#137 Dr. Ryan Lowery – The Ketogenic Bible

Meet Dr. Ryan Lowery

Dr. Ryan P. Lowery, PhD, a 2014 national champion baseball player, earned his BS and MS in exercise physiology and exercise and nutrition science from the University of Tampa. Ryan completed his doctorate work at Concordia University in Health and Human Performance with a focus on “The Effects of a Well-Formulated Ketogenic Diet and Exogenous Ketone Supplementation on Various Markers of Health and Body Composition in Healthy and Diseased Populations.”

Ryan currently serves as the CEO of Ketogenic.com, President of the Applied Science and Performance Institute, and has invested in several health-focused startups. Over his career, Ryan has published over 150 papers, abstracts, and book chapters on human performance and sports nutrition and is heavily focused on the impact of ketogenic diets and exogenous ketones on performance, cognitive function, and longevity.

Ryan has received the Exercise Science Scholar of the Year Award, NSCA Award for Outstanding Presentation of the year award, and the National AAHPERD Exercise Science Major of the Year Award. Ryan recently co-authored the book The Ketogenic Bible alongside his partner Dr. Jacob Wilson which focuses on the science and practical application behind the ketogenic diet, exogenous ketones, and all of their potential applications

ABOUT DR. RYAN

• I grew up playing sports my entire life. I played baseball all the way up through college
• When I was in the middle of high school, my grandmother passed away at the age of 62 and she had type 2 diabetes, was obese and died from a heart attack
• That kind of sunk on me and affected our entire family because we are a big Italian family
• That’s kind of what jumpstarted my drive and ambition to get into the health field
• As much as and as important is to exercise and move, nutrition is super important too
• So, I became obsessed with studying nutrition – not just low-carb but nutrition overall in the beginning
• I finished my PhD but during that time, we created the Applied Science and Performance Institute where we literally just studied, do our research and try to umbrage the gap between  this hardcore science that is out there and practical application, trying to break it down for people to understand
• We do a lot of research in keto and exogenous ketones, but also a variety of different stuff
• Right now, we are doing some stuff with stem cells. Looking at how stem cells can help with things with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s – just fascinating areas all over the map

INDIGENOUS AND EXOGENOUS KETONES

• In the way I talk about exogenous ketones is that they are a tool
• They are not meant to completely replace a ketogenic or low-carb lifestyle
• Right now, people are getting bombarded with these scams they call shark tank pills and they are claiming to be this company that was on shark tank and I literally get letters sent to our office every day from mostly elderly people who buys these pills and get charge for a 100 bucks which are a huge scam
• So, a lot of people see that and get a negative thought process about exogenous ketones because companies like that will say that it does not matter what we’ll it and just take the pills and will still lose a 100 lbs in 3 weeks
• One, no one should lose a 100 lbs in 3 weeks and two, that is not how exogenous ketones work
• Indigenous ketones are what our body produces when we are fasting when we are on a keto diet when we eat anything high in fat and low in carb
• Basically, indigenous means “within” so our body is making them from breaking down fat
• Exogenous means “external” so it’s out
• There are two different types of exogenous ketones, ketone salts, and ketone esters
• The thing is, they are a tool. I take them for a cognitive boost
• I have been on a ketogenic diet for nearly 10 years and I still will incorporate them on my daily routine for a cognitive boost so that it will prolong my fast
• A lot of the areas we are focusing on are a neurological condition
• In essence, what you see in these individuals is very similar to what you see in type 2 diabetics
• Type 2 diabetics aren’t able to properly utilize and take up glucose and carbohydrates as their main source of fuel anymore; their body and their cells are resistant and becoming more resistant to that fuel
• So, that’s why they need to dump in more insulin to try and get it in there, the same thing that is happening to our brain
• Our brains will become more and more insulin resistant as we get older, and so, it’s just about getting an alternative source of fuel in there and you can do it through keto diet, intermittent fasting, MCT oil supplementation, exogenous ketones supplementation which will give you the greatest spike and the quickest delivery to be able to do that and these are all areas if someone is unwilling to go on a keto diet

WEIGHT LOSS PERSPECTIVE

• I try and get people to reframe that you just don’t want to lose weight, you want to lose fat and maintain or gain muscles
• Weight is just a measurement that people often look at but I can have someone lose 10 lbs very quickly, but that does not mean that’s going to be a good 10 lbs
• One of the ways that exogenous ketones work and the ketogenic diet is because you are not eating frequently
• People will say that they are hardcore intermittent faster well it’s kind of by nature whereas before you are on this carb train and you got to eat every 2 hours
• Being in the state of ketosis does is helps to suppress appetite so you are less likely to eat those snacks because ketones and ketosis works on a hormone called, ghrelin which is your hunger hormone
• One of the thing that I say all the time is that, I think ketosis helps put appetite back in your control and I think so many times people are the other way around where their appetite is controlling them
  
