What to Consider Before Going on a Ketogenic Diet

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

For a variety of reasons, the ketogenic diet has gained a large amount of popularity in recent years.

From Dr. Perlmutter’s best-selling Grain Brain, to Bulletproof Coffee, to the emergence of the bodybuilding community widely using ketogenic diets to help attain very low levels of body fat before physique competitions, the diet’s visibility has never been higher.

That being said, there are many misconceptions about this approach to eating, and many questions for which even scientific experts still do not have all the answers.

What Is the Ketogenic Diet?

High in saturated fat, nearly devoid of carbohydrates, and limitless in bacon, the ketogenic diet defies conventional wisdom. Interestingly, the ketogenic diet has many scientific benefits in neurological health.

Researchers find that the ketogenic diet provides disease-modifying effects in a large range of neurodegenerative disorders, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Furthermore, patients with brain injuries or stroke history have seen benefits from adopting the keto approach.

But what exactly is the ketogenic diet? To answer that question, we need to cover the basics of what a regular, standard American diet consists of.

High in carbohydrates, the traditional Western diet provides lots of glucose, which your body uses as its go-to source of fuel. This type of eating approach is high in carbohydrates, low to moderate in protein, and fairly low in fat.

The ketogenic diet, in essence, flips this approach on its head. The ketogenic approach was originally developed for those suffering from epilepsy 

By removing most (if not all) sources of glucose, the ketogenic approach teaches your body to run more effectively on fatty acids.

This approach elevates circulating levels of the ketone bodies acetoacetate, β-hydroxybutyrate and acetone – which the liver produces. Additionally, the brain and other tissues may run more efficiently on these sources when compared to glucose.

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How to Start a Ketogenic Diet

So if you are ready to try this approach, there are a few things you’ll want to consider before starting:

Enlist the Help of a Certified Professional

It’s important that you work with a qualified professional if you’re looking to adopt this diet. There are many things that can go wrong with this approach, which can throw your body into shock as a result.

Micronutrient deficiencies are commonly cited issues, along with trying to over-exercise, and burning oneself out. Endurance activities or glycogen-demanding exercise must be removed from one’s routine if you’re truly looking to utilize the ketogenic approach.

Stock Up on High-Quality Ingredients

If you’re ready to begin, you’ll want to load up on a few items at the grocery store. Grass-fed butter, coconut oil, and grass-fed beef are great ingredients to keep stocked. Again, get the highest quality you can afford.

If you’re really serious about the ketogenic approach, you’ll can opt for MCT oil, which has been shown to be better for the ketogenic approach. Don’t forget to fill your cart with plenty of green veggies like kale, spinach or broccoli – nothing too starchy.

Anticipate Low-Energy Activity

Depending on how many carbohydrates you cut out, you may not feel very energetic or happy during the first few days. Think about social situations, food shopping, and variety in your diet. Plan accordingly if your profession or schedule requires high-energy output.

It’s important to realize that a more realistic approach would be to moderately and slowly reduce your carbohydrate intake over a period of days or weeks. Ideally, you’ll want to be consuming between 30-80 grams of carbohydrates per day. This can vary from person to person, but you’ll be eating a large amount of meat, fat, and very little else.

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Health Benefits of a Ketogenic Diet

As mentioned earlier, there are numerous benefits to adopting the ketogenic diet.

The best benefits may be neurological, but there’s also reports of weight loss that has become popular within the bodybuilding community. By keeping your protein intake fairly high (but not too high), you will spare your muscles and lose only the fat – the holy grail of every diet.

Despite the positive benefits of a ketogenic diet, there are a few downsides to discuss:

Difficult Long-term Compliance

For starters, it’s fairly hard to stick to this approach long term. The limited amount of foods, lack of glucose, social pressures, and diet compliance are much more difficult than with any other diet.

Limited Exercise Regimens

Another big downside is the lack of endurance or glycogen-demanding workouts one can participate in. If adopting this approach, one should basically walk, lift heavy weights, and sleep. This can again be very limiting when attempting to be social or participate in group activities like being on a sports team.

