How Ketosis Affects Weight Loss
Ketones Are Fat Deposits Used in Place of Glucose During Starvation Mode, Which Causes Weigh Loss
What is Ketosis? It’s when your body has used up all of its glucose and switched modes to start burning fat.
Many of the current diet follow the trend of eating few to no carbs. They restrict refined carbs and enforce that we eat foods with a low GI. While this does have an immediate impact on your weight, following the Atkins Diet or the South Beach diet can cause long-term effects.
The reason for this is that when you are eating few to no carbs your body goes into “starvation” mode. When this happens, the body starts using fat deposits for energy because they isn’t enough glucose to run on. These fat fragments are called ketones. They are used as energy and expelled from the body. So it’s easy to see why you would be able to lose weight from fat loss during this process.
However, these ketones are highly acidic. Over time, ketosis can be dangerous because it takes the acid in your blood past a level your body can take. It isn’t healthy and it can damage your liver and kidneys.
For this reason, such “starvation” diets are not recommended for more than 14 days at a time. There are home urine tests available to see if your body is in a state of ketosis and you should see your doctor immediately if you think you have ketones in your urine.
So, what’s the best way to raise your metabolism and lose stubborn fat? Eating a sensible diet that includes unrefined carbs and getting regular exercise, particularly strength training.
