US Army going keto?

[azgreg]

Defense Department to ban beer and pizza? Mandatory keto diet may enhance military performance

The controversial ketogenic or “keto” diet may be the future of the military, some defense officials say.

Service members, and Navy SEALS especially, may have to forgo beer and burritos for skinny cocktails and avocado salad (forget the tortilla chips) if a proposal from Special Operations Command gains momentum.

While a nutritionally enhanced future could eventually be put into effect for all branches, the SEALS and other underwater dive-mission specialists might be the first groups targeted for the change in nutritional guidelines.

Lisa Sanders, the director of science and technology at U.S. Special Operations Command, presented an Ohio State University study that recommends the nutritional change based on the keto diet, which is high in fat and low in carbohydrates. The diet works to deprive the body of glucose needed for energy and forces it to burn stored fats instead. The study was conducted on the university’s Army ROTC cadet population.

I work with a couple of guys who go keto and they swear by it.

 

[Tanngrisnir]

Defense Department to ban beer and pizza? Mandatory keto diet may enhance military performance



I work with a couple of guys who go keto and they swear by it.

I've done it for 10 months now. 52. 6'3". Lifelong lifter, lots of Olympic stuff, rower and backpacker. Last september I just felt too damned big, no matter what weights I could throw around or how hard I could pull an oar. Switched to Keto on 9/04/18, dropped over 50 lbs and can now train like I did in my 20s again, but with the smarts of a 50+ year old.

The pitfall is that it can get BORING if you don't put your mind to it, and it's really important to fill up on the permissible vegetables so that one always feels full.

Dropping all that weight makes it MUCH easier in the backcountry with a full pack. Last Summer I had iffy moment when I had to think about how I stepped because an ankle might go wrong, etc... No longer.

That, and at my last required physical in Jan, my blood chemistry was perfect.

Can't recommend it enough.

 

[ecofarm]

Can't recommend it enough.

Save me a wiki; what is it?

 

[The Mark]

Save me a wiki; what is it?

Essentially you eat alot of protein and less carbs from grains/processed sources.

Or something like that, I had a co-worker trying it for awhile.

 

[Tanngrisnir]

Save me a wiki; what is it?

Your diet is comprised primarily of fat, 70-80%, then protein 10-20%, and then whatever carbs constitute less than 20g/day. Those carbs should ideally be things like broc, lettuce, cauliflower, etc...

It forces your body to use fat for fuel instead of glycogen, which you won't have anymore since you aren't eating carbs.

 

[ecofarm]

Essentially you eat alot of protein and less carbs from grains/processed sources.

Or something like that, I had a co-worker trying it for awhile.

That's my (very limited) understanding of Atkins.

My diet is four food groups (sugar, carb, fat, protein) balanced meal every 4 hours. Vegetarian complicates some vitamins, minerals, essential amino and such, but I'd consider that micro diet and largely mitigated by a multivitamin. That plus exercise everyday, and a raw meal every day, dropped 60 pounds in 6 months and they never came back, over 20 years ago now. Well, maybe 20 pounds came back recently but I call it my "moving weight" to be used on my homestead.

Frequent meals doesn't increase everyone's metabolism, but it's worked for everyone I've met that did it.

Don't make me wiki.

 

[CMPancake]

Your body needs carbohydrates for heart function, muscle endurance, muscle growth, and to prevent fatigue. Keto is great for people suffering from type 2 diabetes, obesity, or cancer but for a warfighter that is allegedly supposed to be ready to fight tonight and at a moment's notice is gonna need the energy that keto wouldn't provide. It's not a secret that the Army is the most overweight branch of the military, and it's about time as a whole we began to evaluate what the average Joe is putting into their bodies and implement nutrition and diet plans to coincide with physical training. But putting the majority of the Army onto a singular diet plan isn't the answer.

 

[ecofarm]

Your diet is comprised primarily of fat, 70-80%, then protein 10-20%, and then whatever carbs constitute less than 20g/day. Those carbs should ideally be things like broc, lettuce, cauliflower, etc...

It forces your body to use fat for fuel instead of glycogen, which you won't have anymore since you aren't eating carbs.

Sounds like a lot of work.

 

[Crosscheck]

There are different versions but eliminating the sugars and starches is the main goal.

Been on a modified Low Carb diet. Eat only meat, vegetables, nuts and currently will allow myself some fruit mainly berries.
Main thing is no processed sugar, rice, and flour. I also fast 16 hours daily.

Have lost 23 pounds in two months.

It isn't easy to eat like this I must be truthful. Part of the problem is that food is so important with our social interactions. You hate being that one person who says no to the French fries and cakes making everybody else guilty about chowing down on them.

