How To Know If The Ketogenic Diet Is Right For You
It’s almost a universally accepted fact that diets leave you hungry. After all, that rumbling tummy two hours after mealtime (not to mention, strict and time-consuming calorie counting) is the reason most New Year’s resolutions fail by February, right? But Dr. Jacob Wilson and Ryan Lowery, the authors of The Ketogenic Bible, say you don’t need to go hungry or count calories to lose weight. The ketogenic diet, also referred to as “keto,” is a dieting method gaining popularity from people with diabetes to CrossFitters. “The ketogenic diet induces ketosis, which is a state where your body is running primarily off of fat and ketones,” explains Wilson, instead of sugar from carbs. “That can occur through lowering your carbohydrates and having very high fat intake.” Specifically, the ketogenic diet targets about 80 percent of calories from fat, 15 percent from protein and 5 percent from carbohydrates. RELATED: Why You Should Eat More Fat and Less Sugar The Upside of Ketosis While this method may have gained popularity among athletes and other hard-core fitness buffs, they’re far from the only ones who will see benefits from this method. “When you implement a well-formulated proper ketogenic diet, you can see improvement in performance and body composition at the same time,” says Lowery. You’ll look leaner and shed fat, but you won’t feel sapped of energy like when you decrease calories. The bonus is you won’t experience the post-meal crash associated with a higher-carb diet, he says. Lowery also says that for most ketogenic diet newbies, there won’t be a need to count overall calories either. As long as you’re paying attention to your diet and inducing ketosis through high-fat and low-carb consumption, most dieters automatically hit a calorie Continue reading >>
How Do I Know If I Am In Ketosis?
[Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you choose to purchase something by using one of those links, I may receive a small financial compensation, at no cost to you.] Ketone testing strips are not reliable, so it can often be difficult to know if you are in ketosis, especially, if you are not losing weight as quickly as you had hoped. Weight loss isn't a sign of being in ketosis, so even if the scale isn't moving, you could still be using dietary fats to fuel your daily activities. To put your mind at ease, we have put together a list of the signs and symptoms of ketosis for you, as well as advice on what you can do to be more comfortable during Atkins Induction. "How do I know if I am in ketosis?" I have been getting quite a few emails and comments lately from people who have been asking me if they are in ketosis. After a bit of discussion back and forth, the conversation usually reveals that: 1) The ketone strips that Dr. Atkins recommended are only turning pink; and 2) They are not losing much weight. Both of the above ideas show a misunderstanding about: the purpose of ketosis weight loss and low-carb diets So, I went searching through the archives to see what I had already written on the topic. During that extensive search, I found this old post on how to tell if you are in ketosis. This post was originally written in 2012. It contained a bullet list of symptoms that could help you know if you are in ketosis. It also explained what you can do to ease the symptoms and make yourself more comfortable while going through the change. I decided that since so many of you are struggling and don't know if you are in ketosis, or not, I would give the post a major overhaul. I wanted it to accurately reflect what we know about ketosis today. Many people believ Continue reading >>
Low Carb Success Plan
Starting a low carb diet means dramatic weight loss and body changes. The low carb concept is simple (cut sugar, eat healthy fat), but what are your REAL chances for success? 6 Factors predict your chance of low carb success Take the Starting Atkins quiz and score your plan Learn your diet personality and how to tame it Take the Starting Atkins quiz and see how your plan stacks up. Warning: When you find out your score, prepare for brutal honesty. Starting Atkins Quiz Are you a Low Carb Superstarter? – or a Microwave Mishapper. Six strong factors predict your chance of starting low carb successfully. Master the skill and check it off your list. 1. Get a Road Map Low carbers who start Atkins, do their homework, select a plan, read the book and follow it are “in it to win it.” Low carb diet info is your road map to success. Low carb books tell you what to expect when starting a low carb diet, and how to cope with common issues. Empowering your mind is a crucial hallmark of predicting a good outcome. I’ve checked out the low carb books. 