Author: Jerry Hizon MD

The Pros and Cons of the Ketogenic Diet

Posted onAuthorJerry Hizon MDLeave a comment

If you are thinking about trying a ketogenic diet for weight loss or health, it is worth considering the pros and cons.

Ketosis is a natural body process that converts stored fats into energy. A ketogenic diet helps your natural fat burning function work its magic longer than normal. In this way, it is a very natural form of dieting.

What are the cons or disadvantages of the keto diet plan?

  • You will need to go through an adaptation period of around 1 to 2 weeks. For some people, this phase can be uncomfortable as the body becomes ‘fat adapted.’
  • Many people take great pleasure in eating carbs, and feel like they lose the ‘fun’ aspect of eating.
  • It takes more time to consider your meal choices. This can be especially true when dining at restaurants, where a lot of meals are carb-heavy.
  • For those who exercise a lot, there can be a drop in performance ability and stamina in the early stages. This can be unmotivating if you are a person who does a lot of physical activity.
  • Sometimes your friends may criticize you, or say you are crazy for eating more fat. This is common on the keto diet, as for almost 50 years it has been believed that eating fat is bad for your health.

What are the pros or advantages of the keto diet?

  • Reduce insulin levels meaning you have fewer crashes (sometimes known as a ‘carb crash’) during the day. This leads to more consistent sustained energy.
  • A lot of people feel like they have reduced appetite, and will need fewer snacks. This is because the body is used to burning fat for fuel and isn’t seeking ‘quick burn’ carbs and glucose.
  • Studies have shown and Increase in thermogenesis (meaning the production of body heat) which increases the number of calories you burn on a daily basis.
  • Reduced risk of degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, diabetes. The current research is showing how much our carb and heavy sugar diets are causing issues with our health. Ketogenic diets can potentially reduce this risk dramatically.
  • When you’re in ketosis your brain switches to ketones as a fuel source. Because it has a consistent fuel source, this means that you can focus for longer periods of time.
  • Recent medical studies have shown that the Keto diet can be a great way to help to lower blood pressure.

When weighing up the pros and cons of keto, you must decide what is more important: short or long-term results. Most of the cons of keto diets are short-term, whereas the pros of the ketogenic diet are long term.

 

Jerry Hizon, MD is a keto doctor working from Murrieta and Temecula, California. He assists people with weight loss and lifestyle changes to improve their health. If you are interested in getting started with a keto diet, we can help you stay on track, with our Nudge Coaching program, and guidance from Dr. Jerry Hizon. Reach out to us today to see how much better you can feel!

Cardio exercise and the keto diet

Posted onAuthorJerry Hizon MDLeave a comment

Most people begin a ketogenic diet for weight loss and to improve their health. Along with changing the diet habits, another important step can be to add some cardio to your keto diet plan. But how valuable is cardio to weight loss? Does it have as much effect when combined with a ketogenic diet?

What is the true value of cardiovascular exercise?

Adults as rule are much more sedentary today than we used to be 100 years ago. Many of us work with computers or in offices that don’t require a lot of physical output.

If you have a sedentary job, you might notice that you body feels very low energy at the end of the day. You can even experience have tight muscles, an aching back, or feel exhausted even though you haven’t done anything physical.

In contrast, think about how you felt last time you had a good workout: your muscles are alive, you body is more flexible, the blood is pumping and providing oxygen and energy. It’s likely you feel energized, confident and even proud of yourself for taking the time to exercise.

This is why cardio exercise can be a great solution.

According to Very Well Fit, here are some of the key benefits of a cardio program:

  • Weight loss
  • Stronger heart and lungs
  • Increased bone density especially in older age
  • Reduced stress
  • Reduced risk of heart disease and some types of cancer
  • Temporary relief from depression and anxiety
  • More confidence about how you feel and how you look
  • Better sleep

How a Keto Diet affects Cardio

In the early stages of the keto diet, there can be a tendency to feel less energy and stamina. It can dampen your enthusiasm for exercise, especially cardio, which is usually fueled by carbs.

