Namita Kashyap, CO, is a certified clinical orthoptist in the pediatric service at the Duke Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina. She is a mentor for the Duke ophthalmic technician program and immensely enjoys teaching ocular motility to incoming fellows, residents, and ophthalmic technician students. The Academy asked her to share some tips on the ketogenic diet.
Please note: Ms. Kashyap is sharing her own personal experience. What worked for her might not be the best approach for others.
How Have Your Food Habits Evolved?
I have always struggled with my weight. In my early college years, I controlled it with a low-fat diet and exercise, but I felt that I was always hungry and struggled with poor eating habits. This got worse when I first started working as an orthoptist and had neither a fully equipped kitchen nor time for meal prep.
For a time, I was able to negate poor food choices by exercising five or six times a week. After kids, however, my weight ballooned, and I was unable to shift the extra pounds that I had gained.
In 2016, with medical supervision, I started the ketogenic diet, and I started losing weight effortlessly. Since then I have become more aware of the foods I am consuming and educated myself on nutrition.
Food Fact(s) You Wish You’d Known When You Were Younger?
Fat is an essential nutrient, and the type and quality of fat is important—ghee, butter, coconut oil, and avocado oils are the best, but seed oils should be avoided as they cause inflammation
It is not necessary to eat breakfast. The first meal of the day can be at any time—eat when you are hungry.
If you eat enough fat and protein, it is not necessary to eat snacks. I only eat two meals a day—sometimes one a day—and I feel fully nourished and energized.
Biggest Nutrition Mistake(s) That You See Busy Physicians Make?
Eating too many carbohydrates in the middle of the day and/or eating too fast; not hydrating appropriately; and trying to survive on high doses of caffeine, especially in the afternoons.
Food Tip(s) When You Have Limited Breaks to Eat During the Day?
Keep a high fat, high protein snack on hand—beef jerky, nuts, or fat bombs.
How Has Your Diet Changed As You’ve Grown Older?
My diet has completely changed, and I stick to less than 20 g of carbohydrates a day. I also eat a lot more fat, with it constituting about 85% of my daily calories. I also naturally do intermittent fasting, as I do not feel hungry since I removed sugar from my diet.
Tip for Breaking Bad Eating Habits?
Habits can be changed, but not broken! I feel that exchanging a bad habit for a good one is more effective. For example, instead of stopping snacking, you can gradually switch your snacks to healthier options. This approach may be more sustainable long term than trying to break a bad habit.
By eating low-carbohydrate foods, insulin is reduced in the body, and this helps regulate other hormones, including ghrelin (which is the hunger hormone) and leptin (the satiety hormone).
What Resources Would You Recommend?
I would recommend two books: Keto Clarity: Your Definitive Guide to the Benefits of a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet (Victory Belt Publishing, 2014) by Jimmy Moore and Eric C. Westman, MD, which provides practical advice for starting a ketogenic diet, and The Complete guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting (Victory Belt Publishing, 2016) by Jason Fung, MD, and Jimmy Moore.
Anything Else That You'd Like to Add?
The ketogenic diet has completely changed my life, I have successfully lost weight (more than 80 pounds) and kept it off.
Keto has helped improve my mood, energy level, and overall well-being. I have also noticed an increase in my productivity at work, and I attribute this to my increased energy levels—gone are the midafternoon slumps!
My health markers have improved considerably, and I have more energy in my mid-40s than I ever had in my 20s and 30s. I just wish I had started this way of eating sooner.