6 Things You Need to Know Before Starting Keto

Keto was the number one diet trend of 2018. And it's been rising in popularity over the past few years. At the moment it's volume of Google searches is dropping, but a lot of people are still hearing about it for the first time. I myself have been doing some form of a low carb ketogenic diet for over 4 to 5 years, and I've learned quite a lot about it. Before you go on the ketogenic diet learn these important things you should know before starting a ketogenic diet. 

Ketosis is a metabolic state characterized by the elevation of ketone bodies. Ketones are energy molecules derived from fat. On a keto diet, they become the alternative fuel to glucose. To get into ketosis and start producing ketone bodies, you need to deplete your liver glycogen. And you can do that by either fasting, exercising or eating a low carb diet. If you're staying on the periphery of eating somewhat low carb, but not low enough to get into ketosis, then you're going to have some form of an energy crisis.

If you're doing that thent you're not getting enough carbs from food and you won't become fully keto adapted. So you're going to experience brain fog, lethargy, weakness, tiredness, and some potential health problems.

Some people will also see higher levels of cholesterol when going keto, higher levels of LDL themselves aren't a big issue as long as they don't get oxidized. Cholesterol is dangerous only in the presence of insulin, high blood sugar, high insulin and oxidation. That's why you want to avoid the periphery and go straight into ketosis. Instead of staying somewhere around 150 grams of carbs you would want to actually reduce that much lower than that to experience full keto adaptation. 

It is true that during the initial phase of keto adaptation, you may suffer some drop in performance. Keto adaptation takes at least a few weeks and up to several months to take full effect. Long term keto adapted athletes who did keto 6 for six to 36 months have shown much higher rates of fat oxidation and recovery in prolonged endurance workouts than carb based athletes. It makes sense because the body already uses fat as a primary fuel source at lower intensities like cardio.

Elite level gymnasts eating the keto diet for a few weeks have also seen an increase in lean body mass and a decrease in fat, while still getting stronger. I myself have also been able to build about 10 pounds of muscle on keto, and eating one meal a day without deliberately trying to bulk. It is possible to train hard and long on keto, as on any other diet. You just have to take into consideration how keto adapted you are and what kind of exercise you do. 

One thing a lot of people who go on keto notice is that they begin to need less sleep. For me personally, I notice that there are many days where I feel just fine and very energized even after having slept only two to four hours.

There are many reasons why ketosis may reduce your demand for sleep. It is true that being low carb raises cortisol during the adaptation phaze, which increases wakefulness and adrenaline. However, that effect will pass after a few weeks, as soon as your brain adapts to using ketones. So even if you do experience loss of sleep during the initial phases of keto, then that's going to probably change afterwards.

There's also lower levels of serotonin, the relaxation hormone. Carbs raise serotonin and insulin that will make you feel more relaxed and parasympathetic. To prevent that you can increase your tryptophan consumption by eating more pumpkin seeds, chicken, turkey, salmon and eggs. Tryptophan is the amino acid that helps with the production of serotonin in the brain.

Keto promotes GABA release as well. GABA is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter that calms the brain and lowers excitation. When you're in ketosis, your brain gets access to a steady stream of ketones and GABA, which has neuroprotective and anti seizure effects. This can increase the quality and decreases the brain's total demand for sleep.

Ketones are anti inflammatory beta hydroxybutyrate, the main ketone body, reduces oxidative stress and inflammation, while stimulating a powerful antioxidant system called Nrf2. It also increases mitochondrial efficiency in energy production, and you'll be able to produce 60% more ATP per molecule of ketones than glucose.

If you don't show any negative side effects of sleeping less, such as elevated blood sugar, insulin resistance, obesity, forgetting about things, getting into accidents, etc, then you're probably fine. You just have to make sure that you don't hide the symptoms of actual sleep deprivation by drinking coffee or stimulating yourself with exercise.

There are studies that show that long term keto may improve sleep quality. From my own data, I can tell that my resting heart rate is much lower in keto, my heart rate variability is a lot higher, and I get more REM and deep sleep.

I've never thought that carbs and insulin are the devil. But there have been some times where I was worried that just eating one piece of potato is going to kick me out of ketosis and prevent me from being keto adapted for several months. Fortunately, I was quick to realize that this is not the case.

Being in ketosis is the actual metabolic state with lower blood sugar and elevated ketones. It's like a fingerprint characteristic showing what kind of fuel substrates are circulating in the bloodstream at that moment. Being keto adapted is the alteration of fuel sources your body goes through. As you eat keto, it involves actually changing some of your liver enzymes and the way the mitochondria produce energy. The goal isn't ketosis because it's a transient state and it fluctuates all the time within the 24 hour period.

Keto adaptation is what most people actually want and should strive towards. You can be in ketosis without being keto adapted by coming from an overnight fast and you can be keto adapted without being in ketosis because you just ate something. Getting kicked out of ketosis by eating some carbs or something else like protein isn't going to make you lose your keto adaptation if do it infrequently.

That's why I think a more cyclical approach to keto is more sustainable and it's healthier and more effective as well.

Some people are also less suited to be consuming saturated fat This is determined by a specific gene called ApoE which has three types: ApoE 2, ApoE 3, and ApoE 4. The specific ApoE gene we have instructs our body on how to make Apolipoprotein E (APOE)  which combines fatty acids to create lipoproteins. Lipoproteins are used to transport triglycerides and cholesterol around the blood. If you have predominantly ApoE 4 genes, then you're going to do worse with increased saturated fat and cholesterol intake. ApoE 4 carriers are said to be at a 20% increased risk of Alzheimer's disease as well. Having ApoE 2 makes you more suited for a low carb high fat diet. And ApoE 3 is suitable for both types of diets. That's why you'd want to get tested before going on keto for the long term. 

When I first started keto, I was already doing intermittent fasting for about three years. And I did the 16/8 method. No sugar, no grains, no processed carbs of any kind. When I was eating these moderate amount of carbs on my diet, it was still quite difficult to fast for 20 to 24 hours. That wasn't like a very long fast, but I still got hungry, I was more tired, and my performance wasn't as good. After being on keto for several months and going actually deeper into ketosis, my intermittent fasting got much easier, and I didn't notice any difference. Being on a keto diet and doing some fasting are very similar, and you don't feel much difference when you're eating or when you're fasting. When you're fasting, you produce more ketones and go into deeper ketosis. If you're keto adapted, that's literally like pouring gasoline on a fire in a good way because you'll be tapping into your body fat stores for energy. 

Being in ketosis feels amazing. It's metabolically very advantageous. But I think chronic ketosis isn't optimal for health as well as performance. That's why a cyclical approach is probably better. You don't have to change your diet or give up keto completely in the long term. You can achieve the metabolic flexibility and keto adaptation by even just having a few days of the month when you're not eating keto. Even just a single meal or some additional carbs that kick you out of ketosis can be very useful for promoting metabolic flexibility and actually making you healthier.

If you want to know how to start a metabolically flexible and cyclical ketogenic diet that includes intermittent fasting and all the variations of keto then check out the book Metabolic Autophagy.