Depending on your stress level at your job and other lifestyle factors, you may feel low on energy compared with consuming moderate levels of carbohydrates.

Yo-Yo Dieting

Another problem associated with the ketogenic diet is yo-yo dieting. Because sugar is so omnipresent in society, it can be very difficult to abstain from it completely.

Additionally, when ketogenic dieters get a little taste, they tend to have a tough time not binging on the stuff completely. This gives credence to the fact that it may be better to go for a more moderate level of carbohydrate intake, occasionally dipping into ketosis, via intermittent fasting.

Pending Science Results

Then, there’s the lack of available, reliable, long-term data on what kind of effect this approach to eating has on our body. It may not be so great to be pounding our bodies with saturated fat, all day, every day.

Certainly, a Paleo approach, which is lower in saturated fat, seems much safer for the long term. That is not to say that the ketogenic diet could end up being totally safe; it just means that the jury (and scientific data) is still out on this particular point.

Watch this video –A Keto Diet for Beginners

The Bottom Line

I hope I have provided an in-depth guide for you on exactly what the ketogenic diet is about, how to implement it and what pitfalls you’ll want to expect and avoid.

As the scientific community rapidly gains more knowledge around nutrition, it’s interesting to see what data comes out.

Ten or twenty years from now, we may find that the ketogenic diet is the optimal way to eat – we simply do not have all the data yet.

Conversely, we may find that this approach is less than ideal for most people. More than any other diet, the ketogenic blueprint is very individualistic, meaning that some may find it works great, while others feel dismal.

You really won’t know if this approach is right for you until you try it for yourself. So if you are interested, make sure you enlist the help of a qualified professional, and get to work buying lots of butter and grass-fed meat!

Written by Casey Thaler

Author Bio:

Casey Thaler, B.A., NASM-CPT, FNS is an NASM® certified personal trainer and NASM® certified fitness nutrition specialist. He writes for Paleo Magazine®, The Paleo Diet® and Greatist®. He is also an advisor for Kettle and Fire and runs his own nutrition and fitness consulting company, Eat Clean, Train Clean®.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

The 3 Main Benefits of Combining Keto and Paleo

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Should You Combine A Ketogenic Diet With Paleo?

Have you noticed that you feel better after adopting a Paleo diet?

There’s actually one more tweak to your diet that you can make to feel more energized, lose weight faster, and become mentally clearer. That tweak is to convert your Paleo diet to a Paleo / ketogenic (Keto) diet.

Fair warning, a Keto diet isn’t appropriate for all people, but by the end of this article you will know if giving it a try is worth it.

A Crash Course in Keto

Glycolysis and ketogenesis are the two processes that the body uses to produce usable energy for your cells.

Glycolysis is dominant when carbohydrates are available. It involves converting glucose into pyruvate, which produces a net gain of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate, the basic unit of cellular energy).

But when your carbohydrate stores run out, that’s when it’s ketogenesis’ time to shine. Compared to the small amount of carbohydrate stores you have at any time, you have a massive reserve of fat that can be used for energy.

Through ketogenesis, stored fat is broken down and converted to ketone bodies (a type of molecule) which can then be used to create ATP. When your body is relying on ketone bodies for energy, it is said to be in a state of ketosis.

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What is a Ketogenic Diet?

Remember that ketosis only occurs when you are more or less out of carbs. A ketogenic diet is designed to keep you in ketosis, mainly by limiting how many carbohydrates you eat during a day. The typical starting guideline is 50 grams per day, but some people need to restrict further than that, while others can eat more and still remain in ketosis.

It’s important to understand that the body takes time to adjust to using fats as the primary energy source. Depending on your current diet and health, if you switched to a ketogenic diet, it could take anywhere from one to four weeks to become fully adapted.

Take a look at the following plot from a study where blood glucose and beta hydroxybutyrate (considered a ketone body) concentrations were tracked:

Keto-adaptation was fully reached around day 24 when the beta hydroxybutyrate concentration plateaued.