If you already have a regular exercise program in place, then you may have to go easier on yourself during the first few weeks or month. But over time as your body becomes more fat adapted, you may find that your stamina increases.

The key here is to exercise not only for weight loss but for the other benefits: the enjoyment, the cardiovascular health, the mental health, less stress, better sleep, etc.

Cardio can cause water retention so you have to trust the process, know you’re eating with a plan in mind, and be patient.

Keep in mind as well, that cardio isn’t as effective for weight loss as many people think because it doesn’t burn as many calories they think and it’s easy to eat them back.

When you combine exercise with ketogenic diet, the results can be impressive. You are creating two new habits at once, and you are also increasing your chances for greater longevity.

But take it easy in the earlier stages and be aware that the true benefits of exercise may actually be the health and lifestyle improvements, rather than just weight loss.

Jerry Hizon, MD is a keto doctor working from Murrieta and Temecula, California. He assists people with weight loss and lifestyle changes to improve their health. His keto coaching programs helps people to track their progress and stay on track. Visit his website today to learn more, or sign up online for a keto coaching session via nudge coaching.

The benefits of bone broth in the keto diet

Posted onAuthorJerry Hizon MDLeave a comment

The primary focus of the ketogenic diet is to train your body to burn fat for energy rather than glucose, which is obtained through carbohydrates.

A standard ketogenic diet ratio is: 75% fat, 20% protein, 5% carbs. Of course, since every person has a unique body and lifestyle, it may help to use a ketogenic diet calculator to determine your exact macronutrient needs. It will help to diet plan to how to keep your body in a state of ketosis, based on your current weight, height and exercise levels.

Limiting your carbs allows you to enter the fat-burning state called ketosis. Most experts will suggest lowering your carb levels to approximately 5% of your diet, and increasing fat consumption to at least 70% of your diet.

After a short period of time, your body will begin to rely on fatty acids for energy, which are essentially the secondary ‘backup’ energy source when glucose isn’t available.

The early stages of the keto diet can be difficult

However, in the first few weeks, you may find it difficult to continue to break through to ketosis. This initial period can be plagued by the condition known as the keto flu, which is when the lack of carbohydrates can cause fatigue and flu-like symptoms.

During this period, one of the best methods for overcoming the initial struggle and the keto flu is to consume bone broth.

What exactly is bone broth?

Bone broth is a savory liquid made up of the water in which the bones and cartilage of meat or fish have been simmered. The nutritional content of each bone broth varies based on the bones used, the amount of cooking time, and the cooking method. However, you can almost guarantee that you will find the same nutrients to some degree in every bone broth.

Overcoming the keto flu with bone broth

The keto flu happens as a result of suddenly removing carbs from your diet. Most people experience typical flu-like symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, headaches, dizziness. This usually isn’t a cause for concern — it’s a natural reaction your body has when you make drastic changes to your diet.

To help ease keto flu symptoms, it can be helpful to reintroduce a few extra carbs to make the transition period less intense. Bone broth is a great ‘transition’ food that offers a few grams of carbs but still fits within the macros of the keto diet plan.

Drinking bone broth can may also be a preventative measure against the keto flu in the early stages of the keto diet, thanks to the vitamins, minerals it contains.

Using bone broth to increase electrolytes

When you start a low-carb diet, you’re also cutting out the majority of fruit and starchy vegetables. These two types of food are typically the richest sources of electrolytes. For this reason, if you don’t plan carefully, it’s possible to end up with an electrolyte imbalance.

The good news is that bone broth contains all four electrolytes, including calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium. By adding 1 or 2 cups of bone broth to your diet, you can keep your electrolytes in check when you’re eating fewer fruits and veggies.

Minerals, collagen and other healing properties of bone broth

As you can tell, bone broth is a powerhouse when it comes to therapeutic and beneficial foods on and off the ketogenic diet. Here are some of the main benefits people experience:

  • Rich in essential minerals, such as phosphorus and calcium
  • Rich in collagen and gelatin which help keep your bones, tendons, ligaments, and joints healthy
  • Helps with leaky gut
  • Helps fight infections
  • Strengthens hair and nails
  • Helps with muscle repair
  • Reduces inflammation (the primary cause of heart disease)
  • Great for adrenal fatigue tissues and thyroid health

If it’s entirely new for you, you can start to incorporate a cup or two of bone broth into your keto diet on a regular basis to start seeing is wondrous effects like increased digestive health, stronger bones, glowing skin, and so much more.