  

AGING

• When we talk about aging, one of the biggest things that people experience as they get older is something called, sarcopenia which is age-related muscle loss
• You tend to lose muscles very rapidly as you tend to get older so that’s very important to hold onto
• We also need to optimize our cognitive function to the best of your ability
• We also need to control the controllable – you can control to the best of your ability your inflammatory response, meaning, don’t eat things that is super inflammatory all the time because that will age you faster
• If I will give some quick tips that would be, to lower stress as often as possible, eat intuitively, eat low-carb with adequate protein
• As you get older, your protein needs to be up
• Exercise and move. Try some resistant training to hold on to that muscle tissue
• One of the things a ketogenic diet does is helps preserves muscle mass and prevent it from being lost
• Protein or muscle growth is on a sea-saw. On one end, there is this equation known as protein breakdown and on the other end is protein synthesis and keto works on both facets
• Ketogenic diet and exogenous ketones help specific amino acids that are important for muscle growth from being broken down – it helps preserve the muscle which is great
• Glucose and insulin spike depends on the protein
• I actually do something called calorie cycling
• During the week, it is kind of the same and on the weekends, I shift my calories
• During the week, I typically have 2 meals a day and on the weekends, I tend to have three – still keto and still low-carb but I am more active on the weekend

Q&A

• The carbohydrates you can consume to stay in ketosis depends on your metabolic state
• Some people who are more active can tolerate more carbs and some people who are less active can tolerate fewer carbs – it really depends
• Some people’s sweet spot is somewhere between 25-50 net carbs
• Some people who are more active and have more muscle tend to get away with a little bit more
• Cholesterol is one of the controversial questions with keto
• LDL and total cholesterol tells you very little on the things you want to know
• You should also be looking with triglycerides, fasting triglycerides, VLDL, hemoglobin A1C, and inflammatory markers
• People who have higher cholesterol tend to live longer
• Yes, there is too much fat that you can take in
• Fat is not bad, but keep it in context – fat is a lever
• I think taking electrolytes and exogenous ketones together is fine
• If you are taking exogenous ketone salt tend to be high in some electrolytes
• If you are taking exogenous ketone, the one that I would take with is some type of potassium
• When you are fat-adapted, taking electrolytes will depend on your activity level
• The best benefit of a ketogenic lifestyle has a ton, but if I can say one in general, it will be in the category of food freedom
• I don’t see a reason why keto would be harmful on you ’80s or ’90s
• I definitely think that getting in an alternative source of fuel for people who are on their 80’s or 90’s are critical
• The biggest downfall in doing the keto lifestyle is I think the adaptation period because everyone wants instantaneously
• One of the people’s biggest challenges is their limiting beliefs on what you can eat on a ketogenic diet
• There is always an alternative, you can always have a low-carb alternative

STATE OF KETOSIS VS. FAT-ADAPTED

• In essence, when you are properly keto-adapted, meaning that your body is running on fat and ketones, you are in a unique metabolic state
• Your body is running on a completely different fuel source, it is no longer reliant on carbs and glucose
• You have a virtually limitless supply of fuel and it one of the reasons why if you look at the studies of the endurance athletes
• It doesn’t matter how lean you are, it has a ton of fat that you can tap into if you are keto-adapted on your body
• If you are a carbohydrate-base individual and you fo on these long runs, you’ll hit the wall
• A person will be keto-adapted depending on how aggressively you go for it
• The longer you are on a ketogenic diet or you are on a ketogenic lifestyle, the quicker it is for you to get back in ketosis
• If we have it going on in percentage of what I typically recommend for people for fat, I’d say anywhere for 60% to 75%. It is where people will feel their best
• I am more interested in minimizing the glucose and insulin load than eating super high fat unless there is an absolute medical condition like epilepsy, they might need to push a little bit more because they are very sensitive to glycogenolysis or any small bump that will cause to seizure
• For healthy individuals, they can just play it around
• I think making better food choices overall is going to be important

WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU?

• With ketogenic.com, we kind of just revamp our keto club which has been really fun
• We have been doing keto masterclass
• We are also getting ready to launch other languages

HOW CAN PEOPLE FIND YOU?

• Instagram: ryanplowery
• Facebook: Dr. Ryan Lowery
• Website: ketogenic.com

To get a discount on the ketones that Dr. Lowery mentions, go here: http://highenergygirls.challenge.com

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