Review, Detoxification, Keto-Cleanse, Diet

Pathways to Healing

Metabolic Flexibility for Long-Term Health

by Elaine Zablocki

Nowadays many people are using a diet that’s high in healthy fats and low in carbs, called the ketogenic diet. Naturopathic physician Bonnie Nedrow, ND, has been working with her patients for 20 years to develop a version of this process that she calls Keto-Cleanse.

The Keto-Cleanse program is a medical tool to help people recover their health and stay healthy as they age. By following all the program components, people optimize their biomarkers and reduce their risk of chronic disease. “Many people think of Keto-Cleanse as a weight-loss program,” Nedrow says. “I believe people are overweight because they are toxic, overstressed, have poor life-style habits and don’t eat enough vegetables. While people often do lose weight on my programs, I consider that simply an objective measure of improved health, not the goal.”

During the 8- to 12-week program a person eats a very low-carb diet. “Humans have evolved to survive, and indeed thrive, on a diet that oscillates between abundance and scarcity,” Nedrow writes. “On feasting days what we can’t readily use gets stored as body fat. These fat stores can then be used as fuel in times of food scarcity. This is metabolic flexibility: the ability to access fuel from either dietary intake or from bodily stores.”

However, our bodies only burn fat after using up all the carbohydrates we’ve eaten recently. In our society we eat carbohydrates all the time, so we’ve lost our innate ability to burn fat. Keto-Cleanse is designed to re-establish the ability to burn fat for fuel. It is a strict diet, based on lots of healthy fat and very limited carbs.

Important note: you only do Keto-Cleanse once during your lifetime. At the end of the process, participants have developed metabolic flexibility. “As long as you follow some simple steps to maintain your ability to use fat as fuel, you will be keto-adapted forever,” Nedrow writes. “I do not recommend staying on the ketogenic diet forever…. The goal of metabolic flexibility is to stay keto-adapted forever, while having the freedom to come and go from a state of ketosis.”

New Book on Metabolic Flexibility Puts it All Together

Nedrow, who practices in Petaluma and Santa Rosa, California, decided to develop Keto- Cleanse as she came to understand the relationship between weight loss, fat mobilization and an increase in circulating toxic compounds. She first realized how essential it is to cope with toxins during medical school, when she became ill from chemical exposure in the anatomy lab. She wrote her first two books, The Cleanse Companion Cookbook and The Seasonal Cleanse Workbook to support her patients in cleansing. “I was motivated not only to create something for my own practice, but also to write cleanse books other practitioners could use with their patients,” she says. “I strongly believe we need to focus on detoxification with all our clients and I wanted a cookbook and a workbook to make cleansing more accessible.”

Nedrow has developed a significant focus on preconception optimization. “We are seeing an epidemic of chronic disease, not only in the elderly but also in younger people and even children,” Nedrow says. “When I sit with a 50-year-old suffering from chronic disease, I wish I could turn the clock back. The more I study the roots of chronic illness, the more I see that it all starts much earlier than expected, with the health of the parents. I use both my seasonal cleanse program and my Keto-Cleanse program to help people optimize their health prior to conception, to help their babies enter the world with maximum health.

Seven years ago, Nedrow keto-adapted. “This was a huge game changer for my health,” she recalls. Now she has published a new book, called Metabolic Flexibility: How to Use a Ketogenic Diet to Heal Your Metabolism, which is a remarkable asset for anyone who wants to try the ketogenic diet.

“I didn’t even pause before beginning the creation of Metabolic Flexibility from day one of using it as a tool in my practice,” she says. “Once again, I wanted to create a manual, this time to make a ketogenic diet safer and more accessible to the public and practitioners alike.”

Nedrow’s vision isn’t limited to food intake. In this book she discusses the challenges that may arise during Keto-Cleanse, and offers an array of tools to cope with those challenges. Metabolic Flexibility includes valuable information about detoxification, exercise, adrenal rhythms and life after keto-adaptation.

