Alcohol
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hey,
you should not be drinking alcohol if you are in ketosis. It can kill you.
no. 1: you need glucose in you in order to digest alcohol.
no. 2: alcohol drops your blood sugar levels, so if you are already in ketosis you are depleted
no. 3: alcohol PREVENTS your body from producing KETONES, which starves the brain.
if you have no glucose or ketones feeding the brain you become toxic and go into a coma.
Please get at least 60 grams carbohydrates in you 12 hours prior to drinking!!!
If you are above 60g carbs a day you most likely are not in ketosis....
Once you start drinking your body consumes alcohol over any Fat, Protein, or Carb you digest from that point on! So with no glycogen stored in the body to help the enzymes eliminate the alcohol you can die from alcohol poisoning.
edited to add:
"Once alcohol is in your system, your body makes metabolizing it a priority. That means that it will stop metabolizing anything else in order to first get the alcohol metabolized."http://www.medicinenet.com/alcohol_and_nutrition/page2.htm for the geeks like me who like facts.
and glucose levels: http://www.medicinenet.com/alcohol_and_nutrition/page4.htm
remember, I give tips like this on my personal training facebook page Get Fit with Coach Teresa
Wow thanks for the advice I wasn't aware of that...I will take heed for the future0 -
Drat! I went and looked up Firefly sweet tea vodka and it has too many carbs for my plan - almost 7 carbs per ounce...oh well..looks like I'm sticking with scotch!
:laugh: Looks like scotch is the new drink of choice this weekend..0 -
hey,
you should not be drinking alcohol if you are in ketosis. It can kill you.
no. 1: you need glucose in you in order to digest alcohol.
no. 2: alcohol drops your blood sugar levels, so if you are already in ketosis you are depleted
no. 3: alcohol PREVENTS your body from producing KETONES, which starves the brain.
if you have no glucose or ketones feeding the brain you become toxic and go into a coma.
Please get at least 60 grams carbohydrates in you 12 hours prior to drinking!!!
If you are above 60g carbs a day you most likely are not in ketosis....
Once you start drinking your body consumes alcohol over any Fat, Protein, or Carb you digest from that point on! So with no glycogen stored in the body to help the enzymes eliminate the alcohol you can die from alcohol poisoning.
edited to add:
"Once alcohol is in your system, your body makes metabolizing it a priority. That means that it will stop metabolizing anything else in order to first get the alcohol metabolized."http://www.medicinenet.com/alcohol_and_nutrition/page2.htm for the geeks like me who like facts.
and glucose levels: http://www.medicinenet.com/alcohol_and_nutrition/page4.htm
remember, I give tips like this on my personal training facebook page Get Fit with Coach Teresa
Wow, I'm not dissing the information but I must be leading a charmed life
I've been on 60g daily carbs, tops for 6 months and been putting away the vino no worries.
I'll take the warning though, thanks 0 -
I wasn't aware of that either - I was under the impression that your body just burned the alcohol first as enegry (in about 2 hrs or so depending) and then you got right back to burning fat. I believe that is also what Dr. Atkins syas in his book:
"Here's the problem with all alcoholic beverages, and the reason I recommend refraining from alcohol consumption on the diet. Alcohol, whenever taken in, is the first fuel to burn. While that's going on, your body will not burn fat. This does not stop the weight loss, it simply postpones it, since the alcohol does not store as glycogen, you immediately go back into ketosis/lipolysis after the alcohol is used up."
I had no clue it could be dangerous. What if you drink alcohol that does have carbs - like wine?0 -
I wasn't aware of that either - I was under the impression that your body just burned the alcohol first as enegry (in about 2 hrs or so depending) and then you got right back to burning fat. I believe that is also what Dr. Atkins syas in his book:
"Here's the problem with all alcoholic beverages, and the reason I recommend refraining from alcohol consumption on the diet. Alcohol, whenever taken in, is the first fuel to burn. While that's going on, your body will not burn fat. This does not stop the weight loss, it simply postpones it, since the alcohol does not store as glycogen, you immediately go back into ketosis/lipolysis after the alcohol is used up."
I had no clue it could be dangerous. What if you drink alcohol that does have carbs - like wine?
Good question0 -
I'm a tad sceptical about "60 gms of carbs" being needed to keep from going into a coma if drinking. If that were so we'd be seeing headlines all over: "Thousands of Atkins Dieters In Comas After Stiff Drinks!"
Don't think so.
My understanding, though, is that on a low-carb diet, the liver is indeed slowed down (being glycogen depleted) and processes alcohol more slowly. Thus one gets tipsy quicker.
