Low-carb Athletes Burn 2.3 Times More Fat Than Carb-loaders
A fascinating new study published in Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental may revolutionize our thoughts on sports nutrition. We’ve long understood how glycogen stored in the body and carbohydrates help fuel long distance training. This is why runners, cyclists, triathletes, and other endurance athletes focus on high-carb diets and carb-loading before their events and often before each workout. The study’s findings show that this may not only be unnecessary, but it actually limits the amount of fuel you can utilize from stored body fat. The study out of Ohio State University looked at the fat burning rates of ultra-marathoners and ironman triathletes that either ate a high carb diet (59% carbohydrates, 14% protein, 25% fat) or a low-carb ketogenic diet (10% carbohydrates, 19% protein, 70% fat). As I’ve mentioned before, don’t assume all the findings in athlete studies will apply to your workouts (especially athletes of this caliber), but it is interesting because it highlights previous findings that may be wrong: Humans are capable of burning far more body fat during a workout than we previously thought possible. It may take longer to adapt to a ketogenic diet than we thought. The low-carb athletes had normal glycogen levels before exercise, they utilized their glycogen at the exact same rate, and they even replenished spent glycogen the same as the high-carb athletes. We consider the “fat-burning zone” to be at a VO2 Max below 50 percent, but the highest rate of fat burning occurred at a VO2 Max of around 75 percent. What is ketosis? Low-carb diets are all the rage lately (which is good), but in case you’ve never heard the term ketosis, let me go over it quickly. People assume our body’s preferred source of fuel is carbohydrates because glucose is used Continue reading >>
What Is Ketosis? Hint: It Can Help You Burn Fat & Suppress Your Appetite
We’ve longed been told that calorie restriction, increasing exercise and reducing dietary fat intake are the keys to weight loss. But, if you’ve ever attempted to control your weight by subsisting on fewer calories — especially from mostly bland “diet foods”— you’re already probably aware that this typically produces minimal results and is extremely hard to stick with long-term or consistently. Considering the high rates of obesity now facing most developed nations — along with an increased risk for health conditions like diabetes or heart problems as a result — researchers have been anxiously working on how to suppress appetite and achieve weight loss in a healthy, sustainable manner. The keto diet has emerged over the past several decades as one potential answer to this large-scale weight loss problem. (1) While there are some differences in opinion, depending on who you ask, regarding the best approach to very low-carb dieting, studies consistently show that the ketogenic diet (also called the keto diet) produces not only substantial weight loss for a high percentage of people who adhere to it, but also other important health benefits such as reductions in seizures, markers of diabetes and more. The keto diet revolves around eating foods that are high in natural fats, consuming only moderate protein and severely restricting the number of carbs eaten each day. Even if you don’t have much weight to lose, entering into a state of ketosis can be helpful for other reasons — such as for improved energy levels, mental capabilities and mood stabilization. What Is Ketosis? Ketosis is the result of following the ketogenic diet, which is why it’s also sometimes called “the ketosis diet.” Ketosis takes place when glucose from carbohydrate foods (like Continue reading >>
How To Increase Fat Burning During Ketosis
Ketosis is also known as the body's process for generating energy by producing ketones when insufficient carbohydrates are available in the diet. In other words, a low-carb diet is called ketogenic because it forces the body to use fat for energy. Ketosis is a very effective means of burning fat, but there are certain techniques for increasing fat-burning through exercise and nutrition. How many carbs should you eat per day? When is the best time to eat them? What kinds of carbs are best? And what natural supplements prevent muscle loss caused by extreme ketogenic diets? Follow a few basic rules to answer these questions and achieve your fat-burning goals. Video of the Day Take in 30 to 50 g of carbohydrates per day, depending on your individual metabolism. Typically, this carb-depletion phase lasts five days and is followed by two days of carb-loading. For example, having 100 to 200 g of carbs per day for two days. This carb-cycling strategy helps to prevent dieting plateaus in which the body stops burning fat in response to what it perceives as starvation. Stack your carbohydrates around your workouts. Carbs are needed for two reasons: muscle recovery and energy. One good strategy is to take in half of your carbs before your workout and the other half after. Some people choose to take all of them before or after. Either way, taking in your carbohydrates in the morning will allow the body to switch into ketosis during the day, burning more fat. Limit resistance training workouts to 60 minutes to control cortisol levels. The stress hormone cortisol, part of the fight-or-flight response, slows down fat-burning and metabolizes muscle tissue. After about an hour of training, muscle-building hormones plummet, and cortisol increases significantly. Sometimes, training harder Continue reading >>
10 Signs And Symptoms That You're In Ketosis
