Basically, the body needs fuel from food. All three: proteins, fats and carbohydrates provide fuel. Proteins and fats can provide fuel for all muscle and organ tissue, except the brain. The brain and nervous system needs carbohydrates. However, when no carbohydrates (i.e. glucose and glycogen) are available, the body uses its back-up system. It converts fats by partially burning a fat molecule into a ketone. The ketone acts as faux glucose and can be used to feed the brain and every body system.

There are contradictory opinions as to whether ketones fuel the brain as efficiently as glucose (or glucose stores i.e. glycogen).

Ketosis in diabetes is dangerous not because it is ketosis, but because a diabetic goes into ketosis while eating carbohydrates. This is because the glucose is not being converted by insulin into fuel for the body but rising higher and higher. In the diabetic, ketosis is a sign or signal to take insulin before coma from high sugar levels.

for non-technical supportive explanation of ketosis see:

http://lowcarbdiet4u.com/ketosis.html

http://www.lindora.com/ketosis.cfm

for a dissenting opinion:

http://www.nutrition.cornell.edu/nu...st/ketosis.html

For a very interesting argument by all the key, well-known diet doctors, see the Great Nutrition Debate at:

http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/Seminars/GND/Proceedings.txt

Great links Voyajer!

Here's some additional details we've discussed recently on the issue, in more details as to the various types of Ketosis:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...3689#post383689

everyone gets into ketosis now and then, even if they never go on a low-carb diet!

Wa'il

It's important to note again the difference between dietary ketosis and diabetic ketoacidosis. The first is not harmful in any way, even to diabetics, the second can de deadly and can only be gotten by diabetics with poor blood sugar control.

Ketosis is a normal body reaction to low blood sugar -- whether you induce it by a low-carb diet, whether you forget to eat and have low blood sugar, or especially if you've ever gone on a starvation diet, you've been in ketosis before.

Now the fly in the ointment is that when you have low blood sugar and ketosis, you are usually a little disoriented, lightheaded, or have inability to concentrate well. This is less pronounced when you are eating enough dietary protein and fat than when you are on a starvation diet.

Voyajer...

Actually, dietary ketosis has very little, if anything to do with blood sugar. For a good explanation of the difference between dietary ketosis and ketoacidosis, see this link: http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips011.html. According to DANDR, pages 57 and 58, this is what ketosis is all about: "Ketosis occurs when you are taking in a low level of carbohydrates from the food you eat, as you will during the Induction phase of Atkins. Lipolysis (burning fat for energy instead of carbs) results in the creation of ketones (that's ketosis), a perfectly normal and natural function of the body....Ketosis is often confused with diabetic ketoacidosis....the latter is the consequence of insulin-deficient subjects having out of control blood sugar levels, a condition that can occur as well in alcoholics and people in a state of extreme starvation. Ketosis and ketoacidosis may sound vaguely alike, but they are virtually polar opposites. They can be distinguished from one another by the fact that the diabetic in ketoacidosis has been consuming excessive carbohydrates and has high blood sugar." So....the creation of ketones is actually the end result of the body burning fat for energy and has nothing to do with blood sugar levels at all. People who are low carbing can experience periods of low blood sugar, especially if they are dropping their carb levels too low, but it's not a result of ketosis.

I used to get these symptoms all the time before LC
Big blood sugar swings from eating a nearly all carb diet told to eat often to keep blood sugar up. i would often wake with a morning 'hangover' and get totally wiped out by the late afternoon again. I was often literally dragging myself around.
All that has 100% gone now i have had only a couple of migraines in the last few months which is like a miracle to me, after many many years of suffering!!
When i first started LC the difference nearly had me bouncing off the walls. I have calmed down somewhat since
As i understand it my blood sugar doesnt get spiked now and is constantly kept low which is what has removed all those symptoms you mentioned

Bloom, I too notice the more level blood sugar that I now have on a low-carb diet. After a carb containing lunch I too would have a sugar high then an insulin-induced sugar drop that would make me tired and disoriented.

Lisa N has not grasped what she is reading. Carbohydrates are changed into glucose in the blood. Low carbohydrates mean lower blood sugar which is why low-carbing helps hypoglycemics and diabetics so much.