The concentration of ketones can be measured by testing urine with Ketostix, or by using certain diabetic blood meters.

The big reason that interest in ketogenic diets peaked was the apparent neuroprotective effects that it can have. It’s typically prescribed to patients suffering with epilepsy, greatly reducing seizure frequency, and also might be part of an effective treatment against Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

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A Match Made In History

Look around for more information about Keto and Paleo, and you’ll see that they are often compared to each other. This makes no sense, because Paleo and Keto diets are not exclusive to each other.

Some (but not all) Paleo diets are Keto diets, and some (but not all) Keto diets are Paleo diets.

Looking at the diets of current tribes, which we believe have similar diets to their Paleolithic ancestors, we can see that some tribes, like the Inuit, live the vast majority of their lives on a ketogenic diet. They have a diet that consists almost entirely of fish and meat.

That image also shows that other tribes likely don’t eat ketogenic diets, with fruits and vegetables (carbohydrate-rich) making up about 15% of the Hadza diet, and about 20% of the Kung diet.

The main takeaway: If you eat a Paleo diet, you have the option to also eat a ketogenic diet if you choose to.

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The Main Benefits of Combining Keto and Paleo

The real question is: Is a Keto-Paleo diet better than just a non-Keto Paleo diet?

The simple answer is that it is for some, but not for others. In addition, sometimes a Keto diet won’t be better or worse, but just different.

We’ll look at who a Keto diet is right for soon enough, but first let’s look at the main benefits that might be reason enough to give it a try.

1. Simple Weight Loss and Appetite Control

Ketosis often has a great effect on hormone control, particularly those related to blood glucose, like insulin, and those related to appetite, like ghrelin. This is especially important for overweight people, who typically have worse hormone control than those of a healthy weight.

Overall, a lower appetite will lead to a smaller caloric intake in most cases, which will lead to fairly easy weight loss. If weight loss is a current goal of yours, Keto may be a great option to try.

If you’d like to learn more about losing weight with a ketogenic diet, check out HOW TO START KETO | lose weight with the ketogenic diet.

2. Lower Chance of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

Even though some markers of CVD are debatable, others have been firmly established after rigorous evaluation, like triglyceride levels and HDL cholesterol.

In short, high triglyceride levels are bad, and the lower you can get them, the lower your chance of disease.

Triglycerides are fat molecules, so you might expect that they will rise on a ketogenic diet. However, despite the fact that it might seem strange, eating excess fat actually lowers your triglycerides and raises your HDL (the “good” cholesterol). Eating excessive carbohydrates happens to lead to high triglycerides.

3. Mental Clarity, Better Sleep, and a Stronger Immune System

In addition to those 2 main benefits, there’s a whole host of potential benefits. Here’s the thing though, these haven’t been studied much, so most claims of these benefits are anecdotal. That doesn’t mean that they may not happen, just don’t bank on them if you decide to try Keto.

First off is mental clarity. Although there is often a “Keto flu”, much like the “Paleo flu” while the body is first adjusting (although it might be possible to avoid it), many claim that they think clearer and can focus better once fully adapted.

One study looked at how a ketogenic diet affected elderly people with slight mental impairment, and saw that memory was improved after 6 weeks. It’s a limited finding, but interesting nonetheless.

Other studies have shown that going Keto reduces sleep irregularities in obese and epileptic patients. On the anecdotal side, many have claimed that going Keto has allowed them to sleep less without feeling tired.

Finally, there are concerns over Keto diets and the immune system. Some are worried that a Keto diet will starve gut bacteria that depend on carbohydrates, which it probably does.

Gut flora is tied to the immune system and much more that we are only beginning to understand. I was unable to find any relevant studies here, so we have to rely on anecdotes for now.

What I’ve seen are many cases of people getting sick less often on Keto, and very few cases of people having issues. Obviously this isn’t conclusive, but I also don’t think you need to be too concerned about this.

Is a Ketogenic Diet Right for You?

There’s one major potential drawback that a Keto diet can present!

