Why keto diet
The effects we are interested in are the ones pertaining to hormones. The ketogenic eating regime helps you achieve:
- Higher levels of growth hormone
- Higher levels of glucagon (onе of the main burners of excess body fat)
- Normal and not high levels of insulin
- Improved levels of cortisol (the first few days it might rise a bit, that’s normal)
What does it mean to burn sugars?
It’s been said that the main source of energy for the body is glucose. Unfortunately, today this is true. But glucose is not the best energy source for the body.
Some amount of the glucose made by eating carbs (bread, soft drinks, sweets…) is used for the body’s momentary energy needs. The rest goes through a process of bonding the glucose molecules and glycogen is created. Glycogen is glucose in “bulkier” form intended for storage. And this is not all.
The body stores the glycogen in your muscles and liver, for future needs. When glucose is lowered, the body turns to the stored glycogen in the muscles and liver, starts extracting it from the stores, turns it back to glucose and sends it to circulate through the blood in order to satisfy the momentary energy needs.
The problem is when the glycogen reserves are already full and still there is a fresh intake of carbs. Then, the rest unused glucose can’t be stored (reserves are full) and the hormone insulin turns them into fat and sends them to the fatty tissues in order to be stored as fat. Ketosis halts this process.
Start of change
A few days after a very low carbs intake, glycogen reserves will be emptied. Then the liver starts to produce a bit of glucose from the amino acids (component parts of protein) you’ve eaten, but this glucose is not by far enough to satisfy the energy needs the brain and the body are used to. Then the body starts to produce ketones as an “alternative” fuel for the brain and the body.
When ketones will get to a certain level in the blood then the body enters the state of ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state of the organism when it uses fats for energy instead of glucose.
In order to get and maintain the body into state of ketosis, you need to lower your carbohydrate intake to a max 40 grams a day. Along with this you need to increase the protein and fat intake, as described here.
Being in ketosis doesn’t require special food combinations and doesn’t impose strict regimes with morning ceremonies, or in specific hours during the day. The more you are under 40 grams of carbs a day, the more potential you have to enter ketosis. If you go over 40 grams a day, you’ll get knocked out of ketosis and you might need days to come back into ketosis.