The ketogenic diet is a popular, effective way to lose weight and improve health. When followed correctly, this low-carb, high-fat diet will raise blood ketone levels. These provide a new fuel source for your cells, and cause most of the unique health benefits of this diet (1, 2, 3). On a ketogenic diet, your body undergoes many biological adaptions, including a reduction in insulin and increased fat breakdown. When this happens, your liver starts producing large amounts of ketones to supply energy for your brain. However, it can often be hard to know whether you're "in ketosis" or not. Here are 10 common signs and symptoms of ketosis, both positive and negative. People often report bad breath once they reach full ketosis. It's actually a common side effect. Many people on ketogenic diets and similar diets, such as the Atkins diet, report that their breath takes on a fruity smell. This is caused by elevated ketone levels. The specific culprit is acetone, a ketone that exits the body in your urine and breath (4). While this breath may be less than ideal for your social life, it can be a positive sign for your diet. Many ketogenic dieters brush their teeth several times per day, or use sugar-free gum to solve the issue. If you're using gum or other alternatives like sugar-free drinks, check the label for carbs. These may raise your blood sugar levels and reduce ketone levels. The bad breath usually goes away after some time on the diet. It is not a permanent thing. The ketone acetone is partly expelled via your breath, which can cause bad or fruity-smelling breath on a ketogenic diet. Ketogenic diets, along with normal low-carb diets, are highly effective for losing weight (5, 6). As dozens of weight loss studies have shown, you will likely experience both short- and long Continue reading >>
Rewriting The Fat Burning Textbook – Part 2: Why You’ve Been Lied To About Carbs And How To Turn Yourself Into A Fat Burning Machine.
In Rewriting The Fat Burning Textbook – Part 1 you discovered how eating a high fat diet doesn’t make you fat, and may actually increase the amount of fat you burn as fuel at both rest and during exercise, allow you to exercise or function for longer periods of time while eating relatively few calories, massively improve your health and not limit performance in the least. But much of that information is theoretical, and not grounded in hard, sweaty numbers. Sure, there are videos such as this that suggest high-fat diets and ketosis-adapted performance can aid with things such as fat loss and high-altitude resilience, but there is scant data related to the pointy end of human performance potential. However, what if we could actually prove that eating a low-carb, high-fat diet for a long time, becoming fat-adapted and even avoiding carbohydrates during the one time when we’re most encouraged to consume carbohydrates (during exercise)… …could actually turn you into a fat-burning machine without losing a shred of performance capability or causing any metabolic damage? That, my friends, would rewrite the fat-burning textbooks. Let’s find out if it can be done… ——————————————– Enter The Exercise Nerds: The FASTER study at the UCONN Human Performance Laboratory As you’ve already learned – from controlling cancer to reducing your waistline to biohacking your brain – a high fat and low carb diet has been shown to massively enhance health, energy levels, and focus while reducing risk of disease. But what does a high-fat diet do to the body when you’re exercising? Does it actually cause you to burn more fat as fuel? Does it mess up your gut? Does it drain precious muscle and liver energy stores? And most importantly: can you turn Continue reading >>
- 'The CRA lied to us' about tax credit, say diabetes advocacy groups
- International Textbook of Diabetes Mellitus, 4th Ed., Excerpt #59: Mechanisms of insulin signal transduction Part 3 of 8
- International Textbook of Diabetes Mellitus, 4th Ed., Excerpt #82: Insulin Actions In Vivo: Glucose Metabolism Part 9 of 9
Can Eating Fat Help You Lose Weight? Let’s Look At The Ketogenic Diet.
Fat makes your meals more palatable and helps you feel full, so it’s no wonder the high-fat ketogenic diet is increasing in popularity. The diet has been trending for the past three years, as “keto” blogs and cookbooks continue to pop up and build an impressive fan base. This diet has been used under close supervision by physicians and dietitians since the 1920s for treating epilepsy and has shown promise in managing brain cancer. But is it useful and healthy as a strategy for weight loss? First, the basics: On the ketogenic diet, at least 70 percent of your daily calories come from fat. Five to 10 percent of your calories come from carbohydrates (20 to 50 grams a day). The rest, up to 25 percent of your daily energy, comes from protein. By contrast, the healthy diet recommended by the Institute of Medicine is 45 to 65 percent carbs, 20 to 35 percent fat and 10 to 35 percent protein. The ketogenic diet’s low-carb target can be met only by avoiding grains, dairy products, fruit, and legumes such as chickpeas and lentils. Starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes and squash are out, and even amounts of lower-carb vegetables are limited. So what’s left to eat? Typically, eggs cooked in butter for breakfast; for lunch and dinner, meat, chicken or fish with salad or green vegetables and plenty of oily dressing. Sorry folks, no alcohol on this diet. Even red wine is out. The ketogenic diet gets its name from a process called ketosis. Ketosis happens when your body doesn’t have enough energy from glucose (carbohydrates), so it adapts by using stored fat for energy. The result? Weight loss. Does the ketogenic diet lead to faster or more sustainable weight loss than other diets? The research to date suggests that initial weight loss on the keto diet is impressive but Continue reading >>
Do You Need To Exercise On Keto Diet?
