Josh Nock suffered for years from nauseating pain and unpredictable bowel movements caused by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) that didn’t ease up with doctor-recommended medication or a high-fiber diet. While attending a health seminar, Mr. Nock, a personal trainer, learned that a ketogenic diet could help improve gut symptoms.
In desperation, he committed to a 30-day keto challenge in January. The first two weeks were horrible, and Mr. Nock told The Epoch Times he nearly gave up.
But he pushed through symptoms sometimes called “keto flu,” a condition of headaches, nausea, fatigue, constipation, and more. Ultimately, his IBS stopped aggravating him—and he experienced other benefits he wasn’t counting on. “The main thing is I don’t go to the toilet nearly as much as I used to, and no bloat anymore,” Mr.
Nock said. “I was only going to do it for a month, but I feel so good I’ve just carried it on.” Registered dietitian Tamzyn Murphy explained that a ketogenic diet is well-known for being anti-inflammatory, much like other diets that restrict carbohydrate intake.
Keto diets are intentionally high in fat and sometimes protein, used to switch the body’s metabolic state from burning carbs to burning fat for energy. Many other diets for gut issues are low in carbs, such as specific carbohydrate and low-FODMAP diets. FODMAP refers to hard-to-digest carbohydrates—fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols.
By limiting total carbo.
