Help Me Understand Keto Diet
Must we reach our allowed carbs/fats/proteins every day? Or is the goal to eat target OR LESS calories, while keeping fats in targeted proportion OR GREATER (relative to proteins and carbs)?
In other words, will eating 1/2 to 3/4 allowed fats and 1/2 or less allowed carbs and proteins make the keto diet ineffective or more effective?
If I understand this, eating fats in target proportion to carbs and proteins is what puts us into ketosis. Eating less than the required calories causes us to burn body mass.
When we burn body mass without ketosis, then we cannibalize proteins and fats -- and burning proteins produces toxins and also reduces muscles. But when we are in ketosis and burn body mass (because we consumed insufficient calories), then we tend to burn mostly fat and not protein.
So eating less than target carbs and proteins should help us lose weight, provided (1) we get sufficient nutrients and (2) we consume enough fats (in proportion to carbs and proteins) to maintain ketosis (verified by urine testing).
Is that correct? Or am I way off?
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I think that you are right. The way I understand it is that instead of using sugar via pancreas functions, we are using fat as burning fuel via liver. As it is, I am not counting the calories intake but I make sure that I do not eat over the 20 net carbs every day to lose weight - and it works for me. I eat lots of lettuce and other greens and as for the meat, I eat about a handful every meal, i.e., a hamburger size in meat, either veal, chicken or fish. I also have some berries with heavy cream for dinner sometimes or natural yogourt with some stevia for lunch or dinner as deserts. Tea or coffee to end the meal and that is it. For sandwhiches, I make my keto flatbread recipe , which I cook on a parchment paper on a cookie sheet and cut the cooked flatbread in 8 equal squares (1 carb/square) - good for 4 sandwhiches.
Hope that this diet works for you too!!
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Essentially you are correct, the main things to keep in mind are:
1. Keep insulin levels down (insulin inhibits the conversion of fat into ketones)
2. Too much protein can also cause an insulin response as it can get converted into sugars just like carbs.
3. The body will generally start breaking down fat before protein.
Essentially the body will use up glucose first then fat then protein. Although all three can be in use simultaneously, our bodies are amazingly adaptive and dynamic machines. What is going on in one area doesn't always have an immediate and direct effect on another area.
I think the primary key to getting into and staying in ketosis is keeping the carb intake below 20-50 g/day. That will limit the insulin response which inhibits ketosis.
Fat intake provides the fuel and protein the building blocks. The body will synthesize enough glucose for the few systems that can only run on glucose.
