What Is Ketosis? How To Follow A ketogenic Diet Plan
I get asked what is ketosis pretty often. My girlfriend asked me recently about it. I was on my way and out the door and knew I couldn’t answer it properly. What is keto and what is a ketogenic diet plan is both a simple and very complicated question. For such a fundamental part of the human physiology to still have so little known is mind blowing.
The ketosis definition from Wikipedia is
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used primarily to treat difficult-to-control (refractory) epilepsy in children. The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates.
Being in ketosis means that your body has switched from a glucose burning system to a fat burning one.
How To Get Into Ketosis
The super easy answer for you nonreading mongoloids is this Eat under 20 grams of carbs, Eat between .6 and 1 gram of Protein per Pound Of Bodyweight and Have the rest of your calories come from healthy Fats.
That is a very simplified version of What is ketosis. To be more specific you will need to use a macro calculator to determine your actual macros to aim for. Also, you will need to track the food you eat on a ketogenic diet plan.
Why do you want to be in ketosis
What is ketosis and why would you want to be in it? There are many many reasons. In my 3 day fast video I talked about some. I list a few of the many benefits. Jimmy Moore wrote about 10 Unexpected Health Benefits Of Nutritional Ketosis Besides Weight Loss.
- Appetite Control
- Reduced Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels
- Mental Focus and Clarity
- Reduced Inflammation
- Weight Loss (Especially belly fat)
- Oxygen Efficiency
- Endurance
- Endless Energy
Let a few of those really sink in. Appetite control, Mental focus, Endurance, and Energy. I talk about being prepared for disasters both small and large here. Do you think you will do in an emergency by having more mental focus and energy? I sure do!
How to stay in Ketosis
How do you stay in ketosis? Don’t eat enough carbs to throw you out of ketosis of course. Remember that calculator we talked about earlier? You eat more carbohydrate that you are supposed to and you will get kicked out. Which may or may not be that bad at times.
I actually don’t stay in ketosis all the time. Usually, I’m in a mild ketosis. I will come out for cheat day and on some days when I am more active.
There are a few ways to get back into ketosis fast. Fasting will do it. If you exercise while fasting you will get into ketosis even faster. By lifting weights fasted you will burn through your muscle glycogen.
You could use products to get you back into ketosis. You can try Dave Asprey’s Brain Octane Oil. Which is a derived from coconut oil. It is the c8 part of MCT oil only and is 18 times stronger than coconut oil.
You could get your hands on some KetoCaNa. It is an exogenous ketone supplement. Your body will get the full keto benefits from KetoCaNa even on a high carb diet. Well, don’t expect weight loss results to be as good. Instead of turning fat into ketones to use your body will burn the exogenous ones first. You will get the mental clarity and energy, though.
Ketogenic Foods
The majority of your calories will come from fat. Healthy high-quality fats. Coconut oil, grass-fed butter, and olive oil are all great ones to use daily. Fat from animal sources is the best. One of the main reasons I eat grass-fed beef is the omega 3 content. Grass -fed beef has up to 2 to 5 times more Omega-3 than grain-fed beef. Fish is another great source for animal source fats.
Avocados are great to have. They are my favorite fruit.
Protein is the second most eaten macro on a ketogenic diet. Remember this is a high fat diet, not a high protein one. I know it’s easy to go full on carnivore. If I don’t check myself I can eat only meat. Eating high protein has never worked out well for me. I will put on weight if I do it. Eating excess protein in the absence of carbs will trigger the body to convert the excess protein to glucose. This is known as Gluconeogenesis and we don’t want it to happen excessively.
For your carbs eat mostly leafy green veggies. Swiss chard, bok choy, spinach, lettuce, chard, chives, endive, radicchio, etc. Some cruciferous veggies like kale, broccoli, and cauliflower. Zucchini, spaghetti squash, and asparagus are a few more great keto veggies.
Ketosis Dangers?
You might come across talk of dangers of a ketogenic diet. This is vegan propaganda. The only danger is in a condition called ketoacidosis. This is mostly associated with type 1 diabetics. The liver breaks down fat and proteins in response to a perceived need for a respiratory substrate. This condition can be fatal if not treated. If you get a blood ketone meter you will know if you are going into ketoacidosis. Most of us will be happy to hit 5 millimolar’s on a ketone meter. In ketoacidosis ,you could spike into the double digits. If so get to the hospital.
Conclusions
I should have answered what is ketosis for you. With this article, you have the beginning knowledge to begin your journey. I’ve included links to several blogs with great info. There are thousands of hours of podcasts on what is ketosis. Especially any of the ones with Dominic D’agostino. Jimmy Moores book Keto Clarity is a great one to get. So get off the ball and get started. Stop overthinking it and start doing it.
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