Plant-based ketogenic eating already existed in many traditions worldwide

Zoe "Doctor, I've been doing yoga for over three years. Recently I've been hearing about Ayurveda, a healing approach connected with yoga principles. In Ayurveda there's a method that uses butter and oils for healing. I think this is also a kind of ketogenic principle."

Dr. Lee "Yes — exactly. Ayurveda also uses butter to increase lipid intake. And in Asian traditions, the Sinseonjeon (Tales of the Daoist Immortals) describes byeokgok — abstaining from grains. Byeokgok can be interpreted as restricting carbohydrate. While abstaining from grains, practitioners ate a few pine nuts or beans each day instead — both of which are high in lipid. So the Sinseonjeon writers also seem to have understood, empirically, that a high lipid ratio aids spiritual practice.

"There's also the famous Japanese physiognomist Mizuno Namboku. He was told as a young man that he would die before age 20 unless he spent a year living in the mountains. So he went to live at a temple in the mountains. The condition the head monk set for letting him stay was that he had to live for one year eating only beans (Mizuno, 1812). One year later, looking at his reflection in a stream, he found his face had completely changed. He went on to become Japan's leading physiognomist and earned a court position. Later, he wrote that small portions, vegetarian eating, and regular meals can change one's destiny. To this list, I would add: ketogenic eating."

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