7 Tips to Get Into Ketosis
Ketosis is a common metabolic process that provides several health benefits.
During ketosis, your body converts fat into compounds known as ketones and begins using it as its main source of energy.
Studies have shown that foods that promote ketosis are extremely beneficial for weight loss, in part due to their appetite-suppressing effects.
Emerging research suggests that ketosis may be helpful for type 2 diabetes and neurological diseases, among other conditions.
That being said, achieving ketosis may take some work and planning. It is not as easy as cutting carbs.
Here are 7 effective tips for getting into ketosis.
1. Reduce your carbohydrate intake
Eating a very low-carb diet is by far the most important factor in achieving ketosis.
Normally, your cells use glucose or sugar as the main source of fuel. However, most of your homes can also use other sources of fuel. These include fatty acids, as well as ketones, also known as ketone bodies.
Your body stores glucose in your liver and muscles in the form of glycogen.
When carbohydrate intake is too low, glycogen stores decrease and hormone insulin levels decrease. This allows your body to release fatty acids from fat stores.
Your liver converts some of these fatty acids into acetone ketone, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate. These ketones can be used as fuel by parts of the brain.
The level of carbohydrate restriction required to induce ketosis is somewhat customized. For some people, net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) should be limited to 20 grams per day, others can achieve ketosis by eating twice that amount or more.
For this reason, the Atkins Diet specifies that carbohydrates will be limited to 20 grams or less per day for two weeks as a guarantee that ketosis has occurred.
After this point, ketosis persists until very slowly a small amount of carbohydrates can be added to your diet.
A one-week study found that overweight people with type 2 diabetes who limited their daily carbohydrate intake to 21 grams or less experienced 27 times more ketone excretion in daily urine than their baseline level.
In another study, adults with type 2 diabetes were allowed to consume 20 to 50 grams of digestive carbohydrates per day, depending on the number of grams that helped keep blood ketone levels within their goal of 0.5-0.0 mmol / L.
These ranges of carbohydrates and ketones are recommended for people who want to enter ketosis to lose weight, control blood sugar levels, or reduce risk factors for heart disease.
In contrast, therapeutic ketogenic diets used for epilepsy or as experimental cancer therapy often limit carbohydrates to less than 5% of calories or less than 15 grams to increase ketone levels.
However, anyone using a diet for therapeutic purposes should only be treated under the supervision of a professional.
SUMMARY:
Limiting your sugar intake to 20-50 net grams per day lowers insulin and blood sugar levels, causing your liver to release stored fatty acids converted to ketones.
2. Include coconut oil in your diet
Eating coconut oil can help you get into ketosis.
It contains fats known as medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs).
Unlike most fats, MCTs are quickly absorbed and transported directly to the liver, where they can be used instantly for energy or converted to ketones.
In fact, it has been suggested that eating coconut oil may be one of the best ways to increase ketone levels in people with Alzheimer's disease and other diseases of the nervous system.
Although coconut oil contains four types of MCTs, 50% of its fat comes from a type known as lauric acid.
Some studies suggest that fat sources with a high percentage of lauric acid can produce more sustainable levels of ketosis. This is because it is metabolized more slowly than other MCTs.
MCTs have been used to induce ketosis in children with epilepsy without severely limiting carbohydrates, as in the classic ketogenic diet.
In fact, several studies have shown that diets rich in MCT contain 20% of calories from carbohydrates, creating an effect similar to the classic ketogenic diet, providing less than 5% of calories from carbohydrates.
When adding coconut oil to your diet, it is a good idea to do it slowly to reduce digestive side effects such as stomach cramps or diarrhea.
Start with one teaspoon per day and increase to two to three tablespoons per day for a week. You can get coconut oil at your local grocery store or buy it online.
SUMMARY:
Taking coconut oil provides your body with MCT which is quickly converted and converted into ketone bodies by the liver.
3. Increase your physical activity
A growing number of studies have shown that resistance to ketosis can be beneficial for certain types of athletic performance, including exercise.
Also, being more active can help you get into ketosis.
When you exercise, you remove your body's glycogen stores. These are usually replenished when you eat sugars which are broken down into glucose and converted into glycogen.
However, if carbohydrate intake is reduced, glycogen stores remain low. In response, your liver increases the production of ketones, which can be used as an alternative fuel source for your muscles.
One study found that in low blood ketones, exercise increases the rate at which ketones are produced. However, when blood ketones are already improved, they do not increase with practice and may actually decrease for a short time.
Additionally, ketone levels have been shown to increase by practicing on an empty stomach.
In a small study, nine older women practiced before or after eating. Their blood ketone levels were 137-314% higher when they practiced before meals than when they exercised after meals.
Keep in mind that exercise increases ketone production, and it can take one to four weeks for your body to adjust to using ketones and fatty acids as primary fuel. During this time, physical performance may be temporarily reduced.
SUMMARY:
Being physically active can increase ketone levels during carbohydrate restriction. This effect can be enhanced by practicing on an empty stomach.
4. Increases your healthy fat intake
Eating lots of healthy fats can increase your ketone levels and help achieve ketosis.
In fact, a very low carb ketogenic diet not only reduces carbs, but it also contains more fat.
Ketogenic diets typically provide 60-80% of calories from fat for weight loss, metabolic health, and exercise performance.