It is often said that one of the best things about following a ketogenic diet for weight loss is that you don’t have to adopt an exercise regime to lose weight. Many people don’t like the idea of working out, or think they don’t have time, and this makes the ketogenic diet appealing to them. But is it true? Constant Fat Burning Through Ketosis In essence, yes, you can lose weight, and at quite a good rate, without adding additional exercise to your daily routine. This is for two reasons inherent to the way the ketogenic diet works, which are different to the way a traditional low fat diet works: Firstly, when you are on a ketogenic diet, your body is in a state called ketosis where it is burning fat you eat and your own body fat for energy. Energy of course, isn’t just used up by exercise and conscious activity, but by everything you do. Even when your sleeping, your body needs fuel to keep itself going. Because all of this fuel is coming from fat, you don’t need to exercise to burn it off and lose weight. Secondly, because a ketogenic diet curbs your appetite, even though you don’t count calories you are likely to be eating a low calorie diet naturally. This means that your calorie use every day is likely to exceed your calorie intake, even without burning through extra calories by exercising. So, this is good news for people who are too unfit to exercise safely, or who can’t exercise because of injury or disability. It is also good news for people who just don’t want to exercise, however, don’t rule it out just on that basis… Why You Should Still Work Out if You Can If you are able to work out, from a physical perspective (everybody can make time, so being too busy is no excuse!) then you will find it has an even greater impact on the speed and eff Continue reading >>
The Beginners Guide To Ketosis: Investigating Low-carb, High-fat Eating
The only hard and fast rule of health is that health is personal and what works well for one person may not work for someone else. Aside from that rule, there are “frameworks” that seem to benefit large groups of people. One more level down from that are alternative strategies that benefit smaller groups. Ketosis is likely one of those alternative strategies that works well for certain, smaller groups of people. So, right off the bat I want you to understand that Ketosis might not be for everyone. I’m going to lay out the case for potential benefits of Ketosis. If it sounds interesting and beneficial to you, then consider trying it. (see our free cheat sheet to help you). What is Ketosis Ketosis occurs when liver glycogen gets depleted and the body burns fatty acids for fuel. The primary driver of this state is a very low carbohydrate intake. Often, it also requires a low protein, higher fat intake. You can also achieve a state of ketosis by not eating altogether. The creation of ketones is a byproduct of this metabolic state. Ketones are a source of fuel, just as glucose is a source of fuel. Ketones tend to have some added benefits, though. What role does Ketosis play in human health? Ketosis allows our bodies to function in the absence of carbohydrates, both physically and mentally. Instead of burning carbohydrates, or converting protein to glucose, the body burns ketones. This is pretty much a survival mechanism. It allows your body to function in a state of caloric deprivation. This is why ketosis often gets bad press (as it’s linked to “starvation”). Being a survival mechanism doesn’t make it invalid as a strategy, though. There can still be potential benefits to be had. Let’s cover a few of them… Ketosis and Accelerated Fat Loss Being in ketosis Continue reading >>
Is A Low-carb Diet Effective For Burning Fat? Is Ketosis Dangerous?
“The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed.” ~William Gibson One hundred years from now, medical doctors, scientists, nutritionists, and the general public will be puzzled and astounded by how few of us were able to grasp the obvious – high-carb, low-fat diets simply do not achieve long-term fat loss. Athletes, bodybuilders, Hollywood and others have known for decades that a low-carb, high-protein diet achieves incredible fat metabolism and enables rapid muscle gains. Hundreds of scientific studies have – again and again – proven the same. Special interests have ridiculed and disparaged these approaches and prevented most of this knowledge, however, from being incorporated into conventional wisdom. While some diets do follow effective fat loss principles, many take them to extremes (Atkins, Dukan, the Ketogenic Diet, etc.), advocating weight loss at any cost. Avoiding fruits and vegetables while encouraging hot dogs and bacon binges – while it might actually help you lose weight in the short term – is not a healthy or sustainable strategy. The LeanBody System is unlike these diets in that you will achieve fat loss and muscle gains as a direct result of improving your overall health, not sacrificing it. So How Do Low-Carb Diets Work? Extreme low-carb diets push the body into ketosis, which means that the body primarily burns fat (instead of carbs) for energy and levels of ketones in the blood are elevated. Ketones are small carbon fragments created by the breakdown of fat stores after the body is depleted of stored glucose (known as glycogen). Humans can use ketones as energy for bodily functions and even as a replacement for glucose to provide fuel to the brain. Since the body relies on stored fat for energy, people lose weight – Continue reading >>
Will Taking Exogenous Ketones Stop Fat Loss?
