Ketosis Vs Glycolysis
I noticed recently that people were talking about ways to stay just one the edge of ketosis and what not. I guess my questions is, why would you want to stay in glycolysis instead of going into ketosis (and vise-versa)? What are the benefits of each? I was under the impression (after a Robb Wolf seminar) that ketosis is the ideal stat of being... Thoughs? Continue reading >>
Dominic D'agostino, Ph.d. On Modified Atkins Diet, Ketosis, Supplemental Ketones And More
What are SNPs? A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, pronounced “snip”) is a change in just one nucleotide of the DNA that makes up a gene. A SNP is also referred to as a gene polymorphism – a variation in a gene’s DNA sequence that can alter its function either in a good way or a bad way. They differ from mutations, which occur randomly, because they occur in more than 1% of the population. How accurate is my report? Your report contains information from data generated by personalized DNA services, which are fairly accurate. The process of analyzing DNA by sequencing methods is subject to error and can be wrong, however. Although your report is based on conclusions drawn from published scientific studies about various SNPs, many of these studies explain only a small part of the heritability of a trait or disease risk, and they don't take into account how different polymorphisms may interact with each other. In addition, many published studies do not account for medical history or environmental, dietary, microbial, or lifestyle factors, which can alter the true risk for any trait or disease. Will I need a physician to help me understand my report? No. Your report will explain what the gene’s function is, how your particular genotype may affect the gene’s function, and how this may affect your disease risk. It will also discuss optimal nutritional and lifestyle interventions that may be appropriate for your genotype based on evidence. The report, however, is not medical advice, and it is important that you discuss any dietary and lifestyle changes with your physician before you proceed. Please also refer to question: “How accurate is my report?” Do you sell genetic tests? No. In order for us to generate your report, your DNA must be analyzed by 23andMe . Continue reading >>
Keto 101: Ketogenic Diet & Ketosis For Beginners
The term “keto” has become a buzzword in the health and nutrition world lately. There are keto snacks out there, you may have seen keto-friendly meal preps popping up, and some people are trying out the keto diet. But what is keto? “Keto” is shorthand for ketogenic, which describes a particular kind of diet and lifestyle. Many people know it as a high fat diet, which may sound a bit strange… It sure sounded strange to me when I first heard of it! We generally associate the word “fat” with fat on our bodies, but fat is also fuel. Dietary fats from whole foods provide our bodies with energy—but those fats that we eat actually aren’t the main cause for gaining more “fat” on our bodies. There are many factors at play with weight gain and weight loss. It’s more complicated than “calories in, calories out,” and the idea that “fat makes you fat,” is wholly inaccurate. The ketogenic diet challenges these old beliefs, and it can get pretty confusing. That’s why I’ve compiled all of my learning and research into a Keto 101 video, to help break down the basics of the keto diet! There’s a lot to learn and it’s only an introductory video, but, if you’re curious about how a ketogenic diet works and the science behind it, it’s a good place to start. Even if you’re not interested in trying out the keto lifestyle for yourself, understanding ketosis is a great way to learn more about how our bodies function. I’ve summarized the main points here, but check out the video for more detailed information and useful resources about keto, ketosis, and the ketogenic diet! DISCLAIMER: The Keto 101 video and this blog are educational resources. I am not advocating for or against keto diets, and I am not claiming that a keto diet is either “right” Continue reading >>
The Ugly Truth About Ketogenic Diets
Here's what you need to know... Ketosis occurs when carbs are in such low quantities that your body relies almost exclusively on fatty acid oxidation and ketone metabolism. Ketogenic diets have about 70-75% of your daily caloric intake coming from fat and about 5% from carbohydrates. Ingesting protein above approximately .8 grams per pound is enough to kick you out of ketosis. Ketogenic diets improve body comp, but so does any diet that reduces calories from any source. There is no literature to support that a ketogenic diet is beneficial for promoting increases in muscle mass. Ketogenic diets affect performance negatively. Questions About Ketosis While the ketogenic diet has been used widely and rather effectively in some cases, there's still a lot of confusion about it. What exactly is a ketogenic diet? How does it differ from low carb dieting? Most importantly, at least for the T Nation demographic, is the question of whether ketogenic diets allow you to put on, or at least keep, muscle. Ketosis: What is it? Ketosis is a metabolic state that occurs when dietary carbohydrates are in such low quantities that your body must rely almost exclusively on fatty acid oxidation and ketone metabolism. That sounds simple on the surface, but let's unpack that explanation a bit. To function, your body requires a substantial amount of energy in the form of ATP. So, let's just assume that the average person uses about 1,800 calories per day to create enough ATP to keep him alive (not including any physical activity). Now this is where it gets interesting. You have this thing in your skull called a brain. It uses about 400 or so calories per day and runs almost exclusively on glucose. (There's some evidence it can use small amounts of fat and lactate, but in the big picture it's not Continue reading >>
Ketosis And Lchf- Must You Be In Ketosis On The Low Carb Diet?
