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May 25

The Keto Diet Guide – FAQs, Tips, and Science …

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Picture this: Youre on a new diet, but instead of feeling hangry and deprived, youre brimming with energy and the weight is melting off. Welcome to the keto diet. Its a high-fat, low-carb eating plan that Hollywood stars and athletes like Halle Berry, Adriana Lima and Tim Tebow credit for blasting away their fat.

It seems counter-intuitive eat fat to lose fat? But thats exactly what happens on keto. Heres everything you should know about this diet, including tips to reach your weight loss goals and troubleshoot common problems. Before you dive in, check with your doctor before making any dietary changes.

The keto diet is short for ketogenic diet. Its a high-fat diet that has the potential to turn your body into a fat-burning machine.

The keto diet changes the way your body converts food into energy. Normally, your body turns carbohydrates (think bread and pasta) into glucose for energy. Eating a lot of fat and very few carbs puts you in ketosis, a metabolic state where your body burns fat instead of carbs for fuel.[1]

When your body cant get glucose from your diet, your liver turns body fat and fat from your diet into molecules called ketones, an alternative source of fuel. This puts you into ketosis, aka prime weight loss mode.[2][3]

According to some metabolic experts, youre in the state of ketosis when your ketone levels measure 0.5-3.0 millimoles per liter. The keto diet is one way to get your body to make ketones. Other ways to run on ketones include intermittent fasting and using up your glucose reserves by exercising.

The keto diet quickly boosts weight loss because your body turns fat from your diet and your internal fat stores into ketones. And unlike glucose, ketones cant be stored as fat because they arent digested the same way.

Thats surprising, right? For decades, youve heard that fat makes you fat. Your body is actually built to use fat as an alternative source of fuel. For most of history, people werent eating three square meals and snacks throughout the day. Instead, humans would have to hunt and gather their food, and they learned to thrive when there wasnt any food available, sometimes for days on end.[4]To keep going, their bodies used stored fat for energy. Thanks, evolution.

So, how exactly do you lose weight on keto?

When you start eating more fat and cut out the extra carbs (think sugar, bread and pasta), you tend to experience fewer blood sugar swings and cravings that plague most people on the Standard American Diet. When your body runs on ketones for fuel, it has a steady supply of energy in the form of body fat. When your body relies on glucose, it needs a regular hit of carbs to keep it going.

Ketones may help control your hunger and satiety hormones so you feel satisfied and full, not hangry. That means fewer cravings, more energy and increased fat-burning. Heres how it works.

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Ketones impact cholecystokinin (CCK), a hormone which makes you feel full, and ghrelin, the hunger hormone.

One of the reasons old-fashioned, calorie-restricted diets tend to fail is because these diets make you really hungry and cause food cravings.

Cutting calories to lose excess weight changes your hormones that control hunger and satiety. After you starve yourself enough to lose some weight, your brain and gut start making your hormones work against you. [16] [17]Your hormones scream, Eat more and gain that weight back! So you do. And so begins a lifetime of yo-yo dieting.

But it doesnt have to be that way. Skip the whole calorie-restriction, hungry-all-the-time thing, and just use ketosis to its full advantage without making yourself hungry. As long as youre eating a higher percentage of quality fats, moderate protein and just enough carbs, youll feel satisfied and energized not hangry. No calorie-counting required.

The keto diet is pretty simple: Eat mostly healthy fats (about 75 percent of your daily calories), some protein (about 20 percent) and a very small amount of carbs (about 5 percent). This is the general breakdown that a lot of keto beginners follow, but you may have to adjust your numbers and test your ketones to see what works for you.

Choose lower-carb foods such as meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and quality fats. Check out this detailed keto food list and browse these keto recipes for meal ideas. Most people do best eating somewhere between 30-150 grams of net carbs daily.

Net carbs means you can subtract fiber and sugar alcohols (like xylitol) out of your daily carb count they dont affect your blood sugar or get stored as glycogen, the storage form of glucose.

Are you sharpest with a weekly carb refeed, or do you do better on a full ketogenic diet? Do you burn out when you dip below 100 grams of carbs per day? Theres a lot of variation within lower-carb diets, and some people feel their best with different styles of eating. Find a good balance that works best for your personal biology.

Generally, a ketogenic diet is safe for many people but there are a few side effects to watch out for. Here are some tips to try if youre experiencing common side effects, however we recommend you see your doctor if you have any trouble.

