All You Need To Know To Get Into Ketosis

All You Need To Know To Get Into Ketosis

See the source imageGetting your body into Ketosis is the ultimate of the Ketogenic Diet. However, it’s important to remember that getting into Ketosis is a process that varies from person to person. For some, getting into Ketosis might be a breeze. For others, it seems to be one of the episodes of mission impossible. For some, getting into Ketosis only involves a smooth shift of metabolism, while others end up with keto flu symptoms. 

If you’re new on the keto diet and find it challenging to get into Ketosis, this article is for you. This article will help you explore everything you need to know about Ketosis and how to get into the metabolic state of Ketosis.

What is the Ketogenic Diet?

Before we dive into what is Ketosis, you must know the type of diet you’re following, which necessarily involves Ketosis.

The Ketogenic diet is a very low carb, moderate protein, high-fat type of diet. The Keto diet is popular for people to achieve weight loss, manage diabetes (Type 1 Diabetes & Type 2 Diabetes), control insulin levels, and blood sugar levels. However, these benefits are only results of further research into the diet.

The keto diet was primarily used as an alternative treatement for epilepsy in the 1920s. It was used to help individuals who don’t respond well to drug therapy manage seizures.

How does it work?

The Ketogenic Diet is a low carb type of diet that works by restricting your total carbohydrate intake. Why? When you slash off your carbohydrate intake, your body will not use up glucose stores to fuel your body. So, where will your body source fuel? The keto diet is not only a low carb diet but also a high-fat diet. When your body stops getting fuel source from carbohydrates, it then sources it from your fat stores. These fats are then converted into ketones to fuel your body.

When your body does this, your body will necessarily enter the metabolic state of Ketosis, the ultimate goal for the ketogenic diet.

What is Ketosis?

The keto diet is a low carb diet to put and keep your body in the state of Ketosis. But what is Ketosis? 

Ketosis is your body’s natural state of metabolism. Simply put, Ketosis involves producing ketones from your body out of your fat stores and using that fat as your energy source, instead of glucose from carbohydrates.

You can get into Ketosis in several ways (e.g., fasting, pregnancy, starvation), but one of the healthiest ways include following a low-carb, high-fat diet like the Ketogenic diet. Your body’s limited access to glucose (blood sugar) triggers this phenomenon.

When your body enters the metabolic state of Ketosis, your body switches from sourcing glucose as fuel to sourcing from ketones for energy. Reaching this metabolic state has several benefits, including:

  • Fewer blood sugar spikes
  • Healthy fat loss
  • Higher energy levels
  • Reduced gravings while staying full longer
  • Reduced risks of diseases (e.g., heart disease, Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes)

How long does it take for my body to get into Ketosis?

In reality, however, getting into Ketosis may be a little harder than you’ve imagined it to be. On average, you can’t just reach Ketosis in 24 hours. If you’re used to consuming carb-rich food your entire life, then your body is used to burning sugar for fuel. Your body will then necessarily need time to adapt to your new normal– burning ketones for an energy source.

Realistically speaking, how long will it take you to get into Ketosis? The ketosis transition could take you around 48 hours to one week. However, as we said, this time length will have to vary from individual to individual. How long it will take you to enter Ketosis depends on your activity levels, body type, carbohydrate intake, and lifestyle.

Remember, however, that once you get into Ketosis, it’s not a one-time bigtime deal where you will remain in that state. Getting into Ketosis requires not only luck but also requires discipline.

If you feel like it’s taking you too long compared to other people, don’t worry. Your body should be your utmost priority when following the keto diet, and so you should give it utmost consideration.  Before you decide on drastically cutting off your carbs, try to observe how your body responds to the shift and adjust accordingly. If the discomfort persists, consult your trusted dietician about what’s best for your body and health.

How to get into Ketosis

You might ask if there are ways for you to get into Ketosis faster and more efficiently. Yes, there are steps for your body to get into Ketosis. Here are some ways you can follow for a more :

1. Drastically Cut Carbs

In a keto diet, the general carbohydrate limit is around 30 grams per day. But if you’re an athlete or an active individual, you may increase your carbohydrate intake to 100 grams.

Most people who follow a ketogenic diet or any other low-carb diet will necessarily find comfort in cutting out carbs gradually. However, just cutting out carbs won’t get you into Ketosis faster. If you want to get into Ketosis more efficiently, drastically slashing off your carbohydrate intake is a necessary step. You can do this by tracking your carbohydrate intake. If you find it hard to follow your carb-intake manually, there are several apps you can look up online to track your carb intake more efficiently.

“Drastically cutting off carb? That’s easy”. Well, the idea of drastically cutting off carb may seem easy until you go on traveling or attend parties where it seems impossible to resist carb-rich foods. How do you remedy this? You can go to restaurants that offer low-carb food or even make simple keto-friendly recipes you can try at home.

2. Increase in Consumption of High-Quality Fats

The keto meal plan’s largest macronutrient you need to consume is fats, particularly high-quality fats.  If you are new to keto dieting, adapting and transitioning to this diet may take time. Typically, you need to make sure that your fat intake is around 70-80% of your total calories. This specific fat intake helps your body in switching to fats as its alternative primary fuel source. However, if your goal is to lose weight, slowly decreasing your fat intake is preferred since it allows your cells to burn the fat stored in your body instead of dietary fat.