Ketosis and LCHF- Must you be in ketosis on the low carb diet? Today on the Ask Prof Noakes Podcast we discuss ketosis and the role it plays on the LCHF diet. Is it vital to be in a state of ketosis in order to get the full benefits of the Low Carb High Fat/Banting diet? The simple answer is no you do not. To be in complete ketosis is hard to achieve, and you also don’t need to be in this state to benefit from the LCHF diet. Ketosis is a metabolic state where most of the body’s energy supply comes from ketone bodies in the blood. This is in contrast to a state of glycolysis where blood glucose provides most of the energy. What is Ketosis and what role does it play During the usual overnight fast the body’s metabolism naturally switches into ketosis, and will switch back to glycolysis after a carbohydrate-rich meal. Part of the benefit of Low Carb High Fat diets is that you reduce the amount of carbohydrate from your system, thus forcing the body to use fat and not glucose for energy. For this reason ketosis is sometimes referred to as the body’s “fat burning” mode. The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used primarily to treat difficult-to-control (refractory) epilepsy in children. It is very extreme, even by the LCHF diets standards. Ketosis is not required For this reason, unless you are looking to use it to treat epilepsy, it really isn’t required and shouldn’t be a diet you should look at. You don’t need to be in a permanent state of ketosis. Continue reading >>
Ketolytic And Glycolytic Enzymatic Expression Profiles In Malignant Gliomas: Implication For Ketogenic Diet Therapy
Background: Recent studies in animal models, based on the hypothesis that malignant glioma cells are more dependent on glycolysis for energy generation, have shown promising results using ketogenic diet (KD) therapy as an alternative treatment strategy for malignant glioma, effectively starving glioma cells while providing ketone bodies as an energy source for normal neurons and glial cells. In order to test this treatment strategy in humans, we investigated the relative expression of several key enzymes involved in ketolytic and glycolytic metabolism in human anaplastic glioma (WHO grade III) and glioblastoma (GBM, WHO grade IV). Methods. Immunohistochemistry was performed on formalin fixed paraffin embedded sections from 22 brain biopsies (17 GBM, 3 anaplastic astrocytoma and 2 anaplastic oligoastrocytoma) using antibodies raised against glycolytic and ketolytic enzymes. The glycolytic enzymes included hexokinase-II (HK2) and pyruvate kinase M2 isoform (PKM2). The ketone body metabolic enzymes included: succinyl CoA: 3-oxoacid CoA transferase (OXCT1), 3-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase 1 and 2 (BDH1 and BDH2), and acetyl-CoA acetyltransferase 1 (ACAT1). The immunoreactivities were graded using a semi-quantitative scale based on the percentage of positive cells: POS (>20%), LOW (5-20%), and very low (VLOW) ( Continue reading >>
- The effect of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-glycemic index diet on glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus
- Early-onset and classical forms of type 2 diabetes show impaired expression of genes involved in muscle branched-chain amino acids metabolism
- The Ketogenic Diet and Diabetes
Ketosis: Metabolic Flexibility In Action
