Carbs For Ketosis
To maintain ketosis, we need to substantially limit the carbs we eat. Ideally we should eat less than 20 grams of net carbs. Exactly how much depends on each individual person and many people will maintain ketosis even when they eat up to 50 grams of carbs. When you start out, go as low as possible and work out over time what works for you and how many carbs you can consume and still remain in ketosis. In this article we want to take a closer look at carbs to understand the different types and what they do in our bodies. With a better understanding, we can make better decisions. First we look at carbs as per their traditional classification of simple and complex. Then the more recent classification based on the glycemic index and load. Lastly we look at what carbs to eat and what not to eat. Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diet: What Not To Eat On Keto
When you start off on a diet it is important to understand what you can eat and what you can’t eat, otherwise, it really isn’t a diet. The same thing applies to the ketogenic diet. There are certain foods that you can not eat if you wish to stay in a state of ketosis. Thankfully, the the list of keto-friendly foods that you can eat is so long that you really shouldn’t have a problem finding a lot of recipes that you enjoy and are keto-safe. The purpose of this post is to talk about the different foods that you should avoid on keto because if you aren’t prepared you can easily mess up and knock your body out of ketosis. Foods to Avoid on Keto One of the interesting things about keto is that a lot of your cravings being to disappear. When you see the foods that you can’t eat your first thought might be “there is no way I’m going to be able to give up that.” However, once you’re in ketosis you understand that many of the things you craved were simply caused by the carbohydrates within them. This is why in our weight loss manual we start people off with a carb detox so they can see the benefits of no longer craving carbs. Another blessing of being in the age of the Internet is that 1000s of people have shared different substitutes for the foods they enjoy. If you are hoping to find some substitutes for the foods that you can’t eat below then check out our post on low-carb substitutes. Grains and Starches Let’s face it, bread is a big deal. A lof people eat bread every single day in some form. It’s very convenient to be able to run down to Subway and pick up a sandwich. Bread goes with every meal so when people hear that they have to give it up for keto they turn their back and try to find another diet. But grains cause your body problems. You know th Continue reading >>
16 Foods You Can Eat On A Ketogenic Diet
The ketogenic diet has become quite popular recently. Studies have found that this very low-carb, high-fat diet is effective for weight loss, diabetes and epilepsy (1, 2, 3). There's also early evidence to show that it may be beneficial for certain cancers, Alzheimer's disease and other diseases, too. A ketogenic diet typically limits carbs to 20–50 grams per day. While this may seem challenging, many nutritious foods can easily fit into this way of eating. Here are 16 healthy foods to eat on a ketogenic diet. 1. Seafood Fish and shellfish are very keto-friendly foods. Salmon and other fish are rich in B vitamins, potassium and selenium, yet virtually carb-free (4). However, the carbs in different types of shellfish vary. For instance, while shrimp and most crabs contain no carbs, other types of shellfish do (5). If You Like Eating Shellfish, You Should Read This @SeafoodWatch @savingoceans — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) 1484435708.0 While these shellfish can still be included on a ketogenic diet, it's important to account for these carbs when you're trying to stay within a narrow range. Here are the carb counts for 3.5-ounce (100-gram) servings of some popular types of shellfish (6, 7, 8, 9, 10): Clams: 5 grams Mussels: 7 grams Octopus: 4 grams Oysters: 4 grams Squid: 3 grams Salmon, sardines, mackerel and other fatty fish are very high in omega-3 fats, which have been found to lower insulin levels and increase insulin sensitivity in overweight and obese people (11). In addition, frequent fish intake has been linked to a decreased risk of disease and improved mental health (12, 13). Aim to consume at least two servings of seafood weekly. Summary: Many types of seafood are carb-free or very low in carbs. Fish and shellfish are also good sources of vitamins, minerals and ome Continue reading >>
Is Popcorn Allowed On A Ketogenic Diet?
