Get Fit and Healthy At Home

Ok, you probably think I’m the crazy diet lady. I have done raw vegan, AIP, GAPS, paleo, ketogenic, paleo ketogenic, and even carnivore. None of these diets have regrown my hair. I have struggled to stick with them because I don’t tend to see results. So why am I even bothering with the whole 30 diet? 

Good question!

My Interest in Whole 30 

Honestly, I didn’t know that much about the whole 30 diet until this week. I knew that it was similar to the paleo and AIP diet, but after trying many variations of diets, I kind of figured it was just another diet. 

I read a post from fmy second cousin online that he was starting the whole 30 diet. After doing a bunch of diet variations, I knew I could tackle the challenge with him and his wife. I also was coming off of the holidays and indulging in lots of sweets and foods. A dietary challenge may be just the thing that I needed to get back on track and stop cheating. 

My Whole 30 Challenges

I have given up wheat before and it wasn’t too difficult. The paleo ketogenic diet was the most challenging diet that I have done. It eliminated dairy and grains. I had added butter and cheese back into my diet for a month. I knew that giving up dairy would be tough for me. Giving up bread was something that wasn’t as hard. I had avoided bread much longer than I have avoided butter. 

It is also a joke in my family that we love butter. My mom’s father would put cold butter and warm butter on his oatmeal. The cold butter has a different texture.

Eliminating butter means that you are eating vegetables without fat. That can be kind of hard. Some veggies are just not that tasty. One thing that I learned from the paleo ketogenic diet is that your body needs a certain amount of fat every day. It keeps you satiated and helps your body absorb those essential fat-soluble vitamins. 

My first Whole 30 day

Today is my first day of the whole 30 diet. I admittedly have already cheated on it. But I had a few strips of bacon that weren’t going to last in the refrigerator for 30 days. I know that there was some added sugar in the bacon. It is a very small amount. So small that there are no carbohydrates listed on the nutrition label. So, maybe I’ll just do an extra day or remember that I need to do an additional Whole 30 breakfast on day 31. 

I actually eliminated dairy and wheat yesterday, so today hasn’t been too bad. The whole foods that I have eaten today include the following. 

• 2 eggs
• 4 strips of bacon
• chuck roast
• roasted carrots
• apple
• boiled egg (snack)

I seasoned my foods with salt and pepper. It still was delicious. 

I weighed myself and took pictures today. I was VERY bloated, but I don’t know if it was the diet or PMS. I still had bloating on the paleo ketogenic diet and I wasn’t eating any gas-producing beans or veggies. In fact, I wasn’t eating veggies or fruit at all. My after pictures may look much better just because I’m not so bloated. We shall see! 

Upcoming Whole 30 menu ideas

I went to the grocery store to pick up food for the week. I was inspired by the frozen vegetables this week. I definitely am not ready to give up all of my carbohydrates and do the paleo ketogenic diet again. So, this is a simple way to eat. 

I plan on eating very simply for the next week. Homemade soup, stir frys, hamburgers, apples, and vegetables are on the menu. I did purchase some coconut aminos to go with my asian stir fry dish. I saw that was whole 30 approved and soy sauce was out. 

I grabbed some sweet potatoes from the produce section today. I plan on cutting those up and baking them with some olive oil and salt to make sweet potato fries. That should be fun. I haven’t had those in a long time, but I know they are delicious. Also, sweet potatoes are on the GAPS diet, which allows some of the less irritating veggies onto the diet. 

A bunless hamburger is always an easy meal to make when doing an elimination diet. It can be difficult to look down at your plate and just see what looks like a hockey puck, but when cooked correctly, a plain burger can be delicious. 

Another item I found in the freezer section was chopped butternut squash. I plan on cooking that up with ground beef to make a breakfast hash. I’m hoping it will be tasty.

Wish me luck! 

So, now I have a general plan on how to survive this first week of whole 30. I haven’t given up eggs or nightshades despite having an autoimmune condition. That may come next week. This week I will be adjusting to not eating dairy or bread. Next week, I can figure out what to eat instead of potatoes and whether I want to include the spices that have nightshades in them. 

I haven’t updated my blog in a long time. I was working with the Paleomedicina group on a healing diet that presumably would cure my epilepsy. But, did it work? It a word. No. Did I give up on it too quickly? Maybe.

Was I strict on the diet? Yes. I didn’t cheat.