Ketosis is an energy state that your body uses to provide an alternative fuel when glucose availability is low. It happens to all humans when fasting or when carbohydrate intake is lowered. The process of creating ketones is a normal metabolic alternative designed to keep us alive if we go without food for long periods of time. Eating a diet low in carb and higher in fat enhances this process without the gnawing hunger of fasting. Let’s talk about why ketones are better than glucose for most cellular fuel needs. Legionella Testing Lab - High Quality Lab Results CDC ELITE & NYSDOH ELAP Certified - Fast Results North America Lab Locations legionellatesting.com Body Fuel Basics Normal body cells metabolize food nutrients and oxygen during cellular “respiration”, a set of metabolic pathways in which ATP (adenosine triphosphate), our main cellular energy source is created. Most of this energy production happens in the mitochondria, tiny cell parts which act as powerhouses or fueling stations. There are two primary types of food-based fuel that our cells can use to produce energy: The first cellular fuel is glucose, which is commonly known as blood sugar. Glucose is a product of the starches and sugars (carbohydrates) and protein in our diet. This fuel system is necessary, but it has a limitation. The human body can only store about 1000-1600 calories of glucose in the form of glycogen in our muscles and liver. The amounts stored depend on how much muscle mass is available. Men will be able to store more because they have a greater muscle mass. Since most people use up about 2000 calories a day just being and doing normal stuff, you can see that if the human body depended on only sugar to fuel itself, and food weren’t available for more than a day, the body would run Continue reading >>
The Fat-fueled Brain: Unnatural Or Advantageous?
Disclaimer: First things first. Please note that I am in no way endorsing nutritional ketosis as a supplement to, or a replacement for medication. As you’ll see below, data exploring the potential neuroprotective effects of ketosis are still scarce, and we don’t yet know the side effects of a long-term ketogenic diet. This post talks about the SCIENCE behind ketosis, and is not meant in any way as medical advice. The ketogenic diet is a nutritionist’s nightmare. High in saturated fat and VERY low in carbohydrates, “keto” is adopted by a growing population to paradoxically promote weight loss and mental well-being. Drinking coffee with butter? Eating a block of cream cheese? Little to no fruit? To the uninitiated, keto defies all common sense, inviting skeptics to wave it off as an unnatural “bacon-and-steak” fad diet. Yet versions of the ketogenic diet have been used to successfully treat drug-resistant epilepsy in children since the 1920s – potentially even back in the biblical ages. Emerging evidence from animal models and clinical trials suggest keto may be therapeutically used in many other neurological disorders, including head ache, neurodegenerative diseases, sleep disorders, bipolar disorder, autism and brain cancer. With no apparent side effects. Sound too good to be true? I feel ya! Where are these neuroprotective effects coming from? What’s going on in the brain on a ketogenic diet? Ketosis in a nutshell In essence, a ketogenic diet mimics starvation, allowing the body to go into a metabolic state called ketosis (key-tow-sis). Normally, human bodies are sugar-driven machines: ingested carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, which is mainly transported and used as energy or stored as glycogen in liver and muscle tissue. When deprived of d Continue reading >>
Cancer Treatments: Is A Ketogenic Diet Better?