The classic ketogenic diet used for epilepsy is fattier, containing 85-90% calories from fat.
However, the need for high fat intake does not translate to higher ketone levels.
A three-week study of 11 healthy people compared the effects of fasting with different amounts of fat intake in ketone levels.
Overall, ketone levels are similar in people who consume 79% or 90% of their calories from fat.
Also, since fats make up such a large percentage of the ketogenic diet, it is important to choose high-quality sources.
Good fats include olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, butter, lard and tallow. Additionally, there are many healthy, high-fat foods that are also very low in carbohydrates.
However, if your goal is to lose weight, it is important to make sure that you are not consuming too many calories at all, as this can stop your weight loss.
SUMMARY:
Getting at least 60% calories from your fat will help increase your ketone levels. Choose a variety of healthy fats from both plant and animal sources.
5. Try a small or a fat fast
Another way to get ketosis is to go for several hours without eating.
In fact, many go for mild ketosis between dinner and breakfast.
Children with epilepsy sometimes fast for 24 to 48 hours before starting a ketogenic diet. This is done to quickly enter the ketosis so that the convulsions can be reduced very quickly.
Occasional fasting, including regular short-term fasting with a dietary approach, can also induce ketosis.
Additionally, "Fat Rosa" is a method that stimulates ketones and mimics the effects of fasting.
It involves consuming about 1000 calories per day, with 85 to 90% coming from fat. This combination of low calorie and very high fat intake can help you get into ketosis faster.
A 1965 study reported a significant fat loss in overweight patients who followed a fat fast. However, other researchers have pointed out that these results appear to have been greatly exaggerated.
Because a fat fast is so low in protein and calories, it should be followed for up to three to five days to avoid excessive muscle loss. It can also be difficult to stick with it for more than a couple of days.
Here are some tips and ideas for doing a fat fast and getting into ketosis.
SUMMARY:
Fasting, intermittent fasting, and a "fat fast" can help you get into ketosis relatively quickly.
6. Maintain an adequate protein intake
Achieving ketosis requires adequate but not excessive protein intake.
The classic ketogenic diet used in epilepsy patients is restricted in both carbohydrates and protein to maximize ketone levels.
The same diet can also be beneficial for cancer patients, as it can limit tumor growth.
However, for most people, reducing protein intake to increase ketone production is not a healthy practice.
First, it is important to consume enough protein to supply the liver with amino acids that can be used for gluconeogenesis, which translates into "making new glucose."
In this process, your liver provides glucose for the few cells and organs in your body that cannot use ketones for fuel, such as red blood cells and parts of the kidneys and brain.
Second, protein intake must be high enough to maintain muscle mass when carbohydrate intake is low, especially during weight loss.
Although losing weight generally results in the loss of muscle and fat, consuming sufficient amounts of protein on a very low-carb ketogenic diet can help preserve muscle mass.
Several studies have shown that the preservation of muscle mass and physical performance are maximized when protein intake is in the range of 0.55 to 0.77 grams per pound (1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram) of lean mass.
In weight loss studies, very low carbohydrate diets with a protein intake within this range have been found to induce and maintain ketosis.
In a study of 17 obese men, following a ketogenic diet that provided 30% of calories from protein for four weeks led to blood ketone levels of 1.52 mmol / L, on average. This is within the nutritional ketosis range of 0.5 to 3.0 mmol / L.
To calculate your protein needs on a ketogenic diet, multiply your ideal body weight in pounds by 0.55 to 0.77 (1.2 to 1.7 in kilograms). For example, if your ideal body weight is 130 pounds (59 kg), your protein intake should be 71 to 100 grams.
SUMMARY:
Eating too little protein can lead to muscle wasting while eating too much protein can inhibit ketone production.
7. Test ketone levels and adjust your diet as needed
Like many things in nutrition, achieving and maintaining a state of ketosis is highly individualized.
Therefore, it can be helpful to test your ketone levels to ensure that you are achieving your goals.
All three types of ketones (acetone, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and acetoacetate) can be measured in breath, blood, or urine.
Acetone is found in your breath, and studies have confirmed that testing for acetone levels in your breath is a reliable way to control ketosis in people on ketogenic diets.
The Ketonix meter measures acetone in your breath. After you breathe into the meter, a color flashes to indicate if you are in ketosis and how high your levels are.
Ketones can also be measured with a blood ketone meter. Similar to how a glucose meter works, a small drop of blood is placed on a strip that is inserted into the meter.
It measures the amount of beta-hydroxybutyrate in the blood and has also been found to be a valid indicator of ketosis levels.
The downside to measuring ketones in the blood is that the strips are very expensive.
Lastly, the ketone measured in urine is acetoacetate. The urine ketone strips soak into the urine and turn various shades of pink or purple, depending on the level of ketones present. A darker color reflects higher levels of ketones.
Ketone urine strips are easy to use and quite inexpensive. Although their accuracy in long-term use has been questioned, they should initially provide confirmation that you are in ketosis.
A recent study found that urinary ketones tend to be highest in the early morning and after dinner on a ketogenic diet.
Using one or more of these methods to test ketones can help you determine whether you need to make any adjustments to get into ketosis.
Article source healthline.com
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