Strength athletes require carbohydrates for short term energy. Even if you aren’t a competitive athlete, you will suffer a large performance decrease if you play any sports with a lot of quick movement (soccer, hockey, basketball, etc.), like to sprint, or lift weights.

However, endurance athletes can actually thrive on a ketogenic diet. How come? Because fats can produce energy more efficiently than carbohydrates, but they take longer to do so. As long as you don’t require an excessive amount of energy in a short time period, a body that is adapted to use fats will perform excellently during endurance activities.

Also, on an unrelated note, if you are diabetic, read up on ketoacidosis and consult your doctor before attempting a Keto diet.

Where Do You Go From Here? – Resources for a Keto-Paleo Diet

Now that you have a good idea of what a ketogenic diet is, how it fits in with Paleo, and the potential benefits, you can decide if you’re interested in learning more or not.

Here are some of the best reasons to try Keto:

• You want to lose weight but have plateaued with non-Keto Paleo
• You are worried about CVD for one of many reasons
• You have issues with concentrating
• You just don’t like carbs

If you are interested in learning more, consider:

visiting the Eating Academy for more in-depth science behind Keto learning from Jimmy Moore’s experience with Keto and browsing some great Keto recipes

Watch this video – Jimmy Moore – ‘Keto And Paleo Are A Match Made In Heaven’

Written by Dale Cudmore

Author Bio:

Dale is a nutrition writer, chemical engineer & professional soccer player who sees the results of proper nutrition every day in training and games. Connect with him at DaleCudmore.com

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

The 5 Biggest Reasons to Limit Your Fructose Intake

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Death by Fructose – How Too Much Sugary Fruit Can Affect Your Health

There are many different forms of sugar, and most are pretty bad for you. But where does fructose rank?

Everyone knows that sugar is unhealthy, but there are still mixed opinions about whether a little fruit is good in moderation.

As with many things, the answer is a little more complex than a simple “good” or “bad” response.

Here’s why too much fructose can be dangerous, and which foods it might be hiding in.

Different Types of Sugar

There are three types of sugar primarily found in natural carbohydrate-based foods: glucose, fructose, and sucrose. While they are all the same as far as calories go, they differ in how the body uses them for energy and how they affect our health.

Glucose is the body’s preferred form of sugar because it can most easily convert it and use it for energy. It’s also the least sweet form of simple sugars.

Fructose is found naturally in most fruits, as well as in honey, agave, certain vegetables, sugar cane, corn, and sugar beets.

Fructose extracted from sugar cane and corn is converted into the type of fructose that is added to foods and sometimes processed into high-fructose syrup. Fructose has the sweetest taste, but in a strict comparison, has a less spiking effect on the blood sugar.

Sucrose is half glucose and half fructose. It is commonly extracted and refined into the table sugar that is highly addictive though technically less sweet than pure fructose.

If fructose affects the blood sugar least of the three, why is it considered the most toxic form of sugar? Here’s how fructose is associated with insulin resistance, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and liver toxicity – and what to do about it.

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5 Downsides of Fructose

When eaten, fructose is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream via the small intestine. While it doesn’t raise blood sugar as immediately as glucose, it has more long-term negative issues than glucose.

This doesn’t mean you should never eat fruit or honey, but it’s important to be mindful of how much fructose you’re eating on a regular basis. You should also avoid non-Paleo sweeteners that are high in fructose, such as agave and corn syrup.

Here are the biggest reasons to limit your fructose intake.

1. It’s Harder to Digest

While glucose is broken down and absorbed for energy fairly easily by the digestive organs, fructose needs a little extra help.

Fructose needs to be converted in the liver to be used for energy. Not only does this extra step require more effort from the digestive system, but when the liver gets a bigger hit of fructose than it can handle, it converts the excess into extra body fat, which can result in inflammatory problems and even cardiovascular risk. This can increase the risk of issues like obesity, fatty liver disease, and heart disease.