A seizure on the paleo ketogenic diet

This is one of the things that worried me the most. I knew that I was having more auras and seizures around the time that my menstrual cycle was happening. I had gotten the seizures under control to the point that the ONLY time that I was likely to have a seizure was either mid-cycle when the estrogen was dropping and the progesterone was rising or right before menses when the progesterone was dropping and estrogen was rising.

The change in hormones also triggered diarrhea. This ONLY lasted for a few days. It happened while I was on the paleo ketogenic diet as well. I actually did not see an improvement in digestion. Dr. Zsofia Clemens told me that I could go a few days without a bowel movement. I went 14 days once without a bowel movement.

Why was I having a bowel movement when I did? I started my period. Suddenly, I went from no bowel movements to lots of watery bowel movements for a few days. Then back to nothing for days.

I also experienced gas. I would belch and fart during these times when my hormones were changing. It was more noticeable than when I was on a standard diet. I was paying closer attention to the symptoms because I had to record them everyday and follow up with Paleomedicina. So, maybe it was slightly better and maybe it was worse. It is difficult to say.

Did I continue with the Paleo Ketogenic Diet?

Sadly, I had not one but two seizures on this diet. I was on the strict diet for 12 weeks. At week 8, I had my first seizure. I was encouraged to give the diet more time. Two weeks later (at the mid-point of my cycle), I had another seizure.

The diet wasn’t hard and I was hopeful that I could see some amazing results. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving was coming up and I knew that after having seizures and not feeling great on the diet, it was going to be hard to convince myself to stick with it through the holiday.

I went out and tested my vitamin D level. Dr. Zsofia Clemens had commented that it had started out low and that my angular cheilitis was a result of the low D levels, but she discouraged me from taking supplements due to additives that could hinder the healing process.

She told me that the vitamin D levels would naturally increase.

Well, they didn’t.

In fact, the vitamin D levels had dropped by one point. I had gone from 29 ng/ml to 28 ng/ml. I do realize that seizures can decrease the vitamin D level in your blood, but I had waited a week and started taking cod liver oil with vitamin D in it for a whole week before I thought to test my levels.

Supplementing with vitamin D

I got my test results right before Thanksgiving. A lowered vitamin D level was discouraging and let me cheat on the diet for Thanksgiving Day food. I do realize that I may have erased any progress that I was making, but I wasn’t feeling great with only meat in the specified proportions.

I didn’t just have the apple pie, but I ate the stuffing, the potatoes, the sweet potatoes, and the cranberry sauce. I helped finish up the leftovers for the next two days without triggering a seizure. I kind of felt a little better with more food in me.

It turned out to be difficult to return to a paleo ketogenic diet. I tried to be as ketogenic as I could until Christmas. I continued supplementing with vitamin D. When Christmas rolled around, I had been taking vitamin D for about 5 weeks without having any seizures. I felt pretty good.

My ridged nails from the alopecia were looking better. Still, no hair, but Zsofia Clemens had not sounded promising about getting hair back on the paleo ketogenic diet anyway.

Christmas diet cheats

I ate all the food at Christmas when my family was in town. It was great to see them and I didn’t want to make a big deal about the food. My sister also commented that I looked too skinny and boney. This was incredibly hard to hear because Dr. Clemens had said I may initially lose weight and put it on. The putting it on part did not happen.

So, I indulged. Chocolate, pasta, pies, and pizza.

I ate poorly for about five days. I didn’t have a seizure from the cheats. On December 26, after the family had left and I was getting back to my normal diet, I had the mildest seizure of my life. I didn’t even know I had one when my mother told me. She said that it was about half as long.

I attribute this seizure improvement to vitamin D. My diet was absolutely terrible. But if my seizures were caused by diet alone, I would have had one days earlier.

The seizure was 2 days before my menstrual cycle. I could tell my hormones were fluctuating because I was getting gassy.

I know that hormones can improve with these ketogenic diets, but it hasn’t really been the case for me thus far. I think the biggest improvement came when I added in vitamin D.

I quickly made an appointment to test my vitamin D levels after the seizure. They had gone up to 49! I had watched a youtube video done by Dr. Annette Boswell who stated that neurological benefits don’t happen on the ketogenic diet unless vitamin D is above 50.

Maybe this is the key.

