To start off with a brief disclaimer: I’m not a nutrition expert, and I’d be perfectly satisfied if it were practical just to eat carrots and peanut butter. However, as one grows older and increasingly incapable of eating junk food and soft drinks without feeling the aftereffects, it makes sense to explore more diet options. You are welcome to be vegetarians, vegans, pescatarians, paleo, etc as each suits you. But one nutrition plan in particular – the ketogenic diet – seems to line up with some of my personal objectives, and it has characteristics that might appeal to an engineering mind. I’m exploring it, before the impacts of my [bad] life choices catch up to me.
THE BEAST IS WAITING
What is it?
We won’t go into a great deal of detail into the program, other than to say it requires a fairly drastic restriction of carbohydrates, a moderate intake of protein, and a high intake of fat. I know right? Sounds ridiculous. Here are a few articles that do a better job of describing the keto diet and the purported benefits:
Outside magazine has a decent overview, for young athletic hipsters.
Tim Ferriss has explored this diet in several podcasts. I suspect he may not be religiously on it himself since he likes socializing and a bit more alcohol than the diet might allow.
A podcast dedicated to the topic is Keto Talk, which is an approachable mix of practical advice and scientific studies. Keto Clarity was that same podcaster’s book which lays out the protocols quite clearly.
The purpose of this post is not to go into details about the diet, but rather to describe why specific aspects might appeal to engineers, curious creatures that we are.
We are born performance tuners
Every engineer appreciates design constraints, performance tuning of equipment and systems, optimization, and customization. Hot rods and motorcycles are obvious candidates, but our own bodies are another type of biomechanical system that we can try to tune for better performance – which is probably more important for our long-term happiness. Since we generally don’t get a strong biological content in our core curriculum, nutrition can get overlooked. But let’s think of this tuning as adjusting our fuel source instead – now most of the motorheads will understand. Finding the appropriate balance of fuel inputs for our bodies, to deliver the proper performance objectives (endurance? tractor-style torque? swift turbo boosts? high altitude performance?) is an ongoing experiment, one that most engineers should naturally be drawn towards. Without constraints and discipline applied to designs the world would not need engineers – any hack could just pile more steel on a bridge design or concrete on a foundation. But we are always trying to find a smarter, leaner, more precise approach. You like spreadsheets, testing, feedback, trying to find your optimal ‘fuel mix’? This diet might be for you.
Fuels? Now I’m interested
An analogy that seems appropriate for the ketogenic diet would be switching the fuel source, say of an internal combustion engine, from gasoline (~Otto cycle) to diesel (~Diesel cycle). We all recognize that the different characteristics of these fuels result in different performance of these cycles, required engine characteristics, emissions, and other factors. Similarly, for most people their body’s primary fuel source may be carbohydrates, converted to sugars in the blood. In the ketogenic diet, carbs are restricted in a manner such that the body effectively is required to ‘switch on’ its ‘fat batteries’, tapping them for energy instead. This results in changes in the blood chemistry and various aspects at the cellular level (purposely vague since I’m not a physician). For a rather scientific description of a personal performance experiment on this fuel switching after long-term adaptation, see Dr. Attia’s post here. Engineers interested in the energy conversion/engine/fuels aspects of things might find this of interest.
It runs counter to popular wisdom and opinion
Engineers and scientists care first and foremost about what works, not popular opinion. The broad outlines of the plan have some no-brainers shared with any other plan: avoid processed foods and sugar-packed treats/beverages. Where it runs counter to at least my intuition though is the emphasis on more fatty foods – bacon, meats, cheeses, fish, butter, avocados, nuts, certain oils, with some leafy greens for micronutrients – and even reducing what one would normally regard as tasty healthy options – fruits, vegetables, breads, juices. What twisted worldview prefers PORK RINDS over a fine Granny Smith apple? So the whole diet experiment introduces some internal recalibration, plus external ridicule at best, and scorn at worst. My brief throwaway explanation of my diet is “Just kelp covered with lard.” However, engineers are naturally suited to perform experiments, regardless of peer pressure. We generally do not hear what people are saying anyway, and certainly not what they say behind our backs. The fact that social settings – figuring out what to eat at parties or business dinners – can be a challenge is not a serious setback for those of us that are innately antisocial. “Don’t mind me while I scrape what I can off of your herb-garnished pizza crust and leave the rest.”
Another aspect which I find particularly distressing and compelling is that it sort of upends the traditional engineering ‘energy balance’ perspective of “Food and fat are just caloric energy. Eat less or exercise more, that’s all you need to do to lose weight.” Well…turns out it might not be that cut and dried, and perhaps more subtle manipulations of our foods’ effects on hormones, appetite, blood, and other factors need to be considered. I’d love it if it were as simple as Thermo 101, but perhaps it’s not, so exploring that additional complexity intrigues me.
It’s an energy and time management protocol
Curiously enough, on the diet one seems to need to eat fewer times per day. Perhaps bigger meals, but 1-2 a day seems to work just fine. In the past, one would need to cruise through the workday, bike or hike with a snack break this and soda/gator break that, once cravings or bonks appeared. Now it seems my personal energy flow is far more stable, and so long as one stays hydrated with some neutral beverage like water or tea, eating just isn’t that big a priority. This delivers some time and hassle factor savings, especially on trips. One fewer meal a day, less expense, no stress over not finding a restaurant at the appropriate time in some sketchy country or deserted highway. If you really love the dining experience and like eating often, maybe the keto diet isn’t for you. But for someone who would prefer to economize on that time to work on our other projects (and engineers do work long hours in absorption), it’s an appealing option.
Summary
This isn’t a hard sell on this particular diet. I haven’t educated myself well enough yet on all the aspects, or been on it long enough to draw firmer conclusions. There are certainly fierce nutrition debates that have been raging for decades, with strong feelings and accusatory “you’re a shill for industry X” language on many sides. There are probably a lot of people I would actively discourage from even trying it. However, the keto diet does have certain aspects that, even if one doesn’t adopt it themselves, might make for interesting exploring for an engineer interested in thermodynamics, energy, fuels, chemistry, ‘combustion’, performance, life satisfaction, and other bioengineering/life hack topics.
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