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Even with my UC symptoms slowly subsiding, I was still denying my health was returning. I hung on the old habit of spotting public bathroom while I was out even when my tummy was nice and calm. I guess it takes a long time to shed the insecurities of a sick body and embrace the health most people take for granted. It's been one year since I added Nutritional Ketosis to my wellness equation. By teaching my body to use fat as fuel, I was able to bring my Ulcerative Colitis to full remission. There, I said it! The improvements I noticed in my health include mental clarity and stable energy throughout the day, in other words, I feel pretty darn amazing. In this update, I'll be talking about how I'm diving deeper into my keto practice with intermittent fasting and how intuitive eating helps me find balance that led me to the improvements mentioned above.
Intermittent Fasting
If you start researching about the ketogenic healing approach, sooner or later you will come across the talk about intermittent fasting. Like most people, it took me a long time to warm up to the idea of not eating to help heal the body. This was also triggering memories of UC flare up where I was forced to fast because everything I ate or drank hurt. Even as weak as I was from fasting, I remembered that the bowel rest made me feel better. At that time, I chalked it up to the much needed rest for my raw gut helped my body focus on healing instead of digesting foods, but there is actually more to that. When I learned this funny sounding word Autophagy "... a housekeeping role in removing misfolded or aggregated proteins, clearing damaged organelles, such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and peroxisomes, as well as eliminating intracellular pathogens. " through my research, I was fascinated by how smart our bodies are designed. This " biological process ... plays a key role in your body’s ability to detoxify, repair, and regenerate itself" In plain English, our own self clean system!
If you want to read more about autophagy, click HERE or HERE
I eat when I'm hungry instead of for other emotional reasons;
boredom, stress or thirst.
So how does Intermittent Fasting fit so perfectly into my schedule and lifestyle? As I experimented with Intermittent Fasting ( IF), I found that I was able to carry out my day with longer periods in between meals. First I started with early dinners and late morning brunches with no snacks in between, then I found I could power straight through to lunch effortlessly. The next transition came when I just didn't feel hungry until late afternoon. Now, most of the days I would enjoy an evening feast with nutrient dense foods like my favourite meat dish, my must have giant salad, sometimes two, and a side of cooked vegetables with healthy servings of good fats of course. That's it. I feel like a Queen with no drama hanger in between. Initially, what motivated me to give IF a try was how it fit into my day. Back when I was still nervous about my unsettled gut especially shortly after I ate, I found that if I could fast during the day when I was most busy running around, I could enjoy my more elaborately prepared dinner at home where I would have no stress about finding a public bathroom. That plan worked well for me so I stuck to it. Throughout the day, to make sure I keep well hydrated, I drink lots of fluids like noncaffeinated herbal teas. AIP Bulletproof style Dandelion Chicory Coffee with a sprinkle of Himalayan pink salt to balance my electrolytes was one of my favourite. I also discovered diluted Keto Lemonade sans the sweetener was refreshing for warmer days.
Intuitive eating
I have to admit, in the beginning of my IF, I was following my schedule so I don't mess up my routine. As I became more comfortable and confident in my new way of fueling my body, I loosened up the grip and learned about the art of intuitive eating. This doesn't mean I can go about being unprepared, it just means that if I needed to delay my food intake a bit longer, I wouldn't have a meltdown and crash. This also means that I eat when I'm hungry instead of for other emotional reasons; boredom, stress or thirst. It's a very empowering and freeing practice.
Evidence of Improvement
Fueling my body with fat instead of sugar continues to hold first place in making my UC remission a reality. My bloodwork shows a drop in my Hemoglobin A1C from 5.5 to 5.1. It would make sense that by regulating my blood sugar, my mind was sharper and my energy remains stable throughout the day. You would think that since I wasn't eating as often as before, I'd crash sometime in the day, that's the beauty of using fat as fuel, once the body adapts, it can tap into the stored energy - body fat.
Keto Tastebuds
You know when people go on any kind of eliminations diet like a sugar detox, all of a sudden their taste buds come alive, waking up from a deep sleep. Well, I have been experiencing that with ketosis. When refined sugar was initially removed from Paleo/ AIP, I had noticed a change in my taste buds. But eventually, I let the natural sugars from fruits and starchy root vegetables creep back in my diet. When I began my Keto journey, my sense of taste REALLY awakened. Did I miss the sweet taste at first? Yes, but once the increase fat intake stepped in to help me feel more satiated, my cravings for sweets slowly went away. Lately, I've been having urges to chow down whole lemons like rinds and all, you know like how people eat kumquats? My husband's caramelized lemons on the BBQ might have started it or it could be from my current crush on Lemon Essential oils, either way, my sweet craving is pretty nonexistent. Instead, I crave for some lemon power on a spoonful of coconut "butter". A tasty tart fat bomb is what this girl craves for now.
Nutritional Ketosis has definitely fine-tuned my body's natural healing senses. This way of eating has sharpened my thinking, improved my focus, uplifted my moods, and stabilized my energy, of course, I didn't forget the silencing of my Ulcerative Colitis. I love how my body feels being fat adapted, I feel more confident and stable in my ability to carry out my days without crashes. I'm finally at a place where my body is running like the magnificent machine it was designed to do. Like all protocols, there is no one size fit all, but I'm sure glad I found what works for my body. If you're still searching, hang in there, "Rome wasn't built in a day". Your body is great and it needs time and patient to nurture it. If you follow your intuition, you can find our personal protocol too.
Here is my post from last year shortly after I started incoperated Nutritional Ketosis into my Paleo Autoimmune Protocol.
For more interest on Nutritional Ketosis, Fat Fuel and Fasting, please refer to the following resources
Wahls Protocol
Healthful Pursuit
Dr. Jason Fung
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