Mainstream cancer treatments are expensive, have some pretty debilitating long-term and short-term side effects and for some people and some cancers, not as effective as advertised. What if a ketogenic diet can help improve the outcome of mainstream treatment, and if so, how does it work? The effect that ketogenic diets have on cancer is rooted in how cells make energy to sustain themselves. Most normal cells can make energy by burning sugar or glucose in a pathway called glycolysis. Normally, glycolysis makes products which feed into mitochondria, tiny "powerhouses" in each cell. The main job of mitochondria is to make and regulate the production of ATP, the energy source that runs all living things. In order to stay alive, cells have to be able to make ATP and maintain the “free energy” of ATP at a specific level common to all cells. If there is too little ATP, a cell will become apoptotic (suicidal) and die. If there is too much ATP, cellular respiration gets interrupted in the mitochondria and this can also kill the cell. Normal, healthy cells have metabolic flexibility to make and regulate free energy levels through glycolysis or through mitochondrial pathways which require oxygen. Healthy cells are able to utilize all fuels, including glucose, oxygen, fatty acids, and ketones to make ATP and regulate energy flow through the cell. In contrast, most cancer cells have mitochondria which are broken in some way. They are unable to use mitochondrial energy pathways to burn oxygen dependent fuels such as fatty acids and ketones. To maintain free ATP at the necessary levels, they must rely on glycolysis even when oxygen is available. They do this by "fermenting" glucose into a product called lactate. This lack of flexibility means cancer cells are dependent upon and m Continue reading >>
Glycolysis Vs Ketosis
As much as I don’t plan on this being a food or keto blog, the next few posts will probably be about keto and… well, food. Weight loss is a huge part of my Fit for 40 plan, so it’s on my mind a lot lately, and I tend to write about what’s interesting to me in the moment. And right now, I’m focused on my diet. I swear I have other posts planned, but I wanted to get these out of the way first. I’ve mentioned Keto in a couple posts, and wanted to do a few more posts on glycolysis vs ketosis (regular U.S. diet vs keto), exactly what keto is, how to start it, and some pros and cons of the diet. First, I am not a doctor, and you should always consult yours before starting a new diet or exercise routine. The ketogenic diet (Keto) is a low carbohydrate, high fat, moderate protein (LCHF) diet. Most people do keto to help in weight loss; but, it also has other health advantages like: lowering risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, migraines, depression, helping those with epilepsy and other neurological illnesses, and much more.1 Keto is meant to put your body into a state of ketosis, where you burn ketones for fuel (Ketosis) instead of glucose (Glycolysis). Boring explanation of how carbs work in your body. When you eat food with carbs your body produces glucose and insulin. Carbs are broken down into glucose, a single molecule of sugar that your body uses for energy. Glucose is the simplest molecule your body can use to convert and use as energy, so it will be chosen first over any other energy source.2 However, sugar needs help getting into your cells. When your body creates glucose from carbs, your pancreas produces insulin, a hormone that tells your body to burn the sugar first and to stop burning fat. Insulin gets released into your bloodstream, and t 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 >>
Your Brain On Ketones
The modern prescription of high carbohydrate, low fat diets and eating snacks between meals has coincided with an increase in obesity, diabetes, and and increase in the incidence of many mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. In addition, many of these disorders are striking the population at younger ages. While most people would agree that diet has a lot to do with the development of obesity and diabetes, many would disagree that what we eat has much to do with our mental health and outlook. I believe that what we eat has a lot to do with the health of our brains, though of course mental illness (like physical illness) has multifactorial causes, and by no means should we diminish the importance of addressing all the causes in each individual. But let's examine the opposite of the modern high carbohydrate, low fat, constant snacking lifestyle and how that might affect the brain. The opposite of a low fat, snacking lifestyle would be the lifestyle our ancestors lived for tens of thousands of generations, the lifestyle for which our brains are primarily evolved. It seems reasonable that we would have had extended periods without food, either because there was none available, or we were busy doing something else. Then we would follow that period with a filling meal of gathered plant and animal products, preferentially selecting the fat. During the day we might have eaten a piece of fruit, or greens, or a grub we dug up, but anything filling or high in calories (such as a starchy tuber) would have to be killed, butchered, and/or carefully prepared before eating. Fortunately, we have a terrific system of fuel for periods of fasting or low carbohydrate eating, our body (and brain) can readily shift from burning glucose to burning what ar Continue reading >>