Photo by Mc Jefferson Agloro on Unsplash If you are just starting the ketogenic diet, you may be looking for a snack and wondering “Is popcorn allowed on a ketogenic diet?” The answer is: it depends! The main focus of the ketogenic diet is to reduce carbohydrates to force the body to use fat for energy instead of sugars. Since carbohydrates turn into glucose in the body, eating carbohydrates allows for your body to use glucose as its primary energy source. When you restrict those carbs, your body doesn’t have enough sugars and turns to its back up mechanism, deriving energy from stored fats. Find out more about the Ketogenic diet, including the history, pros, and cons in this article on the Ketogenic Lifestyle for Beginners. Using that definition, you can eat popcorn in moderation on the ketogenic diet. Is it all about the number of carbohydrates? The ketogenic diet also encourages a grain free diet, and corn is a grain. So this should be treated as a treat, not a staple. Looking for other foods can you eat on the ketogenic diet? Check out my list of approved and restricted foods here: What can you eat on the Ketogenic Diet? -> Find the full food list here So if I can eat popcorn, how much can I eat? There are three parts to this equation: how many carbs you can eat & how many carbs are in popcorn can I stop at that amount and is it worth it? The Ketogenic diet is a diet that severely restricts carbs. The recommended ratios are: 75% fat 20% protein 5% carb How many carbs can you eat on the ketogenic diet? In a typical 2,000 calorie diet, 5% of carbs would be equivalent to 25 grams. Since carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram, you can calculate the total number of carbs by dividing the portion of carb calories by 4. (total daily calories * 0.05) / 4 = Allowed G Continue reading >>
Will This Kick Me Out Of Ketosis?
A common question people have when starting keto is “will this kick me out of ketosis?” I’m going to address as many items as I can think of and explain why it will or will not kick you out of keto. This is going to be as comprehensive as possible so either use ctrl + f to find what you’re looking for or buckle up and read on. How do humans enter ketosis in the first place? Things will become much more clear if we explain how humans enter ketosis. Mainly, liver glycogen is what determines if ketones will be produced. Specifically, glycogen in the liver signals malonyl-coa to be formed by carboxylating acetyl-coa. Acetyl-coa is used in many processes and it’s the main substrate used to be turned into ketones. The wiki on regulation of ketogenesis which applies to this scenario says “When the body has no free carbohydrates available, fat must be broken down into acetyl-CoA in order to get energy. Acetyl-CoA is not being recycled through the citric acid cycle because the citric acid cycle intermediates (mainly oxaloacetate) have been depleted to feed the gluconeogenesis pathway, and the resulting accumulation of acetyl-CoA activates ketogenesis.” Basically, when there is more acetyl-CoA than oxaloacetate, the acetyl-CoA becomes acetoacetate, a ketone body. In plain English, carbs provide oxaloacetate, so if it doesn’t have carbs, it likely isn’t going to kick you out of ketosis. I’ll state the exceptions later. Why do humans enter ketosis so readily? Humans enter ketosis faster than any animal on the planet. It usually takes 24-36 hours before we enter ketosis.This is because we have huge brains and tiny bodies. Our brains need ~400 calories/day, which for most people that equates to 20% of our total energy demands. To put this in perspective, most anim Continue reading >>
The Truth About Ketosis & Low-carb Diets, Backed By Science
A lot of people are confused by the term “ketosis.” You may read that it is a “dangerous state” for the body, and it does sound abnormal to be “in ketosis.” But ketosis merely means that our bodies are using fat for energy. Ketones (also called ketone bodies) are molecules generated during fat metabolism, whether from the fat in the almonds you just ate or fat you were carrying around your middle. When our bodies are breaking down fat for energy, most of it gets converted to energy, but ketones are also produced as part of the process. When people eat less carbohydrates, their bodies turn to fat for energy, so it makes sense that more ketones are generated. Some of those ketones (acetoacetate and ß-hydroxybutyrate) are used for energy; the heart muscle and kidneys, for example, prefer ketones to glucose. Most cells, including the brain cells, are able to use ketones for at least part of their energy. Is ketosis a bad thing? There is an assumption that if a body is burning a lot of fat for energy, it must not be getting “enough” glucose. However, there is no indication, from studying people on reduced carbohydrate diets, that this is the case (though there is usually a short period of adjustment, less than a week, in most cases). It takes about 72 hours to burn up all of the reserve glycogen (sugar loads). Although it’s true that our bodies can’t break fat down directly into glucose (though, interestingly, they easily use glucose to make fat), our bodies can convert some of the protein we eat into glucose. Indeed, this works well for people who don’t tolerate a lot of sugar, because this conversion happens slowly so it doesn’t spike blood glucose. What is the danger of ketosis? It is important that if you are following a ketogenic nutritional pro Continue reading >>
The Keto Diet: A Low-carb Approach To Fat Loss
Along with the Atkins diet and the South Beach diet, individuals who are interested in low carbohydrate approaches to dieting will likely want to look into the Keto Diet. Popular among many who are trying to maintain blood sugar levels and lose body fat, the main premise of this diet is, 'eat fat to lose fat'. So How Does It Work? The idea of the ketone diet is to get your body into a process called Ketosis where you stop burning carbohydrates as fuel and instead turn to the burning of what are known as ketones. This will occur when you bring your carbohydrate levels to around 50 grams per day or lower. Many keto activists advise that number to be 30 grams of carbohydrates but most individuals can still maintain ketosis while consuming the 50 grams and this allows for a little more leeway in the diet since you can increase the consumption of vegetables and a variety of flavoring's that contain a few grams of carbohydrates. TKD Or CKD Usually people who are involved with exercise will follow either a TKD (targeted keto diet) or a CKD (cyclical keto diet). TKD A TKD is one where you will eat carbohydrates right before and right after your workouts. This is the best bet for those who are involved in more intense activities and require some carbohydrates to fuel them and who are not as interested in doing carb loads and depletion workouts. CKD A CKD on the other hand is a diet where you will eat a minimum amount of carbohydrates per day (that 30-50 gram number) and then on the weekend (or at a time that is appropriate for you) do a large 'carb-up' phase where you will eat a large amount of carbohydrates in an effort to refill your muscle glycogen stores so you can continue to workout the coming week. Normally right before the carb-up phase you will do a depletion workout wh Continue reading >>
What Is A Ketogenic Diet?