Would you like to lose some fat? A ketogenic diet is a pretty good tool to help you reach your goal. You can use exogenous ketones which have been a popular way to help get people into ketosis and comply with the transition from eating carbs to eating fats. Once in ketosis, use real food to stay there. Sounds easy, right? Unfortunately, some bro science complicating this topic has been surfacing which must be quashed. People are claiming that exogenous ketones are stopping the fat burning that people are seeking. The same exogenous ketones that help a lot of people experience ketosis and make getting into and staying in ketosis much easier, which makes the fat loss so much easier. SAD! This is how the logic follows from people who don’t really understand physics but like to quote laws of physics to sound fancy like they know how the human body works: Exogenous ketones contain energy. Body fat is stored energy. Therefore, if you consume any energy, you can’t use any stored energy. That’s not really how the body works. At all. By that same rationale, if you were to eat any dietary fat (or any food), then you wouldn’t be able to burn any fat. Unless every single person who has ever lost fat has only done so by doing a water fast, I think this argument and concern is pretty invalid. So before we get further: NO, exogenous ketones do not stop fat burning. Fat loss and fat gain are a little more complicated than people think. I personally don’t believe in the strict calorie in, calorie out model that some people who misunderstand conservation of energy do. Your body is not a bomb calorimeter, so stop telling me that you need to intake a deficit of x amount of calories for y amount of fat loss, people who clearly don’t understand physics (or the human endocrine sys Continue reading >>
Do Ketogenic Diets Burn More Fat?
It seems like everywhere I go currently, there’s someone hyping up the effectiveness of ketogenesis for fat loss. So what’s all the hype about, and should we be jumping on the hype train? Before I answer those questions – let me say – I’m a fan of ketogenic diets for certain people; but there’s a ton of confusion about them which we really should clear up. This brief article will shed some light on the topic of keto diets by explaining the following: What exactly does ketosis mean? Does ketosis burn more body fat? What are the benefits of ketogenic diets? What is the best diet based on the research? If you’d like more info, I’ve even shared a good little video blog from one of the experts in the field of health and fitness whom I follow. First, lets briefly cover the basics … Ketogenesis refers to a state where the body produces ketones as a substitute energy source to glycogen (carbohydrate). In layman’s terms, when you carb fast you produce ketones so organs in the body don’t die. Ketones are produced in your liver and can replace glucose as fuel for many of the organs in your body, such as your brain, liver and muscles. However, there are also a few systems in your body that will not use ketones as fuel, some of these include your red blood cells and central nervous system. You can categorize each of the organs and tissues in your body as either: Conditional glucose user’s – meaning the conditions in your body will determine if glucose are used such as when carb fasted Obligate glucose users – meaning only glucose can be used as fuel, no matter what the condition or dietary intake of carbohydrate To give you an obvious example, your brain is a conditional glucose user, meaning that if there are glucose present, your brain will opt to use g Continue reading >>
Lose Weight By Achieving Optimal Ketosis
Do you want to lose weight? Here’s number 16 of my 18 best tips. All of the published tips can be found on the How to Lose Weight page. Before we get started, here’s a short recap of the tips so far: The first and most crucial piece of advice was to choose a low-carb diet. The next were eating when hungry, eating real food, eating only when hungry, measuring progress wisely, being persistent, avoiding fruit, beer and artificial sweeteners, review your medications, stressing less and sleeping more, eating less dairy and nut products, stocking up on vitamins and minerals, using intermittent fasting and finally, exercising smart. This is number sixteen: 16. Get into optimal ketosis Warning: Not recommended for type 1 diabetics, see below. We’ve now arrived at tip number 16. If you’re still having trouble losing weight, despite following the 15 pieces of advice listed above, it might be a good idea to bring out the heavy artillery: optimal ketosis. Many people stalling at weight plateaus while on a low carb diet have found optimal ketosis helpful. It’s what can melt the fat off once again. So how does this work? A quick run-through: The first tip was to eat low carb. This is because a low-carb diet lowers your levels of the fat-storing hormone insulin, allowing your fat deposits to shrink and release their stored energy. This tends to cause you to want to consume less calories than you expend – without hunger – and lose weight. Several of the tips mentioned above are about fine-tuning your diet to better this effect. Video course Do you know exactly how to eat a low-carb and high fat diet (LCHF)? This is required for ketosis. If not the easiest way is watching this high quality 11-minute video course on how to eat LCHF, and the most important things to think a Continue reading >>
Keto Diet Science: How Your Body Burns Fat
