Ketosis -- can someone help me figure this out?

[Greta]

I'm a die-hard fan of low-carb, but the question always remains: how low should you go? I've heard so much conflicting information on this. On the one hand, there's some very l-c diets that recommend going low enough to get into a state of ketosis, to burn fat better and to live longer. On the other hand, there's people advocating restricting carbs, but NOT enough to get into ketosis, which they say is an unhealthful, "starvation" state. I have never really seen any hard evidence to back up *either* claim. Can anyone help me sort this out?

[farmgirlinwv]

Hi,

 

I love LC too. It's the only way I lose weight and feel my best. I think that's because it's well suited to my genetic makeup. I don't think everyone would feel good on it. That said, I do not worry about how *deep* a ketosis I'm in. I can find no danger in it. Many different tribles of people throughout history have survived on mostly meat w/ only a few veggies. Their health was fine. I think you should find what level you feel good at and go w/ it! I like to do a 3 day meat and egg fast to get into deep ketosis because it really knocks my hunger out. Then add in some veggies.

 

You may get some LC bashing posts, but it's a great WOE for some people. It's the only way that I feel really great w/ great energy and no binging. Lean meats, organic eggs, and organic veggies are a heck of a lot healthier than the fast food, junk food I would otherwise be eating if I get into eating too many carbs. It's like a real addiction.

 

Good luck finding what level you feel good at. I do not worry at all about it being harmful to me. How could I be *starving* if I've eaten 1500 cals? Makes no sense. People are different. For some people LC is a gift from God. For others they would be miserable on it. BTW, I've been in very deep ketosis w/ bad breath and stinky BO and felt great, looked great, had fabulous NRG, and lost over 100 lbs.

 

Lisa

[Greta]

Lisa, thanks so much for sharing your experiences! It makes perfect sense that I'll just have to experiment and find what level is right for me. When I first started LC I had read the book Life Without Bread, so I used their recommendation of a 72g per day carb limit. They, at least as I recall, didn't mention ketosis and I certainly never bought any ketosis strips or anything, so I really don't know if I was in ketosis or not at that level. I did find that by reducing it a bit further, to about 36-48g per day, I felt really great and had no sugar cravings. I did that for a little over two years, and it was probably the two healthiest years of my life! But then I slipped , and ate the standard American diet for several months.

 

I wanted to start again, and my brother was doing Atkins so I thought I'd give that a try. Induction is a lot more restrictive than the 72 gram per day limit. And my brother recommended the ketosis strips, so I became aware of that and always had it as a goal to be as "deep" in ketosis as possible. Ever since then, I seem to have been stuck in this horrible cycle of being "on" my diet and in ketosis alternated with periods of being "off" my diet completely and eating whatever I want (and gaining wait, and getting acne, and having abdominal pain, etc.!)

 

So, I'm starting to think that I should just go back to the 36-48g per day level that worked really well for me, regardless of whether that puts me in ketosis or not. Anything less than that seems really hard for me to maintain (though I have a hard time letting go of the feeling that I SHOULD do it), and anything more than that seems to make me hungrier.

 

How do you maintain your diet -- do you count carb grams, or do you just eat certain types of foods and avoid others?

[Joanne]

The most experienced, researched and reliable anecdotal and clinical info I've ever gotten on lc is from the boards on this site:

 

http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/

 

For me, I don't count the carbs of non starchy veggies. I eat unlimited meat and non starchy veggies and don't worry about it. When I'm on my lc program, I eat better, healthier and more veggies than nearly everyone I know.

 

I don't believe "deep ketosis" is dangerous; I also don't believe in the mentality to get there as deep and quick as you can.

[Greta]

Joanne, thanks for your help! That link isn't working for me for some reason, but I'll try it again later. I have found that I make healthier choices, such as eating lots more veggies (and I don't count potatoes as a veggie!), when I eat LC. I tend to chose more whole, homemade, and non-processed foods too.