I Was Diagnosed With Metabolic Syndrome and Why I Started Eating Keto

Medical Medium

I had been eating the Medical Medium way for a few years, and I considered myself pescatarian, ate whole food plant based, and ate no dairy, meat, poultry or eggs.

Diagnosis

6 weeks ago I decided to go see a medical herbalist, Richard Whelan, I had wanted to see him for years but I think I wasn’t prepared to face what he might say about my health. My goal was to get my high blood pressure seen to alternatively, and I had not long been diagnosed with high cholesterol.

Well I got a bit of a shock, he did quite a few blood tests, by pricking my finger and running it through machines and looking at it under the microscope. Listening to my  heart beat and taking my blood pressure.

He said as soon as he saw me he knew I had metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and holding weight around your middle area that’s so stubborn that everything you try won’t budge it. And I had tried so much, as well as exercise. Nothing shifted those numbers.

He said it wasn’t a case of if I get diabetes, but when. He considered me pre-diabetic.

I was speechless, I mumbled that I thought I ate really well and healthy, that I did like refined sugar but for the most part I wasn’t  out of control.

So he gave me some herbs for my liver and some other vitamins and herbs to take, magnesium acetate, chromium, vitamin b complex, st marys thistle and hawthorn and reishi

Keto

He then said he wanted me eating Keto.

I was like “Keto?????” what????

I was aghast, I said that Keto is what had thrown my thyroid out 4 years ago, going low carb.

So he asked me what I was prepared to do, I said I was prepared to research it. And he was happy about that.

Thyroid and Keto

So I got to doing research solidly for about a week. He had suggested I sign up to dietdoctor.com which I did.

And I spent a lot of time trying to work out why keto wouldn’t throw my thyroid out again like it had done.

Then I got to working out why it happened.

I had been eating dirty keto. Which is basically just eating all the fatty foods like sausages and bacon and meat and eggs, and none of the vegetables.

I spent quite a bit of time exploring vegan keto and decided it would be too hard.

So I brought some meat, eggs and other foods, and throwing out most things from my cupboards that had higher carbs. It was very hard to throw out my old foods which I considered healthy.

What I have come to find out though, is that those foods are healthy for some people, just the same as keto doesn’t work for everyone.

Stomach Upset

So, I seemed to do quite well the first few weeks, I went into the keto flu stage as my body was adapting, then I was struck down with diarrhoea.

I went off all my vitamins and herbs. After 10 days I went back to my old way of eating to see if it was perhaps the fat, perhaps I had changed my diet way too fast instead of slowly adding foods.

I did a food tracker, and was about to make an appt with my doctor when I came right.

So I ok for a week then this past weekend it started again. I dissected what I had been eating and finally I could  work out what it was that was causing it, because it was going to suck if it was the fats.

It was sucralose. The sweetener that was in the powerade zero I was using for electrolytes when I was feeling keto flu. Which was a vicious circle, because I would think I would need to be replacing electrolytes because of the diarrhoea and then drink more.

Moving Forward

I haven’t weighed myself in a few weeks but I was starting to steadily lose weight, and this morning I measured my waist and I have lost 15.5cm in a month.

I really do like eating keto. Its very satiating. I have introduced some dairy but not much. I am eating chicken mostly, some meat, and eggs. But this time I am eating a lot more vegetables than I was doing last time.

I had a blood test a few weeks ago and my thyroid is in range and my liver results are all in range too, something I haven’t seen for the 4 years I have been having blood tests.

I will give you updates on how I am going from time to time.

Postscript: 5 months after starting keto I started to have anxiety and went for a blood test. Sure enough, what I feared would happen, I’m early stages hyperthyroidism, I have upped my carbs, and have an appointment to see Richard early February 2021. I have lost 12kg.