I was keto forever due to a seizure disorder. It was only when I went fully carnivore that the cravings finally went away. Pleasant side effect was that my seizures also went away.
Robin Beers, do you have any advice : My now 30 year old son has autism and began having seizures at age 14, after being prescribed risperdal and Prozac by a neurologist at has school. I stopped the medication immediately, but the seizures have continued. He takes oxcarbazepine and zonisamide. Thank You, Carol.
@@cielleighton Hi Carol. Well first of all, every case of epilepsy is unique and I'm not a doctor. That said, my experience is that anti-epileptic meds (AEDs) are massively over-prescribed. The neurologists don't really know what is or isn't going to work. It's like throwing spaghetti up on the wall to see what sticks. More often than not, nothing really sticks or it works for a little while and then stops. Also, it is my experience that, when running in a ketone burning metabolism, the same medication can work just as well at a much lower dose. It has been a long process for me to get off my meds because it has to be done VERY gradually or it can actually provoke a seizure. Nice, right? How long has he been on the AEDs? I ask because it gets harder to get off of them the longer it's been. There is a lot of excellent info on keto diets and epilepsy. I would recommend the Johns Hopkins website to start with. Once you get him into ketosis and stable with that, then you could try cutting back on one med at a time very slowly. You said the seizures have continued so it doesn't sound like he is getting any miracle cures from the pharmacy. I wish you well and feel free to contact me if I can help.
@cl.....I know a lady who cured her profoundly mentally disabled son of severe epilepsy through strict keto diet. She literally fed him half a stick of butter in yogurt. It was flavored full fat yogurt because he wouldn't eat it otherwise. After some months or a year I don't know, he was able to resume a more normal diet and was cured from his epilepsy. It was monitored by a doctor though and autistic people are usually more sensitive to food preferences.
Great news is the things that disappear when you make that change I also did this too after a year of keto and so many changes happen still working on a few things but I love carnivore
I am currently in naturopathic medical school and I recently did an assignment on treating migraines with a dietary modification. There's research on keto as a treatment, so I wrote about that. In class (there are a lot of vegans in my school) I shared that keto has been shown to be useful in treating migraines. As soon as I said the word "keto" I got glares from about a third of the class. Lol
It amazes me how Amy Berger has offered more insight into Alzheimer's disease than what I hear from most doctors. Thank you for bringing her on your podcast.
I took my mom to a neurologist and he had ZERO ideas for her early onset cognitive impairment. It's absolutely crazy how the medical field has failed its patients. I'm treating her with very low carb. Fingers crossed that she gets better.
I just got finished watching a video you'd love, (if you haven't seen it already) called Celebrating Dr Atkins & the Atkins Diet - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-KINYDzZriE8.html Cheers!
We have Alzheimer’s running in the family. At this moment I am currently seeing my aunt slowly fade. Her diet is beyond despicable and no doctor has told her to cut down sugar and watch the diet a bit. Just pills and more pills that do very little. At the same time she drinks more soda than water and endless amounts of other sugary foods. I made my case once, nobody even thought of giving it a chance and I’m done with it. Unfortunately a lot of people still believe that chronic disease is always what it is and you just live with it with whatever you can get from an endless pill regiment. Sad.
@@Grk149 I am sorry to hear about your auntie's deterioting condition. I sympathize with your plight. People are so addicted to some of these refined foods, that they vehemently defend their consumption even if it is what is killing them.
One of the best interviews I have heard in a long time. I love her approach about keeping Keto simple. When I first started, I didn't even know about keto, I just just cut my grains out. Saw results. Then cut out sugar. Saw more results and started to read about what I was doing. Lots of keto sites came up.AAH! I was doing low carb, hmm,, what is this keto thing? Soon I Added more fat and I was keto-ing. I am actually a bit glad that I didn't research keto first because of information overload. Just cutting out grains and sugars was enough for me to lose weight (also pleased for her to find out she mentions that not everyone has to do keto. I didn't when I started and lost alot of weight from just low carb. Although I ended up going the route of keto after weight loss to finally kill my binge eating disorder. ) Her tip about- "am I hungry for a porkchop?" I am going to use from here on out. Thus far I have been successful without additional tips but always good to add another bullet to the arsenal. This interview was truly a breath of fresh air.