2. Get Honest (Start Where You Live) Have you cleaned out your pantry and kitchen cabinets yet? If the entire house isn’t starting low carb, do you have a strategy for dealing with the high carb foods that must stay? Have you mastered the most dangerous aisles in the grocery? Accomplish all these things with our Low Carb Kitchen Quick Start Strategy eBook. Grocery store shopping, aisle-by-aisle Complete Atkins low carb food lists View, print or save the Low Carb Kitchen Quick Start eBook. I’m home-free of all temptations and edible success blockers. 3. Beware of Frankenfoods and Snake Oil When starting low carb, it’s thrilling to find old favorite foods in new “carb-free” versions. Specialty products are a useful way to ex Continue reading >>
Your Macros
Most people aim for a specific goal on a ketogenic diet. We aim to make sure the results of the calculator are accurate and can be used by anyone. Our keto calculator uses the Mifflin-St.Jeor Formula which was the most accurate (versus the Katch-McCardle Formula or the Harris-Benedict Formula) in a few studies. In this formula, the gender, height, weight, and age are needed to calculate the number of calories to consume. Our keto calculator uses body fat percentage to calculate your lean body mass. Using this number, we’re able to calculate how much protein you need to sufficiently lose weight without losing excess muscle. Eating too little or too much protein on a ketogenic diet (or any diet) can lead to dangerous or unwanted results. DEXA scans are proven to be the most accurate measurement of body fat. They’re commonly available at gyms and some doctor offices when requested. If you don’t have access to this, you can always go the old-fashioned route and use a good quality caliper. The last resort is using a guide to visually estimate – this can sometimes be a little bit inaccurate, so try to over estimate your body fat percentage. This will give us an idea of how much the minimum amount of calories your body will burn in a day. Our keto calculator uses this to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). We use this number, along with your body fat percentage, to estimate how many calories you’ll need for your goals. The BMR is simply a number of calories we burn while our bodies are at rest and from eating and digesting food. Together they form what’s known as TDEE, or total daily energy expenditure. This is the keto calculator’s estimate for your total calories burned per day. If you use a heart rate monitor or third party software to monitor your calo Continue reading >>
What Is Ketosis?
"Ketosis" is a word you'll probably see when you're looking for information on diabetes or weight loss. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? That depends. Ketosis is a normal metabolic process, something your body does to keep working. When it doesn't have enough carbohydrates from food for your cells to burn for energy, it burns fat instead. As part of this process, it makes ketones. If you're healthy and eating a balanced diet, your body controls how much fat it burns, and you don't normally make or use ketones. But when you cut way back on your calories or carbs, your body will switch to ketosis for energy. It can also happen after exercising for a long time and during pregnancy. For people with uncontrolled diabetes, ketosis is a sign of not using enough insulin. Ketosis can become dangerous when ketones build up. High levels lead to dehydration and change the chemical balance of your blood. Ketosis is a popular weight loss strategy. Low-carb eating plans include the first part of the Atkins diet and the Paleo diet, which stress proteins for fueling your body. In addition to helping you burn fat, ketosis can make you feel less hungry. It also helps you maintain muscle. For healthy people who don't have diabetes and aren't pregnant, ketosis usually kicks in after 3 or 4 days of eating less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. That's about 3 slices of bread, a cup of low-fat fruit yogurt, or two small bananas. You can start ketosis by fasting, too. Doctors may put children who have epilepsy on a ketogenic diet, a special high-fat, very low-carb and protein plan, because it might help prevent seizures. Adults with epilepsy sometimes eat modified Atkins diets. Some research suggests that ketogenic diets might help lower your risk of heart disease. Other studies show sp Continue reading >>
What’s Your Diet Style? Take The Quiz!
Are you social media savvy or do you love to cook dinner? Make the most of your lifestyle by applying it to your diet. Also popular: Melissa McCarthy weight loss tips. Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diet: Is Going Low Carb Healthy?