When you read on Atkins FAQ page:
"The body can only store a two-day supply of glucose in the form of glycogen, so after two days of consuming no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates, most people go into lipolysis/ketosis."

This means you are low on glucose (glucose is blood sugar), i.e. you are low on blood sugar and have used up all your blood sugar stores.

When you read on Atkins FAQ page:
"If you are restricting the amount of carbohydrates you eat, your body turns to fat as its alternative source of energy. In effect, lipolysis/ketosis has replaced the alternative of burning glucose for energy. Both are perfectly normal processes."

Why did your body turn to burning fat instead of glucose? There wasn't enough glucose (blood sugar i.e. you had low blood sugar).

That's why the Atkins FAQ page says:
"The body uses two fuels for energy: fat and glucose (blood sugar). Carbohydrates break down in the body as glucose. So when you cut back on carbs, you effectively take away most of one of the body's fuels and the body is turns to fat burning, the metabolic process called lipolysis and the secondary process of ketosis."

Atkins FAQ page:
http://atkinscenter.com/helpatkins/faqs/faqlipolysis

It is a fact that the brain metabolizes approximately 150 grams of glucose in a twenty-four hour period. Other tissues such as muscle, fat and liver utilize glucose when it is plentiful (e.g., after a carbohydrate containing meal) but can utilize other metabolic fuels (i.e. protein and fat). The glucose taken up by these tissues may be metabolized or stored as glycogen.

http://www.indegene.com/jiacm/indJI...oglycaemia.html

Okay, so what is the difference between hypoglycemia or the sugar spikes and insulin-induced low blood sugar that I previously experienced and why am I no longer on the sugar roller-coaster when I have just induced low blood sugar by a low carb diet? Answer: By low-carbing I'm getting rid of the worst culprit: insulin spikes. High doses of insulin released from high carb meals cause an immediate and drastic glucose drop. Even during the first two or three days of induction, the fact that your glucose is dropping makes you ravenously hungry. Once in ketosis, your hunger abates as your body begins to use ketones as glucose (blood sugar). Blood sugar is lower (glucose is lower) but it is more leveled out. Therefore, your body produces less insulin, therefore, the glucose remains more level and you don't have low blood sugar plunges. Protein fuels muscle so you don't need carbs to do it even though they could. Fats can fuel tissues and organs, however, they have to turn into ketones in order to feed the brain.

how canyou tell if your body is in ketosis? my friend who is on this diet and has lost tons of weight says she gets a weird taste in her mouth when she is in ketosis is this true.

Why does the state of ketosis from low-carb dieting help hypoglycemics?

Following the USDA government food pyramid guidelines, the hypoglycemic is using glucose (blood sugar) as his primary fuel. After a meal containing carbohydrate, there is an insulin spike draining the blood of glucose (blood sugar). The brain is temporarily starved of fuel with the consequential side-effects of disorientation, fatigue, and inability to concentrate. The body does not yet know who to use ketones for fuel (the body wouldn't turn on that mechanism for a couple of days yet) so the body craves carbs to re-fuel it. So the hypoglycemic eats again and starts the process all over again.

In a low-carb, ketosis state, the mechanism is different. The hypoglycemic eats a high protein, high fat meal and does NOT get an insulin spike. The glucose level is maintained because the body is not using glucose for fuel but ketones from fat for fuel. Any small amount of carbs that are eaten maintain the current glucose level without causing an insulin spike. There is no longer a massive, immediate glucose conversion that leaves the blood depleted of glucose and leaves the brain starved. The brain simply continues to use the ever-present ketones for fuel.

However, there is some controversy as to whether the ketones fuel the brain as efficiently as glucose. Some people say that on a low carb diet, they have a little forgetfulness and inability to concentrate all the time, but I can testify not to the same degree as caused by low blood sugar after a high carb meal.

Also, it should be noted that insulin spikes and high levels of insulin release cortisol (a toxin) into your system. Insulin resistance (meaning high levels of insulin) causes aging, heart disease, and diabetes. Low carbing stops insulin spikes and lowers insulin levels.