A Paleo Ketogenic diet isn’t a cure-all

I strongly feel that I shouldn’t have had a seizure on the paleo ketogenic diet if it was truly the answer for me. I definitely think that correcting vitamin D levels is a vital component of healing. In addition to Dr. Annette Boswell, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride of the GAPS diet says that you need vitamin D for healing.

It is fun to hear about all the testimonials from a carnivore diet or a paleo-ketogenic diet, but when it doesn’t happen for you, it is discouraging. My frustration led me to quit blogging for a while. Sorry!

Now that we’re half-way through January, I have eliminated most junk food from my life. I’m not entirely keto or paleo, but I am taking my cod liver oil. I do feel pretty good. It’s been 3 weeks since my last seizure, but I’m feeling optimistic. I’m not strict on my diet anymore, but I’m listening to my body’s signals more closely.

I have been on the Paleo Ketogenic Diet as prescribed by Dr. Zsofia Clemens for about 6 full weeks. This has not been difficult. But I don’t experience overwhelming improvement within the first two months. It is somewhat disappointing.

I did have a break out of angular cheilitis that has since settled down. My hair hasn’t really grown at all. (I’m still bald and not seeing any new growth.) Unfortunately, I had a seizure. I’m super disappointed by this. The last time I attempted this diet was two years ago. I had a seizure at about the same point. This time, I was monitoring my blood glucose and it had elevated a bit. It was in the middle of my cycle when my progesterone was decreasing, so apparently ketones don’t tend to prevent hormonal seizures.

I feel blessed to discover that my seizures aren’t really closely related to the food I eat. I have decided that I will continue on with the diet for a few more months. This could be a case of just needing more time to heal. I don’t want to give up too early like I have done in the past with AIP.

I’m into a nice groove with my ketogenic paleo diet. I know what I like to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have adjusted to the amount of food that Dr. Clemens thinks is appropriate. I would love to eat more, but according to my blood work, this is the right amount.

What’s Next?

I’m going to continue on. Overall, I feel great. I felt great when I started, but I feel like if I don’t give this diet at least six months, I won’t see any hair regrowth. 

My seizures are decreasing in intensity. I bounce back much better. It could simply be that the root canals in my mouth are the culprit for the seizure and NOT my diet. 

There is a PEG 400 intestinal permeability test that I will be taking in order to discover if I still have intestinal permeability issues. I don’t think that I do. My digestion seems fine. 

I started working with Dr. ZSofia Clemens five weeks ago. My lazy ketogenic approach to controlling seizures had stopped working. At 44, I suspected that my hormones were changing and that had some role in my seizure activity. My seizure pattern seemed to follow the hormone fluctuation.

I was a bit skeptical about working with the International Center for Medical and Nutritional Intervention and using the Paleo Ketogenic diet. I knew how restrictive it was going to be. I was going to have to give up my beloved butter! I could handle eliminating milk and cheese, but butter? Nooo….I didn’t want to do it.

But I did.

And it has helped! I have not had a seizure in the past five weeks. Better yet, the weird aura type feelings have been eliminated from my life.

Now, epilepsy was not the only reason that I started this diet. I wanted to reverse my autoimmune condition, alopecia universalis. During my consultation with Dr. Clemens, she told me that the alopecia was very difficult and may not improve. This was NOT what I wanted to hear.

But I knew that I would be happier if I was completely seizure-free and gave it my all. I had done diets on my own before and mostly stuck to them. I cheated, but usually was able to get back on track pretty easily. The cheating is a problem because it does prevent the intestinal permeability from healing.

New Insights I Gained From Paleomedicina

One of the things that I learned as I strictly followed the diet was that it wasn’t just the ketones and reduced carbohydrates that played a role in the seizure prevention. Vitamin D is a major factor in health. Having normal levels of vitamin D also prevent seizures. 

Even though I knew that there was a vitamin D relationship between the progression of alopecia, I had never been able to boost my vitamin D levels high enough with sunshine. I hadn’t been able to eat enough supplements to increase my levels to above baseline. 

In reading Paleomedicina’s article on the true causes of vitamin D deficiency, I started to understand why my efforts at eliminating alopecia and seizures had failed. I had been including things in my diet that blocked the conversion of vitamin D to the active form – namely fructose. 