When it comes to nutrition, it is wise to be cautious of advice that seems too good to be true. An example of this is the hype surrounding the use of very low carbohydrate diets, like the ketogenic diet. Historically used to treat severe epilepsy, the ketogenic diet is promoted as a way to lose weight; improve brain function; control blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure; reduce inflammation; and the list goes on. However, research on the impact of these diets is limited and based on very short term studies (weeks, months, or at best, a couple of years). And while some may seem promising, if you hope to follow a healthy living pattern for another three, four or five decades, it’s good to get the full picture on what the evidence is (or, in this case, isn’t) before making any huge dietary changes. What is a ketogenic diet? Carbohydrates are your body’s preferred energy source, and they will be used first. If you are mainly eating fat, your body will burn (metabolize) it, pushing you into a state of ketosis. A ketogenic diet restricts carbohydrates to the point that your body goes into this state. Are there side effects to burning fat for energy (ketosis)? It appears that most people on the ketogenic diet lose weight at the outset, mainly due to its rigid restrictions. And at least in the short-term, this has been shown to lead to positive outcomes such as improved blood cholesterol and blood sugar. But there are negative side effects too. Even in healthy people, constipation, nausea, fatigue, and headaches are common. The bigger problem is that research is lacking on what the long-term effects are on the body. Not only do we not know what the cardiovascular risks are, people following a ketogenic diet may be at increased risk of the following: Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diet Faq
Simply click on the question to reveal the answer: Here are some very important factors to consider before you start. Is your liver healthy? A toxic liver will compromise your results and stand in the way between you and weight loss / health. Is your thyroid healthy? If you are either on thyroid medication or suspect a thyroid problem, a modified Ketogenic diet is the option for you. You could be doing more harm than good by doing a conventional keto diet. If you suspect any of the above is true for you, and you would like to find out more about how to proceed with Keto, I invite you to fill out my enquiry form below. Learn about my approach to a healthier you through a ketogenic lifestyle and health restoring program. I will be happy to look at your situation in depth and determine what kind of help would work best for you. If you are carb intolerant, pre-diabetic, overweight or always tired, this way of eating can be a life changer for you! Continue reading >>
Can You Survive A Day Eating Low-carb?
People cut carbs for all kinds of reasons. But what TF does "low-carb" actually mean? Some people do it because they've heard it'll help them lose body fat, get swole, or avoid that mid-afternoon energy crash. (Btw, if you're curious about what carbs even are and what they do, you can learn all about them here.) It turns out that there aren't really universally accepted, hard-and-fast numbers that define what it means to go low-carb for all people in all circumstances. After all, every body is different, and what could be just enough carbs for one person might be too few carbs for someone else. BUT there are some numbers that experts and researchers use as benchmarks. For example, a 2015 study on carbohydrate restriction considered less than 130 grams of carbs a day to be a low-carb intake (the authors noted that this is also the American Diabetes Association's recommended daily carb minimum), and 20–50 grams per day to be a very low-carb intake. All nutritional values have been taken from the US Department of Agriculture's Food Composition Databases, and from brand websites and product labels. Continue reading >>
How To Decide If Keto Is Right For You
Taking the leap into a keto diet can feel like an enormous change, especially if, like me, you were brought up to believe that the low fat (high carb) diet was the healthiest way to eat. It took me a while to fully commit to eating keto because part of me just couldn’t believe that eating so much fat could possibly be the right thing to do. However, after doing my research and dipping my toe into the keto way of life for a while, I took the plunge and I’m so happy that I did! Although I would bet money on the keto diet or a cyclical keto diet being the best diet for you, it would be wrong of me to claim, without a doubt, that it is. At the end of the day, every woman is different and the important thing is to find out what works for you. So here are a few signs that you can check through to see if keto could be the diet you’ve been looking for all your life! You’ve tried everything else and it just hasn’t worked. Personally, I’ve been vegetarian, vegan, raw vegan, low calorie and everything