Ketogenic Diet

jillleanne

Oh this is such a sore spot for me. My boyfriend did this last summer, and lost 50lbs in about 3 months. However, he went to his doctor for a checkup and his doctor told him that forcing his body into a state of starvation was unhealthy, having ketones in the blood is unhealthy (did you know your heart and brain run solely off of the energy released from the breakdown of carbohydrates?), and losing that amount of weight so quickly was unhealthy.

Also, a HUGE proportion of that weight loss was muscle loss, not fat loss. His arms looked emaciated, and it killed me to watch it happen.

Needless to say, I think there are much better ways to lose weight. Exercise, eat well, and don't look for an immediate fix. Good luck to you

Oh, and I should add that he was often dizzy, weak, lethargic, etc. I don't know. Its just not worth it to me.

LowcarbNY

Oh this is such a sore spot for me. My boyfriend did this last summer, and lost 50lbs in about 3 months. However, he went to his doctor for a checkup and his doctor told him that forcing his body into a state of starvation was unhealthy

Who is advocating starving oneself?

, having ketones in the blood is unhealthy

Being morbidly obsese is unhealthy. Ketones are the byproduct of metabolizing lipids. How does anyone metabolize any fat without producing ketones?[/quote]

(did you know your heart and brain run solely off of the energy released from the breakdown of carbohydrates?),

Then why didn't your boyfriend die after a few days on his diet? Hint: glucogenesis.

and losing that amount of weight so quickly was unhealthy.

Probably true, though you didn't tell us where he started, where he ended or exactly what the "did this" that your boyfriend did was. Calling what your boyfriend did a ketogenic diet bay be a stretch. It sounds more likely that he did what his Dr said, starved himself. He probably wasn't getting adequate levels of any nutrients, not just carbs.

Oh, and I should add that he was often dizzy, weak, lethargic, etc.

Once more, who is advocating a program that would do that?

jillleanne

Oh this is such a sore spot for me. My boyfriend did this last summer, and lost 50lbs in about 3 months. However, he went to his doctor for a checkup and his doctor told him that forcing his body into a state of starvation was unhealthy

Who is advocating starving oneself?

, having ketones in the blood is unhealthy

Being morbidly obsese is unhealthy. Ketones are the byproduct of metabolizing lipids. How does anyone metabolize any fat without producing ketones?

(did you know your heart and brain run solely off of the energy released from the breakdown of carbohydrates?),

Then why didn't your boyfriend die after a few days on his diet? Hint: glucogenesis.

and losing that amount of weight so quickly was unhealthy.

Probably true, though you didn't tell us where he started, where he ended or exactly what the "did this" that your boyfriend did was. Calling what your boyfriend did a ketogenic diet bay be a stretch. It sounds more likely that he did what his Dr said, starved himself. He probably wasn't getting adequate levels of any nutrients, not just carbs.

Oh, and I should add that he was often dizzy, weak, lethargic, etc.

Once more, who is advocating a program that would do that?
[/quote]


To get your body into a state of ketosis, your carbohydrate intake is almost nothing. And not just for a couple of days. In order to achieve ketosis in the blood you must be eating VERY low carb for a sustained period of time. Until your carbohydrate stores (glycogen) run out and your body burns only the fat and protein your putting into it. So yes. You are inserting food into your mouth (and can eat 1000 steaks at that), but your still starving your body of essential nutrients (carbs), and in my mind thats still starvation.

http://www.acnp.org/g4/gn401000064/ch064.html Here's a link. The brain does rely solely on glucose.
Oh and glucogenesis is the production of glucose from glycogen. Your glycogen stores are depleted during ketosis. So your not making too much this way.

Gluconeogenesis allows for the production of glucose from amino acids, however this process also produces the ketones (aka ketosis) as a biproduct. So thats how you don't die- but it takes your body a HUGE amount of energy to form glucose this way (good for weight loss i guess) but can also cause complications, especially in diabetics and others with hormonal imbalances.

And for the record, I'm not anti low carb diets. However I think people take them too far.

LowcarbNY

but your still starving your body of essential nutrients (carbs), and in my mind thats still starvation.

We will just have to disagree on that then.

Gluconeogenesis allows for the production of glucose from amino acids, however this process also produces the ketones (aka ketosis) as a biproduct. So thats how you don't die- but it takes your body a HUGE amount of energy to form glucose this way (good for weight loss i guess)

Yes it IS good for weight loss and it also helps to quench your hunger but it isn't a huge amount of energy ( I wish), I've read that about 1/3 goes to waste. Your brain does need glucose, but as you said, it doesn't have to come from a carbohydrate substrate. That kills the 'essential' argument for me.

but can also cause complications, especially in diabetics and others with hormonal imbalances.

and milk is an issue for people without the genetic mutation that allows adults to continue to digest lactose but that would not be a reason to have a sore spot for people who pour milk on their corn flakes who do not have that condition. The fact that ANY diet is not for some subset of the population does not invalidate it for others.

I would not call what your BF did a

emtron500

Your body is capable of surviving off of fat through ketosis. That's why it uses fat as its primary energy storage. Take some vitamins, you'll be fine. It only takes a couple of days to go into ketosis, and in the transition period your body will deplete its glycogen, then panic a bit and start burning muscle (briefly), then switch to burning fat. In the long run, keeping your carbs under 150 grams a day will likely result in sustained and otherwise effortless weight loss.

herrytews

I struggled for years to get the needle on the scales to budge even a small amount, despite eating healthily and doing exercise. Since I have adopted a very low carb diet I have lost a staggering 33 lbs in just 8 weeks. You could argue (probably correctly) that that's too much weight loss, but I can't help it, the weight continues to fall off at an average of half a pound a day.

Most importantly I feel great; no brain fog, no tiredness, no real symptoms at all apart from I feel faint and giddy when I stand up sometimes.

My blood pressure has dropped significantly on ketosis too (i.e. that's a good thing, it was bordering on high before, now it's nicely in the middle of the correct range).

I have finely tuned my intake and I can share with you what is optimum for me in terms of weight loss;
1100 calories
40g of carbs
75g of fats
90g of proteins
... and NO alcohol.

On the days when I achieve that, I lose around 1 lb. It doesn't really matter whether I exercise or not, it doesn't have much impact on weight loss.

I find I am rarely hungry and I don't crash in the middle of the day due to low blood sugar. It really suits me and works for me (and I am a big guy, so 1100 calories might not seem like a lot but I function really well on it).

If anything, my brain at work is around 50% sharper, I act better in meetings and can think more strategically.

Having said all of that, I fully understand that such a low calorie low carb diet isn't sustainable in the long run. So once I have shed the excess weight, I will gradually re-introduce some carbs and some extra calories and keep doing so until I find an equilibrium.

33 lbs in 8 weeks ... ketosis works for me and has changed my life. Please understand; while ketosis "could" have some negative health effects, what's worse than being very obese and dealing with all the health problems caused by carrying around 33 lbs of extra fat all day every day?

Terry