“Anti-aging / longevity will be the next Keto.  It is coming and it will happen. “

That was my claim on the ole Flakebook the other day, and I stand behind it.

Why do I think this and what is the benefit to you?  Keep your hands inside the nerd patrol as we tackle this topic.

First point- a disclosure note -unless you are a client of mine, I don’t really care what you do.

You are a free to do whatever you want.

Seriously, you are.

I am not going hack your camera on your laptop to see you eating a donut as you read this and try to virtual smack it out of your hand.

Second point – I am not against ketosis/ keto at all – it just depends on why you are doing it.  If it works for you (by whatever definition you use) and like it, awesome!

I have a couple clients that use it and many of my friends love keto.  Cool.   I’ve had dinner next to Dr Dom and his lovely wife as I ate all of his bread.  It was not a big deal.  It was a pro as I got more bread!


Dinner with keto people = more bread for me

However, what I don’t like is when some 17 year old expert that prairie dogged his head long enough to claim the ketogenic diet is the best for everything from curing cancer to Crossfit performance.  Cough cough—bulsheet—cough cough.

I have seen many people who came to me after they implemented a keto type diet for 5 weeks along with Crossfit, felt great, and then were positive an invisible freight train ran them over early that AM.

Newsflash – doing a piss ton of glycolytic (carb using) exercise and then doing a nutrition program that by design restricts those same carbs is not going to go well.   And a long-term ketogenic diet will decrease metabolic flexibly to carbohydrates via PDH enzyme changes.

 

Keto Komeback

If I get dropped out of the sky on a kiteboard jump gone wrong and whack my head, I will personally put myself in ketosis ASAP.  I actually carry the HVMN ketone ester in kiteboarding gear box. No joke.

Is that a bit extreme?  Yep.

Is there a mountain of data to say it’s the best idea in the world?  Nope.  Some data yes, but maybe a small mole-hill.  However, other than the cost, there is not much of a downside, so I will hedge my bets.

In the end, it comes down to what you are using it for and can you do it.

Longevity Keto Spinners

Look for the keto krazies to now spin keto into longevity.  Actually, instead of “spin” if I was a cool hustling entrepreneur I would the word “pivot” – except that word triggers the piss out of me.  Even the word “trigger” now triggers me….back to the point..

I am not against health or longevity at all. I am against the crazy nut-bags that claim to have it “all figured out” now and just do this single thing to live to 170 years old.

You need to keto for months at a time.

…do a 7 day water fast

…take (insert new drug/ supplement here)

…coffee enemas are what you need.

I am not an aging researcher, but if I know one thing -I know that it the physiology of aging is complicated as hell.

One single thing is NOT going to be the solution.

Physiology is survival and redundant based.  Your backup systems have backup systems.

You think the latest pimple faced biohacker is going to “out smart” his physiology?

Newsflash – he is not that smart.

Nobody is that smart.

And it sure as hell is not going to be from doing one single thing.  Even if we find something that has a massive effect (usually drugs), there will be a cost associated with it.

There is always a cost.  Sorry Charlie, there is no physiologic free lunch.

TL:DR – single factor thinking needs a bullet to the head and this is especially true in the anti-aging / longevity area.

Summary

That is my rant about keto, longevity, and single factor thinking.

You are free to choose what you want to do, just be aware of the potential benefits and costs.

Don’t fall into the trap (which every marketer on the planet has baited) that one single item will revolutionize your life, especially if it does not require much input (work).

And if you made it this far and want to know all about keto, fasting, carbs and more, I will be doing a full 2-day rabbit hole talk on this in Feb 2019.   Click on the picture below to get in on it now at a cheaper price.

No single factor thinking,

Dr Mike