Carbs require water for storage. Fat does not. On a keto diet, you store less water, and your kidneys actively expel sodium instead of holding onto it. That means its easy to get dehydrated eating keto, especially during the first few weeks. With dehydration and low electrolytes, your muscles can start cramping, too.

Do this: Ask your doctor about supplementing with magnesium, sodium and potassium, your bodys three main electrolytes, and make sure you drink extra water. This is particularly important if you work out while on keto. Staying hydrated will also help you avoid symptoms of the keto flu (more on that below).

A lot of people report struggling to process carbs when they eat a strict keto diet long-term, which makes sense. If you hardly ever eat carbs, you have no need to keep your insulin pathways running. Its like keeping the lights on during the daytime a waste of energy.

Do this: Experiment with carb cycling (aka cyclical keto) by eating approximately 150 grams of net carbs one day a week.

There isnt research on keto and sleep problems, but some people report waking up in the middle of the night on keto. If you find you have trouble sleeping on keto (and Bulletproof sleep hacks dont help), you may be better off eating some high-quality carbs at night.

These issues are common on strict keto, and are a big part of the reason why the Bulletproof Diet includes some quality carbs.

Do this: Take 1 teaspoon of raw honey before bed to provide your body with carbs through the sleep period.

If youre eating fewer than 20 grams of carbs a day, it can be hard to get enough fiber. Fiber intake thats lower than the recommended amount can contribute to constipation[18] and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).[19]

Do this:

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some people experience diarrhea on keto, especially if they arent used to consuming a higher-fat diet.

Do this:

For a very small number of people who try keto, this diet change can bring on an itchy, red rash on the back, chest, neck or armpit area. Also known as Prurigo pigmentosa, keto rash is not life-threatening or dangerous. The exact causes still arent understood, but a small study points to differences in hormones, gut bacteria or exposure to allergens as potential triggers.[20]

Do this: Check with your doctor, and try these tips to deal with keto rash:

The keto flu is a natural reaction your body undergoes as it switches from burning sugar to fat for energy. The keto flu, aka carb withdrawal, generally kicks in at the 24- to 48-hour mark. Symptoms include brain fog, headache, insomnia, irritability, muscle soreness, poor focus and sugar cravings.

The keto flu affects some people more than others. If you ate a diet low in refined sugar and starches before going keto, youll likely experience only mild symptoms. A diet high in sugar and carbs may set you up for greater withdrawal symptoms (especially from the sugar).

What causes the keto flu? When you restrict carbohydrates, your body must learn how to burn its backup energy source, and in order to do so, three big changes have to happen:

Do this: To beat the keto flu, try these remedies.

If all else fails, up your carb intake. For some people, increasing fat simply wont curb keto flu symptoms. If this is the case and you tested your limits by adding more fat and are still experiencing flu-like symptoms youll want to up your carb intake just a bit.

Whether youre thinking about starting keto or youre five weeks in, here are some tips and tricks for common keto concerns.

For the best results on keto, stick to these principles:

For a more detailed guide on what to eat on the keto diet, check out this downloadable complete keto food list.

It can take anywhere from 2-3 days to a few weeks to enter ketosis, depending on your bodys ability to adapt to burning fat for fuel. Once you enter ketosis, your body will naturally produce ketones molecules that fuel your brain and body with fat, not carbs.

You can usually tell if youre in ketosis if you have steady, lasting energy, better focus, and a reduced appetite. For definitive answers, test your blood ketone levels. Youre in ketosis when your ketone levels measure 0.5-3 (thats millimoles per liter).

You can test your levels using urine sticks, blood sticks or a blood meter. You can also test for acetone levels in your breath using a breath analyzer.[22]

However, just tracking how your body feels is a simple way to know whether youve hit that ketosis sweet spot. Here are signs you may be in ketosis:

Macros, or macronutrients, are the carbs, fats, and protein that make up your food and help you create energy. Its not essential to count macros on the keto diet, but its a useful way to learn more about your food and understand your bodys needs. Learn more about ideal keto macros, including the benefits (and drawbacks) of counting them.

Even if you dont calculate macros, you should keep track of net carbs the carbs your body actually uses for energy. Calculating net carbs can help you stay in ketosis and inform your food choices. Find out how to calculate net carbs on keto and how many net carbs vs. total carbs you need.