The ketogenic diet has been a hot topic of late. Depending on who you talk to, it is praised for its incredible weight loss results, criticised for being too restrictive, or condemned as dangerous, especially without medical supervision. As with anything related to diet and nutrition, there's a lot of conflicting (and misleading) information out there, so HuffPost Australia spoke to Clare Collins -- professor of nutrition and dietetics at the University of Newcastle, accredited practising dietitian and spokesperson for DAA -- about what the ketogenic diet is, how it works, and the pros and cons. What is a ketogenic diet? A ketogenic eating pattern is very low in carbohydrates and moderate in protein, meaning a high percentage of total energy intake comes from fat found in dairy products and meat. "A true ketogenic is one where carbohydrate intake is extremely low -- usually less than 10 percent of your total energy intake," Collins told HuffPost Australia. Getty How does a ketogenic diet work? During times of severe energy restriction (such as during fasting or starvation), prolonged intense exercise, or when carbohydrate intake is reduced to around 50 grams per day or less, the body can enter ketosis. This means that, rather than the body burning its primary fuel source, glycogen (a "complex carbohydrate, which in the human body is like petrol for a car"), the body must break down fats as its main source of fuel. "If you can flip the switch and get the body to burn predominantly fat, then you produce these thing called ketone bodies, which can appear on your urine and they also come out on your breath. They actually smell like acetone, like nail polish remover essentially," Collins said. These ketone bodies are made by the liver from fatty acids, and are used up by the Continue reading >>
How Many Carbs Can You Eat On A Low-carb Diet?
Source If you've chosen to embark on a carbohydrate-controlled diet, then you may be wondering how many carbs in a low carb diet? The answer, in large part, depends on the diet you have selected as well as how far along you are into the diet plan. It also depends on factors unique to your body type and body chemistry. Low Carbohydrate Diets There are a large number of different low carbohydrate diet plans. Some of the popular low carbohydrate diet plans include Atkins, South Beach and the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet. While the details of each of these diet plans differ, they are all based on a common principle - to limit the amount of carbohydrates you eat in order to control the amount of insulin released into your bloodstream. According to low carb diet proponents, insulin plays an important role in weight fluctuation. When there is sugar in your blood, your body releases insulin to neutralize the effects of sugar on the body. Blood sugar rises when you eat carbohydrates - especially refined and simple carbohydrates like white flour and sugar. While insulin plays an important role in neutralizing spikes in sugar, it is also the primary mechanism by which fat is escorted into the fat cells. It also prevents fat from being released from your fat cells to be used as fuel. Low carbohydrate diets limit the amount of insulin released into the bloodstream, which allows your body to rely on its own fat as its primary source of energy. The byproduct of burning fat as your primary energy source is known as ketosis, which can aid in satiating hunger and keeping your energy levels high. How Many Carbs in a Low Carb Diet? Limiting dietary sources of carbohydrates is what starts the whole process of ketosis. Determining how many carbs in a low carb diet depends, to some extent, on y Continue reading >>
What Everybody Ought To Know About Ketosis
Recently I wanted to explore the world of Ketosis. I thought I knew a little bit about ketosis, but after doing some research I soon realised how wrong I was. 3 months later, after reading numerous books, listening to countless podcasts and experimenting with various diets I know have a sound understanding of ketosis. This resource is built as a reference guide for those looking to explore the fascinating world of ketosis. It is a resource that I wish I had 3 months ago. As you will soon see, a lot of the content below is not mine, instead I have linked to referenced to experts who have a greater understanding of this topic than I ever will. I hope this helps and if there is something that I have missed please leave a comment below so that I can update this. Also, as this is a rather long document, I have split it into various sections. You can click the headline below to be sent straight to the section that interests you. For those that are really time poor I have created a useful ketosis cheat sheet guide. This guide covers all the essential information you should know about ketosis. It can be downloaded HERE. Alternatively, if you're looking for a natural and sustainable way to improve health and lose weight head to this page - What is Ketosis? What Are The Benefits from being in Ketosis? Isn’t Ketosis Dangerous? Ketoacidosis vs Ketosis What Is The Difference Between a Low Carb Diet and a Ketogenic Diet? Types of Ketosis: The Difference Between Nutritional, Therapeutic & MCT Ketogenic Diets Is The Ketogenic Diet Safe? Long Term Effects Thyroid and Ketosis - What You May Want To Know What is a Typical Diet/Macro Breakdown for a Ketogenic Diet? Do I Need to Eat Carbs? What do I Eat On a Ketogenic Diet? What Do I Avoid Eating on a Ketogenic Diet? Protein Consumption a Continue reading >>