The Inuit had to survive with little sunlight. Paleomedicina examined a study of Inuit in Greenland which discovered a correlation between fruits, vegetables, bread and milk and lower vitamin D levels. The Inuit who ate more traditional foods of meat and fat retained higher vitamin D levels. 

My goal is to get my vitamin D levels higher in the next 60 days to ensure that my hair grows back and my seizures stop completely. 

The Pros of the Paleo Ketogenic Diet in 5 weeks:

The best thing that has come about because of my paleo ketogenic diet:

• Disciplined eating pattern
• Smooth, soft skin
• Nail ridging from alopecia universalis is improving.
• Nail bed separation from alopecia universalis on right third finger is reducing.
• Weight loss (not sure if this is good or not. I’m close to my ideal weight. I lost 4 pounds.)
• No seizures
• Great digestion
• Normal blood work values
• Great energy levels
• Cost effective- no need to buy extra food or medicine

The Cons of the first 5 weeks of Paleo Keto:

• I experienced some acne (3 pimples)
• I had angular cheilitis (Dr. Clemens thinks this is due to my low vitamin D levels and will normalize.)
• I had a bout of diarrhea/loose stool (this has been common during my menstrual cycle. I don’t know if it is due to adjusting to the diet.)
• The first few days, I was hungry as my body adjusted to the 400 grams of fat and meat.
• You do have to be very careful about measuring your fats and proteins.
• Eating out and social situations are difficult.

My Recommendation

I would definitely recommend working with Zsofia Clemens and the International Center for Medical and Nutritional Intervention. The benefits that you receive from eating a natural diet and coming off medication are enormous. Not only does my brain seem to function better, but the diet is more cost effective. I am no longer buying and consuming more food than my body needs.

I have discoverd that I love eating the fats and the meats that are on the diet. I look forward to each meal and opportunity to eat. I am highly satiated and don’t need a lot of snacking in between meals. I do sometimes miss social eating, but I don’t think that it is worth having a seizure. 

You may have heard a lot about reducing inflammation with the ketogenic diet. Many people state that the ketogenic diet is anti-inflammatory. But, how does that actually help you?

A keto diet reduces the carbohydrate and sugar intake. When you reduce your sugars, you reduce foods that trigger inflammation. One of the first things that happens when you start a keto diet is your body drops some weight quickly. Your body is releasing the bloating that tends to accompany excess inflammation.

Aside from some quick weight loss, there are plenty of benefits to reducing inflammation.

What is Inflammation?

First, it is important to understand the role of inflammation. It is a natural process the body has to infection and injury. The body’s white blood cells release substances into the body to combat bacteria, viruses and foreign material that is considered a threat to your health.

An excess amount of inflammation can cause muscle pain, joint pain, redness, swelling, stiffness, fatigue, headaches and more. Many diseases are beginning to be associated with excess chronic inflammation. These include Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and autoimmune conditions.

NLRP3 inflammasomes play an integral role in inflammation. These are a group of protein complexes that are created to mediate immune responses to microbial infection. NLRP3 is involved with our innate immunity. This is our first line of defense for protecting ourselves against pathogens. It is suggested that NLRP3 is involved in several autoimmune processes.

The Low-Carb Benefits

The ketogenic diet requires you to cut your carbohydrates below 20 grams of carbohydrate per day. Due to the reduced carbohydrates that are fueling the body, you must increase the fats to meet your caloric needs. This changes the way the body uses energy.

The body responds to a shortage of carbohydrate derived sugars by breaking down fat into ketones. It uses ketones as alternative fuel.

The reduction of excess glucose reduces the inflammation in the body. It has been found that the presence of excess glucose in people with diabetes, for example, is associated with a pro-inflammatory state. This inflammatory state in diabetics often leads to atherosclerosis, which is the buildup of fatty plaques that can block key arteries.

How Ketones Fight Inflammation

As you follow a well-formulated ketogenic diet, your body is in a constant state of ketosis. It is producing the ketone beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). This ketone has been associated with activating genes that improve mitochondrial function and reduce the oxidative stress on the body. The state of ketosis also activates the AMPK pathway (Activated Protein Kinase). This pathway assists in regulating energy and inhibiting the inflammatory Nf-kB pathway.

Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress are the two main factors in the development of many neurodegenerative and neurological diseases. These include Alzheimer’s and Epilepsy. The presence of ketones has been shown to lower neuroinflammation.