Dr. Jerry Hizon, MD strives to demystify the complex science of nutrition, giving his patients sound nutritional guidance designed to set them up for long-term dietary success, whatever their specific goals may be.

Ketogenic Diet Tips: What to eat and when to eat

Posted onAuthorJerry Hizon MDLeave a comment

Whenever someone starts a new diet, it seems like the focus is always on how many calories you eat, or whether you should eat a specific type of food. This makes logical sense, as it is estimated that as much as 75% of weight loss is attributed to the diet.

However in the past few years, there has been more interest in not just what you eat, but when and how often you eat.

The concept of intermittent fasting, and eating smaller meals more often are two trends that have become common. I believe that both have some value in improving your results.

Fasting and the keto diet work together

When considering a ketogenic diet, it seems that intermittent fasting works well, as typically you are less hungry for longer periods.

When your body goes into a ketosis mode, it begins to consume fat reserves. If you have just eaten fats (which is common on the keto diet), your body will burn those fats first. But if you keep yourself in ketosis, it will begin to consume your stored fat.

One of the challenges people have when on a conventional diet is that they are constantly hungry. I believe this is less to do with the actual physical hunger, and more to do with the psychological habit of eating too often.

How often do you really need to eat?

Our society teaches us to eat three meals a day, with snacks in between. But often we aren’t eating out of hunger as much as habit.

One of the keys that I have been talking to my keto diet patients about is whether they actually need to eat as often as they do. As a medical doctor, I am typically a very health conscious person, so I have always been very disciplined in my approach.

However, even when eating healthy, I have never experienced the same energy and weight loss results that I have on a ketogenic diet. This is especially true when combined with some intermittent fasting.

I have been adding some fasting days (24-hour fasts) and even tried a 72 hour fast recently. Both were actually less challenging than I had assumed they would be. I believe that is because of my adherence to the keto diet.

Try a fasting window with a keto diet

When you get started on a keto diet, you can also begin trying a ‘fasting window.’ This is another way of choosing a length of time when you don’t eat. For some people, this can start with 8 hours when they sleep or moving to 12 hours or 16 hours.

The longer you can resist eating, the better you will enable ketosis to begin in your system. Intermittent fasting has been proven to give some of these benefits:

  • Balancing your blood sugar levels
  • Improving nutrient absorption for the body
  • Removing toxins naturally
  • Clearing the mind and increasing focus
  • Increased fat burning throughout the day

Aside from these nutritional and health benefits here are some lifestyle benefits I’ve found from fasting on a keto diet:

  • Save money: you tend to eat out less, and that costs less
  • Eat higher quality food: when you do eat, you crave high-quality, healthy foods
  • Enjoy eating more: when you eat, it is enjoyable and satisfying

Changing your mindset around when to eat along with what to eat can be a game changer. It gives you back a sense of self-control and makes you accelerate your health results.

Jerry Hizon, MD is a keto doctor working from Murrieta and Temecula, California. He assists people with weight loss and lifestyle changes to improve their health. His keto coaching programs helps people to track their progress and stay on track. Visit his website today to learn more, or sign up online for a keto coaching session via nudge coaching.

Carbs, Exercise and the Keto Diet: what you need to know

Posted onAuthorJerry Hizon MDLeave a comment

A lot of people who are on a ketogenic diet wonder what the best types of food are when exercising. They are told not to eat carbs, but also that carbs can help with exercise. Keto and exercise is a confusing topic and one that I will try to demystify.

First of all, you body has different types of fuel. The most common type of fuel most people burn when exercising is carbs. This is because carbs provide a faster ‘burn’ and are great for explosive exercise.

What does it mean to carb-load before exercise?