74% of the processed food in your supermarket has added sugar. You go to a store and they have a whole aisle dedicated just to box cereals. We are sugar poisoning our kids to death.
And I am just as guilty and bought my kids that crap too.

I remember I was talking to a high school band instructor and he told me that normally they can reuse the marching band suits each year. But now due to the increasing larger size kids they had to purchase new ones.

Forget climate change as a priority problem. Forget the meth problem.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that the average American consumes between ​

150 to 170 pounds

of refined sugars in one year!​

Even though the mayor of NYC got lambasted for proposing to limit the size of Big Gulps it was at least an attempt to stop this epidemic.


Not So Sweet - The Average American Consumes 150-170 Pounds Of Sugar Each Year •

 

[JasperL]

Save me a wiki; what is it?

I've just read and heard it talked about on a cycling/iron man podcast I listen to. It's high fat, high protein and very low carbs. Just for example, "keto" coffee might be coffee, no sugar, but with butter and/or oil.

The advantage as I understand it, especially for long distance athletes (and it would seem to make sense for the same reason for special forces guys) is when you deprive your body of carbs, which is usually the preferred fuel for high output exercise, endurance stuff, you train your body to burn fat for fuel. So for a cyclist doing 100 miles in an iron man, 26 mile run, etc. usually that requires a bunch of carbs, or you 'crash' or 'bonk' and you're done for 10-15 minutes, incapacitated in some cases, you have no more fuel. But carbs upset a lot of people's digestion in long efforts like iron man, and if you don't get enough, you're done or severely underperform, so it's a balancing act.

But someone conditioned on a keto diet burns fat, and you can go a long, long, long way on your stored fat and really only need water during the exercise, long hike over mountains to take out a bad guy, ride, whatever.

That's the very short and pretty uninformed view, but that's the idea.

 

[Tanngrisnir]

Sounds like a lot of work.

The challenge is keeping one's diet interesting.

It's not easy.

 

[Tanngrisnir]

I've just read and heard it talked about on a cycling/iron man podcast I listen to. It's high fat, high protein and very low carbs. Just for example, "keto" coffee might be coffee, no sugar, but with butter and/or oil.

The advantage as I understand it, especially for long distance athletes (and it would seem to make sense for the same reason for special forces guys) is when you deprive your body of carbs, which is usually the preferred fuel for high output exercise, endurance stuff, you train your body to burn fat for fuel. So for a cyclist doing 100 miles in an iron man, 26 mile run, etc. usually that requires a bunch of carbs, or you 'crash' or 'bonk' and you're done for 10-15 minutes, incapacitated in some cases, you have no more fuel. But carbs upset a lot of people's digestion in long efforts like iron man, and if you don't get enough, you're done or severely underperform, so it's a balancing act.

But someone conditioned on a keto diet burns fat, and you can go a long, long, long way on your stored fat and really only need water during the exercise, long hike over mountains to take out a bad guy, ride, whatever.

That's the very short and pretty uninformed view, but that's the idea.

No, not quite. It's HIGH fat, low protein and VERY low carbs.

 

[ecofarm]

The challenge is keeping one's diet interesting.

It's not easy.

Did the diet thing. I get no one providing food because mine's always different (vegan). I mean also in the sense of calories burnt. If using fat instead of carbs and timely sugars, gotta burn a ton of calories per day.

I'd note to watch out for bioaccumulation. No toxin accumulating fat if that's primary calories.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I've just been informed by this lady...Field Marshall Karen...



That we're ALL going on the Keto Diet because my daughter has decided to.
How does an Italian bambino survive without bread and pasta?

 

[azgreg]

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that the average American consumes between
150 to 170 pounds
of refined sugars in one year!

I accomplish that with my coffee alone.

 

[JasperL]

No, not quite. It's HIGH fat, low protein and VERY low carbs.

Thanks for the correction and the target figures in your previous post. I had no idea the fat % was so high.

TBH, after a while I just kind of tuned the keto stuff out because the way Ben Greenfield (whose podcast I listened to) described his system, it's quite a bit of work, regular blood tests, long list of supplements, etc. I'm guessing you don't go through all that?

I'm figuring the guy sells books and supplements, so makes it a bit harder than it would be for a non-elite athlete who isn't competing in iron man type events....

 

[azgreg]

Your body needs carbohydrates for heart function, muscle endurance, muscle growth, and to prevent fatigue. Keto is great for people suffering from type 2 diabetes, obesity, or cancer but for a warfighter that is allegedly supposed to be ready to fight tonight and at a moment's notice is gonna need the energy that keto wouldn't provide. It's not a secret that the Army is the most overweight branch of the military, and it's about time as a whole we began to evaluate what the average Joe is putting into their bodies and implement nutrition and diet plans to coincide with physical training. But putting the majority of the Army onto a singular diet plan isn't the answer.