Researchers studied the C-reactive protein (CRP) and the white blood cell count. The CRP was dramatically reduced in the ketogenic diet group compared to the standard diet at the one and two year follow up. The CRP reduction in the ketogenic diet group was comparable to the reduction with the most potent statin drug. Unlike the statin drugs, nutritional ketosis addresses both the CRP and lowering the white blood cell count. It provides a more balanced effect on the components impacting inflammation.

Ketogenic Diet Improves Chronic Pain

Since the ketogenic diet has shown effectiveness in reducing the inflammation in neurological conditions, researchers have studied the ketogenic diet to determine if it can reduce pain. The evidence has been growing that a ketone based metabolism elevates the neuromodulator, adenosine. Adenosine has long been known to be anti-inflammatory.

One aspect of chronic pain is due to excessive neuron excitability. Animal studies have demonstrated that ketones have the ability to inhibit neuron excitability. This is the mechanism that ketogenic diet use to control seizures. It is not surprising that this mechanism can also help with chronic pain by reducing neuron excitability.

Conclusion

Through cutting carbohydrates, increasing ketone levels and controlling the inflammatory pathways, the ketogenic diet is able to fight off excessive chronic inflammation. This creates multiple benefits for the patient including reduced levels of pain, controlling seizures, reduced levels of C-reactive protein and white blood cell counts.

The ketogenic diet naturally reduces inflammation without creating the side effects that accompany most pharmaceutical drugs. If you are suffering from inflammatory conditions, it is worthwhile to check out the ketogenic diet and give it a try.

I started working with Dr. Clemens and the International Center for Medical and Nutritional Intervention on September 8. They do require you to start with some lab results. I had worked with them a year ago, but gave up a bit too quickly. For this reason, they did not require me to get another baseline of blood work. My numbers were pretty close to normal in almost all categories and my symptoms were rare, but troublesome!

On the first consultation, we reviewed the diet and the reasoning for certain aspects of the diet. Last time, the emphasis on how bad dairy was hadn’t been relayed to me. I kept it in my diet and didn’t see immediate improvement. So, what did I do? I gave up pretty quickly.

This time, I was ready to commit. I had a seizure a week earlier and just didn’t want to go back on medication. I knew that I could obtain seizure freedom with the ketogenic diet because I had in the past, but as I near menopause and my hormones change, I have experienced a few seizures near period.

Blood Testing

Dr. Clemens required a ton of blood tests. I think I missed 2 of the ones that she requested, but I got the most important ones! I ordered Ulta Lab’s Complete Wellness profile with the vitamin D profile and TSH level.

First off, let me put it out there, I am NOT an expert in blood test results. All I know is that the numbers are within the normal reference range!

Cholesterol Levels

There are a few tests that are outside the reference range. The Cholesterol is at 239 and the normal range ends at 200. This is somewhat expected as I was eating A LOT of fat and cholesterol. There are people in the ketogenic community that believe that the ranges for cholesterol are wrong. So, Dr. Clemens was not concerned about the cholesterol numbers

TSH Numbers

My TSH is where I see the most improvement. I had been diagnosed with hypothyroidism at age 13. My TSH was always around 5.2. Just above the normal range. I had been doing keto on and off for the last year and a half. In March, my TSH had dropped to 3.97 – just within the normal range. After these 3 weeks on the Paleo Ketogenic diet, my numbers were in the middle of the normal range at 2.80.

I’m thrilled about this. This means that my thyroid is functioning properly. While I never had the typical Hashimoto’s symptoms, it feels great to have my numbers match.

Vitamin D Levels

This was the biggest disappointment, but I’m not sure you can see a huge difference for your vitamin D levels in 3 weeks. What does puzzle me a bit is that I made an effort to get out in the sunshine mid-day most of the time. Before the three weeks started, I had been eating sardines and salmon to get in my vitamin D.

My vitamin D levels are at 29, which is just below the reference range starting at 30. When I tested my levels in December 2018, I was at 28.7. So, this was not a lot of improvement.

My plan is to continue with this diet for another eight weeks and then retest my vitamin D levels. I may get the other levels checked as well, but I’m not too worried about them.

Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with my 3 week ketogenic diet results. They weren’t earth shattering, but the numbers are slowly but surely moving in the right direction! 