in between. Every time I tried a new way of eating it worked for a while and then I stopped feeling great, or it felt unsustainable, or I felt like I was missing out. If you’re not seeing results with what you’ve been doing, perhaps it’s time to try something new. You have afternoon slumps or are tired after meals. I used to always have a slump at around 2-4pm and as evening drew near I would find myself wanting to snack more and more. On keto, I just don’t have this anymore and have steady energy through the day. You tend to binge on carbs. I used to literally feel a change come over me if I had eaten something sugary or a lot of carbs. I kind of started turning into a Tasmanian devil… suddenly I wanted more and more and had to exert huge amounts of willpower t Continue reading >>
Ketosis Symptoms
Source Ketosis is the name for a state achieved on a low-carbohydrate diet. According to WebMD, when you are in ketosis, it means your body is burning fat for energy. When that happens, your body releases ketones into your bloodstream, and you are in ketosis. This state may cause a host of temporary symptoms. Understanding the Symptoms Many dieters develop symptoms that let them know ketones are present. For many people beginning a low-carb diet, ketosis kicks in after a few days of strict adherence to the diet. In fact, many low-carbohydrate plans, such as Atkins and paleo, have an initial phase in which dieters take in extremely low amounts of carbohydrates (usually less than 25 grams per day) to kick start ketosis. You can test for ketones in the urine using ketosis strips, or rely on symptoms to tell you ketosis has been achieved. Early Stages Symptoms of ketosis vary, depending how long you've been in the state. In the early stages, the symptoms may be a bit unpleasant. However, as your body adapts to ketones in the bloodstream, symptoms may decrease. Early symptoms usually last for several days or up to a week in some people. This period of symptoms is sometimes called the keto flu. It may continue until your body is used to burning fat instead of glucose. Afterwards, the levels of ketones should lessen, but that doesn't mean you aren't losing weight. It means your body has found a balance and is no longer producing excess ketones. According to Diet Doctor, early stage symptoms include: Flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and headache Nausea Brain fog Constipation Leg cramps Feeling unusually thirsty Irritability Heart palpitations Dry mouth Ketosis breath, which smells fruity and unpleasant Decreased energy and weakness Dizziness Sleep problems Cold hands and feet Continue reading >>
Carbohydrate Sensitivity Quiz
ARE YOU CARBOHYDRATE-SENSITIVE? Take my carbohydrate sensitivity quiz to find out! Do you feel sleepy or foggy 2 hours or less after eating a meal or snack that contains sugars or starches? Yes Do you tend to gain weight around your middle, instead of in your hips and thighs? Yes Do you feel hungry when you shouldn’t need any more food? Yes Do you frequently crave sweets, starches, or dairy products? Yes Do you wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time getting back to sleep unless you eat something sweet or starchy? Yes Do you get irritable, restless, tense, or anxious in the early evening before dinner? Yes Do you have a hard time controlling how much sugar or starch you eat? Yes Do you have symptoms of “hypoglycemia” if you don’t eat every 2-3 hours? [Typical hypoglycemic symptoms include feeling shaky, panicky, irritable, anxious, or lightheaded when you’re hungry.] Yes Do any of the following diseases run in your immediate family? Do you often binge on sweets, starches, or dairy products? Yes Do you prefer sweets and starches over all other types of food? Yes Do sweets and starches make you feel temporarily less depressed or less anxious? Yes Do you feel you need to carry food with you wherever you go? Yes Do you tend to get panicky or hungry while exercising? Yes Women only: Do you feel much more emotional in the days prior to your period? Yes Your carbohydrate sensitivity score is 0. What does my score mean? The more YES answers you have, the more likely it is that you are sensitive to carbohydrates (insulin resistant), and the more seriously you should consider cutting back on carbohydrates in your diet. How can I be sure my symptoms are due to carbohydrates? These symptoms are just a collection of common clues. For more accurate informati Continue reading >>
Further Section