Thus if you were determined to play a really crazy drinking game and consume as much as possible in a hurry, then yes being on a low-carb diet might induce a coma a bit quicker than for someone who was not. The end point is probably the same in both cases, ultimately.0 -
Be careful on the carby food when you're drinking, it tends to go on your butt while you're drinking 0
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It was by no means a plan, I just meant if I fancied a taste of alcohol this weekend I would try a scotch as it is carb free..
I am trying to stop smoking at the minute, boy it's hard work!!
No problem, hope your enjoying...Well as much as one can enjoy work :laugh:
Work is going to be OK I think, early days but the vibe is good, thanks
I can recommend the Allen Carr "Easy Way To Stop Smoking" book. I quit after 20 years cold turkey after reading it, a few people on MFP that I've recommended it to have also been successful.0 -
Well Friday is upon us...Whoooop!
Generally my downfall starts here :laugh:
Any suggestions for a lower carb alcoholic drink?
Happy Friday by the way
I usually do a hard liquor (whiskey is the poison of choice) and a diet soda... but my Homeopathic doctor wants me to avoid all pop for a while (I am also having to go dairy free {NO CHEESE
for a while})
So this weekend, faced with no soda pop I made sugar free jello shots with vodka. Yummy! Just have to be careful you don't eat too much too fast!!0 -
I'm suspect of this 60 carbs before drinking stuff... I've been eating <20 carbs / day for 6 months and drink almost every weekend. I'm still alive and well.0
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I agree. If I was going to go into a coma, it would have been this weekend. Had a few social events - including a friend's bridal shower - and had quite a bit to drink while still on 20g/day. I actually felt fine and I even tested with the strips (just got them in the mail this week) and I was still in ketosis even while digesting the alcohol...so I really don't know how it works as far as the danger. I don't drink every day - usually just the weekend so I'm not going to fuss too much over it.0
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hi, don't mean to hijack the thread. I'm responding to the questions directed to me in the original post on this thread. This is a discussion on the biology of drinking alcohol:
First, alcohol poisoning is what causes the brain to swell and for you to go into a coma, because it is not getting any fuel. Hence mentioning that coma is a factor to consider if you plan on drinking allot.
If you have glycogen stores in the bloodstream you brain will have fuel in the case of drinking alcohol. It takes the glycogen floating in the bloodstream to feed the brain in this situation. Remember, if you are drinking alcohol, your liver ceases to produce glycogen and ketones to feed the brain while it is busy detoxing your blood from the alcohol you just consumed!
Think about this. If you claim to be a low carber or in ketosis due to a ketogetic diet that means you not only do not have glycogen / glucose floating around on reserve, you have none in your muscle stores.
In order to have enough glycogen replenished so that it is floating in your blood stream for your brain to grab as fuel you have to eat enough carbs. Your body will naturally replenish the muscle glycogen stores first so I estimate at least 60 g of carbohydrates before drinking to make sure that you have glycogen / glucose in the bloodstream for your brain fuel. I'm not an organic chemist or a doctor, just a cpt who studies nutrition and understands cytotechnology and ketogetic/ketogenesis/gylcemic index diets.
for some people it may take more or less to completely restore enough glycogen stores completely throughout the body to the point that that extra 1 teaspoon of it is present in the blood. Then you are out of ketosis from a low carb. diet because your glycogen stores are now refueled. bummer.
So, drinking alcohol while on a low carb diet is not only a great way to annoy the living daylights out of your body, but a fabulous way to
shut down your liver
pickle your organs in alcohol
become insulin resistant
add empty calories to your "diet"
confuse your immune system
increase estrogen/reduce testosterone production
Drop blood sugar levels below normal (the heart and the brain suck up that one teaspoon of glycogen in the bloodstream really fast, and since you have alcohol in you you can't currently make more!)
depletes your body of essential minerals and amino acids
http://www.acde.org/common/alcohol.htm
hope that answers your questions about why it's important to carb load prior to that one drink.0 -
hi, don't mean to hijack the thread. I'm responding to the questions directed to me in the original post on this thread. This is a discussion on the biology of drinking alcohol:
First, alcohol poisoning is what causes the brain to swell and for you to go into a coma, because it is not getting any fuel. Hence mentioning that coma is a factor to consider if you plan on drinking allot.
If you have glycogen stores in the bloodstream you brain will have fuel in the case of drinking alcohol. It takes the glycogen floating in the bloodstream to feed the brain in this situation. Remember, if you are drinking alcohol, your liver ceases to produce glycogen and ketones to feed the brain while it is busy detoxing your blood from the alcohol you just consumed!