While small amounts of fructose here and there won’t overwhelm the liver, chronically high doses of fructose can be toxic and even lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. So, a daily soda can be just as detrimental as a daily alcoholic beverage.

2. It Can Lead to Type II Diabetes

Because the liver converts extra fructose to fat, it can have a strong influence on insulin resistance. In fact, too much fructose can even tug the body in the direction of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.

While all forms of excess sugars in the diet can lead to insulin, blood sugar, and diabetes problems, fructose is by far the most damaging. This is due, in part, to how fructose affects the hormones that control appetite.

They don’t send the same sorts of satiety signals to the brain that glucose does, disrupting feelings of satisfaction after eating or drinking it, which perpetuates even more cravings.

3. It Increases Obesity Risk

Excess fructose gets converted right into belly fat, and can even increase your odds of obesity. Too much belly fat increases your risk of:

• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Liver dysfunction
• Osteoporosis
• Depression
• Asthma

Research shows that people who drink fructose-sweetened beverages have an almost nine percent increase in belly fat, compared to those who drink glucose-sweetened drinks and gain a five percent belly fat increase.

This doesn’t mean that artificial sweeteners are any better. In fact, diet soda intake is linked with increased belly fat as well.

4. It Leads to Cravings

While all sugar can have an addictive quality, fructose is especially problematic because it doesn’t signal feelings of fullness in the brain after consumption. In fact, it can trigger desires for more, leading to more frequent cravings and even addiction.

In today’s sugar-driven society, it’s estimated that for the average person, as much as 10 percent of their day’s total caloric intake comes from fructose – not just sugar, but fructose alone. The more fructose that people eat, the more they want, leading to a perpetual cycle of overeating.

5. It’s Hard to Avoid

Trying to avoid fructose can get discouraging fast. High fructose corn syrup can be found in lots of processed foods, and just because something isn’t directly labelled as containing fructose, doesn’t mean it’s fructose-free. If you’re serious about avoiding fructose, be prepared to call manufacturers to ask where something is derived from.

Of course the simpler answer is to avoid processed foods entirely. You’ll still encounter fructose in fruits, but since it is also paired with glucose, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, it won’t affect the body in the same manner.

Watch this video –The TRUTH on Fruit & Fructose

Bottom Line

While a moderate intake of fruit is fine, processed foods containing added sugars will slam your body with high levels of fructose. This can lead to health problems like obesity, insulin resistance, and even sugar addiction. Try cutting back on processed foods to keep your health on track.

Written by Aimee McNew

Author Bio:

Aimee McNew is a Certified Nutritionist who specializes in women’s health, thyroid problems, infertility, and digestive wellness. She ate her way back to health using a Paleo diet, lost 80 pounds, and had a healthy baby after numerous miscarriages. She focuses on simple nutrition practices that promote long-lasting results.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook

What Can Cause Eczema and Natural Eczema Treatment

 

Click HERE to Discover these 80 Keto-Friendly and Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes

Eczema- What Is It, Causes & Natural Treatment

Do you struggle with chronic eczema or regular flare-ups throughout the year? You’re not alone.

Over 31 million Americans suffer from atopic dermatitis, the medical term for eczema, and over half of these people have moderate to severe conditions.

Eczema is an inflammatory skin disease that causes dry, itchy and thickened skin that typically appears on the flexor surfaces of your body (crooks of your elbows or back of your knees).  It’s not just an irritating skin condition; it also severely impacts your quality of life and psychological well-being.

What Causes Eczema?

Eczema is a multifactor disease, but a few of the most common triggers are the following: your genes, an overactive immune system, and environmental triggers.

Your Genes

Let’s look at your DNA first. If both your parents have a history of eczema, there’s about a 70% chance that you will acquire eczema. That drops to 30% chance if only one parent was affected.

How does this happen? A disruption of the epidermal (outer) layer of the skin, a hallmark of eczema, can be caused by mutations in the gene that encode fillagrin.

Fillagrin is a protein that matures the skin cells that become the protective, outermost layer of the skin.