My Experience with Keto and PMS

The hormone fluctuation that comes with menstrual cycles is commonly accepted as a fact of life. Many women just assume that they’ll be miserable for a few days out of the month. For me, I didn’t experience much pain or mood swings with my cycle until I hit my 40’s. In my 40’s my seizures returned but only right before my period. It wasn’t consistent every month, so it took a long time to connect the two. I aslo started experiencing horrific belching. Like, house shaking burps one right after another. It was terrible. My other PMS symptoms were mild diarrhea and slight abdominal discomfort. 

After starting the Paleo Ketogenic diet with the International Center for Medical and Nutritional Intervention a month ago, I was eager to see if my seizures would return. So far, so good!

My PMS symptoms have reduced by about 50%! I still experience some burps, but they are relatively unnoticeable to my friends and family. They are occurring occasionally instead of constantly for an hour. Much improved! 

What Causes PMS

The biggest cause of pre-menstrual symptoms come from hormonal imbalances either estrogen dominance or low progesterone. The research suggests that lifestyle factors will determine the impact of PMS symptoms. These include stress, diet, and exercise. 

Progesterone and estrogen work together for overall hormone balance. Estrogen dominance can cause mood swings, painful periods, breast tenderness, irritability, headaches, memory loss and heavy periods. Low progesterone contributes to cramps, bloating, and sleep disruption.  

How Keto Can Help

Blood Glucose Stabilization

The ketogenic diet stabilizes bloog sugar levels stable. When blood glucose spikes too high, your pancreas releases insulin to remove the excess sugar. When your body releases insulin, it impacts the body’s other hormones. 

As insulin rises, it leads to reduced levels of a protein called sex hormone binding protein (SHBP). This protein binds to the levels of estrogen and testosterone in your body. SHBP keeps the levels of hormone in check. But when your insulin spikes too high, SHBP goes down and increases estrogen dominance. 

Magnesium Levels

The keto diet drastically reduces the amount of sugar that you eat. One issue that sugar consumption creates is a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium plays a crucial role in your health. Low levels of magenesium are assocated with PMS. 

Studies have discovered a correlation between low magnesium and insulin resistance. When insulin resistance increases, there is a loss of magnesium through urine. 

Magnesium is essential in phase II liver detoxification. This is a critical mechanism which removes excess estrogen from your body. When you have low levels of magnesium, you are more prone to estrogen dominance.

Reduce Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is tough on the hormones. Researchers have discovered that several PMS symptoms were correlated with C-Reactive Protein levels. This is a marker for inflammation in your liver. 

The PMS symptoms associated with inflammation are cramps, back pain, mood swings, increased appetite and mood swings. 

Inflammation is also associated with insulin resistance. This will have an effect on your hormones and could potentially lead to estrogen dominance in some people. 

Hyperglycemia, or too much blood glucose, causes your immune system to release a number of inflammatory chemicals. These inflammatory compounds can put you at risk for organ damage. 

Inflammation can either increase estrogen or lower it. Low estrogen has been associated with poor cognitive functions and memory. 

An essential enzyme, aromatase, is involved in estrogen production. It helps with the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. When this enzyme works properly, it helps to maintain a steady state of estrogen. However, too much inflammation can over-activate aromatase and lead to excess estrogen production and estrogen dominance. 

Brain Functioning

One common PMS symptom is an inability to concentrate due to mood swings or anxiety. Estrogen dominance can result in brain fog and poor memory. 

When you switch your body’s fuel from glucose to ketones, your brain begins to use ketones for fuel. They are anti-inflammatory. The brain can use them more effectively than glucose.

When people are on a ketogenic diet, they often report better memory, concentration and learning. The ketogenic diet increases the protein brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF is thought to be the cause of improved brain functioning on the ketogenic diet. Improved bioavailability of ketones to the brain is thought to help brain functioning as well. 

Conclusion

You don’t have to live with PMS! These symptoms are occurring because your body is out of balance due to the foods that spike your insulin. 

If you want to reduce or eliminate your PMS, look to your hormones. Estrogen and progesterone are the main culprits. You can have your doctor check these hormones, or implement a high fat low carbohydrate diet on your own. 

A ketogenic (low carb/high fat) diet supports hormone health and reduces symptoms of PMS. The stable blood sugars balance sugar cravings and help improve brain fog. 

One word of warning, the transition period, which is known as keto-adaptation, can temporarily make you feel worse. If you stick with the diet, there are some fantastic benefits!