- White-knuckling the restrictions when eating keto?
- Confused about how many carbs to eat on a keto diet?
- Finding that you can’t get into ketosis even though you follow a keto diet?
All these woes can come about when adopting a keto diet because everyone is different in switching to the metabolic state of ketosis. It is dependent on who you are including metabolic differences, gender, age, insulin resistance, exercise, and many more factors.
But stay with me! It is worth it to be able to switch into the ketone-generating state because of its many benefits. It helps with weight loss, a sharp brain, and a general clearing away of metabolic toxins among others.
Low Carb = Keto Myth
For most people, a Low Carbohydrate diet and a Keto diet are synonymous.
But when you restrict your carbs to less than 20 grams and do not achieve ketosis, you may say, “what is going on?”
Let me clear it up. The distinction is how much insulin your body is releasing.
A Keto Diet intends to produce low insulin levels in the body, which along with low glucose turn on the mechanism to make ketones.
Most people don’t do that when eating Low Carb, due to
- Overeating in general
- Eating too much protein
- Eating too frequently
- Not exercising
- Too much stress
- Lack of sleep
- Certain medications
- Hormonal shifts like menopause
How can I make ketones?
If lowering insulin is the key, then eating to reduce insulin is generally a plan with high fat, moderate protein, and low carb.
Your body responds by releasing insulin when you eat almost anything, except for pure fat. And a fat-only diet is nutrient deficient and not sustainable.
This is where measuring blood sugar and ketones will give feedback to fine-tune the high fat, moderate protein, low carb eating.
After all, you need to find your individual way of eating that lowers insulin enough so the liver will break down fat into ketones. This happens when
- the body has burned all the stored starch in the liver
- blood glucose goes to 90 or below resulting in
- insulin levels being low.
Is that the only way?
No, besides eating a ketogenic diet your body will generate ketones whenever the criteria above are satisfied, such as with
- intense prolonged exercise
- calorie restriction, usually below 725 calories per day
- fasting, which is the fastest way.
What about ketone supplements?
Supplementing with ketones does not change your insulin level! Insulin is low when your body makes ketones. Ketone supplements do not turn on the ketone generating state.
However, you will feel the effects as your body uses the ketones for fuel. You may have a sharper mind or a lift in mood for a little while. However, ketone supplements
- are expensive
- are used up as fuel in 90 minutes or less, and the effects stop.
Knowing that, they can be useful
- during a fasting window
- to help get back to a keto diet.
For more than weight loss
Lots of exciting research is being done on the state of ketosis and slowing aging, mental health, and degenerative brain diseases. Way back before medications were developed, the Keto Diet was used to treat epilepsy, especially in children. It still is used in conjunction with medication or by itself in the treatment of patients with epilepsy.
Dr. Georgia Ede is on the forefront of using the Keto diet for optimal mental health and protecting memory, especially with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s patients. Her book, Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind contains eye-opening information and a powerful plan for brain health, including recipes.
Dr. Mindy Pelz is the expert in balancing hormones with a fasting lifestyle and minding what you eat in your eating window. Her approach to the Keto diet she calls Ketobiotic and helps balance estrogen levels for both cycling women and women after menopause.
See my many other blogs about the Fasting Lifestyle and how to Eat Like A Girl.
