Hi! This article has been so helpful. I greatly appreciate your insight. I’ve battled OCD for the vast majority of my life. Found a lot of relief on Keto and began to see OCD as a metabolic disorder of the brain, which tipped me in the direction of getting to the root cause of healing my metabolism (which I am now realizing is a complex task).
I was an intense runner for years and was very restrictive in my eating. I also experienced some events as traumatic in childhood and working as a psych nurse. I am wondering if my metabolism was compromised as my body became accustomed to living in a fight or flight state. I had gestational diabetes despite my not being overweight and my OCD symptoms intensify greatly in PMS.
So I am trying to sort out all the pieces so I can live outside of the grip of fearful rumination, checking etc.
I am wondering anyones thoughts on this concept - keto being helpful in that it is a workaround for a less than optimal metabolism and yet maybe we can get to the root and heal the underlying factors (much more of a maze and experiment and less cut and dry but I am here for it) and get even more optimal results?
You may find some of the other articles I’ve written helpful, for example I have an article on OCD, an article on PMS and one on “how to utilize glucose well”. These three articles can be found by searching through my free articles
Thank you - I’ve had the chance to read these articles and many of your other articles as well. Your work has been immensely helpful in my understanding more of what might be at play. Thank you for sharing this knowledge!
my guess is that carnivore helped a lot by virtue of the fact that the diet is virtually devoid of any intestinal irritating components found in other foods. This probably lead to less activation of the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) which can cause many bad symptoms, such as the ones you mention, IBS, fatigue etc.
But yes, i'd assume the increase in ammonia from the protein activated the NMDA leading to higher Glutamate. The lower CO2 produced on a low carb diet also means ammonia is detoxified far slower, amplifying the problem.
I wonder if you would feel better by adding in an ammonia chelator (like Ceylon cinnamon) and maybe vitamin B6+Mg to covert the glutamate into GABA.
Thanks a lot for your very much appreciated answer. For now I included some fruit juice that are well tolerated and maple syrup. I already supplement mag malate (~500mg), I will try to pump B6 and add the cinnamon. Ill let you know in the future but as you imagine incremental experimentation is so slow...
Superb article. Lithium orotate has been exceptionally helpful for me and I'm beginning to realise glutamate is the reason. Do you feel a low glutamate diet is worth attempting, in addition to these supplements?
I think avoiding MSG is a certainly a great idea, but the benefit of other glutamate containing foods like bone broth may outweighs the costs. It would be individual, hope that helps!
Thank you so much for this article! I would like to request an article about prolactin in depth when you get the chance :) Especially on how women can lower their prolactin and androgen levels without the use of thyroid supplements or progesterone at first - please and thank you!!!
Thank you so much for this article! I would like to request an article about prolactin in depth when you get the chance :) Especially on how women can lower their prolactin and androgen levels without the use of thyroid supplements or progesterone at first - please and thank you!!!
Hi! This article has been so helpful. I greatly appreciate your insight. I’ve battled OCD for the vast majority of my life. Found a lot of relief on Keto and began to see OCD as a metabolic disorder of the brain, which tipped me in the direction of getting to the root cause of healing my metabolism (which I am now realizing is a complex task).
I was an intense runner for years and was very restrictive in my eating. I also experienced some events as traumatic in childhood and working as a psych nurse. I am wondering if my metabolism was compromised as my body became accustomed to living in a fight or flight state. I had gestational diabetes despite my not being overweight and my OCD symptoms intensify greatly in PMS.
So I am trying to sort out all the pieces so I can live outside of the grip of fearful rumination, checking etc.
I am wondering anyones thoughts on this concept - keto being helpful in that it is a workaround for a less than optimal metabolism and yet maybe we can get to the root and heal the underlying factors (much more of a maze and experiment and less cut and dry but I am here for it) and get even more optimal results?
You may find some of the other articles I’ve written helpful, for example I have an article on OCD, an article on PMS and one on “how to utilize glucose well”. These three articles can be found by searching through my free articles
Thank you - I’ve had the chance to read these articles and many of your other articles as well. Your work has been immensely helpful in my understanding more of what might be at play. Thank you for sharing this knowledge!
Happy to hear!
https://constantinek.substack.com/s/free-articles
Great article thank you. I did some months on Carnivore diet and observed improvement for lot of symptoms (fatigue, IBS, etc).
However the OCD worsen, is the excess ammonia likely the cause due to the very high intake of protein ? Thanks.
my guess is that carnivore helped a lot by virtue of the fact that the diet is virtually devoid of any intestinal irritating components found in other foods. This probably lead to less activation of the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) which can cause many bad symptoms, such as the ones you mention, IBS, fatigue etc.
But yes, i'd assume the increase in ammonia from the protein activated the NMDA leading to higher Glutamate. The lower CO2 produced on a low carb diet also means ammonia is detoxified far slower, amplifying the problem.
I wonder if you would feel better by adding in an ammonia chelator (like Ceylon cinnamon) and maybe vitamin B6+Mg to covert the glutamate into GABA.
That be my guess
Thanks a lot for your very much appreciated answer. For now I included some fruit juice that are well tolerated and maple syrup. I already supplement mag malate (~500mg), I will try to pump B6 and add the cinnamon. Ill let you know in the future but as you imagine incremental experimentation is so slow...
Good luck!
The manganese (in maple syrup) can also help to eliminate excess ammonia and even glutamate. Manganese is really high in mussels, also pineapple.
Superb article. Lithium orotate has been exceptionally helpful for me and I'm beginning to realise glutamate is the reason. Do you feel a low glutamate diet is worth attempting, in addition to these supplements?
I think avoiding MSG is a certainly a great idea, but the benefit of other glutamate containing foods like bone broth may outweighs the costs. It would be individual, hope that helps!
Thank you so much for this article! I would like to request an article about prolactin in depth when you get the chance :) Especially on how women can lower their prolactin and androgen levels without the use of thyroid supplements or progesterone at first - please and thank you!!!
Thank you so much for this article! I would like to request an article about prolactin in depth when you get the chance :) Especially on how women can lower their prolactin and androgen levels without the use of thyroid supplements or progesterone at first - please and thank you!!!