I think you are entirely misunderstanding my point. What about this study suggests that, for a healthy adult in 2018, adhering to an entirely/strictly keto diet is necessary or even the only optimal diet for cognitive and/or physical function? I’m not arguing evolution and how we needed nutrient/calorie dense foods due to our large brain size relative to even apes and other mammals, only what the implications are for us today, sitting at our computers typing these comments up. My only point is that, in 2018, a keto diet is not a panacea for all man’s ailments, and is not the be-all-end-all for improving cognition or improving body composition. What in this paper suggests that if I have a bowl of rice with my ground beef and vegetables I will suffer cognitive deficits? I plan on eating multiple times a day for the foreseeable future, so I’m not really too concerned with needing to eat multiple times a day to fuel my brain. Hell, we’re on a largely fitness oriented website; I’ll eat several times a day to get those MPS spikes either way.
TL;DR: I’m not saying keto is bad or wasn’t evolutionary useful, only that it’s not a “magic diet” that will inherently serve as the best nootropic there is, get you shredded and jacked, and cure all of man’s ailments as some people claim.
Edit: there is also research suggesting that while keto may be good for maintaining muscle while losing fat (like IF is), it really doesn’t seem to be the best for actually gaining muscle. That alone is sufficient reason enough for me to not adhere to it. To each his own though, and not all of our goals are the same. But we’re getting off topic a bit now.
Sorry guys. It’s my bad for bringing up the controversial k word, haha. I was only posting my anecdotal observations while simultaneously bashing anecdotal observations.
But yeah, there’s this stigma that keto is binary and absolute: you’re on it or off it for good; and this is largely spread by dipshit keto evangelicals. And that’s load of shit, but that’s a topic for another thread.
But on the inverse, I do believe that too much metabolic distress from glycation is a panacea for so many woes, be them physical or cognitive. The Alzheimer’s / Dementia connection gets stronger with each new study and is getting tough for the naysayers to ignore.
Does that mean a “keto lifestyle” is great for cognition? Not necessarily, but if nothing else, I’m a major fan of some serious intermittent fasting for these purposes, and staying away from what I believe to be long-term hazardous to the brain game.
Besides, it’s tough to get into serious “flow state” when you’re craving sugar every 120 minutes.
For sure, I’ll agree that keto is far superior to your average American’s diet that’s full of sugar and way too high in carbs. I’m more in the school of thought of moderation, that the middle path is often a good balance of results and efficiency. I’ll have some chicken or beef, and also a bowl of rice with it. Having rice or sweet potatoes isn’t going to be keto at all, but it’s hardly going to leave me with “sugar cravings” every two hours, especially since I’m not having any sugar lol. You’re comparing keto to an objectivity sh*t diet, which of course it’s superior to. But my point is that any healthy, balanced diet high in how quality protein and fat and low in sugar will be much better than a terrible diet. That keto isn’t the “only” way to have a good, healthy, and beneficial diet.
I personally prefer lion’s mane mushrooms to other more exotic options. It’s a good choice for newbies and very few side effects, in my experience. You can source them for the cheap too if you browse around: https://realchems.com/lion-s-mane-mushroom
Ofc it does depend on the person taking them. I always advise taking it slow and checking for improvements. In my case it helped with late night study sessions back in college.
“Lion’s Mane is VERY good long-term (I remember reading that it takes about 6 months of routine use to achieve full effect) but has no real effect at all in the short term.”
Ahh, that explains it. To be honest, I thought lions mane was just some earthy tasting over hyped ingredient. I always thought focus aids were bad for that reason— lack of long term lasting affect.
But if its really a long term thing, then yeah, that is great! Even better than the stuff that gets you focused in the moment.