This dysfunction of your skin’s defense mechanism allows for increased penetration of irritating substances, which increases susceptibility to skin infections and eczema. Unfortunately, you can’t choose your parents (but you can still benefit from the solutions below).

An Overactive Immune System

An overactive immune system is another hallmark of eczema. Your immune system has two main armies: the “first line of defense” innate immune system army that prevents infections and the “seek and destroy” adaptive immune system that knocks out intruders once they’ve penetrated your defenses.

An overactive immune system might be the cause of your eczema flare-ups.

Eczema is characterized by a Th2-dominated immune response, where your body’s “seek and destroy” immune system runs amok, leading to the production of IgE antibodies (i.e., allergic reactions) and an inflammatory response.

Environmental Triggers

The combination of bad genes, dry skin and disrupted epidermal barriers creates a hypersensitivity reaction towards irritating environmental substances. Irritants can vary; they include dust mites, temperature, clothing material, excessive washing, lotions, smoke, etc.

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Ways to Reduce Eczema

There is no cure for eczema, but a variety of treatments can be highly beneficial in reducing itchiness and preventing further breakouts. Let’s take a closer look.

Remove Food Allergens and Additives

Skin is the largest organ in the body, and what you eat has a tremendous impact on its health. Food allergies and intolerances are incredibly common in eczema suffers, and the research shows that 90% of those allergies are due to cow’s milk, hen’s eggs (not duck or goose), peanuts, wheat, and soy.

Almost all of the offending foods listed here are NOT Paleo, so adopting an ancestral approach and removing these allergenic foods can significantly improve eczema symptoms.

For more in-depth dietary changes, try the Autoimmune Paleo diet (AIP) or an Elimination diet for 4-12 weeks and assess progress. If aggravating symptoms appear after reintroducing a food, it could imply intolerance to that particular food. Try an AIP or elimination diet to see if milk, peanuts, wheat or soy are contributing to eczema symptoms.

Food additives like tartrazine, sodium benzoate, monosodium glutamate, sodium metabolite and tyramine can also aggravate eczema symptoms. Simply removing these harmful additives from your diet (i.e., no more processed or packaged foods) has been shown to markedly improve eczema after 10 months.

Swap Coffee for Oolong Tea

Your morning cup of Joe might taste great, but unfortunately, coffee beans are one of the most heavily sprayed crops on the planet and can worsen an overactive immune system. Make the switch to Oolong tea to cool inflammation, the overactive immune system response, and your eczema symptoms.

The researchers found oolong tea showed significant improvement in 63% of patients who were not responding to conventional treatment. They believe the benefits were due to polyphenols present in oolong tea. To reap the benefits, steep a 10g tea bag for 5 minutes in 1 liter of water, and drink in three equal servings between meals throughout the day.

Add More GLA

If you’re a regular PaleoHacks reader, you’re likely well aware of the fact that today’s modern diet contains a dramatic overabundance of pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats to anti-inflammatory omega-3. However, one key player in the omega-6 family is the gamma-linoleic acid (GLA).

Research suggests that eczema sufferers have impaired conversion of linoleic acid to gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) due to a dysfunction in an enzyme called delta-6-desaturase, which leads to deficiency and causes the barrier of the skin to become impaired.

Remember, essential fats like GLA must be obtained from your diet, but even on a Paleo diet, GLA is not easy to come by.

The highest concentrations are found in evening primrose and borage, as well as hemp oil, which can easily be added to salads and put on top of veggies (do not cook with hemp oil).

If you struggle with chronic and long-standing eczema, you may want to consider supplementing with GLA.

Add Supportive Probiotics

Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria. The more “good” probiotics bacteria have, the happier your digestive system, the root of all inflammation. Your digestive tract is home to over 80% of your immune system, and its first response to any foreign invaders or insults is to trigger inflammation.

Eczema is a chronic inflammatory condition, so keeping your gut healthy is a crucial piece of the puzzle. Probiotics help prevent the uptake of allergens that trigger eczema.