Detoxification

We are all exposed to a multitude of chemicals, man-made compounds with harmful effects on human health. They are metabolized in the liver. “If your liver is overwhelmed by chemicals that you are regularly exposed to, or by toxicants stored in your body, you may have difficulty keto adapting,” Nedrow writes. She recommends avoiding common chemical exposures as much as possible, drinking lots of water, and using supplemental fiber and minerals.

During Keto-Cleanse when you start burning body fat, you will mobilize fat-soluble toxicants stored in that fat. When you keto-adapt, it is essential to eliminate those chemicals. Studies have demonstrated that overweight people store fat-soluble chemicals and have a higher body burden than thin people despite a similar exposure history. “Mobilizing chemicals without removing them from your body can make you sick and can make you gain weight or stall your weight-loss program,” she writes. She recommends daily detox vitamins to support the body during keto adaptation. A four-day fat flush is a strategy to bind fat-soluble toxicants and move them out of your body. It can be used before the ketogenic diet, or as a one-day process during and after keto adapting.

Adrenal Rhythms, Stress and Exercise

Adrenal hormones support our circadian rhythms and allow for rapid fight-or-flight response in in times of danger. “Chronic stress-induced insomnia turns our rhythms upside down, stimulating the mind when we should be resting and leaving us tired when we should feel refreshed,” Nedrow writes. “In every 24-hour cycle there is an optimal time for rest and an optimal time for activity.” She recommends turning off the computer and TV in the evening and going to bed early.

Exercise is an essential part of the Keto-Cleanse program. It quickly burns carbohydrates which forces muscles to burn fat and stimulates the liver to make ketones. Regular exercise makes keto adaptation faster and easier. Metabolic Flexibility discusses various forms of exercise, exercise programs for different ages, and additional training in balance and proprioception.

Chronic stress is one of the key contributors to chronic disease. “Unless there is time and support to fully recharge on a daily basis this type of stress will build,” Nedrow writes. “A healthy lifestyle is the foundation for adrenal recovery. While herbs and nutrients support the adrenal glands, there is no magic bullet that will compensate for ‘burning the candle at both ends.’”

Life after Keto-Adaptation

After completing Keto-Cleanse, participants will “embark on a more personalized health journey that will involve intelligent experimentation… you will identify those foods that are most helpful for you…” Nedrow writes. Some people will reintroduce healthy carbs. “Foods like root vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes are packed with vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber, all very important for ongoing health promotion…. You have been extremely vigilant and disciplined during adaptation; now it is time to move to moderation and balance in food choices.” Each person will need to be aware of their individual reactions as they reintroduce high-carb foods. Some will choose to fast one day every week in order to reduce inflammation and optimize body composition through fat burning. Some will choose to follow a rotation diet with complex carbohydrates on three days per week, and a ketogenic diet on the other four days.

These are individualized variations that fit each person’s body type and lifestyle.

How Practitioners Can Use This Book

Metabolic Flexibility is written for lay people who want to safely and effectively heal their metabolism with lifestyle modifications and a nutritional program. However, many people suffer from chronic disease processes, such as diabetes and heart disease, and will require more support. These people will benefit from the guidance of a clinician who can personalize the program and monitor progress with lab tests and other subjective and objective measures. The book is designed to guide the patient through the program while the practitioner supports them in their healing process.

Resources

Go to keto-cleanse.com/ for copies of:

Metabolic Flexibility

The Seasonal Cleanse Workbook

The Cleanse Companion Cookbook

The website also features a blog, a one-hour video about keto-adaptation, and a page of “Frequently Asked Questions” about naturopathic medicine.

FOR PRACTITIONERS:

If you are interested in selling Metabolic Flexibility in your clinic, please contact Dr. Nedrow for wholesale prices. You can reach her at DrBonnie@Keto-Cleanse.com.

Elaine Zablocki is the former editor of CHRF News Files.