Keto Means
Photo: Владимир Васильев
about a week to 10 days While the length of time it takes to adapt to a keto diet varies, the process begins after the first few days. Then, after about a week to 10 days, many low-carbers suddenly start to feel the positive effects of keto-adaptation. They report improved mental concentration and focus and more physical energy as well.
Ketogenic diets may suppress appetite, at least a little, and they may even help you burn more calories. In practice, though, they don't do better...
Read More »
While some people have success staying on keto for an extended period of time, “the long-term research is limited,” says Jill Keene, RDN, in White...
Read More »A ketogenic (or "keto") diet is an eating plan that's designed to seriously minimize carbohydrates, your body's favorite fuel source, and dramatically increase fats. The idea is that as carbohydrate levels drop, the body becomes forced to burn stored fat as its primary source of fuel, which can result in often dramatic weight loss. The diet represents a total turnaround from how most people eat: while the suggested American diet is about 50 percent carbohydrate, 15 percent protein, and 35 percent fat, the breakdown on most typical keto diets is 5 to 10 percent carbs, 70 to 75 percent fat, and the rest from protein. Keto-adaptation (also sometimes called fat-adaptation) is the process your body goes through on the diet as it changes from using primarily glucose for energy to using primarily fat. The "keto" part refers to ketones, which are water-soluble molecules that the liver makes when metabolizing fats, particularly when carbohydrate intake is low. Ketones can be used for energy by most tissues in your body, including the brain, which can't use unrefined fats as fuel. Your body is always using a mix of fat and glucose for energy, but in a non-keto-adapted state, it reaches for glucose first, since only low amounts of ketones are normally generated during fat metabolism, and some tissues of the body—for example, the heart—prefer using ketones when they're available. The brain can't use fat, so it depends upon glucose when you're in a non-keto-adapted state. If glucose is the body's normal go-to source of energy, you may be wondering what happens when it suddenly doesn't have enough to use as its main fuel. Once stores of glycogen (the way the body warehouses glucose) become depleted, your brain and other organs begin the process of adapting to using fats and ketones instead of glucose as its main fuel. But reaching ketosis, the state in which fat provides most of the fuel for your body, isn't usually a pleasant experience. Extreme carb restriction is often accompanied by adverse side effects. Commonly known as the "keto flu," the transition may cause a period of fatigue, weakness, lightheadedness, "brain fog," headaches, irritability, muscle cramps, and nausea. While the length of time it takes to adapt to a keto diet varies, the process begins after the first few days. Then, after about a week to 10 days, many low-carbers suddenly start to feel the positive effects of keto-adaptation. They report improved mental concentration and focus and more physical energy as well.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, the macros for a 1500-calorie keto diet are 70-80% fats, 5-10% carbs, and 10-20% protein (2),...
Read More »
The bottom line. Ketogenic diets are characterized by their high fat and very low carb contents. Sweet potatoes tend to be naturally high in carbs...
Read More »
Because 50 grams of carbs is relatively few, a single cheat meal can easily exceed your daily carb allowance and take your body out of ketosis —...
Read More »
It was thought that kidney cells didn't reproduce much once the organ was fully formed, but new research shows that the kidneys are regenerating...
Read More »Be sure to let your healthcare provider know if you start a keto diet, because your lipid panel may significantly change. Your healthcare provider should be notified so that he or she can take your diet and other possible changes, such as weight loss, into account when making clinical recommendations. Some people find that their ketosis is pretty stable as long as they eat a low-carb diet under about 50 grams of carbs a day, while others find they need to eat fewer carbs to stay in ketosis. Athletes and heavy exercisers often can eat more than 50 grams of carbs and still stay in ketosis. Other influences, such as hormonal fluctuations and stress, have been known to throw people out of ketosis. Some people find value in measuring their blood ketones, which can be done at home using a special meter and test strips. But most low-carb diet authors don't recommend bothering with it. If you're getting the benefits you hoped for on a keto diet, worrying about how high your ketones are may just add a level of complication you don't need. Keep in mind that, when adhered to, the keto diet does its job—but the margin of error is extremely thin. People on the diet who eat foods with sugar or high carbs (even only once), cause insulin to be secreted; the body goes from ketosis to high fat storage mode (because is being fed high amounts of fat and carbs/sugar), which can lead to significant weight gain.
There isn't much evidence to prove a link between body odor and intermittent fasting. That said, switching up your diet — whether you're fasting or...
Read More »
With a rate of weight loss of 1-2 pounds each week, about 5-6 months is how long to lose 40 pounds on keto. Dec 31, 2021
Read More »
Does the Keto Diet Cause Loose Skin? The ketogenic diet doesn't cause loose skin in and of itself. However, large amounts of weight loss can...
Read More »
One of those phenols, called chlorogenic acid, is the culprit that makes sweet potatoes -- and sometimes, regular potatoes -- darken when they're...
Read More »