My interest in going on a ketosis diet began a couple of years ago when I joined a slimming plan called LighterLife. On this diet I lost about 41/2 stone (65 pounds). Although I have struggled to keep my weight down, returning to lighterlife on occasions, I’m still about 3 1/2 pounds (around 50 pounds) lighter than when I started. All in all as a person who has struggled with their weight constantly over the years, finding this diet was a complete godsend.
The diet is a very low calorie diet – about 500 calories a day, were you only eat packs that you buy. Also included in the plan is a weekly group behaviour therapy session which aims to help you understand why you overeat and offers tips on changing your behaviour so that weight won’t be put back on again.
The great advantage to a very low calorie diet is the spectacular weight loss which is a great motivator for adhering to the diet. Generally you will lose 1/2 pound per day.
These days to help maintain my weight I broadly follow a palaeolithic diet which excludes grains, legumes, dairy and processed foods of all kinds. Two exceptions are a little cheese and bacon.
Ketosis Diets – What is Ketosis? A simple explanation from a non medic.
When ever I mention ketosis diets to people they find it very confusing. On the one hand I am a great advocate of the benefits of ketosis diets particularly for weight lose, and they can see that I have done well on these diets. On the other hand however, people have heard somehow that it is dangerous, even life threatening, and often are worried about my health.
Put very simply ketosis is so named when the body starts to produce ketones (sometimes called ketone bodies), in response to the metabolism of fat. During the metabolism of fat for energy the fat is converted into ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) these are the molecules the cells in the body uses for energy. As part of this metabolic process ketones are produced.
During periods reduced amounts of carbohydrates are eaten the body will in turn produce more ketones as body fat is converted into an energy source your bodies cells and organs (e.g brain) can use. It is interesting that some organs like the heart actually prefer to use energy from ketones. Other cells are able to use ketones for energy, if glucose is not available.
One side effect of the body using ketones for energy and is therefore in ketosis, is that acetone is a side produce. it is acetone that produces the distinct smell on the breath and urine.
Testing for ketosis
To find out if you are in ketosis it is very simple to test. All you need to do is to buy a product called a ketostix (or similar). The test is easy just place the strip into your stream of urine and then compare the colour to the chart on the side of the bottle. Low carbohydate diets often recommend (Atkins, Lighterlife) that you measure your ketone levels, to check the diet is going to plan and that you are burning fat. it should be noted that you need to be consuming less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day for the ketones to show up on a urine test.
Ketosis diets – Is ketosis dangerous?
There is a common misconception that a ketosis diet is a bad thing. This probably comes from two sources the first is simplistic in that the body simply isn’t getting enough glucose and this must be a bad thing. Then secondly there is a condition called Ketoacidosis This a metabolic problem when high amounts of ketones in the body due to the breakdown of fatty acids are produced. Ketoacidosis is extreme and uncontrolled, as the body is unable to regulate ketone production. The effect of this is that the pH of the blood reduces, often with fatal results. Ketoacidosis is assiciated with diabetes mellitus (type 1 diabetes). Ketoacidosis can occur in chronic alcoholics. It is generally thought that low carbohydrate diets would not produce ketoacidosis.
What are Ketosis diets?
This is any diet that promotes a physiological state of ketosis. Typically this would be a low carbohydrate or very low calorie diet. Diets like Atkins, South Beach and the Zone diets all have phases were ketosis is encouraged to promote weight loss.
In summary in would appear that ketosis diets can help you to lose weight when you follow a low carbohydrate diet or very low calorie diet.
Sometimes ketosis diets are prescribed medical diets, used to control drug resistant epilepsy generally in children. More information in ketogenic diets to control eplilpsy can be found here.
http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/treatment_Ketogenic_diet
http://www.charliefoundation.org/
Further information
Palaeolithic Diet information
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
Taking all things into account I’m really happy that I have gone through the experience of a ketosis diet.
