Virtual Bredesen Dietician?

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Richard McG
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Virtual Bredesen Dietician?

Post by Richard McG »

Hey friends;

Looking for a Dietician who could help me increase my calories safely. BMI 19, 4/4, OMAD. Trying to stay in ketosis without losing any more weight (141 lbs 6 ft) {64 kg 182 cm}. I'm stable but not able to get any lasting increase in weight.

My local dieticians, at best, have heard of Bredesen's book .....

Any suggestions?

Live in North Vancouver, Canada

Cheers

Richard
Last edited by Richard McG on Tue Dec 28, 2021 11:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
52 years of age, 4/4, BMI ~19, Omad, No cognitive decline as of yet ;)
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Julie G
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Re: Virtual Bredesen Dietician?

Post by Julie G »

Hi Richard! There are very few Bredesen-trained dietitians/nutritionists but you may find one. I would highly encourage you to consider two meals a day. As I recall, you're still young and in great shape. You simply need more calories. You can keep it keto by using generous amounts of poly and monounsaturated fats like high polyphenol EVOO, avocados, nuts, olives, fatty fish, etc. You can also use a daily fast (albeit shorter) with exercise to help you continue to reach ketosis.

If you aren't showing symptoms of cognitive decline (and even if you are) we have no evidence that constant, deep ketosis is necessary. The biggest bang seems to come from simply being metabolically flexible — able to effectively use both glucose and ketosis to maximize the fuel supply to your brain. Endogenous ketosis (via diet, fasting & exercise) is helpful in that it heals any underlying insulin resistance thereby enabling the brain to get the benefit of both fuel supplies. Most folks just need to "flex their ketosis muscle" on a regular basis to keep that pathway open.

The problem occurs when insulin resistant folks burn glucose exclusively for months (even years) and their bodies forget how to mobilize fat stores. At that point, their brains are literally starving because they're unable to effectively use glucose or get into ketosis. Endogenous ketosis is encouraged as a means to heal metabolism which also better enables the brain to use glucose while supplying an alternative fuel. You are not insulin resistant and can very likely relax things a bit. Happy holidays to you and yours!
Fredsbrain
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Re: Virtual Bredesen Dietician?

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Hi. Just jumping in here. Trying to figure out if I can do a ketogenic diet. Since I am APOE4/4, I worry what it will do to my lipid profile. I know there are a lot of polymorphism that will effect how I would respond to a high saturated fat diet. I am lost as to how to figure that out. Btw, I am 76 years old with very mild to mild cognitive decline. And have moderate atherosclerosis. Any advise would be helpful. I’m trying to find a practitioner to help me with this. Thank you. Ffronstin@gmail.com
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floramaria
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Re: Virtual Bredesen Dietician?

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Fredsbrain wrote: Mon Dec 27, 2021 9:40 am Hi. Just jumping in here. Trying to figure out if I can do a ketogenic diet. Since I am APOE4/4, I worry what it will do to my lipid profile. I know there are a lot of polymorphism that will effect how I would respond to a high saturated fat diet. I am lost as to how to figure that out. Btw, I am 76 years old with very mild to mild cognitive decline. And have moderate atherosclerosis. Any advise would be helpful. I’m trying to find a practitioner to help me with this. Thank you. Ffronstin@gmail.com
Hi Fredsbrain, you can follow a ketogenic diet that is not high in saturated fats by sourcing most of your fat intake from extra virgin Olive oil, avocados, and nuts and fish. You can find some very good dietary guidelines in the Primer. That would be a great place for you to start.

Removing your email address from you post is recommended. People can contact you directly through personal message on this site.
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Julie G
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Re: Virtual Bredesen Dietician?

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Hi. Just jumping in here. Trying to figure out if I can do a ketogenic diet. Since I am APOE4/4, I worry what it will do to my lipid profile. I know there are a lot of polymorphism that will effect how I would respond to a high saturated fat diet. I am lost as to how to figure that out. Btw, I am 76 years old with very mild to mild cognitive decline. And have moderate atherosclerosis. Any advise would be helpful. I’m trying to find a practitioner to help me with this. Thank you. Ffronstin@gmail.com
Hi Fred! Things get trickier if you have known vascular disease. That said, almost everyone your age has some degree of coronary plaque. Before considering nutritional ketosis, it's really important to minimize inflammatory foods like any type of sugar and simple carbs. Dr. Bredesen would also suggest that you should give up all grains and conventional dairy to further minimize inflammation. As you know, high amounts of dietary fat combined with inflammation can increase your risk for vascular disease — which is the last thing you want to do. Please consider partnering with a cardiologist who endorses a low carb approach.

Once you've dropped all of the inflammatory foods (and replaced them with non-starchy vegetables), you can consider adding in some heart healthy mono and polyunsaturated fats like high polyphenol EVOO, avocados, nuts, seeds, olives, fatty fish, etc. As Floramaria suggested, it's the fats that are high in SFA that tend to increase LDL-C, so many of us minimize them.

Have you been tracking your inflammatory markers like homocysteine and hsCRP? How about glycemic markers like fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HbA1C? How's your omega-3 index, or oxLDL? The goal is to get all of those in range to best protect your heart and brain.

If things are less than ideal for now and you're concerned about fuel to your brain, in the short term you may want to consider ketone salts or esters. They won't affect your lipid profile and can give you a temporary cognitive boost. Unfortunately their effects are short term; they need to be repeated around 3x throughout the day. Long term, I would encourage you to try to get into ketosis the old fashioned way by fasting + exercising + using the KetoFLEX 12/3 diet, which will heal any underlying insulin resistance thereby maximizing the fuel supply to your brain.
Richard McG
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Re: Virtual Bredesen Dietician?