Think about this. If you claim to be a low carber or in ketosis due to a ketogetic diet that means you not only do not have glycogen / glucose floating around on reserve, you have none in your muscle stores.
In order to have enough glycogen replenished so that it is floating in your blood stream for your brain to grab as fuel you have to eat enough carbs. Your body will naturally replenish the muscle glycogen stores first so I estimate at least 60 g of carbohydrates before drinking to make sure that you have glycogen / glucose in the bloodstream for your brain fuel. I'm not an organic chemist or a doctor, just a cpt who studies nutrition and understands cytotechnology and ketogetic/ketogenesis/gylcemic index diets.
for some people it may take more or less to completely restore enough glycogen stores completely throughout the body to the point that that extra 1 teaspoon of it is present in the blood. Then you are out of ketosis from a low carb. diet because your glycogen stores are now refueled. bummer.
So, drinking alcohol while on a low carb diet is not only a great way to annoy the living daylights out of your body, but a fabulous way to
shut down your liver
pickle your organs in alcohol
become insulin resistant
add empty calories to your "diet"
confuse your immune system
increase estrogen/reduce testosterone production
Drop blood sugar levels below normal (the heart and the brain suck up that one teaspoon of glycogen in the bloodstream really fast, and since you have alcohol in you you can't currently make more!)
depletes your body of essential minerals and amino acids
http://www.acde.org/common/alcohol.htm
hope that answers your questions about why it's important to carb load prior to that one drink.
Thanks for the heads up0 -
And dont forget behind the numbers in your libations comes impaired judgement once the drinking is over and the snacking begins. so i plan and log my cocktails and when i've had my quota, i switch to non-alcholic beverages. i try very hard to 0
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Micholob Ultra beer has 2.5 carbs per beer...just saying.
Please remember as another member and Dr Atkins has said...if you drink alcohol your body will burn alcohol for fuel, not fat...you are not burning fat, don't know about you but I want to be burning fat every minute of the day...
This doesn't stop weight loss, just postpones it.0 -
From experience, when you are in ketosis and you indulge too much in the alcohol, your body gets tipsy from the alcohol AND you also become hypoglycemic. As noted, your liver is busy processing the alcohol and is not creating glycogen or ketones. Thus, your body has to depend on glucose in your blood stream. If you are in ketosis, your blood sugar is very low (compared to a normal person), so you enter a state of hypoglycemia while drinking. This, in effect, doubles your drunken state since very low blood sugar has a similar effect on the brain.
On New Year's eve I had what I would consider (from past lives) not all that much wine and everybody suddenly got very worried about me. I was acting like I was drunk to the point of needing to quit drinking and go to sleep even though I'd only had 3 glasses of wine. Solved problem by loading up a bunch of carbs and protein, and within 30 minutes I was okay again as my blood sugar levels went back up.
Way back when, in the Army as a young guy, I knew you had to carb up to drink. Many soldiers eat a low carb diet, and we all knew that on Friday afternoon you needed to pump a bunch of carbs in your body so you could go out and drink. Forgot that lesson, ooooops.
So, I would say you are probably not gonna go in to a coma as long as you aren't under 20g net carbs and consuming way too much alcohol. BUT you could find yourself suddenly way more "drunk" than you should be at that point. The problem is solved by eating some carbs and protein (I had chips, guacamole and chicken wings). But that will definitely knock you out of ketosis and you will need some time to undo the damage. :-)
As to what to drink. Vodka is 60 cal per oz, no carbs in it and club soda is zero cals, just some fizz and sodium. Diet sodas are awful due to all the processed fake sugar crud in them and you really should avoid that stuff if you are doing paleo/primal type lifestyle. Technically I shouldn't drink alcohol either, but that is the one thing I chose to keep.
Anyhow, I shouldn't go down thoseside paths. Best choices for drinking are vodka and club soda with a splash of lime or lemon juice ... 60 cals, some sodium and a tiny bit of fructose. Alternatively, as someone else noted, red wine is 4g of carbs in 8 oz (a very big pour of wine, about 1/3 the bottle). Plus red wine is quite heart healthy. A glass of red wine or a single vodka & soda will not knock you out of ketosis. It may slow the weight loss a bit, but not horribly so. On Saturday 3-4 drinks won't kill you, but I would highly recommend some aerobic exercise to burn the calories.
Oh, and if you are eliminating grains, gluten and phytates from your lifestyle, then drinking beer is a bad, bad choice. Even the lite stuff.
My two cents worth on the topic.0
