Hi, James.....do not wish to belabour the points already made, but am chiming in on this very interesting discussion of the biological underpinnings of CAD/CALP. It's great to see someone so knowledgeble and interested in how it works!
As I understand it, ketone bodies are a by-product of the metabolism of either body fat or dietary fat. Ketones do not burn fat, they are the leftovers of an inefficient metabolic process the body would prefer to not do at all.
The body prefers to burn glucose. It would prefer that you provide it w/ a steady stream of blood glucose, just enough to keep it running well, but not too much. When there is insufficient glucose available in the bloodstream, the body goes to stored energy areas and starts burning that energy by converting it from fat to glucose. Ketone bodies are produced as this conversion occurs. They are not useful to the body, but are thrown off as waste products by the lungs, skin and kidneys.
Testing for urinary ketones does not prove that you are burning stored body fat. It can also show that you are burning fat you've just eaten, have broken down into glucose and ketone bodies, and are in the process of using the glucose and throwing off the ketones.
The role of insulin in the body is to keep the circulating levels of glucose within strict guidelines. It "escorts" glucose out of the blood into either organ or fat cells. It pulls stored energy out of fat cells and helps turn it into usable glucose. The body cannot burn fat as it burns glucose....it converts fat into glucose and then escorts it into organ cells to be used. Ketones are the "ashes" of this conversion or "combustion" process.
Organ cells use glucose up as energy. Fat cells store it as fat for future use. Excess glucose is not normally permitted to float around the bloodstream. This is why insulin-dependent diabetics take insulin.....to get the blood glucose down to acceptable levels by tucking it away in organ cells to be used, or fat cells to be stored.
Those who are "insulin resistant" have their organ cells refuse to accept the insulin-glucose combination because excessive insulin is harmful to organ cells and they protect themselves by "resisting". When that happens, the last place the body can store the excess energy is in the fat cells. These folks secrete their own insulin, but may also take insulin injections to force the organ cells to accept more of the circulating blood glucose. Blood glucose levels are kept within levels acceptable by the body.
Those who are called "Carbohydrate Addicts" are actually very insulin-resistent and secrete ever increasing levels of their own insulin to try to force the organ cells to accept more insulin-glucose molecules. They usually store fat very easily and give it up reluctantly. CAD/CALP seeks to limit the release of insulin by dietary restrictions to avoid storing more body fat, and to enhance burning already stored body fat. Hence "weight-loss".
The way you "burn body fat" is to create a deficit of energy in the body, forcing it to pull stored energy out and use it up. As your body does this, it metabolizes stored body fat and leaves behind ketones as a waste product. You create this deficit by taking in less energy than you require and/or increasing the energy requirement. i.e., eat less, exercise more and create more muscle tissue, which uses energy.
Carbohydrate Addicts still have the problem of secreting lots of insulin. Once trained to do so, the pancreas doesn't give this up. CAD/CALP helps you eat less by helping to control your appetite, induced by insulin. It truly is the "fat-making hormone".
But CAD/CALP also restricts the release of insulin by restricting the intake of high-carb foods to once a day. The pancreas releases insulin based on how much it had to release over the preceding twenty-four hour period to handle carb intake. Fewer carbs eaten during the preceding day means less insulin secreted when carbs are eaten. Hence, the CM/RM concept. We keep our carb intake low all the time except for one period every day.
Our pancreas also secretes a second wave of insulin if it perceives that we need it. If we keep eating and use up the circulating blood insulin, the pancreas secretes more. By limiting our RM to not more than 60 continuous minutes, we avoid this secondary release and do not store additional fat.
HTH......good luck on this plan. It's a wonderful way to live!