Ketosis

I've heard this banded about and have not got a clue what it is. Does anyone out there know and what does it do?

ketosis is basically the state of your body "breaking tissue down". It is the basis of the whole atkins diet when you eat mostly/all protein and then you are breaking down fat cells because you aren't taking in carbohydrates. Along with ketosis you tend to have a little diuresis - meaning extra fluid coming off too. If your body is "in ketosis" this can be checked by using strips that you urinate on. For all the diets out there that are only protein shakes/drinks - like medifast, optifast etc - your body is definately in ketosis with these diets. The diabetic patients who end up in trouble/hospitalized with super high blood sugars also have ketosis - we call it diabetic ketoacidosis. I have done many of these diets that are based on ketosis, and I am a critical care nurse so that's why I had such a lengthy answer

Thanks Pamela, that's very interesting. Is ketosis something we should be attaining to, as we eat mostly protein and few carbohydrates? Other than peeing on a strip, is there any other way to tell if you are 'in ketotsis'?

yes there is another way to figure out if you're in ketosis....your urine will smell very strong and usually yucky. For weight loss surgery patients being in ketosis is not a bad thing, if you are a diabetic, being in ketosis is not a good thing. Be Well, ANDI

I am not able to check this board very frequently with my schedule and trying to keep up with my boys sports schedules.... It looks like some other people took over and were able to answer your question. Hope things are going well for you Pam

Our bodies need energy and get that from what we eat and have stored in our bodies. Basically the body consumes carbohydrates as it is already in the form that our body uses for energy. When the body has no carbs to burn it goes to the next thing our body has that is easy to convert in to carbs to burn. This is our fat. It takes energy to convert our fat to carbs so you burn more calories when you are in this stage of ketosis. There is a by product called ketones that get sent from the body through our kidneys.. thus the importance of drinking fliuids to flush them out. If the body has no fat to convert is goes to muscle; this is not a good thing. That is why it's import that we keep our protein levels up each day. Our diet, for the most part is based on this premise.. proteins, veggies, fruit first carbs last. This is why we are able to wear a smaller size clothes than someone else that may weigh the same as us. We have been burning our fat cells for a while. 10 pounds of fat takes up 2 to 3 times the area as 10 pounds of muscles do, thus we are smaller. Some people can not handle this type of diet because their sugar levels get nutty.. it sounds like deanna has this problem, but for the most part, this diet is safe and effective for loosing fat, gaining muscle and reducing weight. Side effects of Ketosis are: You may have bad breath, your urine with be stronger and more orange in color. You may notice a different body smell when you sweat. These are all signs you are in ketosis. This is why I try so hard to stay on protein as much as possible and avoid all carbs. I want to stay in this condition to burn as much fat as I can. I think this shows as my fat is far less and my size in clothes is way down. Hope this answers your question. You may want to read the adkins book which goes into great detail explaining how this diet works. but bascially with wls its the same diet we follow now.

Thanks Carla From reading these posts I think I'm 'in ketosis', as I have similar symptoms and dropped a bunch of weight (I'm waiting til tomorrow to make it official!). And my blood sugars have been going crazily low. So on the one hand I'm pleased as it means I'm losing weight, but on the other hand, I've been feeling bad because my sugars have been off. Guess I need to regulate it all a bit better and try and get a balance between it all.

U may need to eat a few more carbs when you feel yourself getting low, but you can balance between the two and continue to loose weight even adding those few extra carbs in. You should notice a bit of reduced energy because your body has to work hard to produce the energy. This is a pretty natural feeling. Glad to hear the scale is heading down for you.. thats a good thing.