You might have heard of the term ‘carb loading’ which is what a lot of athletes will do the day or evening before an event. It can provide the energy boost needed in that short period for better performance.

But here is the challenge of carbs: most people are not elite athletes. We exercise moderately, usually one to three days a week. So the majority of the time, our carbs are not being used for explosive energy.

Why is exercise harder on a keto diet?

When a person first takes on a ketogenic approach to eating, they can find it is hard to exercise. This is especially true in the first few weeks of a keto diet (link) because they feel a lack of energy.

Rest assured when you first start exercising on a keto diet, this is normal. Your body is becoming fat-adapted, meaning it is switching from burning carbs to burning fats.

Are you exercising with the wrong fuel?

To further fuel analogy: you can think of carbs and fat like gas and diesel. Both can power vehicle, but are used in different ways. Gas is more like carbs, in that it burns quickly. Diesel is a slower burn, more like fats in your body.

For years, experts have derided fats in our diets, but we are now seeing that humans are more like diesel vehicles, which perform well with a slow burn.

When you first start a keto diet, the exercise you do will trigger your body to burn carbs. But after a few weeks on a ketogenic diet when there is little ‘carb fuel’ left, it will start to burn fat and ketones as fuel.

Here are some symptoms you feel when first exercising on a keto diet:

  • Lack of stamina compared to past performance
  • Lack of explosive power
  • Lack of muscle strength
  • Muscle cramps (usually due to low sodium or dehydration)
  • Need for more water
  • Need for more sleep


How often should you exercise per week on a keto diet?

As a rule, if you exercise less than 2 hours a week, then ketones (fat) are good fuel source. They will help you to lose weight, and your stamina and strength will increase if you persist.

If you exercise an hour or more per day, or you participate in activities like crossfit or cycling, then you may benefit from some additional carbs to give you additional fuel.

With around 80% of people above their ideal weight, the keto diet combined with moderate exercise can be an excellent combination to help you. If will give you slow burn and assist with long term weight loss. If you go a little easier on yourself during your first few of exercise weeks on the keto diet, you will soon see an improvement.

Jerry Hizon, MD is a ketogenic doctor based in Murietta, California. He assists people wanting to lose weight and improve their health through ketogenic diets. His keto coaching programs can help you to track your progress and improve your success. Visit his website today to learn more, or signup online for a keto coaching session via nudge coaching.

How To Measure Your Ketone Levels

Posted onAuthorJerry Hizon MDLeave a comment

When you start a ketogenic diet, one of the most common questions is how to measure your ketone levels. Most people on a keto diet do this because they want to see if there are in ketosis.

To get started measuring your ketone levels, there are three types of ketone bodies to know about:

Acetone
Acetoacetate
Beta-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB)

Unlike protein intake, where the daily amount is determined by your lean mass weight, the number of carbs to enter ketosis can be estimated using three methods.

1) Blood Ketone testing

The level of BHB in your bloodstream will tell you how much you have in your fuel tank but it will not measure the metabolic usage of ketones. Blood ketone testing is the most accurate way to measure ketone bodies.

Blood ketone testing can precisely determine the level of ketones in your blood. But the drawback is that they are more expensive. The testing meter costs $40 and the test strips cost $5 each. If you are testing your ketone levels daily, it could cost you $150 per month.

2) Ketone Breath testing

A non-invasive and cheap alternative is to measure ketones is to use breath acetone concentration. Acetone is one of the ketone bodies that results from a break down of acetoacetate. The level of acetone will reflect the metabolic usage of ketones.

The Ketonix Acetone Breathalyzer is available and offers an easy and inexpensive way to test your breath ketones (acetone). Keep in mind that breath ketones do not always exactly correlate with blood ketones and are affected by several factors (alcohol consumption and water intake).

3) Ketone Urine strips

Ketostix, Uriscan, and other urine detection strips are not as accurate as the blood and breath test. This because they only measure the level of acetoacetate. These are the excess ketone bodies that are not utilized by the body and are excreted via urine.

Urine ketone strips can still be useful during the initial phase of the ketogenic diet when you simply want to test the level of carbohydrates in order to enter ketosis.

