Ketosis Can Be Easier Than You Think

The ketogenic diet is one of the most popular diets out there right now. With its emphasis on cutting out carbs and sugars, and eating more vegetables, meats, and natural fats, some people have found great success in following the ketosis diet. Despite the success some have found, other continue to label this a “fad diet,” but is it? Today, Axis Labs will explore the ketogenic diet, and the process behind it; ketosis.

The Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic diet focuses on low-carb, high-fat options. The goal is to lower your blood sugar and insulin levels, shifting the body’s metabolism away from burning carbs and utilizing fats and ketones instead. Many have drawn connections to the Atkins diet when they first hear about the ketogenic diet.

keto foods

By reducing your intake of carbohydrates and replacing them with healthy fats, you put your body in a state called ketosis, where your body begins to burn fats more efficiently to create the energy you need. To enter into ketosis, your ketogenic diet should be made up of foods like:

  • Red meat, chicken, and turkey
  • Fish like salmon, trout, tuna, and mackerel, the fresher the better
  • Eggs
  • Butter and cream
  • Unprocessed cheeses like goat, cheddar, cream, or mozzarella
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Avocados and freshly made guacamole
  • Low-carb vegetables like tomatoes, onions, peppers, and most green vegetables
Similarly, the ketogenic diet should avoid foods that are high in carbs and sugars, like:
  • Sources of sugar like soda, fruit juices, cakes, ice cream, candy, and more
  • Grains and starches like wheat products, rice, pasta, and cereals
  • Fruits of all kinds, except small portions of berries
  • Beans legumes
  • Tubers and root vegetables like potatoes and carrots
  • Low-fat and diet products, which are often high in carbs
  • Processed oils like vegetable oil and mayonnaise
  • Alcohol because of its carb content

By following a strict ketogenic diet, and pairing it with exercise, your body can quickly enter into the ketosis phase.

What Is Ketosis?

The ketogenic diet works because of the process of ketosis. This is a normal part of the metabolic process as it provides your body the energy it needs. By replacing carbs with fats, your body burns these fats and makes ketones. For those eating a balanced diet, their bodies avoid using the fat that is stored and don’t make use of ketones. That’s because carbs are easy to break down and make into energy. By cutting back on the carbs and relying on fats for energy, your body enters ketosis to burn these fats for energy.

Why Ketosis May Be Right For You

The ketosis process makes the ketogenic diet a popular weight loss strategy. Additionally, there are a host of potential health benefits from keeping your body in a state of ketosis. By burning more fat in your body, ketosis can help alleviate feelings of hunger, keeping you from snacking throughout the day. Some studies suggest that the ketogenic diet may reduce the risk of heart disease (1). Other studies argue that the ketogenic process can help reduce the presence of acne on the body (2) and even have an impact on nervous system diseases like Alzheimer’s (3), Parkinson’s (4), and more.

But for bodybuilders, and those looking to exercise more, and for longer periods of time, ketosis has been linked to weight loss, and perhaps most importantly, maintaining the strength, appearance, and mass of muscles.

So How Do You Enter Ketosis?

The desirable weight loss and muscle maintaining benefits of ketosis make it a valuable state to keep your body in. But how do you enter ketosis? There are a variety of ways to enter into this state.

Fasting

Some choose to fast by eating only during an eight hour period, then abstaining from food for the next 16 hours in the day. Others choose a low-calorie diet for a few days (some suggest about 1,200 for women and 1,500 for men). Essentially, you don’t cut food out for several days, you simply limit how much you take in. By consuming fewer calories, your body has to turn to burning the fat stored in the body to start producing the energy you need.

Cutting Carbs

Others choose to minimize the amount of carbs they consume or cut them out entirely. Minimizing the number of carbs is fairly dramatic, as you can only consume about 20 - 50 grams of carbs every day if you want to enter and stay in ketosis. To put this in perspective, 50 grams of bread is roughly three small slices of bread, two bananas, or a pear. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and many other foods are sources of carbs and will need to be avoided if you want to enter into ketosis.

Limit Your Protein Intake

Other choose to enter ketosis by limiting the amount of protein they consume. While protein is necessary to develop and maintain strong, healthy muscles, those following a ketogenic diet should make protein only about 20 percent of their daily calories. This is because your body can actually convert protein into carbohydrates if there is an excess of protein in the body. The process, called gluconeogenesis, can force your body out of its state of ketosis.

Use Supplements

Finally, there are products and supplements that can help your body more quickly a state of ketosis. Axis Labs has developed such a product, KETORUSH. Designed with ketogenic diets and muscle building in mind, KETORUSH, in addition to diet and exercise, helps your body rapidly induce ketosis, increase your energy, and reduces your appetite.

Make The Most Of Your Workout With Axis Labs

If you want to lose weight fast, build muscle mass and strength, and maintain your athletic appearance, it’s time you start incorporating the sports nutrition and ketogenic products from Axis Labs into your regular health and exercise regimen. Made from top-quality ingredients, and developed after intense periods of research, all of our products are designed to enhance your healthy lifestyle so you can enjoy the results of your hard work. Order you ketogenic products, like KETORUSH from Axis Labs today!

 

 

Citations:

1: Sharman, MJ, WJ Kraemer, DM Love, NG Avery, AL Gomez, TP Scheet, and JS Volek (2002). A Ketogenic Diet Favorably Affects Serum Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Disease in Normal-weight Men. The Journal Of Nutrition 132(7), 1879-885. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12097663

2: Paoli, A., Rubini, A., Volek, J. S., & Grimaldi, K. A. (2013). Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 67(8), 789–796. http://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.116

3: Thaipisuttikul, P., & Galvin, J. E. (2012). Use of medical foods and nutritional approaches in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical Practice (London, England), 9(2), 199–209. http://doi.org/10.2217/cpr.12.3

4: Phillips, M., Murtagh, D., Gilbertson, L., Asztely, F., & Lynch, C. (2018). Low-fat versus ketogenic diet in Parkinson's disease: A pilot randomized controlled trial [Abstract]. Movement Disorders: Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society. doi:10.1002/mds.27390

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