the three horsemen of Kevin's apocalypse

Bye-bye, sodas. Bye-bye, carbs. Hello, keto. And hello, brothers of keto.

I've been reading Dr. Jason Fung's book, The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally (available at Amazon here). It's very informative, and not a little scary in its description of how all-pervasive the damage of diabetes can be. All your major organs are affected by it; neuropathy (which I suffer in my feet to a light degree) is only the beginning. Fung's contention, consistent with that of Gary Taubes, is that carbs are the root of the problem. Further, Fung thinks that diabetes doesn't have to be a lifelong ailment: it can be halted and even reversed (although many of the effects of diabetes, like neuropathy, cannot). This is good news for people in my situation, i.e., 50-something folks who could end up with a slew of major problems in as little as a decade if they don't get off the deadly course they're on.

I haven't read all of Fung's book yet, but I've seen the commentary around the book and know something of his plan, which includes 24-hour blocks of fasting to supplement one's intermittent fasting. Fung recommends a diet that is mostly congruent with the keto diet, so these are, starting tomorrow (Monday the 16th), the three horsemen that will be chasing me for the next several months: (1) keto dieting, (2) intermittent fasting, and (3) Fung's 24-hour fasting blocks, which he recommends doing 3-4 times a week (for me, that means MWF). Fung's book is shot through with anecdotes about people who went from being heavily dependent on meds that did nothing to help them, to being completely med-free, all while losing weight, gaining energy and alertness, and regaining a sense of well-being.

I'm cautious, of course: as I've written before, I tried Atkins in the early 2010s, with that diet's hardcore two-week ketosis "induction" period at the beginning, and it led me to become clinically depressed. But I've been watching plenty of YouTube videos about keto-friendly recipes that will allow me to satisfy my massive craving for bread, pasta, and sweets without falling off the wagon. I have no illusions that keto substitutes will be anywhere near as tasty and satisfying as the real thing, but it's getting to a point where, if I don't put myself onto some sort of regimen, I may very well not make it to 60. I've often joked about dying by that time: my maternal and paternal lineage both have histories of heart attacks; my paternal grandparents were also alcoholics, and my mother's father died of a heart attack when he was relatively young. Genetics-wise, the odds are very much stacked against me, and given that Mom herself didn't make it past her sixties (she was 66 when she died), I need to look out for diseases like cancer as well. The odds of getting cancer go up logarithmically when you're diabetic; "cancer loves sugar," as one doc on YouTube puts it.

While it's tempting to lay out my plan here, I know I've done that before, and doing so often seems to jinx me. Suffice it to say that I'll be sticking to keto and the two types of fasting, with occasional exceptions for the holidays that will be compensated for by some nice, long walks. I might explain my regimen in more detail after a couple of months, assuming I start to see results from the discipline. So mark this blog post; I'll be expecting my commenters to hold my feet to the fire. To the man in the mirror, I say: Ganbatte!