By now, you’ve probably heard about the keto diet. You've probably heard that it all but bans carbs and sugars, or that it's been clinically shown to reduce epileptic seizures in kids, or even that it helps people condition their bodies to burn fat. As we detailed in our recent feature on the keto diet, all of those things are true. But as any bodybuilder knows, you don't need to be on the keto diet to burn fat. Heck, you can do it with a focused meal and exercise plan. So we've been wondering: When your body "burns fat" for energy, what's really going on there? How exactly does the keto diet work? And why the hell is it called the "keto" diet, anyway? Play Video Play Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Remaining Time -0:00 This is a modal window. Foreground --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Opaque Background --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window --- White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan --- Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Default Monospace Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Sans-Serif Casual Script Small Caps Defaults Done Well strap some protective boxing headgear over those thinking caps, bros, because we’re about to roundhouse kick you in the brain with some KNOWLEDGE. (For a detailed breakdown of the chemistry at work, be sure to check out our references: this explainer on ketone bodies from the University of Waterloo, and this ketosis explainer from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology [PDF], plus our feature on the keto diet from the July/August issue of Men's Fitness.) Why does the body go into fat-burning mode? For most pe Continue reading >>
How Much Fat On A Ketogenic Diet?
Do calories matter? How much fat can I eat to lose weight on a ketogenic diet? These are just some of the many questions I focused on when writing this post. What's the Ideal Fat Intake on a Ketogenic Diet? As most of you know, ketogenic diets are high in fat, adequate in protein and low in carbohydrates. The aim of the ketogenic eating is to get your body into a state known as ketosis. Generally, the macronutrient ratio varies within the following ranges: • 60-75% of calories from fat (or even more), • 15-30% of calories from protein, and • 5-10% of calories from carbs. However, percentages are relative and don't say anything about the amount of calories you are eating. Percentages will give you an idea of the macronutrient composition of a diet. To determine the amount of calories, you have to look at absolute numbers - macronutrients in grams. So it's totally different to consume 4,000 kcal and 2,000 kcal on a ketogenic diet. Can I Eat less than 60% of Calories from Fat? Yes, you can. Since you only regulate your energy intake via fat when following a ketogenic diet (protein and carbs remain more or less constant), you may end up eating less than 60% of calories from fat, especially if you are trying to lose weight. This is perfectly fine. In his bestselling books and also in this video, Dr. Stephen Phinney explains the different phases of the ketogenic diet. Depending on your goal, your fat intake will vary in each phase and you will lose different amount of body fat. Weight loss slows down and it's completely natural - you will lose more weight at the beginning (water weight + accelerated fat loss) so don't get discouraged if your weight loss slows down as you get close to your target weight. Why You Need to Use a Keto Calculator Not everyone follows the keto Continue reading >>
Burning Fat For Fuel Increases Quality And Quantity Of Life
More than half of all Americans struggle with chronic illness, and 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S. is obesity-related. This is a direct result of eating far too much sugar and grains, too much protein and far too little healthy fat To optimize your mitochondrial function through diet, you need to eat so that your body is able to burn fat as its primary fuel rather than sugars. Ketogenic diets are very effective for this, as is fasting When your body is able to burn fat for fuel, your liver creates ketones that burn more efficiently than carbs, thus creating far less reactive oxygen species and secondary free radicals that can damage your cellular and mitochondrial cell membranes, proteins and DNA By Dr. Mercola Humans suffer more chronic and debilitating diseases today than ever before; more than half of all Americans struggle with chronic illness, and 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S. are obesity-related. These discouraging statistics are largely the result of an inappropriate diet. Most of us eat far too much sugar and grains, and far too little healthy fat. Many also eat too much protein, and most of it of poor quality processed food to boot. Unfortunately, the notion that glucose is the preferred fuel for your body is a pervasive one. Everyone from diabetics to top athletes are advised to make sure they eat "enough" carbs to keep their systems from crashing. This misguided advice is at the heart of many of our current health failures. It's also a driving factor in our diabetes, heart disease and cancer epidemics. Dietary fats are actually the preferred fuel of human metabolism, and this can be traced back to our evolutionary roots. One of the keys to long-term weight management and good health is healthy mitochondrial function, and for that you need to get your net carb, protein Continue reading >>