Post by Richard McG »

Julie G wrote: Mon Dec 27, 2021 8:52 am Hi Richard! There are very few Bredesen-trained dietitians/nutritionists but you may find one. I would highly encourage you to consider two meals a day. As I recall, you're still young and in great shape. You simply need more calories. You can keep it keto by using generous amounts of poly and monounsaturated fats like high polyphenol EVOO, avocados, nuts, olives, fatty fish, etc. You can also use a daily fast (albeit shorter) with exercise to help you continue to reach ketosis.

If you aren't showing symptoms of cognitive decline (and even if you are) we have no evidence that constant, deep ketosis is necessary. The biggest bang seems to come from simply being metabolically flexible — able to effectively use both glucose and ketosis to maximize the fuel supply to your brain. Endogenous ketosis (via diet, fasting & exercise) is helpful in that it heals any underlying insulin resistance thereby enabling the brain to get the benefit of both fuel supplies. Most folks just need to "flex their ketosis muscle" on a regular basis to keep that pathway open.

The problem occurs when insulin-resistant folks burn glucose exclusively for months (even years) and their bodies forget how to mobilize fat stores. At that point, their brains are literally starving because they're unable to effectively use glucose or get into ketosis. Endogenous ketosis is encouraged as a means to heal metabolism which also better enables the brain to use glucose while supplying an alternative fuel. You are not insulin resistant and can very likely relax things a bit. Happy holidays to you and yours!
Thanks, Julie....

Hopefully, I can find a dietitian with Bredensen credentials somewhere in the big wild virtual world :)

Good to know it isn't 100% necessary to stay in ketosis all the time. I think I was giving that the highest priority. I will follow your advice (finally hehe) and go on a two-meal day. Thinking fasting only, say 20 hours and eating two meals in 4 hours. See if I can get up to at least 150 lbs.

You also in the past mentioned pea protein (have about 25 grams a day) might not be the best protein powder....what is your opinion of transitioning to Hemp protein powder? Throw in many veggies (i.e. kale, broccoli, cauliflower ) in my smoothies. In conjunction with my typical meal of nuts, EVOO, salads, salmon, almond butter/celery, eggs, grapefruit, mushrooms, sauerkraut shrimp etc.

Happy holidays !!

And a big thanks, Julie!
52 years of age, 4/4, BMI ~19, Omad, No cognitive decline as of yet ;)
ro.oconnor
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Re: Virtual Bredesen Dietician?

Post by ro.oconnor »

Richard McG wrote: Tue Dec 28, 2021 11:45 am
Julie G wrote: Mon Dec 27, 2021 8:52 am Hi Richard! There are very few Bredesen-trained dietitians/nutritionists but you may find one. I would highly encourage you to consider two meals a day. As I recall, you're still young and in great shape. You simply need more calories. You can keep it keto by using generous amounts of poly and monounsaturated fats like high polyphenol EVOO, avocados, nuts, olives, fatty fish, etc. You can also use a daily fast (albeit shorter) with exercise to help you continue to reach ketosis.

If you aren't showing symptoms of cognitive decline (and even if you are) we have no evidence that constant, deep ketosis is necessary. The biggest bang seems to come from simply being metabolically flexible — able to effectively use both glucose and ketosis to maximize the fuel supply to your brain. Endogenous ketosis (via diet, fasting & exercise) is helpful in that it heals any underlying insulin resistance thereby enabling the brain to get the benefit of both fuel supplies. Most folks just need to "flex their ketosis muscle" on a regular basis to keep that pathway open.

The problem occurs when insulin-resistant folks burn glucose exclusively for months (even years) and their bodies forget how to mobilize fat stores. At that point, their brains are literally starving because they're unable to effectively use glucose or get into ketosis. Endogenous ketosis is encouraged as a means to heal metabolism which also better enables the brain to use glucose while supplying an alternative fuel. You are not insulin resistant and can very likely relax things a bit. Happy holidays to you and yours!
Thanks, Julie....

Hopefully, I can find a dietitian with Bredensen credentials somewhere in the big wild virtual world :)

Good to know it isn't 100% necessary to stay in ketosis all the time. I think I was giving that the highest priority. I will follow your advice (finally hehe) and go on a two-meal day. Thinking fasting only, say 20 hours and eating two meals in 4 hours. See if I can get up to at least 150 lbs.

You also in the past mentioned pea protein (have about 25 grams a day) might not be the best protein powder....what is your opinion of transitioning to Hemp protein powder? Throw in many veggies (i.e. kale, broccoli, cauliflower ) in my smoothies. In conjunction with my typical meal of nuts, EVOO, salads, salmon, almond butter/celery, eggs, grapefruit, mushrooms, sauerkraut shrimp etc.

Happy holidays !!

And a big thanks, Julie!
Hi Richard! I see from your post that you are looking for a dietitian with Bredesen credentials. There are a couple of resources here that you might find helpful in your search. Contained within the wiki, there is a list of ApoE4 aware practitioners, as well as a list of ApoE4 aware health coaches. Many of them offer their services virtually.

I wish you all the best on your health journey and happy holidays!

Rosanne
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Richard McG
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Re: Virtual Bredesen Dietician?

Post by Richard McG »

Thanks so much, Rosanne!
52 years of age, 4/4, BMI ~19, Omad, No cognitive decline as of yet ;)
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