One of the things I enjoy about publishing Townsend Letter is that it also gives me a place to share my own observations, experiences, and occasional experiments with health and nutrition. In that sense, it’s become something of a personal journal as well as a publication devoted to integrative medicine.

Recently, I wrote about a curious observation involving my fingernails and multivitamins in an article called Healing Hands and Multivitamins. It was a simple account of something I had noticed repeatedly over the years, and I thought it was worth sharing.

My latest experiment is considerably more ambitious. I’ve recommitted myself to a low-carbohydrate lifestyle, something I’ve done successfully in the past and whose benefits I know firsthand. But this time, I’m paying much closer attention to the metabolic changes taking place, particularly the transition into nutritional ketosis.

My motivation goes beyond losing a few pounds, although maintaining a healthy weight is certainly part of it. I’m interested in energy, metabolic health, inflammation, and the potential benefits of reducing my body’s dependence on glucose as its primary fuel.

As readers of Townsend Letter know, researchers such as Thomas Seyfried, PhD, have argued that elevated insulin and insulin-related growth signaling can contribute to inflammation and promote conditions favorable to cancer growth. A low-carbohydrate diet generally reduces insulin secretion, while nutritional ketosis increases the production of ketone bodies, particularly beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB).

And ketones are more than just an alternative fuel. Research suggests that BHB also acts as a signaling molecule, influencing inflammation and other cellular processes. Its potential anticancer effects are an active area of investigation, although the clinical evidence is still developing.

These are fascinating possibilities, particularly for someone who has spent much of his life immersed in cancer research and integrative medicine.

But what interests me most right now is something much more immediate. What does this metabolic transition actually feel like?

That is what I have been finding out firsthand.

I’ve eliminated sugar and virtually all starchy carbohydrates from my diet, and from my home. No rice, corn, wheat, or potatoes.

And I can tell you that the experience has been quite remarkable and not entirely pleasant.

About three days in, I could feel the metabolic shift starting, and for the next two days I experienced what is commonly called the “keto flu.” In my case, that meant feeling a little foggy and run-down, along with some pretty strong carbohydrate cravings.

But those symptoms went away. Now, about two weeks in, what has really surprised me is not the weight loss, although I am losing weight. It is how remarkably stable my energy has become.

I don’t seem to have the same peaks and valleys during the day. More interestingly, I feel much more resilient to hunger. I still get hungry, of course. But hunger doesn’t have the same urgency it did before.

I’m actively trying to increase the amount of time I fast each day, pushing my first calories later into the morning and trying to stop eating earlier in the evening. Ultimately, I’d like to get my eating down to about a six-hour window each day.

I have a few ways to deal with carb cravings without feeling deprived.

One has been blueberries with yogurt. I put them in a small bowl so I don’t overdo it. (I like Stonyfield Organic plain whole milk yogurt and Wyman’s frozen wild blueberries.) It gives me something cold, sweet, and satisfying without turning into a giant bowl of carbohydrates. Plus, I get the benefits of antioxidants and probiotics!

For snacks, I have mostly been eating shell peanuts and pistachios, being careful to limit myself to a single handful because they’re notoriously easy to overeat. Having to shell them also slows me down, which is a good thing.

My digestion has been excellent. I am also losing weight at an average of about half a pound per day. At about two weeks in, I am down around five pounds.

I am deliberately not obsessing over the scale.

The weight loss is welcome, but right now I am more interested in what I can actually feel happening. I can feel a genuine metabolic shift, and I don’t need a scale to tell me that.

After getting through those first few uncomfortable days, I feel physically different. My energy is steady. Hunger is easier to tolerate. My digestion is good. The cravings have diminished. And I simply feel good.

It is still very early. Two weeks doesn’t tell us much about what this will look like in a month, three months, or six months. I am certainly not presenting myself as a keto success story at this point.

But so far, so good.