Ketosis

Hello,

I read something on MiniMins about keytosis and wondered what it was. I looked it up on Google and it seems that it is something that we shouldn`t get. Is this right, does anyone know anything about it?

Kathleen
 
Ketosis is the state your body goes into when youre on a VLCD, and eating no carbs. It means your body burns fat but more importantly it stops you feeling hungry, when youre on a VLCD and only having maybe 600 cals a day
 
Thanks for that, sounds good then. I was hungry the three days, today is day four so just hoping I will be less hungry and start burning some fat off my hips.
 
Well I have two or sometimes three shakes a day, no food as it`s easier not to eat. I have done it before for months and it`s no trouble after the first week or so. What do you think?
 
Ketosis is the result of ketones in the blood brought about by low levels of carbohydrate. Once your body has used up it store of glycogen and given low levels of carbohydrate, you body has to produce ketones in order to burn fat stores to convert them to energy. Normally your body would use carbohydrate first for energy, so with a carb restricted diet, your body needs to produce ketones to burn the fat stores.

Ketosis is actually a natural state that the body 'falls' in and out of at various times of the day, particularly during sleep when there are no carbs available to readily convert to energy.

Ketosis can potentially lead to the dangerous ketoacidosis, but this is a problem for some type 1 diabetics and alchoholics, and would not normally be a problem for anyone else.
 
Thanks to all who have answered my question. You have explained it very clearly Lynn. I am really impressed by your weight loss, just how have you managed that, has it been difficult? You must feel so much better and yes you deserve that ring. It`s so funny what you have written.
Kathleen
 
Thanks to all who have answered my question. You have explained it very clearly Lynn. I am really impressed by your weight loss, just how have you managed that, has it been difficult? You must feel so much better and yes you deserve that ring. It`s so funny what you have written.
Kathleen

Thanks Kathleen, I do feel wonderful now and not much further to go to hit my target. My weight loss is as a direct result of medication im on that does not mix with carbs. If i eat too much carb i get very sick. I didnt actually go on a diet, I had no intention of losing weight on 22 May, it was forced on me when my doc put me on these new meds. Gotta love my doc lol.

So the meds in effect forced me (virtually kicking and screaming) onto a low carb diet, and that has been the absolute saving of me. My health issue is type 2 diabetes and the med is Byetta. Anyone can do low carb, you dont need to be kicked in the a** by your doc to do it lol, and get the same sort of results. At my age (55) and given that diabetics generally have a hard time losing weight, i had given up any hope of ever getting slim, so this has been a major surprise to me.

I would recommend low carb as the way to go for anyone, and im not talking Atkins which i believe encourages you to eat too much fat (although Atkins does have great results, and anyone on it will swear by it). I simply had to stop eating potatoes, pasta, rice, white bread, and anything sugary or starchy, and keep to low fat foods (I had high cholestrol levels as well, now low cholestrol :)). And that was it really, and the rest as they say, is history.
 
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Lynn could you give me examples of the meals you have as i struggle to get my head round no carbs or very low carbs cheers
 
Lynn could you give me examples of the meals you have as i struggle to get my head round no carbs or very low carbs cheers

Eating low carb is pretty simple really, just avoid the starchy foods i mentioned before (potatoes, pasta, rice, white bread, sugar and flour) and concentrate on protein and lighter vegetables (not starchy ones).

Atkins starts you off at 20g of carb a day, to get you into ketosis pretty quick, but people doing vlcd meal replacements such as Exante or Cambridge diet for instance, are on around 58g of carb a day and still get into ketosis fairly quickly, so there is no need to go to the extreme of Atkins. When you try to cut down carbs to the level of Atkins it can be very difficult, and there is no need to do that. From the vlcd experience you can have up to 60g carb a day. If you do have up to 60g a day though you have to be careful to cut down fat in order to lose weight on it. I still have a sandwich for lunch most days, using small wholemeal Hovis loaf. Each slice is 9.5g, and i have ham and salad in it which has virtually no carb, so my lunchtime sandwich costs me about 20g carb. I did try Exante for a while and i love the shakes, those are 18.5g each and i have one for breakfast. Dinner is usually some meat or fish and veg or salad, so comes in around 6 to 12g.

If you concentrate on cutting out starchy foods and choosing low fat protein options ( chicken fish any type of meat, barring the fatty options) then you will find that your calorie level is automatically reduced as well. In fact you will find it hard to overeat if you follow those rules. I actually struggle to get to 900 calories a day, and im never (or very rarely) hungry. The only times that hunger does come in is if ive had more carbs than i should have, and there are sound reasons for this to do with insulin production and its effect on blood sugar levels.

In a nutshell, carbs convert very quickly to glucose which pushes blood glocuse levels up quickly, this in turn stimulates insulin production to bring the glucose levels down, which in turn makes you 'hungry' to eat more carbs to push the glucose levels up, which in turn stimulates insulin production.............and so on, resulting in a binge fest. Its a common problem we have all dealt with im sure.

Protein and low carb veg are released into the blood stream at a much slower rate, which keeps blood glucose levels stable, and evens out the insulin production considerably. This stops you getting hungry and stops the merry go round in its tracks, which is why people who low carb say they dont get hungry and feel full longer.

Im not sure if this has answered your question or if i have just rambled on as usual lol. But this is a subject im very passionate about, because I know low carb works, and i know there are sound scientific reasons why it does work.
 
i am low carbing with slim fast and i try to keep my carbs under 40 a day. my downfall used to be bread but once you have got in to ketosis you dont crave any food at all and yes it is a struggle to eat and you have to remind yourself to eat!! typical things i am having to eat is
3 slices of bacon with lots of shredded lettuce and i make my own garlic mayo sauce. it tastes just like a blt (without the 't' lol i dont like them!) and also without the bread and takes longer to eat than a sarnie! ;)
lean mince meat fried and drained with a little onion and mushrooms in and a squirt of bbq sauce with cabbage on the side ;)
omletes with onion, cheese, mushrooms and garlic salt yum :D
i was on atkins before slim fast but it didnt agree with me. too high fat as lynn said and i was on the loo 10 mins after everything i eat and it was quite expensive!! if i do have a carb fest then i take decarb tablets. it can get a bit boring and pizza is a no no but is worth it to see your weight dropping without making too much effort!! :)
ps kazzy, beer is very high carb so switch to spirits and diet pops with is zero carbs :D
 
see thats me doomed julie lol i dont do spirits not keen on them at all these days lol,,,i need to get back into my old bacardi days lol
 
ok another thick question lol,,,,,,,,,,,,,, what veggies would you say are starchy vegs,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and is red meat with fat removed ok? i tend to remove fat from all meats anyway have done for years
 
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