Hello friends! I’m excited to type this update! I started seeing a local nutritionist who has had great success with all sorts of cancer patients and other health issues that can be fixed with diet and lifestyle changes. Before I met her I was doing my best to create a regimen with all the information I had been given regarding cancer and how to cure it. We all know that I’m not a professional! I needed some guidance and structure to my plan. I am now meeting with my nutritionist once a week!! Yeahhh!!! She is so great! Below I have broken down what my new strategy is.
Ketogenic Diet
I am now following a strict Ketogenic diet. It is a high fat, moderate protein and low carb diet. It’s still gluten free and sugar free but I can now eat diary as long as it’s organic, raw, and unpasteurized. The point of this diet is to get your body into ketosis. Normally our bodies use carbohydrates and sugars to make energy. When the body is in ketosis there is no sugar or carbs for the body to make energy so the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketones which are then used to fuel the body instead of glucose. Ketosis is a metabolic state where your body is now producing ketones as the primary source of energy. It takes up to 6 weeks for your body to fully transition from burning glucose to making ketones. This metabolic state helps your body to be in optimal health for healing. This diet is used to treat epilepsy, various diseases and cancers, and Alzheimers. It has other health benefits as well; decreasing blood pressure, improving cholesterol, improving digestion, increasing energy, and improving mental health. In order to obtain this metabolic state I have cut out all sugars (including sugar substitutes like maple syrup, cocunut sugar, honey..etc) and carbs including all types of potatoes and breads/pastas (unless its homemade). Some basic things that I can eat for meals are soups, meat, and low carb vegetables. All the meat has to be grass fed organic and minimally processed. In order to give my body enough fats I use coconut oil in excess amounts when cooking and eat nuts and thick dairy products like cream and butter.
It has been nice not to have to juice as much the past couple weeks! I have enjoyed looking up new recipes and trying out different soups and dessert options to curb my sweet tooth. I will share with you below two of my favorite desserts so far! They are both gluten free and sugar free!
I just found a chocolate chip cookie recipe that tastes super delicious! Which is saying ALOT, because since being on this diet for a couple weeks I have baked and tried all sorts of sweets with no success! Here is the link – I used a combination of xylitol and liquid stevia extract as the sweetener (8 tsp’s xylitol and 1/8 tsp stevia). I made most of them with crushed macadamia nuts and the rest with 100% unsweetened cacao chips (cacao can be very bitter so I like the macadamia nuts).
This next one I loved was a lemon blueberry cheesecake crumble! Here is the link – I used a combination of xylitol and liquid stevia extract for the sweetener again. When it says 1/2 a cup of sweetener I used 4 tbsp xylitol and 1/8 tsp liquid stevia extract. When it says 3/4 cup of sweetener I used 6 tbsp xylitol and 1/8 tsp (plus a couple extra drops).
Xylitol is categorized as a sugar alcohol. It looks and tastes like sugar but has 40% fewer calories. It can be found in plants like birch trees and does not raise blood sugar or insulin levels like regular sugar. It is a great alternative to sweetener in recipes and has a 1:1 ratio to sugar which makes the conversion very easy!
Stevia is a sweetener extracted from the leaves of a stevia plant. It is up to 150 times sweeter than sugar so it is very important to use the correct conversions when cooking with it!
Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement! I am continually blown away by the love, support and generosity of everyone around me! – Marissa
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