I’m on a mostly keto diet and have been for years because those are the only foods I tolerate. It was ironic to me it was so close to full keto.
I do not lose weight, at all, and actually gained in a pattern that indicates cortisol. That weight gain came after my third round of mononucleosis, however. At the age of 60 at the time, and still working a 30-hour week, I would say stress played a huge role in that.
My digestion is pretty shot from candidiasis for years on end. Rebuilding a healthy microbiome has proven difficult. I was able to consult my state’s leading physician/expert on micro biome and thought I was home free. But, he insists ALL his patients adopt a vegetarian diet as part of treatment. It made the fifth honest attempt in my life to go vegetarian - and it was disaster! I had warned him I might have to stop. Sure enough, I was soon in a world of hurt, hungry all the time, depressed, and coping with hypoglycemia all the time. It just wasn’t worth it.
Fruits and vegetables when consumed trigger horrid candida symptoms. It doesn’t take much. They also have to be very, very fresh, or they smell moldy to me. That made trying to adopt a vegetarian diet hard! Everything stinks. That lovely green salad you think is completely fresh would smell awful to me.
Blood tests indicate that I digest fats and protein just fine. It is shot for anything else!
At one time, I did what is called metabolic testing. My ideal diet is/was high protein, high fat, low carb. I have always done best on that.
Throw in the candida issues, and inability to gain ground healing digestion overall - it has been an interesting time. I am limited to about 30 foods, so I make sure they are organic as much as possible.
Since getting professional help has proven difficult, my approach over the past four years is low and slow, reasonable servings of what I do tolerate, and micro servings of foods I might have trouble with. I can now tolerate a lovely green salad. Feels like heaven. Fruits are still a huge no. Grains are nearly completely absent. Animal protein continues to be the main part of my diet. I don’t do well if I under eat for whatever reason.
I second the thought of avoiding food additives.
Reading through this thread is interesting. We are all so different!