> So, no plant food at all, not even salad?  I didn't think this was  
> necessary to cause ketosis.  What about getting adequate minerals?   
> And what do you do for vitamin C?  The Inuit ate raw adrenal glands...
> 
 

Hi Ashley, 
Such strict avoidance of carbs isn't necessary to cause ketosis but it is
necessary to minimize insulin production. 

Ketosis is a state where ketone bodies can be detected in the urine. Ketone
bodies are the metabolic by-product of fatty acid breakdown for use as
energy. However, for the ketogenic diet to provide effective intervention
for cancer treatment, it must minimize insulin production. In the absence of
insulin, there is no transport mechanism to move glucose into the cancer
cells. I suspect, given the impact of ketosis on seizures, that insulin is
also the culprit in drug resistant seizures. If that is the case, then the
same parameters would apply. 

Such a strict approach is not, of course, necessary for weight loss or
correcting a tendency toward insulin resistance, but mild to moderate
ketosis is, I suspect, of limited value for battling cancer or seizures.

The divergence of opinion currently being expressed on this listserv is
typical of one cause of the frequent resistance we see to dietary therapies.
It is difficult to sort opinions from fact. Some recommendations (such as
mine) will variously be seen as purist, unnecessarily strict, fanatical, or
reasoned, depending on who is responding to those recommendations. Further,
the spread of opinions on ketosis indicates that we sometimes confuse test
results with therapeutic value. Thus, for some of us, the presence of ketone
bodies in the urine may be deemed sufficient to constitute ketosis. Yet much
of the therapeutic value does not arise until much deeper ketosis is
achieved. 

Most of us who read this list are devotees of nutritional therapies and are
supportive of pre-agricultural dietary practices. But how can Jim's uncle
assess a dietary therapy that sees such a wide range of opinion expressed by
such a homogenous group? And this doesn't even begin to address the many
paradigmns that see dietary therapies as "fanatic fringe" perspectives. Kary
(sp?) Mullis, inventor of PCR and Nobel prize winner, has vigorously
denounced dietary therapies due to his view that humans are omnivores, in
his book "Dancing in the Mindfield". 

Further, I was once rebuked on a cancer discussion list. The comment went
something like: 
"Another diet nut? It would do as much good to stand at the crossroads at
midnight waving a dead chicken......" I don't remember the rest of it, but I
think that the gist of his message is clear.  

I still laugh when I read it, but I think we need to recognize that we all
subscribe to an embattled multi-faceted paradigm that hosts many divergent
views. 

I hope I have not offended anyone with my comment. 

Best Wishes, 
Ron Hoggan, Ed. D.
co-author Dangerous Grains ISBN: 978158333-129-3 www.dangerousgrains.com 
author: Get the Iron Edge: a complete guide for meeting your iron needs
ISBN: 978-0-9736284-4-9 www.ironedge.info
author Smarten Up! ISBN: 978-0-9736284-3-2 www.smartenup.info           
editor: Scott-Free Newsletter www.celiac.com

"Objectivity is the prerogative of objects."