When I was in the army I ate like ****. It helped that I exercised like a mad man and had the metabolism of a classroom full of kinder gardeners.

 

[JasperL]

Your body needs carbohydrates for heart function, muscle endurance, muscle growth, and to prevent fatigue. Keto is great for people suffering from type 2 diabetes, obesity, or cancer but for a warfighter that is allegedly supposed to be ready to fight tonight and at a moment's notice is gonna need the energy that keto wouldn't provide. It's not a secret that the Army is the most overweight branch of the military, and it's about time as a whole we began to evaluate what the average Joe is putting into their bodies and implement nutrition and diet plans to coincide with physical training. But putting the majority of the Army onto a singular diet plan isn't the answer.

Again, I'm just passing along stuff I've read in passing, but you might find this interesting:

Low Carb Triathlon Training

For this very reason, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has been investigating ketogenesis as a secret weapon for boosting soldiers’ mental and physical performance under battlefield conditions. Why? Because as a soldier’s blood glucose drops, they became confused and sometimes ended up shooting their own side. So they tested a highly ketogenic fuel source on rats and found it boosted physical and mental performance – and the rats became much healthier, lost body fat, had lower levels of triglycerides (fatty acids) in their blood and lower blood sugar levels, with zero harmful side-effects. That same fuel is now under development for soldiers, although I have no clue why they don’t just give them canteens full of Medium Chain Triglyceride (MCT) oil, since it does the same thing.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I accomplish that with my coffee alone.

I used to do that too and it's probably about 1/2 to 2/3rds of my fifty unwanted pounds.
Okay, maybe sixty, I dunno.
I'm five-eight and I've always been stocky, so even though the top optimum weight for that height is supposed to be 169 pounds, I'm going on record as saying that I truly was better off at 180 or 185 when I was in my best shape.
I didn't have any fat to speak of at 185.
Of course I was also 35 years old and I'm almost twice that now.

About four years ago I switched almost entirely to stevia sweetener for everything, definitely for the coffees. (cold coffee drinks)
The weight hasn't been quite falling off like crazy but I stopped gaining, and occasionally I drop eight or even ten pounds, then it comes back...repeat:::

 

[JasperL]

I used to do that too and it's probably about 1/2 to 2/3rds of my fifty unwanted pounds.
Okay, maybe sixty, I dunno.
I'm five-eight and I've always been stocky, so even though the top optimum weight for that height is supposed to be 169 pounds, I'm going on record as saying that I truly was better off at 180 or 185 when I was in my best shape.
I didn't have any fat to speak of at 185.
Of course I was also 35 years old and I'm almost twice that now.

About four years ago I switched almost entirely to stevia sweetener for everything, definitely for the coffees. (cold coffee drinks)
The weight hasn't been quite falling off like crazy but I stopped gaining, and occasionally I drop eight or even ten pounds, then it comes back...repeat:::

Coffee is one of my bad weaknesses. I just love a 'mocha' in the morning, and it's strong coffee with two TBS or so of dark powdered cocoa mixed half/half with sweet ground chocolate from Ghirardelli, and some cream or half and half of course. I just have one/day, then if I drink more coffee it's black, or maybe with a little cream, but I know starting off with a shot of sugar and fat isn't the best thing...

 

[PoS]

I accomplish that with my coffee alone.

LOL.

Keto is one of those fad diets. It's not really sustainable in the long run- how are they going to bring lots of meat and fresh veggies into the battlefield?

 

[Rexedgar]

We used to have beer in the vending machines; I’m thinking that’s no more...

Soldiering without beer is unmilitary! :2razz:

 

[RetiredUSN]

More military social engineering, while ships keep running into each other, and patrol craft navigators are so poorly trained that they don't know they are in Iranian waters.

Must be all the pizzas they are eating?

 

[Crovax]

I've done it for 10 months now. 52. 6'3". Lifelong lifter, lots of Olympic stuff, rower and backpacker. Last september I just felt too damned big, no matter what weights I could throw around or how hard I could pull an oar. Switched to Keto on 9/04/18, dropped over 50 lbs and can now train like I did in my 20s again, but with the smarts of a 50+ year old.

The pitfall is that it can get BORING if you don't put your mind to it, and it's really important to fill up on the permissible vegetables so that one always feels full.

Dropping all that weight makes it MUCH easier in the backcountry with a full pack. Last Summer I had iffy moment when I had to think about how I stepped because an ankle might go wrong, etc... No longer.

That, and at my last required physical in Jan, my blood chemistry was perfect.

Can't recommend it enough.

That and the long term liver damage :shrug:

 

[Tanngrisnir]

That and the long term liver damage :shrug:

Nah. That only happens when people go into ketoacidosis. Easily avoided by using urine strips.