Dear MyThreeSon,

Check out the Atkins FAQ page:
http://atkinscenter.com/helpatkins/faqs/faqlipolysis/

Lipolysis testing strips (LTS) measure the ketones—the markers that can indicate that your body is in lipolysis and the secondary process of ketosis—in your urine. The strips will change pink or purple, depending upon how many ketones are there. The more ketones you excrete, and therefore the greater degree ketosis you are in, the darker the color.

Some people do not produce enough ketones to show up in their urine. If you are experiencing a reduction in your appetite and an improvement in well-being and are losing weight or your clothes are feeling looser, there is no need to do anything differently. Remember, the lipolysis testing strips (LTS) are tools; making them change color is not the sole object of the game.

There is another thread here on the metallic taste, but yes it is true, ketosis does give a wierd mouth taste to a lot of people.

where do i find the test strips at and are they exensive?

Mythreeson...

You can find the ketone test strips at any pharmacy and many large grocery chains also carry them. The price varies depending on where you purchase them, but they run between $6.00 and $15.00 per bottle. You do not need a prescription to purchase them in the United States. Ketone testing strips are not always a reliable indicator of whether or not you are in ketosis; some people use all they ketones produced as energy and therefore don't excrete them in their urine, others don't produce enough ketones to be measured on the strips. If you are consuming 20 grams of carb per day and have been for more than 3 days, you ARE in ketosis whether the strips are telling you so or not. Also...don't shoot for dark purple on the strips. Faint pink means you are in ketosis, dark purple usually means that you are not drinking enough water and could be dehydrated. Some people do show dark purple even when they are drinking enough water, but don't deliberately try to get that color on the strips. What I like to use is something Nat likes to refer to is the "pant-o-meter"...are your clothes fitting looser? If they are, it's working.

Voyajer...

Actually, being a diabetic myself, I very much understand the connection between controlled carb eating and blood sugars. If it were not for low carbing, I would probably be on insulin right now instead of medication free. But...the discussion was about ketosis. Ketosis begins when the body's store of glycogen is used up, not necessarily when blood glucose is low. Glycogen can be coverted to blood glucose, but the two are not the same thing. As an example, I was in ketosis when I first started low carbing after 3 days. However, my blood sugars did not return to the normal range for nearly 2 weeks. It seems that we agree on many points: carbohydrates are indeed converted into glucose during digestion and then whatever is not used immediately for energy is either converted into glycogen or fat for storage and use at a later date, if the body is producing insulin. The body typically can only store enough glycogen to fuel the body for about 2 days. After that, the body turns to either it's fat stores for energy or it's muscle stores if there is not enough dietery protein. If I'm not mistaken, when you refer to "low blood sugars" you mean normal blood sugars, not hypoglycemia, or abnormally low blood sugars. I wouldn't want someone to read this thread and mistakenly take away the idea that low carbing causes hypoglycemia. It's an excellent way to control both diabetes AND hypoglycemia because it limits the body's insulin response and brings the insulin production back to normal ranges instead of excess insulin production produced by large amounts of carbohydrate intake.

From time to time I get told by someone that my LC (Atkins) eating is damaging my kidneys. I know from my book that this is not true, but I can't put it into words for them...
There are alot of overweight people asking me questions lately about Atkin's (Ive lost 40 lbs in the past 4 months), but they are put off by my inability to explain its safety.
(I think they are just making excuses, or trying to rain on my success.)
I just want to be informed and knowlegable, but simple in my explaination.

-Travis

Hi Baldhunk and welcome to the forum!

The next time someone tries to tell you that a low carb lifestyle will damage your kidneys, ask them where they got their information. Likely it will be something that they read and believed without checking it out or something that they heard and again didn't bother to check out. The fact is, that there is not one single study that shows that a low carb, adequate protein diet will harm healthy kidneys in any way and there are entire cultures (the Inuits, for example) that have traditionally thrived on mostly meat and fat diets. What most people refer to when they say that high protein will damage your kidneys is that the glomular filtration rate (GFR) goes up when a person consumes higher amounts of protein. This is not an indication of damage or disease in a person with healthy kidneys, but rather an indication that your kidneys are capable of doing what they were designed to do...filter! Exercise raises my heart rate, but I have yet to hear someone say on that basis that exercise is bad for us.