that I get at least 30g per meal, or 0.7g/lb, my fasting ketones are always hovering around 0.5 but a lot of my hunger pangs have subsided. I could play with adding even more but this is how much my body seems to want, adding more just makes me feel barfalicious.

I would love to get to a point where I don’t need to snack. But it isn’t hurting my blood sugar or causing weight gain so… I am leaving well enough alone.

Wagons

One last “myth” that I hear often is that if you “fall out of ketosis” it will take 2 weeks to recover. Here I am happy to report that this has not been my experience! A few times I have eaten more carbs in a meal than I normally get over the course of 3 days. Sure that knocks my ketones right down to “lo” (and sends my blood sugar soaring), but I have been able to get my ketones back up to “pre-goof” level in 1-2 days.

In August, after my meltdown, I switched from ketogenic to “just” low-carb and was completely out of ketosis for weeks. When I decided that I was ready to give it another go, it only took 4 days.

I am not sure where the 2 week estimate to re-adapt comes from. Maybe because that is how long it can take someone to switch over from a very high-carb diet? Luckily for me, I bounce back much quicker and without any low-carb transition issues.

So how am I doing?

I have gotten to the point where I can maintain my goal blood ketones (0.5) without weighing or tracking my food. My blood sugar is predictable (huzzah!) I can happily wing it at a restaurant or friend’s house and not “ruin everything”. Even if I do indulge in a few extra carbs… or cows, it’s not a big deal and I can move on without guilt since it just takes a day or two to recover.

When I first started, I had to track everything, weigh my protein and purposefully add fat to achieve an adequate blood ketone level. It felt like a lot of work and probably was not something I would keep up forever. Now that my body is adapted (and I have learned what 5oz of pork chop looks like), it seems just as easy as my previous low-carb diet.

In the end, if I can go to the grocery store on autopilot and eat whatever looks good in the house while staying “on diet” then I know it is sustainable.

Clumping

I was surprised at how well it clumped. It held together while scooping much better than Swheat Scoop (wheat based) or World’s Best Cat Litter (corn based). The final clump is smaller and less firm than what you get from a good clumping clay litter but none of the clumps broke apart so I think it’s pretty comparable with clay.

Odor Control

After decades of huffing clay litter (unscented or otherwise) the natural smell of the walnut was really a welcome change. Suddenly my laundry room went from smelling like … litter (clean but still unmistakably litter) to a fresh wood smell. The used litter didn’t have much of an odor. I couldn’t smell any urine and while the poop smell wasn’t completely hidden once scooped, while it was in the litter box, you couldn’t smell that it was “dirty” at all. In my opinion, this works better than clay when it comes to odor.

Weight

I was happily surprised that this litter is much lighter than the equivalent volume of clay litter. I used a 34lb bag in place of my usual 40lb.

Dust

The manufacturer claims “Virtual No Dust” and “Unlike clay litter, which often throws off silica dust, BLUE Naturally Fresh is virtually dust-free so you and your cat can breathe easier!”. I’m the first to admit that clay litter is dusty and I’m not comfortable with the idea of either me or the cats inhaling silica dust. However this stuff was dustier than clay! The litter is a dark walnut brown (surprise, surprise) and when I ran my hand through the litter, it came out completely brown. Imagine putting your hand in a bag of cocoa powder…

The sides of the box turned brown instantly, and after one use all 3 cats had dark brown feet, leaving footprints through the house. When I tried to clean my white footed cat’s feet, it stained both his foot and anything it touched. I can’t see how they can say with any honesty that this litter isn’t dusty. Maybe it’s healthier dust (debatable) but the visual damage to my house, clothes and cats was much worse.

Tracking

Again I was unhappy with the difference between how this litter was advertised and my experience. They say “doesn’t stick to your cat’s paws so it’s less likely to be tracked throughout the house”. I call BS. I had brown, wet pebbles throughout my house within hours. I would say it sticks to paws just as much as clay litter, and since it doesn’t clump as hard, some of the wet litter can escape as well. FAIL.

Price

It retails at $1.23 / lb, while Arm and Hammer Clumping Clay litter (not the cheapest brand out there) is only $0.67 / lb.

Final Thoughts

I was planning on trying this litter out for 30 days but couldn’t stand it and changed the box after 2 days. I loved the odor, weight and health benefits. I could have lived with the price. But the brown dust was everywhere and once a cat tracked wet litter onto the dinning table I was done. Maybe if I were a better kitty mom, I would have said the health benefits were worth it. But evidently I’m not that good of a kitty mom… Maybe it depends on the cat. If it hadn’t stuck to their feet, I think I would have stuck with it. Two of the cats have long hair and “toe-hawks” though. If you have short hair cats, I would say it’s worth a shot.

Once I dumped the box, I put in Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract since it is supposed to be one of the lowest dust clay litters on the market. We’ll see how it goes and I’ll report back.