In lchf-keto diet, more stress is given to getting into ketosis state. What exactly is ketosis? What will happen if your brain doesn’t get carbohydrate? Is ketosis and ketoacidosis the same? You will get all the answers in this article.
Things you need to know about Ketosis
What do you mean by ketosis?
Normally, body uses glucose from the food to produce energy. But when you deliberately cuts down the carbs to a minimum of 20 grams per day and eats fatty food alone, fat is used as the main energy source. This process is called ketosis.
When carb intake is reduced to the minimum for atlease a day or two, your liver’s gycogen store gets depleted. Liver starts to make ketones, or ketone bodies from fatty food you are consuming as well as from your body fat. In ketosis, Liver ramps up its production of ketones to supply energy for your brain.
You are said to be in nutritional ketosis if your blood ketones shows a minimum value of 0.5mmol/L of BHB.
Do fasting takes you to ketosis? Yes indeed but it is said that keto diet is more sustainable over long periods and is more healthy way of weight loss.
Carbohydrates for your brain
It is a misbelief that carbs are necessary for proper brain function and some even say that you need 130 gms of carb intake per day for proper brain functioning. This is wrong. The fact is your brain will remain healthy and functional even if you don’t eat any carbs at all.
As a matter of fact ketones can provide 70% of the brain’s needed fuel and the rest is supplied in form of glucose made by gluconeogenesis from liver. Once you are in ketosis state, you don’t need to worry about as everything is taken care of. Some people who are in ketosis have reported they feel mentally more sharp in ketosis that they were in normal diet.
Nutritional Ketosis Vs Ketoacidosis
Ketoacidosis is a medical emergency where as nutritional ketosis is safe and beneficial for health.
Ketoacidosis usually occurs in people with type 1 diabetes if they are not getting enough insulin or people with type 2 diabetes who are taking SGLT-2 inhibitors, such as empagliflozin, canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and ertugliflozin. In ketoacidosis, blood’s delicate acid base balance is disrupted.
In nutritional ketosis, blood ketone level is usually below 5mmol where as ketoacidosis may show ketone levels of 10mmol due to inability of body to produce insulin.
Tips to get into ketosis faster
– Reduce netcarb intake to less than 20gms
– Intermittent fasting of 16 – 18 hours
– cooking with Coconut Oil
– Exercising when possible
You can get more articles about foods to take/avoid whilst on keto diet, food limits in keto diet, recipes for keto diet etc from this website. Thanks for reading.