Excerpt From Hcg 2.0 – Understanding Ketosis
Understanding Ketosis An excerpt from HCG 2.0 – Don’t Starve, Eat Smart and Lose It’s unclear how much was known about Ketosis when Dr. Simeons’ was practicing. There is no mention of it in his manuscript. Ketosis is a state that exists when your body is deprived of carbohydrates and must resort to its fat stores for energy. Of the foods we eat, carbs are most easily converted into energy. Complex carbohydrates, mostly starches, are broken down to simpler carbohydrates, ultimately glucose, and then converted to ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) in the citric acid cycle. ATP is the energy exchange used in every cellular process in the human body. It’s kind of like the gasoline we put in our cars. Gasoline is refined from more complex hydrocarbons as glucose is from more complex carbohydrates. If we eat excessive calories from carbs, our body stores them away in our fat cells. If we deprive ourselves of carbs, we tap into our fat stores for energy. Think of our fat stores as a bank account. If we’re depositing more money than we’re spending, or eating more calories than we’re burning off, our bank account gets bigger… like our bellies. If we spend more than we deposit, as in the state of low carb dieting and Ketosis, our bank account gets smaller… resulting in weight loss. A Ketone is an energy source derived from fat and Ketosis is the physiological state in which this takes place. So why is Ketosis such a trendy word in dieting? The first and probably most popular Ketosis Diet was the Atkins diet. In summary, Atkins only stipulation was that you were to consume a minimal amount of carbs. There were relatively few restrictions on fat and protein consumption and it was generally effective in promoting weight loss. It gained popularity in the mid 90s, but h Continue reading >>
A Keto Diet For Beginners
A keto or ketogenic diet is a very low-carb diet, which turns the body into a fat-burning machine. It has many proven benefits for weight loss, health and performance, as millions of people have experienced already. 1 Here you’ll learn how to eat a keto diet based on real foods. You’ll find visual guides, recipes, meal plans and a simple 2-week get started program, all you need to succeed on keto. Get even more, custom meal plans, ask the experts and low-carb TV, with a free trial. 1. Introduction: What is ketosis? The “keto” in a ketogenic diet comes from the fact that it makes the body produce small fuel molecules called “ketones”. 2 This is an alternative fuel for the body, used when blood sugar (glucose) is in short supply. Ketones are produced if you eat very few carbs (that are quickly broken down into blood sugar) and only moderate amounts of protein (excess protein can also be converted to blood sugar). Ketones are produced in the liver, from fat. They are then used as fuel throughout the body, including the brain. The brain is a hungry organ that consumes lots of energy every day, 3 and it can’t run on fat directly. It can only run on glucose… or ketones. On a ketogenic diet, your entire body switches its fuel supply to run almost entirely on fat. Insulin levels become very low, and fat burning increases dramatically. It becomes easy to access your fat stores to burn them off. This is obviously great if you’re trying to lose weight, but there are also other less obvious benefits, such as less hunger and a steady supply of energy. When the body produces ketones, it’s said to be in ketosis. The fastest way to get there is by fasting – not eating anything – but nobody can fast forever. A keto diet, on the other hand, can be eaten indefinite Continue reading >>
The Causes And Solutions For Bad Breath (ketosis Breath)