Food addiction is real for me. So hard to get over giving up carbs and sugar. Keto desserts and bread were a bridge for me like Amy said. Took a while, almost 2 years now keto. Doing without all the keto treats. Now experimenting with Carnivore. I feel so good. Arthritis isn’t acting up.
Yes I agree… sugar addiction is very very real.. I used to gulp down Sodas and energy drinks like water. Thinking it was the caffeine that was giving my the rush I was after but after one day randomly checking my blood sugar on a friends meter for giggles and seeing my sugar level was at 480 I wasn’t giggling anymore and found out it was sugar that I was hooked on.
Over the "lock down" I let myself eat carbs. Part of it was I let other people influence me. Experiment is over!!! I struggled with getting one day low carb. So, much of the addiction is emotional for me. It is physiological, but / and I must master it to shift to low carb. What got me over the hump was affirming, "I am responsible." It helps to repeat it when I see or handle hi carb food that others can eat but I can not. I can allow others to eat what they want. I am responsible for my health.
same here.....the addiction is real.....and very sneaky......i always start a re-commitment period with a one day fast....great jump start, and helps knock down cravings, reset attitude, give an autophagy bump, and more.....good luck out there!....
Knowing how carbs are out to kill me(literally), to go low carbs wouldn’t work. I had to go zero carbs for several months. It was (by contrast) unbelievably easier. These days I go no higher than 10g . My life is at stake.
Tara Kiessling That sounds fun and yet I’ve never thought about doing that. Even though as a child when my parents woke me up to get ready for school they would have groovy music playing to start the day. I always woke up in a good mood and ready to go. I suppose being an adult now I’m in that mad dash to shower, shave, get a quick bite and get to hell out of the house to get to work and beat traffic.
I dreamed someone pulled me out and made me dance and it lifted my depression in the dream. Maybe I will try that….gotta lose 35 lbs first. Cant wait to weigh 135 again and wear a size 8!
I recently saw a (Canadian) medical student who was doing a 4 week practicum in my GP’s office. I told him why I was doing keto, and that a big part was my family history of dementia and that Alzheimer’s is being referred to as type 3 diabetes. He said he had never heard that. That terrifies me. Thank you for getting the word out. Perhaps the next round of medical students 4 years from now will be aware, because they certainly aren’t learning it now....not in western Canada anyway.
Mary T maybe in your experience but my daughter who is a recent medical school grad knows lots about low carb and my own doc who is two hours out of residency recommended intermittent fasting....also in Canada.
Doctors do not normally push any diet advice because they aren't trained. What terrifies me is that many holistic health care practitioners recommend a Keto diet,. There are some very severe symptoms that can come from keto. Seems like the keto diet is beginning to fail. Otherwise we would not see everyone switching over to carnivore or adding in carbs because they feel so lousy.
Linda Bell I’m sorry that is your experience. I am 61, been keto 2 years and never felt better in my life. Further, all the people I know on a well formulated keto diet are doing great. Although I concede it is not for everyone, I do not agree that people who eat keto “feel lousy”. Quite the opposite.
Mary T I am happy you are feeling well. I've learned that the reason people switch to carnivore and add in a few more carbs is because of several unpleasant symptoms. You are very fortunate!
@@MaryT-KetoEveryDay I feel we are all different and what works for some doesn't work for others. I feel Both you and Linda Bell have excellent points!👍🏽
This works! I started my journey on 8/2021 at 289lbs. I did 16/8 IF program and Keto currently weighting at 239lbs. I'm aiming for 165lbs by 9/2022 with omad/ADF/Keto. My family history is also filled with diabetes, cancer and obesity. This is the best solution to get your health back. Good luck to all and awesome interview. Good work!
I am 55, I have Hashimotos. I was on T4/T3 meds for 15 years. I was fat, anxious, you name it. I went Low carb Keto/carnivore in March of 2020. I lost 35 lbs fast. I saw my naturopathic doctor in July of 2020, I told her what i was doing and she told me I was eating wrong, lol. I no longer see anyone. I slowly took myself off of thyroid medication in Jan of 2022.( I got lucky I had no issues) I pay attention to what I eat and how my body responds and adjust my food/sleep accordingly. I found out in November that I have a histamine reaction to eggs and dairy makes me anxious, I had NO clue. I have been maintaining between 130-140 LBS-5'6" and I feel great. Wonderful interview.
Wow! I'm so grateful for this episode and for finding this amazing woman! I had never heard of her before now. I needed to hear every single thing she said! Pure gold!!
