Sup guys, so recently, I've been doing extensive research on Keto & low-carb high fat diets. As I'm sure many of you reading know, the point of a ketogenic diet is to put you IN a state of ketosis, which by definition is "a metabolic state characterized by raised levels of ketone bodies in the body. This is how ketosis is achieved: "Limiting carb intake and protein intake encourages the body to burn fat–and thus produce ketones. Importantly, restricting proteins as well as carbohydrates limits the amount of substrate available for gluconeogenesis. This is the process of making glucose from non-glucose molecules such as lactate, glycerol, or protein." "Ketone are produced by the liver from fatty acids during periods of low food intake (fasting), carbohydrate restrictive diets, starvation, prolonged intense exercise"
So here's what's interesting. Having these elevated ketones in the blood IS NOT what leads to enhanced fat loss, rather, simply the result of the "breakdown of fatty acids in the liver." In other words, the presence of Ketones simply mean you're body is using fatty acids, either from your fat stores OR dietary fat as a means of energy. And this is where the huge misconception that I believe exists, originates from. I think most many people believe that the presence of ketones ensues completely from the breakdown of body fat, and thus they are burning more fat than not being in ketosis, which is partially true, however, they neglect the fact these ketones are largely a result from simply eating and breaking down more DIETARY fat.
Popular belief of nutritional ketosis is that it's black & white. You need to be IN it (>0.6mmol/L) , by eating very low amounts (~<25g) of carbs daily, to see the glorious enhanced fat burning and if you're OUT of ketosis, even if only by eating a few too many carbs daily, you're not doing yourself much good- Essentially that eating 30-50g is only marginally, if any better at all than eating 150g+ of carbs. In other words, that the relationship between carb intake and what I'm calling the "Fat Burning Factor" is EXPONENTIAL, seeing a drastic increase at the "magic" point where ketosis is typically achieved. (~25g) This can be seen from the graph I made in the first link below. In reality, I believe the relationship is more linear, where one's fat burning "factor" is steadily increased as carbs are lowered, as shown by the second graph.
https://ibb.co/hnYJ4z
https://ibb.co/kHvsWe
I am yet to read or see anything that truly explains/proves how reaching ketosis, which again is having >0.6mmol/L of ketones in your blood, is like turning on a switch that drastically ramps up fat burning. It just doesn't make sense. Every piece of literature you will hear or read about a ketogenic diet essentially say the same, general, vague thing. "A ketogenic diet, which consists of 70%-85% fat and 5%-10% or less than ~25g of carbs, signals/makes your body start burning fat for energy, which puts ketones in your blood... blah blah blah" Now I know this this seems overly simplified, and it is, but most descriptions seriously don't explain this more in depth and definitely don't touch on what I am now. Don't believe me? Go research yourself.
So to wrap up. I think there is a HUGE misconception with Ketogenic diets. Yes, while higher levels of ketones in your blood probably does indicate that you have burned more body fat than if there were none, I don't think reaching official "ketosis" is like turning on a magic switch. I strongly believe that there is a more linear relationship between decreased carb intake and fat burning "factor". What is the best way to describe this "factor" you might ask? Insulin. When we eat less carbs, insulin secretion also decreases and vice versa. In recent years, insulin has been crowned as the foremost contributing factor to fat storage/inability to lose fat. If has been shown that there is a direct relationship between increased insulin levels and weight gain and vice versa. So it makes sense that decreasing carbs, even if still above the point of ketosis, should still aid in fat loss.
That's a topic for another day though, but there's a plethora of youtube videos and articles you can read on the matter which I HIGHLY suggest you do. It will enlighten you. Here are two I recommend. I also recommend reading "The Obesity Code", as it goes very in depth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo3TRbkIrow (Shorter)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni5-3x6ofjc (Longer)
That all said, how do you guys feel about this? Do you disagree? Do you think that the popular belief is true? That being officially in ketosis is necessary for enhanced fat loss? If you have any studies that relate to this matter, please post them. Thanks for reading!
So here's what's interesting. Having these elevated ketones in the blood IS NOT what leads to enhanced fat loss, rather, simply the result of the "breakdown of fatty acids in the liver." In other words, the presence of Ketones simply mean you're body is using fatty acids, either from your fat stores OR dietary fat as a means of energy. And this is where the huge misconception that I believe exists, originates from. I think most many people believe that the presence of ketones ensues completely from the breakdown of body fat, and thus they are burning more fat than not being in ketosis, which is partially true, however, they neglect the fact these ketones are largely a result from simply eating and breaking down more DIETARY fat.
Popular belief of nutritional ketosis is that it's black & white. You need to be IN it (>0.6mmol/L) , by eating very low amounts (~<25g) of carbs daily, to see the glorious enhanced fat burning and if you're OUT of ketosis, even if only by eating a few too many carbs daily, you're not doing yourself much good- Essentially that eating 30-50g is only marginally, if any better at all than eating 150g+ of carbs. In other words, that the relationship between carb intake and what I'm calling the "Fat Burning Factor" is EXPONENTIAL, seeing a drastic increase at the "magic" point where ketosis is typically achieved. (~25g) This can be seen from the graph I made in the first link below. In reality, I believe the relationship is more linear, where one's fat burning "factor" is steadily increased as carbs are lowered, as shown by the second graph.
https://ibb.co/hnYJ4z
https://ibb.co/kHvsWe
I am yet to read or see anything that truly explains/proves how reaching ketosis, which again is having >0.6mmol/L of ketones in your blood, is like turning on a switch that drastically ramps up fat burning. It just doesn't make sense. Every piece of literature you will hear or read about a ketogenic diet essentially say the same, general, vague thing. "A ketogenic diet, which consists of 70%-85% fat and 5%-10% or less than ~25g of carbs, signals/makes your body start burning fat for energy, which puts ketones in your blood... blah blah blah" Now I know this this seems overly simplified, and it is, but most descriptions seriously don't explain this more in depth and definitely don't touch on what I am now. Don't believe me? Go research yourself.
So to wrap up. I think there is a HUGE misconception with Ketogenic diets. Yes, while higher levels of ketones in your blood probably does indicate that you have burned more body fat than if there were none, I don't think reaching official "ketosis" is like turning on a magic switch. I strongly believe that there is a more linear relationship between decreased carb intake and fat burning "factor". What is the best way to describe this "factor" you might ask? Insulin. When we eat less carbs, insulin secretion also decreases and vice versa. In recent years, insulin has been crowned as the foremost contributing factor to fat storage/inability to lose fat. If has been shown that there is a direct relationship between increased insulin levels and weight gain and vice versa. So it makes sense that decreasing carbs, even if still above the point of ketosis, should still aid in fat loss.
That's a topic for another day though, but there's a plethora of youtube videos and articles you can read on the matter which I HIGHLY suggest you do. It will enlighten you. Here are two I recommend. I also recommend reading "The Obesity Code", as it goes very in depth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo3TRbkIrow (Shorter)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni5-3x6ofjc (Longer)
That all said, how do you guys feel about this? Do you disagree? Do you think that the popular belief is true? That being officially in ketosis is necessary for enhanced fat loss? If you have any studies that relate to this matter, please post them. Thanks for reading!
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