When I committed to a strict keto protocol, I was dialled in—organic meat and veg only, OMAD, no packaged food, no processed ingredients. My ketones were consistently strong (SiBio 1.5–2.0 mmol/L, KETOSCAN 7–10 ppm), glucose stable (5.2–6.0 mmol/L), and my training routine was sharp: fasted HIIT + weights in the early afternoon under UV light. It all looked great on paper.
But something wasn’t right.
Despite perfect macros and timing, I was waking up with tension, especially in my neck. HRV was suppressed (often in the 20s), overnight stress was medium to high (30–50), and sleep scores fell into the 60s and low 70s. I was following every piece of keto advice by the book—but my nervous system was stuck in sympathetic mode.
The turning point came when I realised the issue wasn’t just metabolic—it was neurological. Emotional/social stress, overtraining, and latent pain from past injuries (slipped discs) were all being amplified under deep keto. My system wasn’t clearing stress—it was compounding it. My breath was tight, HRV unresponsive, and even with low glucose and high ketones, I wasn’t recovering.
Keto under stress, without recovery tools, became a stressor itself.
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