Keto and The Body- How It Works

[Capricio]

-I put them together from 2 sites, referenced below, i think it has some very good info about how it works-

A Ketogenic Diet is a muscle-sparing fat-loss diet that works by forcing the body into ketosis through carbohydrate deprivation. Ketosis is a state where the body converts fat into ketones that the brain can use for fuel when glucose (carbohydrates) are in short supply. It's metabolic trickery that has some major advantages over a regular, carb-based diets.

It's a common misconception, even among doctors, that the brain can only use glucose for fuel. In actuality, it can burn either glucose or ketones, but under normal circumstances ketones aren't produced by the body. Most of the time, everyone in the world has their brain burning glucose. The only time the body would create and burn ketones in large quantities is when insufficient glucose is available as a fuel source. The way to make glucose (a basic sugar) unavailable, is to simply restrict carbohydrate consumption to 30g/day or less. For example, if you stop eating all carbs at, say, 6:00 PM on Sunday, and then do a heavy weightlifting workout Monday and Tuesday, this will deplete your liver and bloodstream of and glucose, and your muscles of glycogen. At that point, your liver will start producing ketones, so the brain has a fuel to work with, and if you consume no carbohydrates at all, the body will start converting protein into glucose as it will still need at least 30g glucose per day.

There are many benefits of ketodieting, among them are: Your body burns fat as it's primary fuel source 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Thus, if you restrict calories, you will burn off adipose bodyfat at a rate no carb-based diet can match. Next, people in ketosis very often eat much less than when they're on carbs. For most people, being in ketosis strongly blunts hunger feelings, which makes it much easier to restrict calories:

Ketones directly affect the part of your brain that gives you nausea, and the part of your brain that controls appetite (those two parts are less than a centimeter apart in your brain). As a result, you will normally become nauseous and sick, and you will not feel as hungry. If you think about it, a small appetite is a gift when you are really starving.

Ketodiets also naturally spare lean muscle mass, far more than normal diets, when adequate protein is consumed (50-150g/day minimum, 1g/lb bodyweight recommended). Sparing lean muscle mass is incredibly important to dieters, as it helps to keep your metabolism from slowing down, which helps both in keeping the fat loss going, and with maintaining the fat loss once you're off the diet.

Ketodieting does have it's disadvantages though. Many people think that ketodieting is very unhealthy due to the high amount of fat and cholesterol that you can consume on the diet (relative to 'normal' diets). But, if you make wise food choices, you can stay on a ketodiet while eating very very healthy.
Another disadvantage is that it's very restrictive in the fact that carbohydrates are in most foods people eat on a day to day basis, and this can make ketodieting tough at first. Please be sure to review the foods list thoroughly so the diet is still healthy, and not boring to the palette!
Next, when weightlifting, your lifts will go down very significantly (10% or more), because your muscles use glucose to produce the energy needed for lifting. This can be a bit depressing, but the strength is easily regained when carbs are refed. One last problem can be bad breathe, one of the ketones your body produces is Acetone, which can be exhaled noticably. This can produce 'fruity' and not-great smelling breath in some people.

Side effects of the diet include: Possible intermittant bad breath (aka ketobreath) due to acetone respiration. Feeling nauseous during the first couple times when you switch over from glucose to ketones. The solution to this is to add a few carbs back in each day, say an extra 10-15 grams or so. The first week is usually wierd, but after that your brain will get used to it. What happens is that the first time you ketodiet, your brain can still only use 100% glucose for fuel, so the liver creates glucose from protein using a process called gluconeogenesis. After three weeks in ketosis, the brain can get up to 70-75% of it's fuel from ketones, which is when you really start feeling 'normal' again.


References:

http://www.ketogenic.net/whatis.php
http://www.keto.org/summary.htm

[Canarian Roy]

Good work Capricio !!! Hope newbies can now read this before starting to ask questions they could have answered by doing some simple reading.
Cheers and Good luck

[Jen_Ess]

Originally posted by Capricio
-


Ketones directly affect the part of your brain that gives you nausea, and the part of your brain that controls appetite (those two parts are less than a centimeter apart in your brain). As a result, you will normally become nauseous and sick, and you will not feel as hungry. If you think about it, a small appetite is a gift when you are really starving.

References:

http://www.ketogenic.net/whatis.php
http://www.keto.org/summary.htm

I think these are really good references that you posted and i plan on reading into the stuff some more..but... I don't agree with the above refernced quote. There is no appetite control center in the brain. For years researchers have believed the hypothalamus to be the control center, but more recent research (and perhaps more radical approaches) have shown that there are other areas of the brain responsible for appetite. I dont support the idea of a control center and I think that the reduced appetite has to come from other mechanisms. Any explanation that relies on the idea of a control center is incorrect in my opinion. sorry i just had to post about this one certain thing that i disagree with.

[Original Poster]

Originally posted by Capricio
......and if you consume no carbohydrates at all, the body will start converting protein into glucose as it will still need at least 30g glucose per day.

