By definition, nutritional ketosis refers to the state when the body efficiently burns fat as the primary source of fuel rather than glucose. Nutritional ketosis is also called a ketogenic diet. When you are on a ketogenic diet, you are a fat burner and not a sugar burner.
Proteins are for the development of muscles. So when they are consumed in enough portions, and then you make up for the remaining bit with fats, your liver starts to convert fats into ketone bodies (energy molecules).
Nutritional ketosis ensures that muscles have enough energy rather than the fuel being stored as fat cells due to resistance caused by insulin.
How Nutritional Ketosis is Done
The basics are:
Restrict your carbohydrates intake to anything below 25g a day. Make a habit of scrutinizing labels of food and drinks at departmental stores when shopping.
Your uptake of calories should be from moderate proteins and fat. Moderate proteins are found in cheese, avocado, chicken, butter, salmon, eggs, etc.
Ensure that you electrolytes in good quantities. Nutritional ketosis has been found to deplete the levels of potassium and sodium in the body. These electrolytes can be found in salty water or food.
Benefits of Nutritional Ketosis
The key benefits are:
It helps to stabilize the sugar level in the blood. The sugar level will fluctuate depending on how your body responds to protein and also the time during the day that you measure your sugar level. The blood sugar level will also affect how insulin is used in the body. It self-regulates. The body also stops the production of Ghrelin which is a hunger hormone. When insulin and blood sugar levels change, the fat cells in your body will start to release fat after converting it into energy.
Your body tissues normally store glucose plus water. During the initial stages of keto when there is a depletion of the water reserves, the water is released resulting in weight loss. This loss of water does not happen to all the people who start this journey of nutritional ketosis.
Likely problems during nutritional ketosis
Enumerated below are the likely difficulties one may encounter when trying out nutritional ketosis:
During the period of the changeover, which is about five days, the body is likely to develop cravings for certain foods that are very rich in carbohydrates. This will result in increased hunger. To avoid the cravings, always reduce the uptake of foods that are rich in carbohydrates gradually until the body is used.
In the same period of the changeover, the electrolyte may drop so much that you start to feel weak, light-headed or disoriented. You feel like you are suffering from flu. During nutritional ketosis, your body needs a lot of electrolytes. To cure this problem, try having either
juice from pickle or chicken broth.
There is a likelihood of feeling like you are in a weightlifting session or sprinting. This is due to a short supply of glucose in the muscles. This condition will only last for 14 days before things normalize. This explains the reason why long distance runners like nutritional ketosis.Read More