Some people use them to test if they are sensitive to certain foods that may be keto-friendly but still have a negative effect on their progress.

The good news is they are easy to use and fairly cheap to buy. You’ll only pay about $10 for 50 strips, which adds up to about $6 a month if you test yourself daily. If urine detection strips don’t work for you, use one of the other two methods.

4) Your own observation

Listening to your body’s signals is another way of finding out whether you are in ketosis. When your body is in ketosis, you may smell of acetone. This could be sensed in your breath, sweat or urine. Some people refer to this as ketogenic “fruity” smelling breath. If you detect any of these signs, you are more than likely in ketosis.

Don’t Focus Just on Ketones

Recently, I’ve noticed a growing obsession when it comes to measuring ketones precisely. Although urine detection strips may not be accurate for keto-adapted people, they work for most of those that have just started the ketogenic diet.

By the time most people become keto-adapted (which takes 3-4 weeks) most of them understand what to eat and what to avoid without any real need to measure the precise level of ketone bodies.

In the end, what really matters is not ketones but the effects of low-carb diets: weight loss and improved health.

Dr. Jerry Hizon

Pre-Keto Diet Protocol

Posted onAuthorJerry Hizon MDLeave a comment

Slow Carb

  1. No GPS (grains, potatoes, sugars)
    1. 1 cheat meal/weekImage result for no grains potatoes sugar keto diet
  2. Add butter/olive oil to everything                                                                                                                    Image result for keto butter olive oil
  3. Fast for 6 hours after waking up everydayImage result for fasting 6 hours
  4. Increase Water Intake & Be generous with salting your foodImage result for increase water intake

Low Carb (Ketoadaptive)

  1. Less than 20 grams carbs/day
  2. Less than 1/2 x ideal body weight (lbs) in grams of protein/day
    1. example 200 lbs
  3. Consume fat until full

I lost 6 lbs in 2 weeks on the keto diet

Posted onAuthorJerry Hizon MDLeave a comment

1 week into Keto, is the hype real?

Has it been hard to cut the carbs, skip on desert, and find nothing to order while at dinner? It’s been an interesting 1 1/2 week journey, to say the least. In this time I learned that MyFitness Pal app doesn’t like me intermittent fasting or eating coconut oil. My mom was disappointed that I was doing keto since I wouldn’t be able to eat tamales. Finally, I found out that Keto Urine strips have a limited shelf life once you open them and “testing” to see if they work by dipping them in vinegar does not tell you if they’re functioning!

Why am I still continuing keto? The results.

1 1/2 weeks in and I’m starting to feel different. My energy is consistent throughout the day and my hunger has been well under control. Don’t get me wrong, the first couple of days I was having pretty strong hunger pains regardless of how many macadamias, pork rinds, and slices of cheese I had. But 4 days into switching my diet I finally felt like I had control of my hunger. I was able to eat lunch and dinner and not feel a ravenous hunger 1-2 hours after eating. I’ll give a break down of some of the meals I had eaten during this time. I know that there is no breakfast, since I always skip breakfast. As Jason Fung MD, author of The Obesity Code, states “breakfast is the most important meal to skip.”

Left: Day 1
Right: Day 7

Left: Day 1 Right: Day 7

I would normally never post these progress photos on social media, but I’m posting these because I really believe in this lifestyle because of the crazy amount of health benefits. The results you see is just me adhering to a pretty strict ketogenic diet (<20 grams of carbs/day & 70% of calories coming from fat) with yoga 2-3 times per week. I’ve also integrated 18 hour fasts to help get my body used to using fat as its primary energy source. What this means is that I give myself a 6 hour interval to eat. So I’ll eat my lunch at 1 pm and will eat dinner around 6:30 pm. I’ll talk more about the benefits of intermittent fasting in a later post, so you all can know the science behind it. Check out some of the meals I ate over the last 2 weeks.

