After doing a lot more research, I realized that the key to eliminating migraines isn’t just following a low-carb diet, it’s the production of ketones. And that led me down another rabbit-hole.
KETOSIS 101
When eating a “standard” diet with plenty of carbohydrates, your pancreas produces insulin, which converts blood sugar into glucose. Glucose is burned for energy, providing your body with a fuel source.
In the absence of insulin, your liver produces ketones. Ketones are synthesized from fat, either dietary fat or body fat, and provides an alternative source of energy supply (only when glucose is not available).
Therefore, the only way to produce ketones is to starve your body of carbohydrates, either through prolonged fasting, or a “substantially” low-carb diet, where carb intake is kept low enough to minimize the production of glucose. Another lesson-learned is that ketone production does not happen instantly. Depending on your metabolism and diet, It can take your body several days or even weeks to get into ketosis.
YOUR BRAIN ON KETONES
Your brain never takes a break, even when you’re sleeping, making it a big energy-hog. Despite weighing only 1.5 kg (just over 3 lbs), the big lump of fat and nerve cells in your skull sucks up 20% of your daily energy requirements.
Constantly burning glucose for fuel has been found to be very inflammatory (or oxidative), leading to a host of neurological disorders.
In the absence of glucose, your brain runs on ketones, which are a more efficient fuel source, improving your brain’s energy reserves. A number of studies point to ketones as the key element in preventing migraines, headaches, epilepsy, memory loss, Alzheimer’s and a long list of other neurodegenerative diseases.
Problem solved. Or at least that’s what I thought at the time.
STEP 5: SET A CARB LIMIT
Transitioning into ketosis requires a very low-carb intake, much lower than 100 grams/day for most people, although that number can vary greatly from person to person.
Eating less than 20 grams of carbs/day virtually guarantees the production of ketones, buts that’s a very low limit. Luckily, a vast majority of people (like 99%) can get into ketosis with a lower limit of about 30 grams/day.
Factoring in an assumed 5% error rate in my measurement system, I settled on a daily carbohydrate limit of 25 grams.
BACK TO MY KETOSIS EXPERIMENT
Through the end of November 2015, I proceeded to lower my carb limit from about 40 grams to the mid-20s. Gone was all fruit and my beloved morning toast. I also increased my fat intake to over 100 grams, to make sure I was eating enough total calories.
I felt fine at this point, with no dreaded sugar-withdrawal symptoms[1]. I would guess slowly reducing my carb intake over the span of a few months may have helped ease the transition into ketosis.
But I had one more hurdle to overcome … getting my protein intake right.
STEP 6: SET A PROTEIN LIMIT
It turns out, your body can produce glucose from protein through a process called gluconeogenesis[2]. Although the effect is not nearly as powerful as carbohydrates, it’s still important to bring your protein count below a certain threshold.
After doing even more research, I settled on 75 grams of protein a day, which was about half my normal intake at the time.
HITTING THE BRICK WALL
I have to admit, I struggle more with my protein limit than carbs.
Turns out, protein is more than just fish, steak and chicken. Dairy products have a considerable amount of protein, especially cheese … did I mention how much I love cheese? Nuts and seeds have plenty of protein. Fruits and vegetables also contain protein in small quantities. The percentages may not be high, but it all adds up at the end of the day.
Accounting for all that, my “meat” portions were way too large and lean. I therefore reduced meat intake, switched to fattier cuts and immediately started to feel the effects. I felt slow and sluggish, as my body went through the dreaded glucose-withdrawal. Luckily, it didn’t last long, and I finally got my macros right.
ONE FINAL TRANSITION
The first week of December brought another two migraines, but this time, I didn’t feel discouraged. It takes time to become keto-adapted, and my time just hadn’t come yet.
On December 5th, 2015, I set my daily macro limit to 25 grams of carbs, 75 grams of protein and 150 grams of fat, and it hasn’t changed ever since.
NOTES:
¹ For anyone that normally eats a lot of carbohydrates, a quick transition into a low-carb diet often brings on glucose-withdrawal symptoms, notably weakness, fatigue and extreme crankiness. I experienced this first hand in 1999 when I tried Atkins for a few weeks, abruptly dropping my carb intake from about 300 grams a day to 30 grams. A dumb idea in hindsight.
² There is a lack of consensus on the science behind gluconeogenesis, and whether significant volumes of glucose can be synthesized from protein. I experienced glucose-withdrawal first hand when I dramatically cut my protein intake in 2015. Although opinions vary greatly, it would appear gluconeogenesis is more pronounced when following a high-carb diet, and far less pronounced when in ketosis.