Unraveling the Mystery of Ketones

What's been your most recent challenge?  Mine was talking in front of a group of people and trying to explain this chart! 
 

Well…sort of... Just as in my book Ketones Aren't From Motown I did my best to speak to aspects of this scientific chart by using simple to understand, 'everyday' language.   While preparing for my 'speaking engagement' I researched several questions I've pondered about Ketones. Maybe you've had some of the same questions.  Read on to see if I can answer some of the unknowns of Ketones…

Q: The beauty of eating 'Keto'  is that you can splurge for a day or a weekend and not see any negative results on the scale. Why is that? More to the point, if my 'carb tank' is nearly empty, how many carbs can I consume before they start spilling over into my fat cells?

A: The answer is about 2000 calories, or 500 grams of carbs. That's A LOT of carbs! And your brain is going to snatch up and use about 100 to 120 grams of that in a day.  If you remember reading in Ketones Aren't From Motown, your blood stream, liver and muscles (aka your 'carb tank') store glucose from carbohydrates for energy. It's not until these store houses are filled that you begin to store it in your fat cells, and if you're used to eating Keto-Friendly you'd have to be pretty deliberate to eat 500 grams of carbs in a day.

Q: When we lose weight, where does the fat go?

A: Brace yourself!  The average person has between 10 billion and 30 billion fat cells!  And they do not go away when you lose weight!  Depending on how many carbs you're eating your fat cells are either shrinking or swelling.  After your 'carb tank' is full your body begins storing the extra glucose in your fat cells as a future energy source as a lovely survival mechanism (our bodies are WONDERFULLY made!).  As your fat cells swell so does your belly, hips and thighs!  Conversely, when you use Ketones to turn your body into a fat burning factory your fat cells shrink and so does your body!  Isn't that cool?!

Q: When eating Keto-Friendly you want to be sure to eat plenty of protein - actually in ANY weight loss plan you don't want to cheat your body of protein or it will take what it needs from your LBM -your lean body mass (aka your muscles).  But when eating 'plenty of protein' can the excess protein eventually be turned into fat?

A: After reading dozens of studies it seems that the excess protein your body doesn’t use up may actually be added to your LBM (lean body mass).  One study I read, done In 2012 by George A. Bray and colleagues, watched a group of people who ate 1,000 calories above their daily needs for 8 weeks.  Some of the subjects ate low protein, high carbohydrate diets while others ate low carb, high protein diets.  At the end of the study, all subjects gained close to the same amount of weight. However the subjects who ate the highest amounts of protein gained the least amount of weight, gained less body fat than the others and the weight gained was actually attributed to the gain in LBM.  Not a bad reason to gain a few kilograms.  I have read that eating exorbitant amounts of protein will adversely affect the kidneys and that going beyond the recommendations in Ketones Aren't From Motown may cause ketogenesis to decline, but by sticking to the guidelines in my book you should be fine.

I hope this addresses someone's question as it did mine.  In the future I plan to address a few other questions I've wondered about, like:

• I've heard that drastically cutting back on calorie intake causes your metabolism to slow down - how drastic is 'drastic' and where does intermittent fasting fit into this picture? 

• What exactly is so magical about fiber? For that matter what IS fiber anyway?

• What is FAT (the kind we eat, that is), can I eat too much fat and why is fat good for fat loss?

• What does insulin do and what role does it play in fat loss?

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