A ketogenic diet, a tactic for survival?

In times of food scarcity, prehistoric hunter-gatherers did not always have carbohydrates available. By not eating carbohydrates, their bodies automatically switched to ketosis. This means that they then burnt fats instead of carbohydrates for energy. This is now called the ketogenic diet.

Origin of the ketogenic diet

The ketogenic diet was developed in 1921 by Dr Russell Wilder. Shortly before that year, the endocrinologist Dr Rollin Woodyatt had discovered that when you fast or when you eat very few carbohydrates with lots of fat, you produce ketones. It was already known that by fasting, children with epilepsy had fewer seizures. But you cannot fast for long, so when they started eating again, they returned. Therefore, by strictly following the diet, the children had fewer seizures or they disappeared completely. The diet consisted of a minimum amount of carbohydrates, just enough protein and 90 per cent fat.

It seems to me a good solution for people with type II diabetes to survive when they can no longer access their medication. Naturally, conventional doctors will have a different opinion, but it seems logical to me that when your sugar metabolism does not work properly, you avoid carbohydrates as much as possible. There are supporters and opponents.

How does it work?

When you eat carbohydrates, your blood sugar level spikes, your body produces insulin causing the blood sugar level to drop and even lower than normal values. At this point you become hungry again and then you eat and it starts all over again. So you constantly need food again.

When you eat very few carbohydrates for a while, your body goes into ketosis: your body will burn fat to make energy instead of sugar. If necessary, your body can make carbohydrates itself from proteins. That is why you must not eat too much protein. You do need to eat much more (healthy) fats. Healthy fats are, for example, real butter, olive oil, lard and coconut oil.

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Why can a ketogenic diet help with survival?

With this diet, the spikes in blood sugar levels disappear. Your insulin levels generally become lower and so you can then lose weight…

The advantage of this is that after a while you also feel less hungry because ketones suppress appetite. After a while you notice that two meals a day are sufficient. That seems to me a very good advantage when food is scarce. The disadvantage is that you drink more water and then you should also take extra electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium, etc.). But extra minerals and vitamins are always good. In the beginning you may get flu-like symptoms… But this is temporary. If you eat too much, you also get fatter with this diet.

What food scarcity?

In any case, it seems wise to hedge your bets, because it depends on what food you have available and so you have more chances of survival. It seems good to me to know how a ketogenic diet works, so that you know what you definitely need to eat when there is a scarcity of carbohydrates. Do you have enough meat, eggs, fish and fats at home or only carbohydrates? It seems best to me to provide for both options. In any case, you must not forget that in times of food scarcity the most important thing is that you have sufficient protein and fat available, because your body can actually make carbohydrates itself. If you ever face the choice of buying fat or carbohydrates, then you now know better what is most important for survival. You really need fat to survive! In any case, eggs are a godsend because they can satisfy your hunger well. And they are nutritious.

There are many books with recipes for a ketogenic diet, but choose ones with the simplest dishes with as few and easy-to-find ingredients as possible. For example, I am a fan of the book series Ketokuur by Pascale Naessens.

The ketogenic diet certainly has its advantages, so seek more information about it because it really is worth considering in certain circumstances!