Keto and IF has been AMAZING for my mental health and epilepsy. I'm off both my antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication, I'm on less anti-epilepsy medication and my insomnia has resolved and I've never felt better. This has been life changing for me, better than any pill I've taken!
@AFTER KETO REHAB .. and tell me how all those cultures you mention found their carbs when there were none available .. like before 10 000 years ago .. before agriculture came about .. facts are facts .. I think you're wrong about all this glucose ..
I have something to contribute in regard to cravings and satiety. I did Keto rather rigorously and carefully for a year and a half. However, the cravings never went away. August 1 of this year, I decided to try the Carnivore Diet (nearly zero carb-animal products only) for one month. My intestines responded much more than I expected after having been on Keto for so long (Loose stools!) but after two weeks, everything settled into a wonderful normal but the shocker was that the cravings completely stopped. What I heard later was that there are specific bacteria in the gut that only eat carbohydrates. When you stop the carbohydrates they begin to die off and in their dying, somehow they communicate with our brains. Many carnivores report having dreams about eating donuts or cake. I certainly did! Since then, I have not gone back to regular Keto. I still only eat beef, lamb, pork, seafood, eggs with salt and electrolytes. I almost never have cravings! (Only after I have “cheated”.)
This was wonderful to listen too. Thank you for bringing food addictions. "Stop when full" does not work for everyone. I do not recognize when I am full. It only registers when I feel stuffed.
What a great interview thank you. Although I am Carnivore now I started with Keto for one year and at age 63 never felt better in my whole life, reversed so many health issues and am now clearing up a few issues that I could not reverse with Keto.
I also do OMAD and am fasting on day 8 today not sure when I'll break my fast but amazing that there's no hunger at all so from I find it easy to do I want to reset my metabolism and burn off a little more fat. But I've done a 18 day fast when I had much more fat to burn off and did a 6 day hard dry fast which was amazing but absolutely a lot harder to do and not something I would suggest to someone who has not spent a lot of time researching.
She’s right! Why complicate it! lol When i learned about low carb and its mathematical formula as a person loves mathematics then i knew it wasn’t hard for me. Love low carb diet!❤️ Helped my ADHD problems. Maintaining 50-70grams a day is what i only need. Lower than that or higher than that i don’t feel good. No more refined sugars and controlled carbs. I always stick to my meat , fish and more green leafy vegetables.
Dr. Scher is the absolutely best interviewer ever. He is so knowledgeable, always asks the right questions, and he actually respects and listens to his guests. Plus, he’s very handsome. 😊
Thank you for the confirmation. I read 'The Carbohydrates Addict Diet' around the same time as Dr Atkins book was out. I lost post-baby weight of 15kgs going low carb. Recently, I tried to do intermittent fasting while including carbs to lose post-Covid weight gain. Wasn't progressing, and I found fasting a little hard to do, until I substantially lowered carb foods again. I found I could eat a bit more and the weight starting coming off again without killing myself with heavy exercise on top of it. Each person reacts differently to fasting or high carbs so it's worth testing the right method for you until you discover which strategy has the best result for you personally. But yes, carbs do have a strong influence on many health issues. 🙏🙏
I also did Atkins but did it wrong. I ate way too much meat and not enough fat. I missed the fat part because I only focused on I can eat a lot of meat I would magically get thin. I’m doing keto Omad intermittent fasting with a focus on fat and balancing my omega 3 to 6 ratio. Also my micro biome is also another focus. Great interview!
thank you! I was just diagnosed with pre diabetes and I tell you there are sooooooo many contradicting videos on social media. I am just going to watch as a start my carb intake and loose sugar. Hopefully my blood auger level will drop. Greeting s from South Africa
Excellent interview. Amy is so knowledgeable and wrote a great book on Alzheimer's. She is definitely way more informed than 99+% of MDs. All these sweet tooth type recipes are not good IMO. It is best to ditch the sweet tooth in general. I am carnivore and very rarely have a sweet craving--which passes. Went keto/carnivore as it is the healthiest diet. BMI 17 but initially on keto I started gaining unwanted weight with the coconut oil (which I do not even like), butter, and other fat bombs. I eliminated all that and dropped the few pounds gained. No snacking is key.
