My brother called me the other day just to check in. Although the journey has been different for each of us, the family has been a lot closer since the bulk of us transitioned to living a ketogenic lifestyle. We share tips, recipes, good podcasts, success stories, and the latest medical research article of interest.

My brother called to report how his latest appointment with his primary care physician (PCP) went. After losing 40 pounds, improving his cholesterol, and lowering his blood pressure (among other positive shifts), it’s not surprising that his appointment went well. Yay! He also mentioned that he was going to watch a documentary on the ketogenic diet but wanted to watch when his wife wasn’t around. He shared that, although she has also gone keto, she thinks that his continual thirst for information is a little “obsessive.” I laughed out loud (literally) in hearing this for he isn’t the only one who is knowledge hungry.

One podcasts leads to another, and that leads to a research paper, which leads to something else. It’s as if these tidbits of knowledge have been engineered for craveability much like the food in the American diet has been specifically designed for “conditioned hypereating.“ No matter how much I listen/read, my hunger for knowledge never seems to satiated. My current commute entertainment is by far the most fascinating – even though 50-60% of the information is over my head. Still, I love it. What’s more, only a small component of it is on nutritional ketosis.

To my brother’s thirst for knowledge to understand (1) how his body works, (2) why eating certain foods make him feel physically better and others don’t, and (3) what do the various biomarkers in his latest laboratory tests mean, I say “Keep up the good work, Bro.” In my not-so-humble opinion, everyone should take an initiative to learn as much as they can on whatever stimulates and motivates them to live a happier and healthier life.

To Bro’s wife, I could point out that she is equally as obsessed, only her obsession is in finding different recipes that keep her creative cooking juices flowing. I could’ve reminded my brother that he once wanted to stop her in this respect for the amazing foods she was masterminding challenged him in his early keto days – but the thought didn’t enter my mind during our conversation. Simple and boring was his tactic for being in control but, with such amazing meals, he had to learn to stop at satiation. Back then, I reminded him that it was her diet too and, more importantly, finding his stopping point was a very good skill for him to learn.

As for my own relationship, I notice that I would do well to not flood theMAN with all of my newly-discovered keto info. Just because I am fascinated with it, doesn’t mean he will be. For the record, although I am fully married to ketosis, he is deciding not.  Even if he were, he doesn’t need my latest discoveries shoved down his throat (so-to-speak). #notetoself

Had enough puns? I just couldn’t stop myself.