How to Boost Your Body into Ketosis

measuring weight lossKetosis is a metabolic process in which the body uses fatty acids as its primary source of fuel. During ketosis, fat is converted into ketones, which are then metabolized to produce energy for your body. Over the years, ketosis has become a popular phenomenon in the world of nutrition.

It has been found helpful in providing a wide range of health benefits, especially when it comes to achieving weight loss and improving one’s fitness levels. As a matter of fact, according to research, ketosis has been found to be helpful in fighting and managing a variety of health conditions, including neurological disorders, type 2 diabetes, and epilepsy, just to mention a few.

But if you guessed right, diet is the most important thing as far as ketosis is concerned. This is why you must have come across terms such as keto diet or ketogenic diet, which simply refers to diets that are aimed at stimulating or improving ketosis. But how can you harness the benefits of ketosis?


Here are some pointers you will find helpful on how to boost your body into ketosis:

Minimize Carb Consumption

To get the most out of your ketogenic diet, the least and most important thing you can do is minimize your intake of carbohydrates. This means sticking to low-carb diets if you have to consume carbs at all. But why is this?

Well, carbohydrates such as glucose tend to be the main source of fuel in the body. Before exploring other alternatives, cells break down glucose to produce the energy needed to fuel the normal biological and biochemical processes that take place in the body. However, fatty acids and ketones also make a powerful and healthier source of energy.

But when on a low-carb diet, the levels or of glycogen (glucose in stored form) as well as the levels of insulin in the body are significantly reduced. This stimulates the release of fatty acids from your body’s fat stores, which are then metabolized in the liver and converted ketone bodies. Ketone bodies consist of the following:

  • Acetone
  • Acetoacetate
  • Beta-hydroxybutyrate

These products of fatty acid metabolism are then used as energy sources, which is precisely why ketogenic diet is helpful in weight loss and management. The ideal limit of carbs intake to achieve ketosis may vary from individual to individual.


However, most people tend to achieve results when consuming not more than 20 grams to 50 grams of carbs daily for at least a few weeks. Such outcomes were demonstrated in a 2005 study* that sought to assess the various effects of a low-carb diet in diabetes type 2 patients. This means that consuming a low-carb diet can aid in achieving the benefits of ketosis when on a keto-diet.

Include More Healthy Fat in Your Diet

Another way to boost your body into ketosis is to take more healthy fat. The idea is to get most of your calories from healthy fat. This is especially the case if you’re into a keto diet for weight loss or to boost your exercise performance levels. To get the best out of your ketogenic diet, you have to get your fats from high-quality sources. Just to mention a few, some healthy high-fat foods you could try include:

  • Avocadoes
  • Nuts
  • Chocolate
  • Coconut oil
  • Fatty fish such as salmon and tuna
  • Whole eggs
  • Full-fat yogurt
  • Cheese

Nonetheless, it is important avoid consuming too much calories overall, especially if your main goal is to achieve weight loss through a ketogenic diet.

Short Fasting & Fat Fasting

As absurd as it may sound, skipping meals can also help boost your body into ketosis. Not to be confused with the usual kind of fasting, intermittent fasting involves going without food in regular short intervals or cycles that alternate between eating and fasting. This dietary approach requires you to consume about 1000 calories daily, with at least 850 to 900 calories coming from high-quality fat foods.

However, fat fasts should be followed for not more than 5 days since this low-calorie high-fat diet contains very little protein. It can lead to the loss of muscle mass if overdone. In addition to boosting the body into ketosis and promoting weight loss, intermittent fasting has been found to have lots of other health benefits according to these scientific studies.

Take Adequate Protein

As much as observing a low-carb diet is helpful in boosting ketosis, it’s important not to neglect the protein side of things. To stimulate your body to respond well to your keto-diet, the consumption of protein in adequate amounts is paramount. This is because amino acids are vital to certain processes in the body, like gluconeogenesis, for instance. Additionally, not all cells in the body can use ketones as their main fuel source. With an adequate amount of proteins in your nutrition, the liver gets supplied with the necessary amino acids essential to fuel cells in certain parts of the body such as the kidneys, the brain, and the red blood cells. An adequate supply of proteins will also help prevent mass wasting or the excessive loss of muscle mass (which is maintained by proteins).


This research suggests that at least 1.2g – 1.7g of protein is ideal per kilogram of lean muscle mass. This makes it important to know how to calculate how much protein you need when on a keto-diet. This is obtained by multiplying your ideal body weight (in kg) with the recommended range of 1.2 – 1.7 to get the amount of proteins your daily diet should contain. For instance, if you plan on maintaining your weight at 60 kg, then your body will need (60X1.2 to 60X1.7) grams of protein daily. This gives us 72–102 grams.

Take a Keto Supplement

Last but not the least, you can also consider using a keto supplement to boost your body into ketosis. Some of them could even help you to deviate from your meal plan if you can’t come up with a good plan ideal for ketosis. Some of the best keto supplements promise increased energy levels, reduced appetite, and improved alertness in addition to faster weight loss.

The harsh truth, however, is that not all the products out there on the shelves be effective, beneficial, and most importantly; safe and free from adverse side effects. Some will even take ages to deliver the first results. This means that you ought to be extremely careful before purchasing such a nutritional product. It is also important to seek your doctor’s approval before commencing the use of such a product, especially if you have an alarming medical history.

Diet is one of the most important factors to consider looking into as far as improving your health and fitness levels is concerned. On this note and as pointed out above, a keto diet can be a good solution to help you achieve your weight loss and fitness goals. To boost the effects of your ketogenic diet, a keto supplement can also be helpful.

In case you’re looking for a reliable one, there’s a new brand called Keto Lift that is said to be safe and effective in delivering the various benefits of ketosis, at least according to online reviews and consumer feedback reports.


References:

“2005 Study” – Ann Intern Med. 2005 Mar 15;142(6):403-11.
Effect of a low-carbohydrate diet on appetite, blood glucose levels, and insulin resistance in obese patients with type 2 diabetes.
Boden G1, Sargrad K, Homko C, Mozzoli M, Stein TP.

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