Friday, March 25, 2016

The Magic OF Ketosis!

Besides lowering blood sugar what does the LCHF ketogenic diet do for you and why is the side benefit often weight loss? There is a really good explanation of this as I have experienced in my own life while eating this way since December of 2012. When I first started eating this way I did start out eating 3 meals a day and even a snack at night. Sometimes I did just skip breakfast though or just had breakfast for lunch. Still, I ate kind of as we were taught to eat trying not to skip too many meals.  

As months went by things changed. I didn't need to eat for many hours after waking up and in some cases literally just "forgot" to eat. I had my Bulletproof Coffee in the morning and it kept me going until 1 or 2 PM. When I finally was hungry I ate my 75-80% fatty meal keeping my carbs low and my protein moderate like the size of my inside palm. As a diabetic large amounts of protein can be problematic as they can convert to glucose or glycogen that may increase blood glucose later.  

As time went on I was even less hungry and went even longer between meals. Sometimes as long as 22 hours naturally. So even though I was eating high fat meals I was burning body fat. You can easily understand the reason. I stopped eating! I was fasting! I didn't think of it as fasting though. Not at all. I just followed my body's natural desire to eat or not eat. It really is a simple concept!  

The biochemistry isn't so simple though. I am not a biochemist and I'm not going to pretend to be one but here are the basics. Eating less often naturally lowers your insulin levels. Eating moderate protein also keeps insulin levels lower than eating a 12 ounce steak. Of course if I only ate one meal in 24 hours I could certainly take in a larger protein portion because for the next 23 or more hours of not eating my insulin will be low during that time. Don't get me wrong here! I am not telling you that you have to fast. I am telling you that eventually you just will end up doing it and you won't even think about it in that way! That is part of the magic!


The magic of the lowered insulin levels is that fat burning begins! Fat stores that have been unable to be utilized now can be released. There is no additional fat being stored from your diet because you are not overeating carbs, proteins or even fat. You are eating just enough! Your body perceives you in a fasted state (low insulin) and begins to use the body fat. This is a natural thing. It is just like the tribes who hunted but didn't get their kill for a few days. Did they lose their energy? Were they unable to continue to hunt because they needed food! No, not at all! They burned their body fat as naturally designed to do. We have done it for thousands of years. Only in the last 35 years have we been taught to eat our 3 meals and 2 snacks. What has that accomplished? The LCHF ketogenic diet is best for blood sugar, it's best for health and it seems to be the best for weight loss because you keep your insulin low and the reality is that it seems to lead to naturally just plain eating less food! So is a LCHF diet a super high fat diet? No it is not at all! Not when you become fat adapted and are not eating your 3 meals and 2 snacks! You are now burning body fat instead because you don't need to eat 24/7. You will be reversing high blood sugar and reducing meds. This is the best gift of all!