I really commend you. Im just researching but aren’t you concerned about excess IGF1 eating all that meat? IGF1 is related to major health issues. Not trying to be controversial. I just need the answer to this. I tend to be meat pro with some veggies but i do worry about IGF1. Any thoughts on this?
I so needed to hear this discussion. Your channel has been so helpful to me in fully understanding how keto can help me and how to do it right. She is amazing. So many medical people get on these shows and talk as if only their colleagues are listening or they are trying to impress with their knowledge but for the layperson, we just can’t follow it. She is so different…just as knowledgeable but brings it down to earth so we all can understand. Thank you for having her on.
Thanks Bret. I just now discovered you and your work. I've watched 4 now and have developed a great appreciation of your intellect and kindness. Excellent work Sir
OMG. Love this! I never measure. I know what sugar is. I know what food is made with flour, etc...I do realize there are some sneaky carbs, though..I have used those "bridge" foods, but other than that, living keto is SIMPLE 😍
I appreciate listening to such a variety of interviews, as hearing from different people, according to each person's special focus, is so helpful on many levels. I like learning the science, but it is always uplifting to hear from psychological viewpoints, from people's personal journeys to greater healing. Thank you, Diet Doctor,and to Dr. Sher, for hosting these interviews.
Amy is so common sense. We need people to get the essential truths across and pass the complex / confusing matters over to experts to debate in a corner.
Same here! After the first 2-4 days on keto I almost can't MAKE myself eat 2 or 3 meals if I wanted to. The food is so satiating and oftentimes on the heavy side compared to other 'diet food'. That's why if people would really research this way of eating before they bash it, they'd see most of us aren't eating endless sticks of butter and mountains of bacon and steak piled high with cheese and eggs and pork belly all deep fried in lard...haha. this diet naturally becomes a low-calorie diet, much like any other one. Except we get to eat stuff that tastes good, we don't starve, we are no longer slaves to food and hunger!
I only eat when I'm actually hungry and 90% of the time it's one meal a day, once in a great while I'll have two meals, but not very often. Sometimes I'll skip my meals and fast.
When I first started OMAD at 305lbs years ago, I was eating the standard American diet. I went a year pigging out on pizzas, sub sandwiches, burgers and fries, KFC, etc. for one meal a day. I lost 38 lbs eating that delicious garbage, but I still didn't feel that great health wise. I then switched to low carb paleo, eating meat and veggies with a few berries and nuts. The weight just melted off and I easily reached and maintained my goal weight of 185 lbs . It was also much easier to stick to one meal that way. I went full carnivore for about a year and a half and never really noticed that much difference except I had less bloating from the absent fibrous veggies. Nowadays I'm eating a meat heavy diet while enjoying a smaller amount of low carb plant foods, about 80 to 90% carnivore. I still eat OMAD almost all of the time, it just feels so natural to me now.
@@x00p3 I still some days eat OMA, but I feel my best eating twice, I have been carnivore for 4 years, but I am just staring to add some things back like onions. I feel like I can't get enough food in once a day anymore and was starting to snack..... so now I've worked my way to 1 large meal and one small meal about 4 hours later. I also didn't notice too much difference on carnivore except no bloating (which was awesome) and it really helped my rosacea on my face clear up (but never went 100% away).
How wonderful that we now have doctors who want to find CURES for our problems and not just medication to treat symptoms! My mother always understood that I was a lean person who loved greens and all kinds of veggies. After school snacks I would choose were always dill pickles or cheddar cheese. Fruit was almost always too sweet for me. My three siblings wanted cookies and sweet snacks. I loved tart fruit! I have always been the thin sibling. I had seizures as a child and a young adult ....how funny that I actually chose a natural KETO DIET from childhood. One sibling had gastric by pass surgery and is doing well, My sister and younger brother continue to eat a high carb diet AND both are type 2 diabetics, their attitude is: "My doctor says I am OK taking my meds and eating my current diet." Well I think doctors need to offer patients cures and not just treatments! The fact is that even as a child my body understand what I should eat to avoid seizures. I still had them but, after my 2 nd child the seizures stopped. The horrible side effect of taking Dilantin for a seizure disorder was I lost my hearing. Thank GOD I have hearing aids which I have worn since my early 30's. People need to have facts to make good choices. Please, PLEASE, DOCTORS OFFER REALISTIC DIET CHOICES THAT CAN MAKE HUGE DIFFERENCES IN PATIENTS LIVES! NOT EVERY PERSON WANTS MEDS SOME WANT A CURE!
