The FastDay Forum

Hi - I've seen a couple of references to ketosis in posts and was wondering:

a) is ketosis an aim of fasting?
b) how do you know if you are in ketosis?

my only experience of it to date was being told that if I followed Lighter Life I would go into ketosis and would be required to pee on a stick at the weekly meeting to have it checked. As I chickened out and didn't go back to a meeting I never had that pleasure!

Would be interested to know what folks think!

Hi - I've seen a couple of references to ketosis in posts and was wondering:

a) is ketosis an aim of fasting?
b) how do you know if you are in ketosis?

my only experience of it to date was being told that if I followed Lighter Life I would go into ketosis and would be required to pee on a stick at the weekly meeting to have it checked. As I chickened out and didn't go back to a meeting I never had that pleasure!

Would be interested to know what folks think!

a) I guess so - certainly you'll find it much easier to do your repair day if you're in ketosis as you shouldn't feel hungry (hence Dr. MM's suggestion to go low-carb on repair / fast days). Simplistically, you will be fat burning rather than fat storing - which is probably something you want if you are trying to lose weight.

b) You won't necessarily. But most reliable indicator that I've personally had is whether I'm hungry or not... (see link below). Ketostix indicate whether you have acetone in your urine - this is NOT a definitive indicator of in / out of ketosis.

Otherwise this is a *huge* area - the low carb tent in Fastonbury is probably a good spot to visit; and there's loads in the 5:2 lab; and using the site's search function for ketosis will turn up shedloads.

A couple of threads to get you going:

5-2-diet-chat-f6/low-carb-high-fat-t9364.html?hilit=ketosis#p114480

5-2-diet-chat-f6/i-don-t-feel-hungry-at-all-this-morning-t10772.html?hilit=ketosis#p141639
post141838.html?hilit=ketosis#p141838

FatDog

Can only reply from personal experience in that I tried the Atkins diet over 15 years ago and used the Ketostix (yes, you pee on them) to ensure you are at ultra-low carb levels (<50g per day) and producing ketone bodies as an energy source for body tissues. At that low level, you are assured of burning fat for energy. It is an early sign of starvation and should not be maintained for very long.

There is a ton of info on this site and on the web about this. I agree, check out the Low Carbers Tent and also check out Mark's Daily Apple blog http://www.marksdailyapple.com for a lot more info.
I personally think that low carb is the way to go for most of us, but this is not a one size-fits all zone. You have to find what works for you and this forum is just a great place to figure that out.

I get a bad taste in my mouth, almost metallic, and my breath smells a bit sour - pretty sure that's when I'm in ketosis, it kicks in on fast days (not all fast days, probably about a quarter-half of them).

<snip> It is an early sign of starvation and should not be maintained for very long. <snip>

Sorry to quibble, but although one goes into ketosis when one is starving, it is not necessarily the case that one is "in starvation" if one is in ketosis!!

Ketosis is a perfectly natural (and in no way harmful) adaptive state that occurs when the body is utilising fat instead of carbohydrate as its energy source. To the best of my knowledge, there's no published evidence to indicate that long term ketosis is a problem (other than the this sort of anecdotal stuff that sadly propagates its way around the internet) - I'm happy to stand corrected.

Indeed, unless you eat lots just before bed and / or through the night, you probably go into ketosis every night when you sleep...

Ketoacidosis, on the other hand, is a pathological condition (occurring in unmanaged diabetes) and is medical emergency!

[carieoates]

I get a bad taste in my mouth, almost metallic, and my breath smells a bit sour - pretty sure that's when I'm in ketosis, it kicks in on fast days (not all fast days, probably about a quarter-half of them).

Sounds like my experience, and I too used to peee on a dipstix when doing Atkins, that was hard hard work, but results were evident. Whereas my friend with diabetes used to shout "no you can't do that I'm not allowed, it's bad! "

Thanks for all the info - will go and do some reading!

Funny the subject of Ketostix should come up, I found my old tub of Atkins era ones this morning. My son was in Reception class when I did Atkins and he's now 17 so I think they are probably past their best-before date