I was floored by a mystery illness until I made this diet change - now I'm helping others with my Keto Kitchen

After being diagnosed with Graves Thyrotoxicosis, IBS, cholecystitis, ME, and pre-diabetes, she managed to change her life dramatically - and it’s led to a Lytham-based food business helping others.

What happened?

Desperate for a solution, Kate turned to a low-carb keto diet during the 2020 lockdown - initially to tackle pre-diabetes. Within weeks, she saw remarkable improvements: renewed energy, weight loss, and no further gallbladder attacks. Her recovery inspired her to launch Keto Kitchen with her son, offering meals that helped others regain their health. Kate’s story highlights how diet transformed her life and gives hope to those battling chronic illness.

She said: “Life pre illness was busy. I lived with my grown-up children, ran a business and had an active social life. I shopped, cooked, cleaned and ironed for the family, and saw friends regularly. Initially, my illness floored me. I was exhausted and had no energy and gradually found physically that even routine tasks were beyond me. Over time, the effort involved in trying to manage my health and the logistics involved in social events led me to decline invitations.”

She added: “It is difficult to describe just how dreadful I felt all day, every day. I had constant nausea and I ached all over my body. The tiredness was constant and I had periods of time where I had problems with my balance and even getting from room to room was problematic. The physical impact was hard, but mentally and emotionally, I was ill-prepared to feel dependent on others and without my sense of identity as a carer, mother, and contributor to our family household. I was also reliant on the benefit system and was claiming ESA with the attendant humiliations that entail. I had to attend a tribunal to prove my incapacity for work after my claim was declined.”

Turnaround

After her pre-diabetes diagnosis, her GP suggested a program called ‘Healthy You’ and she began low carb eating on March 20, four days prior to lockdown, with the sole aim of reversing the pre-diabetes. Within a week of being on a keto diet, she had lost 3lb and had more energy. She said: “I slept less during the day, had bags of energy and was able to concentrate while reading books or watching TV. There were no GP appointments until June and at this stage blood tests confirmed I was no longer pre-diabetic. I had no further cholecystitis attacks and when an appointment for surgery was received the following year, the surgeon agreed that in the absence of symptoms, it would be unnecessary to proceed.”

Between March and September 2020 she followed a strict keto diet and lost five stone, seeing her health improve dramatically. She said: “It was miraculous! From sitting on the sidelines and watching life go on for others, I was now participating in our family life and able to meet up with friends and socialise. I felt I had a new lease of life at the age of 60.”

Keto Kitchen

Keto Kitchen, which delivers keto meal plans delivered direct to your door, was born out of a conversation around the dinner table in September 2020. Kate said: “My son remarked how if it wasn’t for me cooking and shopping, he would find Keto hard work. I wondered whether others felt the same and out of those remarks, Keto Kitchen was born. James set to work on a website and the business side, and I honed family favourites and developed new dishes. We launched in October and it consumed our lives - seven days a week and evenings too. James has been the driver of the business and our success is in no small part down to his drive and determination. His willingness to handle everything apart from the cooking left me free to do what I do best.”

So successful is the business that they have attracted the attention of Oxford University who were looking for delivered meals as part of a clinical trial they were running. They have been chosen and are looking forward to the results.

Kate on lessons learned and advice

Kate said: “My advice to anyone with ill health is that it’s worth trying a low carbohydrate diet and seeing whether it helps. There is much research showing how a low carb diet can stabilise or reverse type 2 diabetes. Losing weight can only be beneficial for many illnesses and keto diets are naturally anti-inflammatory which can have a huge bearing on many illnesses and even the need for pain relief. In hindsight, I wish I had been advised to look at my diet. I may have avoided many years of illness and I am just glad I ditched the carbs and got my life back.”