PROBLEM-SOLVING
Dr. Don Colbert is known for helping people live a healthy lifestyle by following the Ketogenic diet. As a medical doctor who has treated over 50,000 patients, he says the answers to people’s ailments are almost always linked to what they eat.
Unexpectantly, Dr. Colbert noticed many people who said they were on the Keto Diet, including some of his patients, were placed on statins for high cholesterol. Some were also suffering from joint pain, muscle aches, fatigue, gut issues, brain fog, etc. He explains, “This didn’t make sense because lower cholesterol is usually a natural result of a healthy keto diet.”
After researching and asking patients exactly what and how they were eating, he found that only 20 percent of people were actually sticking with the keto diet long term. The remaining 80 percent were keeping the parts of the diet they enjoyed like butter, cream cheese, and fatty meats (steak and ground beef) and mixing it with a typical American diet which Colbert calls “Carbage”—too many carbs, processed foods, and sugars.
Dr. Colbert explains, “I knew there had to be a better way. There had to be an option that provided the benefits of a keto diet with a lifestyle that could be lived and enjoyed long term.”
When Dr. Colbert took a trip to the Mediterranean with his wife, he had an epiphany when he watched closely what they ate. The people in that area live longer than almost everyone on the planet which is surprising when a high percentage of them smoke. He realized the power of the Mediterranean diet which includes olive oil, vegetables, fish and poultry, fresh herbs, beans, peas, lintels, hummus, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, nuts, seeds, yogurt, kefir (tangy yogurt drink), eggs, dark chocolate, coffee, black tea, water, and red wine (in moderation, one glass per day). They eat these foods at home and in restaurants.
MIXING KETO AND MEDITERRANEAN DIETS
In Beyond Keto Dr. Colbert mixes both the keto and Mediterranean diets. He splits the book into two parts:
Part 1: Start with a healthy keto diet to lose weight, gain health benefits, or treat and prevent sickness or disease.
Part 2. Then, slide over to a healthy Mediterranean-keto lifestyle that enables you to keep the weight off, be
healthy, and avoid sickness and disease.
Within these sections you will also find Colbert highlights three things to improve upon the keto diet:
1. More fiber
2. More veggies
3. More Omega 3 (fish oil)
HOW TO HAVE A HEALTHY GUT
Research on gut health has proven monumental over the years. To build good bacteria, Dr. Colbert recommends five “power tools:”
- Fiber – helps food pass through more quickly, need both soluble and insoluble / not beans, wheat bran, or grain-based fibers, but psyllium husk powder, carrots, some citrus fruits, pressure cooked beans and peas, cauliflower, nuts
- Probiotics – live microorganisms that boost good bacteria/kefir, kimchi, kombucha, miso, natto, pickles, sauerkraut, some cheese, tempeh, buttermilk
- Prebiotics – the non-digestible part of foods that ferments in the colon and produces good bacteria/apples, asparagus, bananas, barley, chicory root, cocoa, dandelion greens, flaxseeds, garlic, etc.
- Polyphenols – antioxidant phytonutrients found in plants/berries, black and green teas, coffee, dark chocolate (72% or more), olive oils and olives, many fruits, veggies, and whole grains
- Resistant starches – carbs that are not digested until they reach the colon, where they ferment and feed good bacteria / extra-virgin olive oil, green bananas, green mangoes, green papaya, green plantains, sweet potatoes, yams
