Ketosis and Dieting

Weight Loss, Ketosis and Dieting

Most diets restrict calorie intake and even if they work on the front end, tend to fail to keep weight off when dieters return to their normal eating habits. These diets aid in weight loss, but along with excess fat dieters lose lean muscle tissue. The problem with this approach is that reducing your muscle mass also lowers your metabolism. A slower metabolism makes it hard to keep the weight off, causing many dieters to find themselves not only back where they started, but many times even heavier.

Ketosis and dieting allows a dieter to lose fat while keeping lean muscle. Diets that provide adequate protein protect your lean muscle tissue and burn fat in the form of ketones.

Ketones

Ketones are a source of fuel that provide energy for the body. This fuel is produced by the liver through the breakdown of body fat into fatty acids and ketones. Ketosis and dieting works because body fat breaks down due to the absence of sugar. Burned fat releases mild acids which work as a reserved fuel. These fatty acids are released into the bloodstream and the body converts them to ketones. During ketosis and dieting, the body substitutes using glucose for energy and instead uses stored fat and dietary fat. Excess ketones are eliminated through urination.

The Controversy

Some experts claim that ketosis is dangerous, citing risks in spite of the success of low-carb diets like the Atkins and South Beach diets. However, following a low-carb diet helps the body use ketones as fuel instead of glucose. Ketosis helps the body convert stored fat into fuel. Ketones are a byproduct of this conversion. Once the body no longer takes in carbs to produce glycogen, and after the glycogen is depleted from the liver, a change in metabolism uses stored fat and dietary fat for fuel. To make things clear, it's important to understand that there is a difference between ketosis and Ketoacidosis.

Two types of Ketoacidosis exist. The first is due to a concurrent rise in blood glucose and blood acidity in a diabetic. The other occurs when a person does not eat and heavily consumes alcohol. Ketoacidosis is dangerous for diabetics but it is not ketosis. The main element in Ketoacidosis is acid, not ketones. This happens when blood sugar becomes extremely high which in turn creates and acidic blood pH. If you do not fall into either of these groups, your body should keep ketone production efficient.

How a Ketogenic Diet Works

Our bodies need energy. Basically, we get that energy from glucose provided by the food we eat. Our bodies store approximately a 24-hour supply of glucose. If you don't have glucose to burn for energy, your body begins to burn fat. A ketogenic diet gets 80 percent of its calories from fat and forces your body to burn fat. Meals consist of about four times the amount of fat compared to protein or carbohydrates.

It's Nothing New

When Dr. Atkins introduced his diet in 1972, it was nothing new. As far back as 1862, the Harvey-Banting diet was published by William Banting after he not only lost considerable weight, but also his laundry list of maladies which were caused by obesity. Today there are a number of books promoting low carb diet plans. Some of these include:

Books

• Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution
• Life Without Bread
• Natural Health and Weigh Loss
• Fat Flush Plan
• South Beach Diet
• The Carbohydrate Addict's Healthy Heart Program: Break Your Carbo-Insulin Connection to Heart Disease
• The Zone
• Sugar Busters

Before You Start

No matter which low-carb diet plan you choose, remember to check with your health care provider before starting a diet. If you are pregnant, suffer from kidney or liver disease or are an alcoholic, a low-carb ketogenic diet is not for you. Ketosis and dieting are tolerated differently from individual to individual as insulin activity is reduced and cellular fat formation slows.