First of all, what is Ketosis?
Well, this is usually a natural state of the metabolic process. The human body starts burning stored fat when it reaches ketosis instead of glucose. When the body begins to break fat down, ketones build up in the blood system.
When this happens, ketones start exiting the body through the urine. A person enters ketosis when there is presence of ketones both in the blood and the urine.There are many benefits to ketosis as it helps a person to lose the extra (or unwanted) fat they have in their body.
This is because the body begins the breakdown process of fats rather than depending on carbohydrates for energy. There has been a research study that suggested ketosis helps with reducing the appetite and in the long run can promote weight loss.
When it comes to achieving a state of ketosis, it is safe to say that it’s not easy. Due to this, lots of people aspiring to get to the point of ketosis usually go on a diet known as a ketogenic diet.
We want to let you know of five ways you can promote your ketosis and make it work faster while remaining healthy and safe.
1. Reducing your carbohydrate intake
Ketosis occurs when the lack of carbohydrates in your body forces it to start using fat as a source of energy instead of glucose.
Someone who wants to achieve ketosis, for any reason, be it for weight loss, reducing chances of heart disease or even controlling the sugar level in the blood, should aspire to reduce their carbohydrates intake to 15-20 grams of carbohydrates daily or less, if possible.
Although this isn’t a definite number to stick by, visiting your doctor would help you know if you are one of the few that need to eat more carbs or less to ensure it works.
2. You can get into a healthy ketosis process by Increasing physical activity
A good way to ensure your ketosis process moves in the right direction is by increasing physical activities and exercises. It is safe to say you would require to eat more food to make up the fuel your body needs to function better.
When we exercise, we reduce the glycogen in our body and in most cases, the glycogen stores become fully restored once there is an intake of carbohydrates.
It takes a relatively long period for the human body to use fat stores in place of glycogen and there may be lots of cases of tiredness till the body gets used to it.
3. You have to Increase your intake of healthy fats.
When you start reducing the carbohydrates intake, you would need a replacement. No other replacement could be better than consuming healthy fats. You might be wondering what are some of the healthy fats. They include avocados and avocado oils, coconut oil, flax seed oil, olive oil, etc.
If losing weight is the reason you are embarking on this journey, then it is very important to keep track of your calorie intake. Too many calories make it all the more difficult when it comes to weight loss.
4. You should try fasting for short periods of time.
Fasting is when you go a period of time without eating any food. This tends to help people get to the state of ketosis. In fact, a lot of people go into ketosis right between their meals. When you meet your doctor for a recommendation, you would most likely be advised to fast for a period of 1-2 days. So if you plan on fasting for too long, always meet your doctor to know if you are fit to carry on this exercise.
If you can’t, you can ask him if you can fat fast. This is a fasting method that involves reducing your calorie intake and eating food without any form of fat for a period of 3 days.
5. Always ensure to Test your Ketone levels.
When you embark on the ketosis journey, always make sure you are aware of the ketosis level in your body. There are tests which can help determining this, like blood tests, urine tests, breath tests, etc. This way you can keep track of your progress!