"If you're hungry, eat." For many of us letting hunger drive eating decisions isn't going to work. For me (63 yo/320lbs/insulin resistant) an eating window is a very necessary guideline. Of course there are errors along the way and I don't worry about temporary slips ups, but IMF with keto has been a life changer. And the idea that this eating style may benefit my liver, kidneys, brain, heart and perhaps curb inflammation is no small thing either. I experience a period of hunger every day and I'm learning to embrace it. Hunger is a temporary condition on the path to a satisfying life.. It's okay: I'll eat later, lol.
Thank you so much for acknowledging those of us who are *still hungry* ! I have been maintaining my weight loss for two years with low carb- *with* walking and tracking. But I’ve just had to get used to the feelings of hunger between meals and not let it stress me. My fullness feeling has never been accurate, since I was a skinny little kid who used to amaze waitresses taking away my empty adult plate. It would take a 16 ounce ribeye steak to make me feel *full* and it would not make me feel remotely uncomfortable. I’m 5’3” I can’t eat according to my body’s signals, they don’t work. I did Atkins induction for two weeks very strictly about 20 years ago, pretty much almost carnivore ,but didn’t track the calories because the book said not to, and I gained four pounds and my pants were tighter. I would love for more videos to stop promising that people will not be hungry with a certain diet or lifestyle. I think this lie is what makes people like me unable to change the way they eat and they give up. If I’m not hungry some of the time, I’m gaining weight. 🤷♀️ (Nothing wrong with my thyroid or anything else by the way.)
I found back in 2018 when I went low carb / no sugar keeping a food log was the best tool. Within two weeks I found out what foods my body ran well off of and what foods had an adverse effect and how I felt after I ate them as well. We do live in a snacking culture! The food industry is definitely working against us - they target us to make money! A good rule of thumb that I follow is any food or snack that is connected to a TV commercial should probably not be consumed.
Great talk. No crazy here. I’ve been low carb a couple times 25 years ago to stop Migraines absolutely worked but I got better and quit paying attention and got refated. So about 20 years later I was a metabolic disaster but I got told I was over the line and now diabetic. Well that flipped a switch now I have No metabolic problems and have lost 70/85 lbs back and forth. I totally understand your understanding. 😊
This is very good. It cuts through the mass of incorrect, incoherent rubbish that's posted on most Facebook forums by people who have not understood, or misunderstood the basics, and promote "their view" as fact. It confirmed my learnings to date from reading scientific papers on Insulin , and caused me to leave all the Keto/fasting forums, they being both repetitive and misleading. Great interview, many thanks.
12:45 - yes, yes!! We must talk about food/eating addiction, and not just low carb/low insulin. Many of us have the knowledge and the information, but we still struggle with the addiction to sweet or salty carbs ... those things that got us to 30+ lbs overweight and into insulin resistance in the first place. There must be a place to talk about and admit the addiction and how to overcome it (much like AA for alcoholics, etc). Maybe we all need a good therapist???
Go to the RU-vid channel for dr Boz….Annette Bozwell, MD. She has lots of info about having groups or community for keto, etc., people. She goes live every Sunday. Good luck 👍
Phenomenal conversation!! Amy covers all the psychological issues. Dr. Sher's questions, as usual, are so empathic of both the guest as well as of the guest's clients/patients.
Very helpful interview. Very clear. Good questions. Amy Berger demonstrates well how to talk to people, how to coach about finding a successful path. Quite impressive. Knowledge is motivation.
Great point about TMI! It can be confusing and overwhelming. I found once I was diagnosed as insulin resistant and went on keto cold turkey it took less than a few days to not be hungry only a few weeks to start intermittent fasting so it is possible with patience and awareness of your body. In fact it’s at a point where some days I have to force myself to eat for nutrients but I feel so much better with so much more time and control not obsessing about my next meal and a fake hunger that comes with insulin issues.
I love Amy Berger, she is a Rock star in the nutrition, I learned a lot from her after I read Her Book.- keep been simple rather than complicated this topic🙏🙏
I am 66 years old, and on keto no to lose weight but because of prediabetes. I lost 20 or more Lbs from 132 to 104lbs. I decided to go with 2 meals because I know I can easily lose weight regardless of a diet. I also have the occasional snack. I started exercising daily for 2 hrs. I have changed to every other day with 30 min walks and 1 hr at the gym. I do have a hard time keeping a normal weight with this lifestyle. I actually eat more fat and more calories than I ever did in my entire life. I guess I am the exception to the rule. Otherwise, this keto diet works really well for me, and skipping meals is not new; I have done it all my life. My situation is more genetic and, stress with some nutrient deficits. My A1C is back to normal, and for that, I am grateful to have found the keto diet.
