The only medicine we truly need to live a long and healthy life comes from the food we eat. I’m joined by Ali Miller, RD to talk about her approach to nutrition that focuses on ketosis to treat long-term and chronic health conditions. About Ali Miller, RD Ali Miller is an integrative functional medicine practitioner with a background in naturopathic medicine. She is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator, and has a contagious passion for food-as-medicine developing clinical protocols and virtual programs using nutrients and food as the foundation of treatment. She’s also the author of Naturally Nourished: Food-as-Medicine for Optimal Health cookbook (2016) and The Anti-Anxiety Diet (2018). Her Food-As-Medicine philosophy is supported by up-to-date scientific research for a functional approach to healing the body. Ali’s message has influenced millions through media with television segments, features in O!, Women's Health, and Prevention Magazine, her award-winning podcast, Naturally Nourished, and within the medical community. Find Ali’s expertise through her website offering her blog, podcasts, virtual learning, and access to her practice, Naturally Nourished.   About This Episode Ali is a firm believer that food is medicine and that almost everything our bodies need comes straight from what we eat. Her preferred way to eat is keeping the body in Ketosis to help it heal from inflammation and other long-term and chronic health conditions. She explains how long most people should stay in ketosis and how to effectively refeed. Her recommendation is to eat with your cycle if you’re pre- and peri-menopausal, or to eat with the moon cycle if you’ve gone through menopause.  The other aspect of keto that’s vital for Ali is to enjoy the food you’re eating. This is why it’s so important that you cook your food from scratch wherever possible and make meals that you enjoy. It’s also why you should slow down to savor your food - no more eating on the go! Ali provides a great example of how a 55-year old post-menopausal woman with 50 pounds of excess weight to lose should go into ketosis. The biggest difference to what keto approach is the best comes down to how much weight you have to lose - and Ali explains why this example woman should stay in keto much more strictly than a woman with less or no weight to lose. We also talk about the current COVID-19 pandemic. We both agree that touch, body language, and smiles are essential for everyone, but especially for our young children returning to school. We talk about our beliefs surrounding the pandemic; the overarching belief is that you need to trust the science, not the fear, always. Finally, I ask Ali about her opinion of the Carnivore Diet that I talked about in the last episode of The Girlfriend Doctor. Other than for Crohn’s and Colitis patients or people with severe IBS, she doesn’t recommend this kind of diet. Ali knows the importance that comes from eating a variety of plants. How long do you normally keep your body in ketosis? Have you implemented a refeed period that follows either your cycle or the moon cycle? As always, you can ask me anything and let me hear your thoughts in the comments on the episode page. If you have questions, email team@drannacabeca.com.   In This Episode: How ketosis can help heal your body from antiinflammatory and other long-term diseases How long you should keep your body in ketosis for it to work most efficiently Why it’s so important for you to enjoy the food you’re eating How a 55-year old post-menopausal woman with 50 lbs to lose should approach the keto diet for ultimate nutrition Why you have to follow the science, not the fear Why we need to eat the biodiversity present in plants   Quotes: “When Gabba levels are optimized, it releases this steam train valve that allows the body to feel safe again, it regulates all of those things: the tremors start to reduce, we get this peripheral release from tension, we can see bloo