Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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I've been eating a high protein diet for almost a month now (basically, my diet has been 20-24oz of steak everyday with 4 tblspoon of sour cream sauteed in butter). I also eat about 3oz liver/heart/kidneys 2-3 times a week. Rarely, I will eat some fruits. I guess I'm missing selenium, vitamin c, potassium, and maybe calcium.

I haven't noticed any issues with this but lately I've had a weird slight phlegm/acidic taste (doesn't feel like ketosis). Does anyone know what it is?

flag	asked Oct 31 2011 at 16:31 test 21●1

	The acidic taste is commonly referred to as "keto breath" on low carb forums. Many of us have found that after a few more weeks, that the bad taste disappears as the body adjusts to running on ketones rather than carbs. – PaleoGran Oct 31 2011 at 16:46
	If I eat carbs every once in a while during this period, does it reset the adaptation process and restart it all over again? – test Oct 31 2011 at 16:52
	Depends on the amount of carbs and how well your body is adapted. If you've gone through it multiple times already (body's adapted to it), probably not too much of an impact. If it is the first time you are dieting to get specifically into ketosis for a longer period, then can severely impact you (since your body isn't used to making those adaptations). – James Oct 31 2011 at 20:35

Kasra · Answer 1 · 2011-10-31 16:39:05Z UTC

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If your symptoms bother you, I would recommend adding some starch to your diet. Zero carb seems to cause unnecessary stress for most people.

answered Oct 31 2011 at 16:39

Kasra
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Interested to know why this was down-voted. – Harry Oct 31 2011 at 17:00

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probably because it didn't answer the question which was "what is it"...but that's just a guess on my part – sage_ Oct 31 2011 at 17:35

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Harry: Something about ZC upregulates the enzymes involved in defensive attitudes. I'm hot on the trail of the biochemical mechanisms at play. – Travis Culp♦ Oct 31 2011 at 18:04

Snork. I try not to be guilty as charged. Thanks for the laugh. (PS -- it wasn't my downvote, she replied defensively.) – Rose Oct 31 2011 at 18:24

Travis Culp · Answer 2 · 2011-10-31 18:16:38Z UTC

If you're trying to lose weight, you ought to skip the sour cream and butter and just grill the steaks. You're actually probably just fine on selenium (especially if eating grass-fed; if not, it's in the liver at least) and potassium (there's a huge amount in meat). There are no carnivores that don't produce their own vitamin C, so just take a supplement if you're going to avoid carbs. Sure, some populations of hominins in or around glacial maxima squeaked by with the trace amounts on freshly killed meat. Odds are you're not eating fresh kills mostly raw (and probably want to have optimal health rather than the bare minimum to avoid disease like scurvy), so just take some vitamin C. Scurvy takes a long time to develop and is pretty nasty by the time you would notice it.

It's far more likely that you're deficient in magnesium than calcium, so you're going to want to supplement with that as well. I would also be concerned about essential fatty acids, vitamin E etc., which could be had from eating (especially pastured) egg yolks. Replacing the butter and sour cream with whole eggs/egg yolks would be far better for your nutrition.

If you feel well aside from the keto breath and are losing fat (assuming that's your goal) then keep going with what you're doing. If your fat loss stalls, you're going to want to trim the steaks, eat less at a time (like half a steak, wait until you're hungry again, eat another half etc.) and/or do more walking.

Good luck.

Joshuwala · Answer 3 · 2011-10-31 17:53:09Z UTC

I had a metallic taste in my mouth (noticed only when I ate stuff) that I believe was from Ketosis...at least, that's what many low carb forums said. Although I couldn't find much on this, I wonder if the body is detoxing heavy metals. Anywayz, it lasted 2 days for me and it seemed to help to drink lots of water.

high protein diet

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