Lunch Dinner
Mozzarella with prosciutto, salami, sopressata, and walnuts. Drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Kielbasa sausage stir-fried with organic broccoli in oyster sauce.
Pork rinds and hummus In-n-out double double, lettuce wrapped
Caesar salad with no croutons Wild-caught pacific rock fish cooked in butter, Cauliflower kale “rice”.

-Will Leon aka the Keto Latino

The Official Carbs to Keto Blog

Posted onAuthorJerry Hizon MDLeave a comment

Welcome to the official Carbs to Keto blog brought to you by the Keto Guys, Mike and Will. We are both excited and honored that you have chosen to incorporate this program into your life. This blog is intended to provide you with our first-hand experiences combined with tips, recipes and motivation to help get you through any phase of your transformation.

Who are the Keto Guys?

Posted onAuthorJerry Hizon MDLeave a comment

My name is Will Leon and I’m a fourth year medical student (MS4) at UC Riverside. I have a strong background in biochemistry and have several years of experience working in laboratories conducting research ranging from organic chemistry to clinical science. I’ve had the pleasure of growing up in sunny Southern California and can say confidently that I’ve tried >20 different types of cuisine. Obviously Guatemalan cuisine reins supreme, but I’m biased (Mom and Pops are from Guatemala). I’m writing this blog because: 1) I want to document my journey with the ketogenic diet from the perspective of a healthcare professional and 2) I wanted to blend together my love for food and attempt to make popular food ketogenic.

I became curious about the ketogenic diet while presenting a research project at symposium. During my talk, an audience member by the name of Dr. Jerry Hizon, an assistant clinical professor, stated that “caloric restriction doesn’t work”. Curious about his remark, I approached Dr. Hizon after the talk and asked him to elaborate. He let me know about this diet he was implementing on his patients in his private practice with great results, called the Ketogenic Diet or “keto”. He stated that his obese patients were losing weight and his diabetics were needing less and less medications. So like any good scientist would do, I began to investigate keto. As I read more about it, my reluctance with attempting the diet began to slowly fade. Curiously, I decided to experiment on myself and started my first “keto journey” last year. I got great results over a period of 2 months. I dropped about 15 lbs, had “keto clarity”, and had enough energy to keep up with the surgeons while on my surgery rotations. I stopped doing keto after my honeymoon and just used intermittent fasting to keep the weight off. But now, nearly a year later I wanted to restart the diet and prove to many of those around me that the keto lifestyle is feasible, leads to weight loss and is a great solution to combat many of the chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity that are plaguing the U.S. So follow me as I post about doing the keto diet from an (almost) doctor and amateur chef’s perspective.

—–

My name is Michael Ibrahim. I am 28 years old and currently a fourth-year medical student at UC Riverside. I’m a big guy with a big appetite. I am a person who loves food. You could’ve always found me at Thai or Persian restaurants as well as all you can eat sushi and Korean BBQ. I’m roughly 6’2” and 240 lbs. Had I not chosen the path of medicine and had better knees, I would’ve been a decent fullback. I grew up playing basketball, working on cars and lifting weights however, I have always struggled with my weight. My journey has been an interesting one to say the least. I’ve tried multiple weight loss programs from the traditional low-fat diet to the NutriSystem. I’ve bought pills from GNC and ran hundreds of miles, foolishly trying to outrun my excess weight. Little did I know that the answer was much simpler (and cheaper) than what I was doing.

I was introduced to the ketogenic diet through Dr. Hizon, who pulled me aside on my first day in his clinic and remarked that the physician should always be the healthiest person in the room. That comment hit home for me; he didn’t say it to judge or critique me, it was to help me. How can a physician expect patients to be healthy, make time for exercise and eat a balanced diet without achieving that balance in their own lives? Soon after, I familiarized myself with the ketogenic diet and the concept of low-carbohydrate and high-fat (LCHF) living, which went against conventional medical “wisdom”. I went all in; I started intermittent fasting 20+ hours each day and cut out the carbs. In the first month, I dropped 25 lbs. and was in sheer awe that I did it without feeling hungry. One year later, I have plateaued on my weight loss (mostly from too many cheat days and not being in true ketosis). I want to break through this plateau and I want to share my journey with you.