The ketogenic diet is effective and backed by science. When done properly, the keto diet has been shown to support weight loss, create more mitochondria in your brain and reduce inflammation.[23] [24] [25]

However, any diet can be good or bad for you, depending on what you put on your plate. If you stick to the Bulletproof Diet roadmap, you eliminate keto foods that make you feel weak and dont belong in a healthy diet like processed cheese and sugar-free sodas.

Dirty keto follows the same high-fat, low-carb structure of the standard keto diet but it allows processed, packaged and fast foods. Its still possible to enter ketosis and burn fat while youre on dirty keto, but it has serious drawbacks like inflammation and weight gain. Here are the facts about dirty keto, and why you should avoid it.

No, keto does not cause diabetes. Several studies indicate that ketosis may help manage diabetes by decreasing glucose intolerance and stabilizing blood sugar.[26] [27] [28]

Yes and no. Some people thrive on the full keto diet without any problems. Other people run into issues from restricting carbs long-term, like insomnia and hormone imbalances. If thats the case, experiment with keto carb cycling (aka cyclical ketosis), where you eat a moderate amount of carbs one day a week, so your body can cycle in and out of ketosis. Its an effective modification that helps many people avoid any potential dangers and risks of a keto diet. Heres how to do a keto carb cycling diet, and whether its right for you. Its always a good idea to revisit your diet with your doctor often.

There are three types of ketone bodies.[29] They are:

Youll produce more of each type the longer you fast or restrict carbs.

Some people feel fine when they eat very few carbs for extended periods of time. But if youre dealing with symptoms like dry eyes, insomnia, fatigue and mood swings, your body might be asking for more carbs especially if youre a woman, an athlete or dealing with lots of stress (or all of the above). Learn more about the benefits of experimenting with your carb intake.

You might be eating too much, not enough, or the wrong foods altogether. Here are a few reasons youre not losing weight on keto and what to do about it.

MCT oil is a powerful tool on the ketogenic diet because it helps your body produce more ketones and stay in ketosis. However, not all MCT oils are the same, and some are more effective than others. Heres a guide to MCT oil and keto.

Exogenous ketones are synthetic ketones that help raise ketone levels in your blood. Theyre popular supplements, but definitely not required instead, focus on eating enough high-quality fats. Your body will naturally produce all the ketones you need to power through your day. If you want to add a supplement to your keto diet, MCT oil is a great place to start. You can read about the effectiveness of different keto supplements here.

Definitely. Intermittent fasting may actually make keto more effective by boosting your fat-burning and weight loss results. Learn more about keto and intermittent fasting.

No. Whereas the Atkins Diet is extremely high in protein, a keto diet contains moderate amounts of protein. On a keto diet, large amounts of protein can turn into glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis, thus taking you out of ketosis. Thats why fatty cuts of meat are better than, say, chicken breast, which is high in protein and low in fat.

With targeted keto, you time your carb intake around workouts or times of heavy stress to give your body a little extra fuel. A lot of people on a full keto diet report bonking during intense workouts: They run out of fuel suddenly and dont have the energy to keep going. Research suggests that with full keto, youre likely to run out of energy during anaerobic workouts[31] any kind of short, intense workout. That includes lifting, CrossFit and high-intensity interval training.

Meanwhile, full keto seems to be good for endurance training like long runs.[32]That said, these are super-athletes who are used to running up to 200 miles at a time. If you dont fit that bill, you may benefit from doing targeted keto and having some carbs before a longer cardio session.

The other benefit to targeted keto is metabolic flexibility. People who stay in ketosis long-term gradually lose their ability to process carbs, and can actually develop insulin resistance.[33]Thats fine as long as you never eat carbs, but if you want to have maximum metabolic flexibility, youre better off occasionally breaking ketosis with a targeted keto diet or a cyclical keto diet.

The trick with the targeted ketogenic diet is to eat just enough carbs. You want to burn through them during your workout and go back into ketosis a couple hours post-workout.

This is one of the rare times when you want higher-glycemic carbs. Your goal is to burn through them for quick energy during your workout, and have them out of your system by the time you finish. With that in mind, a few good options for carbs are:

Note: you dont want to eat high-fructose carbs on targeted keto. Fructose goes straight to your liver instead of your muscles, so youll end up dropping out of ketosis without giving your muscles extra energy. Higher-fructose carbs include fruit, honey and agave. Steer clear of those for targeted keto.

For the ultimate boost, drizzle Brain Octane MCT oilon your pre-workout carb source, so you have ketones alongside the carbs for maximum energy and metabolic flexibility.

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