@@nataliajimenez1870 yeah, actually, I have done that lately. I am holding on to almost 105 lb. I was fluctuating into the 101 lb. But the little increase and modifying my routine exercises to not loose excess calories is helping me to at least not to remain maintain my weight stable. I got to stay on time of my glucose problem, so increasing carbs is not so much of an option. Thanks for the advice.
Can’t do sugar alcohols and think that has helped me not go down the keto treat rabbit hole. I still had to remove dairy, nuts and dark chocolate in order to trust my hunger/satiety signals.
Thank you for talking about food addiction! I agree that nearly no one is discussing this. Everyone seems to be focused on the food replacement, but not talking about what got many of us into this food challenge predicament in the first place :0)
This is another in a long list of outstanding interviews! Amy is an incredible font of amazingly helpful information. 🥇Thank you Dr Scher! 🌺 PS I have her book on Alzheimer’s and BELIEVE EVERY WORD IN IT! EVERYONE needs to own it and put its INformation to work ASAP%, 👍🥇😁
For me the more I know the more I understand and get it, for me it is not confusing, it is fantastic that the knowledge is out there now. Atkins alone was not sufficient for me to get it.. A lot in that field have some nuggets I appreciate very much.
I was impressed with this interview. An avid IF ketogenic and carnivore regimen has tremendously helped my whole body. I too had started in my 20’s with Dr Atkins, and now in 70s I’ve so much appreciated IF as a means of as Dr Berg always says “REST N DIGEST” we need to stop grazing with food all day! I subscribed to your channel, curious as to what’s informative to help in this journey. I liked the KEEP IT SIMPLE. Keeping carbs low! But IF is needed, eating at 8 pm bc I craved I didn’t agree with you on that. We need to consciously be restricting the time we want to eat.
She really does have her head straight. We only eat two low carbs meals a day with a thir normal or omad normal food. Feel great. Lots of sleep for the insulin resistance and exercise.
Very good interview. Yes, if I look at all the YT channels info, surely we get carried away. Stick to the basics that we all agree on, eg low carbs, exercise, etc
It helps to understand, how what resonates with you works; as it enables one to adapt to changes that shows up in life. Atkins did not work for me in the long run because there was something that Atkins was not aware of, and that is eating carbs wasn't necessary. The emphasis was very low carb and increasing it it slowing over time -- unfortunately, for me it was like telling an alcoholic that over time they can drink again
I’ve tried keto a few times but got tripped up with confusion how much fat do I need, macro logging, not having support at home and the constant temptation of making carbs for my family. But I’ve recommitted to doing keto again with support from my husband who is now eating keto, not for weight loss but for some health issues. I am so optimistic this time because of the support but also because of the simplicity of just keeping carbs under 20g until I get close to my goal and not pay attention to all the keto info and products out there. Thanks for keeping it simple
I think in an age of "low fat" and "red meat is dangerous" a lot of these symptoms and rare diseases that keto heals is due to low cholesterol finally being raised in the body and therefore hormones, the thyroid, and other functions come back into balance. These "diseases" are the result of the low animal fat and high carb diet experiment.
Here I am listening to your discussion and playing Words with Friends and I get to play the word KETO in the next game! Coincidence? I think not ! 😆 I am 75 years old and have been low carb for more than 10 years (and off t2 diabetes meds because I control with diet). Keep up the great work of communicating real information!
Hashimoto's being autoimmune probably is affected by lectins. The type of and ways of processing the veggies is probably the key. Dr. Gundry's work is probably relevant here.
I use the ketostix to determine whether I'm in or not, and that's all I do. Plus I can go by how I feel. I never get the keto flu. On the contrary I always feel much better when I go into ketosis. More relaxed and more energy. Usually by the third day after starting very low-carb.
Kelly Hogan interviews a lot of ladies who address these issues. Carnivore seems to put a damper on food addiction and cravings. I know as a ketovore who keeps her carbs below 20 with plenty of fat, my cravings became controllable.