Consume these healthy fats to get into KetosisKetosis quickly:

  • Oils such as coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, MCT oil, macadamia nut oil, or avocado oil
  • Fatty fish and meats, egg yolks or butter
  • Cheese such as  Muenster Cheese,  Blue Cheese,  Cheddar Cheese,  mozzarella or  Gouda cheese
  • Nuts such as walnuts or macadamia nuts
  • Chia seeds and Flaxseeds
  • Cacao Nibs

3. Complement the keto diet with intermittent fasting

Another tip on how to get into KetosisKetosis faster is by complementing your keto diet with intermittent fasting. For intermediate keto diet followers, they often used fasting in conjunction with keto not just to hasten to reach KetosisKetosis but also to achieve various health benefits. Health benefits include but are not limited to faster weight loss, reduced blood sugar levels, boosted ketone production.

If you feel overwhelmed in the idea of combining both the keto diet and intermittent fasting, you can try to start in either of these two approaches to jumpstart the process:

  • Fat fasting-  For a few days, you can try eating low-calorie (usually around 1,000 calories), with roughly 85-90% of those calories from fat.
  • Fast mimicking- This approach is simply fasting with food. In this approach, your meal plan is made from healthy and natural ingredients consumed for five days. However, your body’s cellular pathways will not recognize these ingredients as food. This aspect is what keeps your body in fasting mode. Simply, it is fooling your body that no foods have been consumed despite doing the opposite.

4. Exercise more

Exercising more and being active is another beneficial way of achieving KetosisKetosis faster. Incorporating more exercises in your daily routine can do wonders in making your keto diet more effective. In terms of scientific evidence, various studies have already supported the claim that exercising can help elevate or maintain the production of keto bodies, which is helpful when you want to experience KetosisKetosis faster.

Moreover, exercising helps in depleting your body with glycogen stores. Aside from limiting carb intake, this helps your body deplete your carbohydrate reserves faster and allows your body to switch to use fats as its energy source immediately. This is why increasing your exercise or workout energy is a must-try if you want to enter KetosisKetosis faster!

5. Create a Keto Meal Plan

If you want to realize your weight loss by achieving KetosisKetosis faster,  strictly sticking to your keto diet is essential. But strictly sticking to it becomes problematic when you do not have safe keto options around when you’re hungry and need energy. What is worse is when you are only surrounded by carb-loaded foods wherever you go! It is crucial to plan your keto meals to avoid being in this kind of situation.

Planning your keto meals should not be an exhausting and complicated task for you. What is important is you follow the macronutrient the diet requires. So here are some tips and tricks to make planning your keto meals easier:

  • Shop and stock keto-approved foods. Make it a habit to find time to do your grocery shopping. This trick will not only allow you to choose ingredients for your meals personally, but it will also allow you to save more money!
  • Find easy to do keto-friendly recipes. It is not necessary for your meal plan to contain fancy and complicated dishes. You do not need to be a kitchen whizz to create keto meal plans. A simple keto dish does not make your keto diet less effective than an intricate keto recipe. Also, do not feel overwhelmed when creating your meal. You can start with easy to do breakfast meals such as scrambled eggs or bacon with eggs. For lunch, you can begin with Shrimp Avocado salad or chicken caesar salad. When your day ends, you can stir-fry cabbage and noodles! At the end of the day, what truly makes the keto diet effective is your discipline in following the necessary macronutrient intake.
  • Find healthy on-the-go snacks-  Another challenging aspect of doing your keto meals is finding your on-the-go keto snacks. When you are at work, on the road, or on a trip, it is almost impossible to find keto-friendly foods ina world that revolves around carbs. So, having the right portable snacks with you can make the difference in staying on track and not be tempted in straying away from your keto diet. Some of the best keto snacks include keto bars, keto nut butter, low-sugar beef jerky, and nuts and seeds. These are some of the keto-friendly snacks you can find in your local grocery store. So, make sure to add these items to your keto grocery list!

How do I know if my body is in the metabolic state of Ketosis?

Testing your ketone levels is a sure and immediate way to enter Ketosis as fast as possible. Testing is helpful since it can help you identify what foods you need to avoid, what nutrient deficiency you may have, or habits that keep you from entering KetosisKetosis. There are three methods used to test your ketone levels:

  • Urine testing:  This is the cheapest but the most inaccurate among the three methods. It is inaccurate since it only measures unused, unburned ketones.
  • Breath Testing: This is more accurate than urine testing as it measures the amount of acetone, another form of ketone, in your body. However, this measures the waste product, not the ketones in your body. Hence, not the best measure of testing your ketone level
  • Blood Testing: Among the three methods, Blood testing is by far the most recommended and most accurate way in testing your ketone levels. This test measures the level of BHB ketones in the blood, which is the most active form of ketones in your body.

Among the three methods, it is highly recommended to choose the last and best option, blood testing. Once you have finished conducting the testing, you can identify if you are in Ketosis once your blood ketone levels are at or above 0.5 mmol/L. Take note that when your body starts using ketones as its primary fuel and energy source, there may be fluctuations in your ketone levels.

If you want to achieve KetosisKetosis faster, make it a routine to test your ketone levels regularly and make sure to follow the keto diet strictly.

Disclaimer: This content provides general information only and not a substitute for a qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your doctor for more details.