Ketosis: Is it worth it?

For the last 3 years the word “Ketosis” has thrived in any search engine. If you have been curious about losing weight or leaning out in any way then you’ve been exposed to this word or looked it up yourself. Ketosis became a popular term from the Ketogenic diet, which is a diet balanced primarily around protein and fat and with very little carbohydrates. The premise or purpose for the diet is to allow your body to fuel off the stored fats on your body (body fat/ adipose tissue) and ketones. Ketosis is “a metabolic state characterized by raised levels of ketone bodies in the body tissues, which is typically pathological in conditions such as diabetes, or may be the consequence of a diet that is very low in carbohydrates.” The definition doesn’t jump out as something that is optimal for weight loss necessarily or even performance, but we’ve certainly heard and seen some astonishing results around this popular diet approach. 

Ketones are produced in the liver and we make them when we don’t have enough insulin to turn glucose (blood sugar) into energy. Because we need some kind of fuel, our body turns the fat into ketones and puts it into our bloodstream. If you are following along you can start to see or understand, at least at a general level why, being in a state of “ketosis” would help burn more body fat. These processes are present in everyone's body all the time, and should be more of a balanced occurrence. The problem is that most of us, especially Americans eat a diet in such a large amount of processed foods (bread, cereals, crackers, chips etc.) that we don’t often have a chance to burn fat as fuel. We become so over exposed to sugar ladened and processed foods that we become hyperinsulinemic (too much sugar in the blood), this leads to obesity and countless other chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, alzheimers and even cancer. 

From a practical perspective the ketogenic diet works. It certainly depends on your goals as an individual and your ability to adhere to the balance of macro’s (protein, fat, and carbs) and of course how it can be sustained with your lifestyle. If you are looking to lose body fat, experience more energy and be further from chronic disease then this diet seems to do the trick. The hardest part is compliance for most. When people start the “ketogenic” diet they first must find out how much protein they need for the day to sustain lean body mass, then figure out their fat to balance those two macro’s and then lastly decide the appropriate amount of carbohydrates to allow themselves for the day in order to stay or be in ketosis. The inveniance of this diet is that all refined carbs are likely too much to keep you in ketosis. This means that most of one's carbs must come from veggies and over time this can lead to a very “bland” diet. In order to get into the state of Ketosis the real way, it takes people days (some longer than others). With that in mind, if you are in ketosis and have a cheat meal or cheat day, it will then take you days to get back in the “zone” for ketosis. The bad news is that means if you take a cheat meal or cheat day each week or even every 10 days or 2 weeks you are taking yourself out of ketosis for days around that time, likely affecting your results significantly. 

Don’t worry, we got you. All of our FNX products are low carb and keto friendly. We utilize sucralose as our primary flavor enhancer which gives our products a very unique and appealing sweetness without the sugar! This allows you to enjoy the psychological benefits of having something delicious and tasty and still keeping you in ketosis as you pursue your ketogenic lifestyle. Having protein products or BCAA’s that can aid in recovery and give you the sense of reward, almost like a dessert will allow your compliance level to a diet like the ketogenic diet to be through the roof. We all need something to look forward to and enjoy, and we wanted to make sure our products were just that for you. If you are considering going “keto” or are already and are curious about delicious products to help enhance your results and keep you on track then look no further. 

Is ketosis worth it? The answer in general is yes. But it certainly depends on your personal goals. If you aim to lose fat, have more mental clarity, steady energy through the day, and increase insulin sensitivity, then I’d strongly encourage you to consider it.