If you’re on a low-carb diet, not all the outcomes are good. One of the side effects you could notice is bad breath. It’s commonly nicknamed ketosis breath, whether it happens when following the ketosis diet, but it can happen with all low carb/high protein diets. In fact, bad breath is becoming an epidemic. This is because so many people now are following these low carb diets. So, you’re definitely not alone. In fact, scientists say that 40% of people on these types of diets report bad breath as one of the worst side effects. I’ve been in your position before with my low carb diets. Your best friend likely has, too. We just get so embarrassed about our bad breath that we tend not to mention it. We just hope that we can mask it with some breath mints. But what is the real cause of bad breath on the ketosis diet? Just why do low carb diets make us stink? And is there anything that we can do to stop the problem? I can share some very positive news. You can stop ketosis breath becoming an issue. You don’t need to become part of the growing epidemic. I’m going to share everything that you can do to stop ketosis breath becoming a problem. So, Why Do We Get Bad Breath? Let’s start with how low carb diets work. When we stop feeding ourselves as many carbs, our bodies have to get the energy in other ways. They do this through the burning of fat, which means the release of ketones in the body. It’s a chemical process since the body can’t create the carbohydrates that it would need to help It’s this process that is causing the bad breath. The great news is that you’re sticking to your diet and you will see a smaller waistline. It will be successful, and you will be able to lose weight. Of course, the downside is that you have to deal with the breath. The mos Continue reading >>
How Many Carbs Should You Eat?
Could there possibly be a more controversial topic than how many carbs we should be eating?! One of the perks of following a Paleo framework is that when we maximize nutrient density (see The Importance of Nutrient Density) and eat high-quality foods from both the plant and animal kingdom, other elements of diet, like macronutrient ratios, tend to fall into place without us needing to obsessively count fat or carb grams. Still, considering how much bad press carbohydrates tend to get (as well as the tendency for the media—and even some leaders within the Paleo movement itself—to mis-portray Paleo as being low carb), a great deal of confusion exists surrounding optimal carb intake. What’s the scoop? The short answer is… it depends! It depends on what our goals are, how far away we are from those goals, how active our lifestyles are, how well we sleep, how well-managed our stress is, and what health issues we might be dealing with. All of these factors can influence the healthiest level of carbs for our specific situation. The AIP Lecture Series is a 6-week video-based, self-directed online course that will teach you the scientific foundation for the diet and lifestyle tenets of the Autoimmune Protocol. But, while there’s no one-size-fits-all recommendation we can all safely shoot for, we can definitely pull together some guidelines based on available evidence. Hunter-Gatherer Intakes Let’s start with hunter-gatherers! According to Loren Cordain’s 2000 publication, “Plant-animal subsistence ratios and macronutrient energy estimations in worldwide hunter-gatherer diets” (which analyzed ethnographic data for 229 hunter-gatherer societies), the majority of hunter-gatherer populations ate between 22 and 40% of their diets as carbohydrates. That translates to Continue reading >>
Diabetes & Ketogenic Diet: Can You Manage Your Diabetes On A Ketogenic Diet?
In this article we will cover what a Ketogenic diet is and if you can manage your diabetes while on this diet. Ketogenic diet for diabetics is a highly controversial topic, but we will break down everything here for you! As a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), I have to tell you from the start I will have a biased view here. Sorry, but I feel that I need to be completely honest right up front! I will however, present all the evidence that is available currently on the subject. As a CDE, I have been taught to follow the American Diabetes Association Dietary Guidelines for Americans which is low in carbohydrates, high in fiber, with fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains. The Ketogenic Diet this article will be discussing is much lower in carbohydrates, in order to promote the state of nutritional ketosis, or the fat burning state for weight loss. What is a Ketogenic Diet? The Ketogenic Diet is a low carbohydrate diet, consisting initially of less than 20 carbohydrates per day. Not per meal, yes, you heard me correctly, per day. It is not for the faint of heart and yes I am writing from experience. Of course I have tried it! Hasn’t everybody in America at some point who has wanted to lose weight? Does it work you ask? Of course it does! The problem is how long can you keep it up? Your body uses the carbohydrates you eat for energy, so if we restrict how many carbohydrates we eat, the body has to get its fuel source from fat. A byproduct of this fat burning state are ketones which are produced; this is called nutritional ketosis. You can determine if you are in this fat burning state by purchasing urine ketone testing strips from your local pharmacy. The Ketogenic Diet with Diabetes Some precautions must be made clear; this diet is not appropriate for people with any Continue reading >>
