What is ketosis and how does it work?
Are you looking to lose weight and keep it off? Have you been struggling with your diet and exercise routine, and want a way out? Ketosis can help.
Here I will help you understand what ketosis is and how it affects your body so you can make better decisions about what to eat, lose weight fast and be healthier.
I will be covering: 1) What is Ketosis?, 2) how does ketosis work? and 3) Should you try a ketogenic diet?
1. Should you try a ketogenic diet?
I know that it can be tough to break old habits and make a change in your life.
But I also know how great feeling good about yourself feels (and who doesn’t want to feel like an A-list celebrity on occasion?).
The ketogenic diet has been around for decades! And with good reason—it works!
So if you’re ready to take charge of your life take a look at these Keto recipes to get you started.
Related: Keto diet tips for beginners
2. What is Ketosis?
Ketosis is a byproduct of The Ketogenic Diet.
When you don’t eat too many carbohydrates, such as grains, potatoes, and sugar – the liver generates ketones out of fat for energy.
This can be helpful in losing weight or diabetic control because your blood sugars don’t rise as much after eating.
Ketosis is a normal, healthy state that your body enters when carbohydrate intake is low.
It’s when the body has run out of glycogen, which stores glucose.
Ketones can also be used by muscles and the brain for fuel in place of glucose.
For the brain to use ketones for fuel, they must be in slightly higher concentration than when using glucose.
This is why it may take a few days after starting carbohydrate restriction before you enter full blown ketosis where your blood levels of ketones are high enough.
The purposeful induction of this state is called nutritional ketosis or dietary Ketosis and can help with weight loss, control hunger & cravings, increased energy level and reduce inflammation throughout the body!
Related: Benefits of Ketosis
3. How does Ketosis Work?
During ketosis our bodies rely on fats for fuel and use fatty acids or ketones as their main source of energy instead of carbohydrates.
This process, called ketogenesis, is accomplished by your liver producing ketones from fat and releasing them into the bloodstream where they can be used as an alternative power source by your muscles and brain cells, replacing carbohydrates as a fuel source.
The process starts with your body using up its stores of carb-based energy (glucose), which it gets from food.
In this stage, which can take a few days, the lack of carbs forces the body to find an alternative fuel source.
As your carbohydrate stores become depleted, glucose is no longer available as a power source and the body must turn to fat for energy instead.
If you are eating a keto diet, your body will enter this state of fat burning within two days in general.
For some people it can take up to three or four days before they reach the point where their bodies have fully shifted over from carb metabolism to fatty acid metabolism.
In some cases, before this shift is complete your body will go through a state of “keto flu” as it detoxes from the high levels of carbs that have been stored in the muscles and liver.
The symptoms can last for about four to seven days, but you should feel much better after two weeks on the keto diet.
Once your body gets used to using fat as its primary fuel source it can take a few weeks for you to start feeling the real benefits of this way of eating, and some people never feel them at all (and that’s totally fine!).
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