Diet Against Disease
“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are,” Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 1826. What you consume not only affects the health and appearance of your body, but also the integrity of the mind. Recently, researchers are beginning to appreciate this and have found that many neurological diseases are associated with the deterioration of energy metabolism. Metabolism involves the exchange between resource intake and energy output, and the main way to affect metabolism is through what you eat. Diet has been used as a therapeutic against a variety of neurological diseases with varying success, but only recently are researchers beginning to explore the mechanism. Dietary therapy in Epilepsy The ketogenic diet, a high fat but low carbohydrate regimen, has been used since the 1920’s to treat epilepsy. For almost 100 years, it has been known that the ketogenic diet can improve quality of life in epileptic patients by reducing seizures, defined as a sudden surge of disorganized electrical activity in the brain, but the reason why is still being explored. In the ketogenic diet, a lack of carbohydrate reduces blood glucose levels and forces the liver to break down fat for energy, thus bypassing glycolysis, the metabolic pathway that breaks down glucose. Breaking down fat generates ketone bodies which are then converted into energy via oxidization in the mitochondria. Essentially you can turn on the energy-making machinery in a cell (mitochondria) by either breaking down glucose, or breaking down fat. When you follow the ketogenic diet, or simply reduce the amount of calories you consume, you breakdown more fat. Benefits to epileptic patients are believed to arise from two key features of these diets: reduction in glycolysis and optimization of mitochondrial functio Continue reading >>
Review Article Ketogenic Diets As An Adjuvant Cancer Therapy: History And Potential Mechanism
Introduction Numerous dietary components and supplements have been evaluated as possible cancer prevention agents; however, until recently few studies have investigated diet as a possible adjuvant to cancer treatment. One of the most prominent and universal metabolic alterations seen in cancer cells is an increase in the rate of glycolytic metabolism even in the presence of oxygen [1]. Although increased glucose uptake by tumor cells was thought to support increased cancer cell proliferation and energy demands, recent studies suggest that increased tumor cell glycolytic metabolism may represent an adaptive response to escape metabolic oxidative stress caused by altered mitochondrial oxygen metabolism [2–4]. These data support the hypothesis that cancer cells are reliant on increased glucose consumption to maintain redox homeostasis due to increased one electron reductions of O2 to form O2•− and H2O2 in mitochondria. This divergence from normal cell metabolism has sparked a growing interest in targeting mitochondrial oxygen metabolism as a means of selectively sensitizing cancer cells to therapy [5–17]. In this regard, dietary modifications, such as high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets that enhance mitochondrial oxidative metabolism while limiting glucose consumption could represent a safe, inexpensive, easily implementable, and effective approach to selectively enhance metabolic stress in cancer cells versus normal cells. What is a ketogenic diet? A ketogenic diet consists of high fat, with moderate to low protein content, and very low carbohydrates, which forces the body to burn fat instead of glucose for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis. Generally, the ratio by weight is 3:1 or 4:1 fat to carbohydrate+protein, yielding a diet that has an energy dis Continue reading >>
Oxidative Metabolism: Glucose Versus Ketones.
Abstract The coupling of upstream oxidative processes (glycolysis, beta-oxidation, CAC turnover) to mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) under the driving conditions of energy demand by the cell results in the liberation of free energy as ATP. Perturbations in glycolytic CAC or OXPHOS can result in pathology or cell death. To better understand whole body energy expenditure during chronic ketosis, we used a diet-induced rat model of ketosis to determine if high-fat-carbohydrate-restricted "ketogenic" diet results in changes in total energy expenditure (TEE). Consistent with previous reports of increased energy expenditure in mice, we hypothesized that rats fed ketogenic diet for 3 weeks would result in increased resting energy expenditure due to alterations in metabolism associated with a "switch" in energy substrate from glucose to ketone bodies. The rationale is ketone bodies are a more efficient fuel than glucose. Indirect calorimetric analysis revealed a moderate increase in VO2 and decreased VCO2 and heat with ketosis. These results suggest ketosis induces a moderate uncoupling state and less oxidative efficiency compared to glucose oxidation. Continue reading >>
- Exercise and Glucose Metabolism in Persons with Diabetes Mellitus: Perspectives on the Role for Continuous Glucose Monitoring
- Continuous Versus Flash Glucose Monitoring To Reduce Hypoglycemia In Type 1 Diabetes
- Renal Handling of Ketones in Response to Sodium–Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibition in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
