WHAT IS KETOSIS?
The word ketogenic is a term coined for the process by which you reach ketosis. Ketosis is the state by which your body switches from burning sugar for fuel to burning fat for fuel.
Generally ketogenic means you choose a diet that is high in fat and protein instead of sugars and carbohydrates. When you do that, your body switches into ketosis naturally and begins to use a different fuel source.
This metabolic state called ketosis can be achieved in many ways. Some people go on a diet plan called, keto, named after ketosis, and that’s where you cut out carbs completely.
Others go on a keto-like diet, where they only eat a minimal amount of allowable carbohydrates and cut out all sugar.
Though the keto diet has been popularized lately for being the best way to achieve ketosis, there are many other ways to get there without having to eliminate entire food groups. Intermittent fasting and exercise are some of those ways.
This ketogenic switch so to speak, is just a term used to explain what happens when the body burns fat as a fuel source instead of sugar from carbohydrates.
It’s important to note that the word ketogenic, or ketosis, is not distinct to any one diet type or eating regime.
HOW TO ACHIEVE KETOSIS
Ketosis is the state by which ketone production increases in the body. Ketones are a type of acid formed in your liver. You produce ketones when you don’t have enough insulin production in your body.
Ketones are sent into the bloodstream if you don’t have enough glucose for energy. The body looks for a different source of fuel naturally and uses fat instead.
Extreme exercise has been proven to deplete the glycogen stores in your body. When this happens, ketones are produced, switching the body to fat-burning mode.
Reducing carbohydrate intake also puts you into ketosis. Carbohydrates turn into sugar in the body, so naturally, if you don’t replenish it, ketosis can be reached easier.
Intermittent fasting, or going without food for short periods of time, will put you into ketosis. It’s that caloric reduction that causes ketones to form, that helps you get into ketosis.
Eating fat, or rather healthy fats, like coconut oil, can help you achieve ketosis because it replaces carbs most people fill themselves up with when they are hungry. Healthy fats as a carb replacement serve as a way to fill us up instead, reducing the sugars in the body.
Eating protein instead of carbohydrates is a way to get into ketosis. It’s important to make sure that you have enough protein in your diet so you don’t lose muscle while burning fat for fuel in a ketogenic diet.
Reducing sugary food and snacks will help your body reach ketosis and stay in it longer. If we stay in ketosis longer, we will burn more fat because it will be the only fuel source available. If we have sugary treats, we destroy ketones.
The main thing to remember about achieving ketosis is that contrary to popular belief, cutting out entire food groups is not the only way to achieve it.
You don’t have to eliminate carbs in your diet to achieve ketosis if you don’t want to. There are many other healthier options that will naturally bring you into the state of ketosis.
Fad diets like the keto diet may work to reduce weight loss, but sustainability is unlikely because you have to stay away from that food for life. Most people can’t do that.
I know for myself, if I cut out bread from my diet now, I would likely go back to it years down the road. And once that happens, you gain the weight back. I can’t imagine being 80 years old and not being able to have a slice of toast. It’s these restrictive diets that give ketosis a bad name.
HOW TO DO IT FAST
If you want to get into ketosis fast, do an extreme type of exercise and burn up all your glucose. Once you do that your body starts making ketones. The ketones will switch you over to start burning fat instead of sugar.
If you don’t replenish the glucose levels in your body by eating carbohydrates, which turn into glucose, then you will be putting yourself in a deficit position so ketosis kicks in.
If you want to check how fast you reach ketosis, you can actually purchase kits that will check the ketone levels in your body.
WHY DO WE NEED TO GET INTO KETOSIS?
You want to achieve ketosis if you’re looking to lose a few pounds. Our bodies have spent a lifetime storing fat for their rainy-day fund.
By that, I mean, our bodies don’t want to starve. Because they don’t want to starve, they hang on to fat deposits in places where they can store it up for a while, like your butt, thighs, and belly.
I lost 50 pounds doing intermittent fasting, but before that, I had struggled with extra weight around my middle because of menopause. Nothing seemed to help. I did exercise but apparently not extreme enough to get into ketosis.
I didn’t want to eliminate entire food groups either, so I just reduced what I ate. I felt like I was eating like a bird, but apparently, I had not cut my caloric intake down enough to reach ketosis.
This is important to realize. You can do a lot of different things to try and lose weight but if it’s not putting you into ketosis, your body won’t burn its own fat for fuel.
The only way to use up your body’s rainy-day fund is to teach it to burn fat instead of sugar somehow. I do this by creating a caloric reduction either short-term or long-term to achieve ketosis.
And whatever method you use to reach ketosis, must be sustainable. If it’s not, it’s just a fad diet, and whatever weight you’ve lost, will be regained and then some. As soon as you start eating like normal again, your weight will pack right back on.
That’s why diets don’t work. Eliminating entire food groups can create a caloric deficit and help you achieve ketosis, but if it’s not sustainable long-term, then what’s the point.
You want to achieve ketosis long-term, and the only way that I have found to do that is through intermittent fasting. It creates a caloric deficit on a regular basis, that puts you into ketosis every time.
It’s not a diet, but rather a different way of eating. It’s the most sustainable way to achieve ketosis long term.
That’s what you need!
BENEFITS OF KETOSIS
The benefits of ketosis are huge. They are the same benefits that intermittent fasters experience or any ketogenic dieter. As long as the method by which you choose to achieve ketosis is long term, you will reap the rewards.
Those rewards come in the way of health. The benefits of ketosis will show up in your skin. It will reduce acne, eczema, and many other skin ailments.
I used to suffer from terrible eyelid eczema, but not anymore. Since achieving ketosis on a regular basis I have not had one bout of eczema.
Ketosis also benefits the heart. It reduces heart disease, high blood pressure, normalizes blood sugar, and lowers cholesterol. It benefits those with diabetes and prevents it as well. It also prevents Alzheimer’s.
Ketosis benefits your cells as well. It promotes cell regeneration through autophagy and increases the human growth hormone. It acts as a fountain of youth, by restoring wrinkles and giving you a healthy glow.
There are so many benefits to achieving ketosis that it’s hard to mention them all. Every body is different and reacts differently while in ketosis, but generally speaking the majority experience the same health benefits according to Harvard studies. I’ll link the study below.
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For further information, go to the Hungry Old Lady Youtube channel by clicking on the video at the end. I hope you enjoyed this article and consider living an intermittent fasting lifestyle.
