First what is it?
It is the state when your body is breaking down fat for fuel. The metabolism of fat produces ketones bodies which are an alternative to glucose for both your brain and muscles. "Ketone bodies" refers to three types of molecules acetone, acetoetate, and beta-hydroxybuterate. That last one, BHB is the one most famous for healing, but both BHB and acetoetate are used as fuel for the body. You can think of ketone bodies and like jet fuel for our brain and muscles, when compared to glucose, it runs cleaner and more efficient energy. 99% of the physical benefits from juice fasting and other diets that cause nutritional ketosis (NK) are because of the production of ketones!
The Benefits of Nutritional Ketosis are Many:
1. Rapid Fat loss đGreat for those with weight loss resistance. I find this helps the body remember how to shift into fat burning gear if you will. Think of our metabolism like the gears on your car. As amaericans we are always in glucose (food) burning gear. With out fasting or calorie restricting our bodies get âstuckâ there and canât shift from fat burning to food burning mode smoothly anymore.
When my patients tell me they canât go more then a few hours without eating or they get weak and shaky I have to explain to them that this is NOT healthy, our bodies are meant to be incredible resilient when we are healthy. When the Gear to fat burning is âunstuckâ you will be able to go long stretches without eating feeling totally normal or even better than normal. This is why NK is used by high performance athletes to keep them going when they can not be intaking calories on long rides or runs but need energy.
2. Reverse and cure metabolic disorders like high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. You might guess that fasting would have a positive effect on cholesterol because well duh youâre not eating. But it doesnât only decrease LDLs orâbadâ cholesterol, it actually increases HDLs aka âgoodâ cholesterol at the same time! This happens because of the positive effects fasting has on your liver and your liver's ability to process fats. High cholesterol is something that usually moonlights with type two diabetes and this is referred To as metabolic syndrome. NK has been shown again and again to decrease total insulin and Increase insulin sensitivity, frequently reversing type 2 diabetes! When you go for long periods without eating you are not making insulin as insulin is produced in response to an increase in blood sugar. When there isnât any insulin around the receptors become more and more sensitive. Itâs like the light sensing rods in your eyes. After a long night of rest and darkness they are more sensitive to light in the morning. What this means for Metabolic syndrome is that less insulin Is needed and because insulin is the âfat storageâ hormone, less insulin means less fat! In fact lower insulin levels lead to less over all inflammation and a decreased risk of heart disease.
3. Decrease hunger and remove food cravings âđŠđđ°đşâ. This one is simple, ketone bodies reduce appetite by decreasing the out put of the hormone Ghrelin, which causes hunger. This hunger hormone increases when we do things like stay up too late or get really stressed out. I also find that craving seem to disappear after a clean or a REBOOT because we have killed off the bugs (like candida) that cause huge sugar cravings. The microbes in your gut secrete chemicals and hormones that can make you have cravings!
4. Decrease inflammation đâ¨ď¸and trigger healing in the BRAIN đ§ !! Ketogenic diets have been used for decades to treat traumatic brain injury, neurodegenerative diseases and seizures. Like I said before ketones are like jet fuel for the brain. You get more energy per molecule with less metabolic waste than glucose. This leads to better healing and repair action.
5. Increase Mental clarity and remove brain fogđ¤Şđ Many people experience a sense of clarity and new creativity when in a state of NK. For me itâs a return to a state of imagination and drive to achieve. Itâs like you unlock this creative energy potential in your mind and heart. I think itâs one of the main reasons people will fast over and over again.
6. Increased energy and physical endurance especially for high performance athletes.
Above is my 𩸠ketone reading from today, Day 7 of my juice cleanse.
đ Normal = less than 0.5mmol/L
đ Anything đ0.5mmol/L is considered nutritional ketosis
â Optional levels = 1.0mmol/L to 3mmol/L - Best for weight loss!
đHigh ketosis = 3mmol/L - 8mmol/L- this is more of a therapeutic level ketosis, no need to get this high for weight loss.
â ď¸ Dangerous ketosis above 8-10mmol/L -this can happen to type 1 diabetics and is not really a concern for people fasting.
I was pleased to see that I was right in my optimal ketosis range for weight loss even though I suspected I would be. While I was bleeding I decided to also measure my blood sugar (BS). Normal for a person who hasnât eaten in over 3-4 hours is 60-100. My reading was 76! I find it pretty amazing that even though I have only been consuming about 90 calories a day the body is still able to keep blood sugar regulated and normal. This is really the difference between water fasting and juice fasting. With water fasting BS is normally somewhere between 40-60 which is much lower than normal and leave you feeling weak and with Very little endurance.