Capricio, good post. But The above is not exactly correct.
Actually on just about any calorically restricted diet there is always a certain amount of protein conversion. Thus the need for higher protein intake to ensure muscle sparing.

What's great about a ketonic diet is that the rate of protein conversion drops significantly after the motabolism has full switched over to fat for fuel (which is about 2-3 weeks for most people). If I remember corectly is that in the intitial stages the rate of protein conversion can be upward of 55-58% both in the intitial stages of a ketonic diet and a traditional carb based cutting diet. Once the motabolism has fully switched over on a ketonic diet, the rate of protein conversion drops to I believe somewhere around 35-38%. This is why the need for high amounts of protein is even less o on a keto diet, the body simply burns less protein.Thus the muscle sparing part of the diet.

PEACE

[j1pvt]

Found this list of Ketogenic Foods

Ketogenic Foods.


Here's a partial list of just some of the foods that can be consumed on a ketogenic diet. I'll start with the '100% safe foods', the ones that shouldn't throw you out of ketosis due to having either no carbs, or trace amounts of carbs. Next I'll go to 'questionable' foods, such as hotdogs, where you must check the carb content on the package, because some hotdogs have only 1 gram of carbs per hotdog, some have seven. I'm also including a list of higher carb content foods, that can be eaten in VERY limited quantities. Finally I give a list of foods that shouldn't be eaten on a ketodiet at all. (Note: I've tried to list every food I know, in any form, so there will be some redundancy. Foods marked with an '*' are considered healthy, we highly recommend eating them as much as possible while staying under your carb limit and staying in ketosis!)



Safe Foods (No Carbs/Trace Carbs)

Beef, Steak, Hamburger, Prime Rib, Filet Mignon, Roast Beef, Chicken*, Duck, Any Fish*, Tuna*, Salmon*, Trout*, Halibut*, Lamb, Pork, Bacon, Ham, Eggs, Shrimp, Crab, Lobster, Butter, Oils (Olive Oil*, Flaxseed oil*, etc.), Mustard, Salt, Pepper, Soy Sauce, Tea, Coffee, Heavy Cream and Nutrasweet/Equal.



Minimal Carb Foods (Limited Quantities Only, Check Carb Content!)

Broccoli*, Spinach*, Lettuce*, Cabbage*, Bok Choy*, Kale*, Asparagus*, Mustard Greens*, Mushrooms*, Cucumbers*, Pickles*, Olives*, Celery*, Green Beans*, Brussel Sprouts*, Cauliflower*, Artichokes*, Peppers* (Red, Green, Jalapeno, Habanero), Onions*, Nuts, Flaxseeds*, Cheeses, Salami, Pastrami, Hot Dogs, Sausages, Ribs (watch out for the sauce!), Buffalo Wings, Liverwurst, Oysters, Abalone, Protein Powders, Sugar Free Jello, Salad Dressings (some), some Wines.



Higher Carb Foods (Very Limited Quantities!)

Grapefruit*, Lemons*, Limes*, Strawberries*, Olives*, Rasberries*, Blackberries*, Kiwis*, and Half-N-Half.
Foods that are NOT appropriate.

Beer, Mixed drinks, Bread, Milk, Pasta, Grains, Cereal, Rice, Potatoes, Corn, Carrots, Peas, Candy, Cake, Cheesecake, Donuts, Fruit Juices, High Carb Fruits (Apricots, Banannas, Peaches, Nectarines, etc.), Pastries, Non-Diet Soft Drinks, Rolls, Bagels, Popcorn, Battered
Foods (Fried Chicken, etc.), Gravy, Honey, Sugar, and Corn Syrup.

Notes: Diet Soft Drinks, such as Diet Coke, Diet 7-Up, and Diet Pepsi can usually be consumed in large quantities, but the citric acid content in these drinks can throw some people out of ketosis. Be sure to check in your individual case if this happens. Hard liquor, such as scotch, vodka, etc can be consumed because they have virtually no carbs. Wine actually makes a nice ketogenic alcoholic drink, as most wines have only 1-6 grams of carbs per glass, the sweeter the wine, the more carbs. Beer is usually very high in carbs, having 10-15 grams per glass. Watch out though, when you're in ketosis your blood sugar will be very low, and the alcohol will have a more pronounced effect.

[KLMARB]

I think these are really good references that you posted and i plan on reading into the stuff some more..but... I don't agree with the above refernced quote. There is no appetite control center in the brain. For years researchers have believed the hypothalamus to be the control center, but more recent research (and perhaps more radical approaches) have shown that there are other areas of the brain responsible for appetite. I dont support the idea of a control center and I think that the reduced appetite has to come from other mechanisms. Any explanation that relies on the idea of a control center is incorrect in my opinion. sorry i just had to post about this one certain thing that i disagree with.

Here's an article you'll find interesting, especially if you delve into the sources/studies afterwards..

http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/hormones/hungry.htm