Ketosis - how low carb can you go without going into it

I recently went into what I think was full blown ketosis.  I was losing weight (yeah!) but I developed paint-peeling dragon breath -- seriously.  My breath was severe enough that it would fill the room with its foulness (not an exaggeration).  So, I do not plan to return to ketosis again unless I'm taking a couple weeks off from work or something like that, or maybe I could time it for a long weekend.

My question is, how low are You able to go in carbs and lose weight but not go into ketosis?

Does the type of carbs you're taking in (complex versus simple) impact your weight loss regardless of the overall # of carbs you're taking in?  (In other words, if you're consistently getting in 60 g of carbs/day but some days have sweets and other days get your carbs in via veggies, do you see a difference in your wt loss?)

Thank you so much for your help!  I want to continue my wt loss journey but I want the quality of life that comes with being able to be around people without making them uncomfortable due to my breath.

Hello Elia,

If you have not done so already be sure and ask your surgeon about this.  We also did a search for some other posts where members were talking about Ketosis.  We hope this helps  

http://www.obesityhelp.com/search/action,search_oh/?q=ketosi s&cx=000946886326336472648%3Ae-vpeg4uyxw&cof=FORID%3A9

Thank you!!!   :D

this is individualized and there are many factors that play into how long it takes someone to get into ketosis, and what it takes to keep someone there and how many carbs it takes to throw someone out of ketosis.  that amount of carbs you can consume and still attain weight loss is again individualized, but around 100 gm/day.  well of course there is a difference between complex and simple carbs, (and especially since with the ds simple carbs are absorbed at 100%)....your body will get used to ketosis, not sure what you mean about "maybe I could time if for a long weekend" depending on how many times you have gone in and out of ketosis....it usually take 3 days to get into ketosis (depending on how many carbs you had in your body before the carb fast).....ahhh the human body -highly adaptable.......good luck

Thank you for your response! 

What I meant by time it for a long weekend was that I could start with a carb fast about 4 or 5 days prior to the time off so that maybe ketosis (and bad breath) didn't kick in until I was off from work. 

Even though I have been eating carbs, including simple carbs (sugars),  I am pleased and very surprised that the weight loss I obtained has remained stable and possible even dropped a little more, as if the ketosis effect has continued to have a wt loss benefit even past the ketosis state.

Something I want to throw out there to foks (and I'm afraid it will get a little lost by putting it inside this thread), I very recently learned that a ketosis diet should actually be low carb, MODERATE protein, and high fat.  I learned that, especially for some people, too much protein could throw a person out of ketosis because the body can process the excess protein in a manner which effect insulin.  Here's the link to the ariticle:  http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2012/07/09/low-carb-k etosis-not-necessarily/  It includes an add in of a video by one of the leading medical researchers of low carb as well.

I am shocked/surprised to hear that some DS'ers can lose weight at 100 grams of carbs a day but that could be because of my habit of going overboard with carbs when I allow my carbs to be high -- kind of like an oh well, might as well.  I was thinking of starting out with a diet of 70 carbs and then lowering it by 5 grams every three or four days to see where I lose weight prior to going into ketosis. But, I think I will start at 100 or even 105 instead and I will make an effort to keep simple carbs to a minimum and to get my carbs from healthy sources.  It's amazing how you have to replan for different stages of carb intake -- higher carb as well as lower carb.  I'll work on creating a plan of nutritional carbs and try to get going with it next week.  This is in it's own way kind of exciting.  :)  

That's interesting about the protein but the people I have seen that work to be in ketosis are usually well over 100 grams per day of protein. many people just low carb and don't worry about ketosis although I understand you are looking at it from the point of view of not wanting to be in ketosis. I hope you find the balance.

If I recall, the guestimate of protein absorption is about 60% so even a 100 grams of protein would be much less as far as our absorption was concerned.  But, I figured it would be good info for anyone pushing 150 to 200 grams of protein a day.  I was up to 180 at one point but ended up with a feeling that I constantly needed to pee.  I looked into it and it was a side effect of too much protein.  I think it was also because I was getting more of that protein from protein powder than I had previously.  I backed off of the protein powder and, I think, lowered my overall protein and my kidney/bladder calmed back down.  So, for those ubber protein chasers who just can't seem to get into ketosis unless they are torturing themselves to get to ubber low carb levels, the answer might be slightly lower protein.  I wonder if it might even allow them to up their carbs a tiny bit and still be in ketosis.  I cringe any time I hear about someone having to keep their carbs down to 15 or so.

We only absorb part of the protein we intake so we still have to eat high protein in order to get the normal amount of protein needed to sustain our bodies. So even if we eat low carb, high fat and high protein we are really only getting the amount of protein our bodies need so we still go into ketosis. =) if that is understandable. 

I totally agree with what you're saying.  =-D   But for those pushing upward of 200 grams of protein and struggling to be in ketosis, I wonder if the answer would be to lower their protein intake a little.

Also, I'd like to give another shout out to Coconut BUTTER.  It's a recent discovery for me and it completely changed my ability to go low carb.  It's something I found very hard before -- between getting in enough fat to keep cals high enough plus dealing with the restriction of carbs, it was a fight for me.  The coconut butter seems to make it incredibly easier.  It has a breakdown similar to avocados--with a MUCH longer shelf life!  ;-)

Coconut butter is also very good rubbed onto the skin!