5 Surprises about Osteoarthritis from the Ketogenic Diet
When I pressed "play" on the podcast to listen to Tim Ferriss interview Dom D'Agostino, I expected entertainment only. I didn't anticipate beginning a 6 week experiment to see what the mental impact of the ketogenic diet would be. I especially didn't think it would cause osteoarthritis in my knees to effectively disappear.
I've had osteoarthritis in both knees since high school. Prior to my experiment, I knew that if I ran - sprints, jogging - or engaged in high impact activities - football, squats with weights - my knees would swell considerably, I would be in serious pain and necessary activities like climbing a set of stairs would require leaning heavily on the rail while I hobbled up.
It was depressing. The limitation of my condition doesn't conform to the way I think of myself, which is as free. Strong. Sturdy. Hobbling up stairs is none of that.
About a year ago, we moved temporarily out of our house during a home remodel. After dozens of trips up and down stairs carrying boxes, here is what my knees looked like:
Osteoarthritis in the knees - what it looks like in action
Unable to fix this depressing debilitation, I have resigned myself to undertaking activities only when they were important and knowing the outcome in advance: I would be stiff, sore, and gimpy.
Recovery took weeks and relief came through a combination of ibuprofen and extensive stretching. In 2011, after living in my resignation for nearly 20 years (the problem started my freshman year of high school), I discovered Kelly Starrett's video blog. His rugged stretches and philosophy of going up stream and down stream from the problem area, i.e., treating hamstrings, hips and calves to get at a problem in the knees, really did create lasting relief and change.
After being on the ketogenic diet for a few weeks, which excluded refined sugar and all grains, I was shocked to find out that my knees were no longer swelling. At first, I thought maybe I had just been less active recently. So I went jogging, something I hadn't done in 15 years. No swelling.
No swelling.
I don't want to overstate how dramatic a change this is, but it is hard not to compare it to the lame walking or the blind seeing. Granted, it isn't as big as that, but it is big enough to open up entirely new realms. I can take up cycling, or karate or skiing. I can rough house with my young boys without experiencing soreness or stiffness. I can shoot hoops with buddies.
I happily accept the change, and feel intense gratitude for it. But still, I scratch my head: I went to doctors over the years and told people about my condition: why did no one ever mention that diet could play a role? Also, what is going on inside of my body that causes this? In subsequent discussions and research on the web, here are five things I've learned:
Food has inflammatory properties.
With a diet high in calories from grains and animals that are fed grains, "we literally eat ourselves into an 'injured' and painful state." So what should we eat, then? Here is a list.
List of anti-inflammatory foods that may help osteoarthritis
2. Other people have successfully solved osteoarthritis through diet.
Here is an account of someone who saw osteoarthritis in the hip completely disappear.
3. Even though it is clear diet influences joint inflammation, it still isn't well understood.
Our modern society likes to think we've got science all figured out. But we don't. We know nutrition can impact arthritis. Could be gluten. Could be sugar. Could be both!
4. Trust doctors, but don't let them be the last word.
I saw doctors over the years ranging from primary care physicians to orthopaedists. All of them were highly professional yet unable to help. The lesson learned here is that my assumptions were wrong. I assumed that if the doctor couldn't solve it, it wasn't solvable, and I didn't persist in looking for answers. I shouldn't have limited myself - and burdened unfairly the medical community - with such an expectation. Doctors are part of the equation, not the entirety of it.
5. You need to experiment on yourself.
This is the most important point. This experiment was unusual, new, and mentally challenging. The results were not what I expected, but in fact, better than I expected. I think that the reason we typically don't make changes, even experimental changes, are because we are too concerned about risking what we have today, or we have visions that are too small.
What could happen to you if you have a chronic health problem and change your diet, even if for a few weeks? What could happen to your career if you took on a project outside your comfort zone? What could happen to your marriage if you initiated a discussion about a recurring issue?
In all of these areas - marriage, career, health - the possible risks and especially discomfort are high, but they all lead you off the map of your current existence and can lead to an entirely better existence. This experiment opened new opportunities for me by all but eliminating osteoarthritis. It was life changing and I am intensely grateful.
I will be posting follow up articles as I continue to experiment and discover what is specifically causing the inflammation in my knees. Sign up below to receive updates in your inbox as I post them.