Further Section Quiz of the Month Answers (1) Arterial pH 7.15 and PaC02 21 mm Hg are char acteristic of a metabolic acidosis. His serum anion gap (AG) is 30mmol/l (135 -101 mmol/l), a normal AG being 16 ± 4 mmol/l. A high-AG metabolic acidosis must be caused by accumulation of organic acid anions such as lactate or ketone bodies or ingestion of an organic acid like salicylate, cyanide, methanol (metabo lized to formaldehyde and formic acid), paraldehyde, or ethylene glycol. In view of the presence of ketones in the urine and lactate in the blood, the most likely cause of the high-AG metabolic acidosis is a combined ‘alcoholic’ ketoacidosis and lactic acidosis. Assuming his acid-base status had been normal prior to the present illness [HCO3] 25 mmol/l and AG 16 mmol/l), the AtHCO^] is 18 mmol/l and the AAG 14 mmol/l. The 4-mmol/l discrepancy between the A[HCC > 3] and the AAG is likely due to the presence of another acid-base disturbance – either a normal-AG metabolic acidosis or a primary respiratory alkalosis. The diarrhea that accompanied the present illness would seem the most likely cause of a normal-AG metabolic acidosis, since he had not been drinking battery acid. A renal acidification defect associated with hypokalemia and a urine pH less than 5.5 (e.g., proximal renal tubular acidosis) would be unusual. The most likely cause of hyperventilation in a nonhypoxemic cirrhotic patient is the cirrhosis itself, which is associated with high circulating levels of ammonia and progesterone and with arteriolovenular shunting in the brain and lungs. (2) Alcoholic patients may present with ketosis caused by starvation, diabetic ketoacidosis (when severe pan creatic damage has led to endocrine insufficiency), or withdrawal from ethanol after a prolong Continue reading >>
The Signs Of Ketosis On Atkins Diets
The Atkins diet, first published in 1972 and reinvented 20 years later, has helped countless people lose weight, but isn't without controversy. The diet severely limits your intake of carbohydrates -- found in sugar, bread, pasta, most fruits, starchy vegetables and many processed snacks -- to encourage your body to lose fat. Often, this pushes you into a state of ketosis, a process that occurs when you burn fat for fuel. Video of the Day Ketosis isn't inherently harmful, but in some cases can lead to a build up of the ketone bodies, causing dehydration and changes in your blood chemistry. Though a blood test is the most accurate way to determine if you're in ketosis, certain other physical changes provide clues that you're in this state. Ketosis and the Atkins Diet Your body usually uses glucose, derived from carbohydrates, for energy -- particularly to fuel the brain. Ketones are produced when you're short on carbohydrates and must burn fat for fuel. When you produce ketones for energy, you are in ketosis. Phase One, or the "Induction Phase," of Atkins will likely cause you to produce ketones. During these first two weeks, you consume no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. This represents a significant restriction in carbohydrates -- the Institute of Medicine recommends you eat 45 to 65 percent of your daily calories from carbs, or 225 to 325 grams daily on a standard 2,000-calorie diet. To meet your low-carb limit, the Atkins diet has you subsist primarily on meats, fish, poultry, eggs, oils, some cheese and watery, fibrous vegetables with few carbohydrates, such as lettuce and cucumbers. Breath and Urine Signs of Ketosis Ketones are burned for energy, but also breathed out through the lungs and excreted in the urine. As a result, your breath takes on a frui Continue reading >>
Overview Of Ketosis In Cattle
(Acetonemia, Ketonemia) By Thomas H. Herdt, DVM, MS, DACVN, DACVIM, Professor, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences and Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health, Michigan State University Ketosis is a common disease of adult cattle. It typically occurs in dairy cows in early lactation and is most consistently characterized by partial anorexia and depression. Rarely, it occurs in cattle in late gestation, at which time it resembles pregnancy toxemia of ewes (see Pregnancy Toxemia in Ewes and Does). In addition to inappetence, signs of nervous dysfunction, including pica, abnormal licking, incoordination and abnormal gait, bellowing, and aggression, are occasionally seen. The condition is worldwide in distribution but is most common where dairy cows are bred and managed for high production. Etiology and Pathogenesis: The pathogenesis of bovine ketosis is incompletely understood, but it requires the combination of intense adipose mobilization and a high glucose demand. Both of these conditions are present in early lactation, at which time negative energy balance leads to adipose mobilization, and milk synthesis creates a high glucose demand. Adipose mobilization is accompanied by high blood serum concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFAs). During periods of intense gluconeogenesis, a large portion of serum NEFAs is directed to ketone body synthesis in the liver. Thus, the clinicopathologic characterization of ketosis includes high serum concentrations of NEFAs and ketone bodies and low concentrations of glucose. In contrast to many other species, cattle with hyperketonemia do not have concurrent acidemia. The serum ketone bodies are acetone, acetoacetate, and β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). There is speculation that the pathogenesis of ketosis cases oc Continue reading >>
