My verdict on the modified Keto Diet for women

For 4 weeks I’ve been following a modified Keto diet. I read about it via Dr Sara Gottfried in the US who is fantastic about all things hormones. Her book, Women, Food and Hormones is fascinating. She explains why a Keto diet - high fat and protein, low carb and sugar, works so well for women to rebalance hormones and gives a 4 week guide. The hardest bit was definitely psychological, it did help that I didn’t have many social engagements on. Especially around my period, I craved sweet things and was fantasising about mashed potato and mac & cheese!

Dr Sara recommends measuring your food which I didn’t, and also weighing yourself daily which I didn’t (I do weekly as I can get obsessed by the scales) and also to use a blood ketone monitor but I stuck with urine. What I did do, was measure my sugars using the Freestyle Libre which was helpful.

A day of eating, roughly consisted of:

• black coffee, sometimes with a teaspoon of MCT oil
• a puritition Keto shake with coconut or almond milk, some Xylitol to sweeten and a teaspoon of MCT oil if it isn’t in my coffee.
• a salad with egg or tuna, avocado and oil dressing
• some nuts for snacks
• fish/meat and broccoli or sprouts for dinner or a home made coleslaw, oil dressing or mayo
• a sugar free Keto brownie for dessert. Bad brownie or the low carb company. Or a small piece of dark (85%) chocolate.

I hardly felt hungry, my mood and energy were definitely better, and by the way, you can’t drink alcohol on this program, so factor that in. I’m also not a very imaginative cook so I was so bored of my own food! I may do a meal delivery for a week when I restart this to see if I can get some ideas. I bought some low carb rolls from the Low Carb Company and I made a turkey, egg, cheese, salad and mayo roll and it was heaven to have something different!

Is this sustainable forever? I’m not sure. I’m on a holiday this week and I’ve already eaten mash and chips (not together) but don’t feel good for it! So I’m definitely going to do the plan again. I did lose weight (about 7lbs) but people have commented on how well I looked too.

I believe a good ‘reset’ is always good. I think it’s about balance. I’m going to a wedding this week and want to feel part of it and not worrying about carbs. However I don’t like feeling sluggish or tired, or not being able to manage my weight. So I’m going to have to find a way to balance this into my lifestyle. One idea is to have one day a week where I eat what I like. I’m still figuring it out but I’ll keep you posted.

One thing that’ll be interesting, is what my 'Real Age' score will be when I repeat it in 3-4 months. It’s currently 1 year older than my current age! I’m hoping with my new supplements and change in diet I can improve on this, or get it to 10 years younger by the end of the year!!

This is a test I’m offering to my patients too so if you’re interested let me know!

Here are some helpful resources:
https://www.saragottfriedmd.com/women-food-and-hormones-why-keto-doesnt-work-for-all-women/
https://www.saragottfriedmd.com/the-ketogenic-diet-for-women/