Can I lose weight with a ketosis diet and is it safe?
Ketosis goes against the grain of what many of us learned about in creating an anabolic state for our bodies to build muscle and burn fat. Which I am not saying is necessarily a bad thing, being catabolic for too long and not getting the right nutrients can be devastating to ones physical goals. But lets take a closer look at the pros and cons of these ketosis diets and are they really the right move?
WHAT IS A KETOSIS DIET
Ketosis in short is a physiological effect resulting from fasting in which the brain and some other bodily processes use ketones produced from the fatty tissues as fuel instead of glucose. Glucose is often readily available in most diets in the form of carbohydrates. When food is low in carbs or stores in liver become depleted, the body can begin to break down muscle. Ketosis is the brains way of sparing that muscle while still performing at necessary energy levels. In women ketosis generally is attained at approximately 48 hours of a water fast and 72 hours for men.
IS IT SAFE?
Well, yes and no. Short term ketosis is quite alright and often safe, though it does cause an acidic state in the blood. Short term can be anywhere from a few days to perhaps 21. You may be thinking that 21 seems long by scale but there are some that have high protein diets with low carbs that run year round ketosis. This can be very dangerous. High protein diets over long periods of time can result in excess protein byproducts and strain on the kidneys. Take this into account over a long period of time and our bodies will begin leaching off our bones for nutrients and this will only result in conditions like osteoporosis.
HOW DOES IT WORK
Your body is a very intelligent system, once ketosis is reached it will first burn away cells and tissues that are diseased, damaged, aging or dead. That alone is reason to consider even a short term ketosis run to rid of the most impure or inferior body elements. But there is more. as your body becomes more efficient in the burning of rubbish, the building of new and healthy cells become stimulated and begin to speed up. The building material in these dead cells like amino acids and proteins are not wasted but rather recycled to form young, vital cells. This all sounds great and you might be thinking at what cost this incredible benifit could be to our bodies. You can expect to lose .2kg per day in muscle mass which very well could be a worth while trade off. But most experts would recommend those of normal weight not to exceed 21 days of fasting in any consecutive period.
WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES TO MUSCLE LOSS
There are many studies and health enthusiasts who say you can reach ketosis and not burn into your muscles with a low calorie juice fast, around 400 cals, or master cleanse system which is mostly lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. Either of these will meet your bodies requirements for calories and likely not burn into your muscles but still allow you to reach ketosis.
I hope you found this article on Lose Weight with Ketosis and Other Benefits helpful.
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