Probiotics play a key role in maintaining the integrity of your gut barrier, reducing leaky gut, and preventing the uptake of allergens that trigger eczema.

Natural sources of probiotics are fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchee, or kombucha tea.

Supplementation with probiotics can be highly beneficial if you struggle with long-standing eczema, so look for strains high in Lactobacillus rhamnosus.

Boost Your Zinc and Vitamin D Intake

Zinc is required for the proper function of the delta-6-desaturase enzyme discussed above (#3 GLA), and deficiency has been shown to exacerbate symptoms of eczema.

A Paleo-based diet is the ideal platform for optimal zinc intake, as animal protein is hands down the best source of zinc. Increase your intake of darker cuts of meat like beef, venison, bison, elk and lamb, as well as including more seafood like oysters and mussels.

Low levels of vitamin D are also associated with increased risk of developing atopic dermatitis. Supplementation with vitamin D may help treat eczema in those who are deficient, something to consider if you live in a city with a true winter climate.

Lavender and Coconut Oil Cream (Home-Made)

You may have the ingredients for a powerful anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial ointment right in your kitchen. Coconut oil is a nutrient-dense, gentle emollient that can be applied to the skin after a warm shower to help retain moisture in the skin.

Add some lavender essential oil, in a 1:5 ratio, to coconut oil to make a powerful and soothing natural ointment for irritated skin.

Reduce Stress Levels

Stress isn’t just pulling your hair out because you can’t cope, it’s also “being busy” from morning till after dark. Stress is a reality in today’s 24/7 society, and there is a positive correlation between stress and increased prevalence of eczema.

Stress reduction techniques like mindfulness meditation training, yoga or tai chi, coloring (yes, coloring books!) and singing all help to activate the vagus nerve in the brain that helps the body unwind and de-stress.

Maintain Your Ideal Body Composition

Today, two-thirds of the population in America is overweight or obese, and if you struggle with weight gain, the research shows it will increase your risk of eczema significantly.

Following a low-carb, Paleo-based diet, incorporating strength training and HIIT (high-intensity interval training) cardio is a great way to trim body fat and achieve your ideal body composition.

Quit Smoking

There is a strong association between smoking, exposure to smoke, and atopic dermatitis. The solution here is simple: stop smoking.

Detoxify

Eczema can worsen with exposure to allergens and irritants such as soaps, perfumes or laundry detergents. Use a mild detergent to wash clothing, with no bleach, dryer sheets or fabric softener. Use a scent-free, sensitive skin, hypoallergenic detergent that is free from dyes, fragrances and irritating residues.

Watch this video – How To Treat Eczema Naturally | Top Home Remedies For Eczema

Bottom Line

Eczema isn’t just annoying and irritating, it also deeply impacts your overall health and vitality.

This chronic and inflammatory skin condition can be reversed by removing aggravating foods from your diet, upgrading your digestive health, correcting nutrient deficiencies and cooling inflammation.

Find the right solutions for your body and put an end to the dry, itchy and sensitive skin that holds you back from feeling your best.

Written by Dr. Marc Bubbs

Author Bio:

Dr. Marc Bubbs, ND is a Naturopathic Doctor, Strength Coach, Author, Speaker, and Blogger practicing in Toronto, Canada. He believes that diet, exercise, and lifestyle factors have the most profound impact on your overall health and performance. Marc is the author of The Paleo Project – A 21st Guide to Looking Leaner, Getting Stronger, & Living Longer and currently serves as the Sports Nutrition Lead for Canadian Men’s Olympic Basketball Team.

A lot of people have gotten results from the Keto diet, and enjoyed the foods that it has to offer. However, many of the people who are following this diet have a hard time finding the recipes that they need, especially ones that are quick and easy to complete.

Fortunately, Kelsey Ale, noticed this problem, and decided to do something about it. She’s found that making recipes in a slow cooker gives you meals which are not only delicious, but also take very little time to make. Mostly you just put a few simple ingredients in the slow cooker, and let it do the rest.

To find out more, click on – Keto Slow Cooker Cookbook