Low-carb, fasting, and euphoria

[Steve Liberati]

Greg and Kevin,

Like your sites by the way. Enjoy the content! Sure not any of us would run out of things to talk about if we ever meet offline. Good to know others with similar interests and ideals...

[Greg Battaglia]

So Steve, if I read you correctly, you eat one meal at night on day one, and eat all day on day two, and then repeat? I found that this is the best alternative to a more WDish approach. When on the WD I noticed that I really had trouble raking in the calories and began to drop weight and performance. When I added in an ad libitum eating day after a WD day I had much more energy. If you don't mind me asking, what do you jaw-clenchers eat in terms of macro ratios? When I was on a ketogenic diet really high in animal a while back and following a WD eating schedule I had ENORMOUS amount of euphoric energy, so much to the point where I could not stay still for my life. It was freakin' awesome! But then again, I was also drinking a cup of coffee and a cup of green tea a day, so I'm sure that those helped to amp me up. Eventually I had to give up the keto diet because although it was working wonders for my energy, it didn't feel all that healthy (for some unknown reason I get heart palpitations when i eat animal fat from grain-fed animals). I ended up opting for a more Cordainish Paleo diet high in "healthy" fats (olive oil, nuts, avocado) and indeed rid my body of palpitations, but also saw my jaw-clenching energy plummet. I also gave up caffeine shortly after the animal fat as well, so that may have played a huge role in causing that euphoric energy. Any input?

[Scott Kustes]

I've noticed the jaw clench thing too. I figured it isn't good for my teeth so I try to consciously not do it, but I constantly find myself with teeth clamped together fairly tightly. I also typically have a foot moving or something....damn desk jobs.

[Steve Shafley]

I've got the PDF for the full article. If anyone wants it, PM me with your email address.

[Dave Van Skike]

Can some brainiac give a shorthand description of how long it takes to initiate ketosis. as in, what are the essential steps? Do you have to burn through all the glucose first or do "fat adapted" folks drop switch to a fat metabolism quicker than the uninitiated?

[Robb Wolf]

Originally Posted by Dave Van Skike

Can some brainiac give a shorthand description of how long it takes to initiate ketosis. as in, what are the essential steps? Do you have to burn through all the glucose first or do "fat adapted" folks drop switch to a fat metabolism quicker than the uninitiated?

Well...I really think the main determinant is insulin resistance. If one is highly insulin sensitive (or perhaps just at the normal set point for our species?) then glucose is highly conserved and one may be in ketosis even with adequate liver glycogen stores.

One can also dip into and out of ketosis by doing a very hard exercise session. it is common to find elevated ketone levels after hard training as all fuel substrates are ramped up in their respective usage.

In the classic Atkins type scenario glycogen is depleted and fat intake is increased, with the body eventually shifting to fat metabolism and consequent ketosis. Even in this scenario if insulin resistance is significant one may not enter ketosis easily.
Let me know if that covers what you were looking for!

[Dave Van Skike]

Nope. That does it. Insulin...again.

[kevin mckay]

what is the mechanism in IF that actually puts you into ketosis?

[Edward Guzman]

I may be way late on this one. But I've been trying to figure out
what is going on with me.

I am bounding with energy. I'm talking doing Crossfit, Olympic lifts and running my kids down.
Then I bumped into this post, and it makes more sense.
I started IF a two weeks ago.

[Greg Everett]

Bradley -

We removed you post. You can try again if you want, but keep it a little less explicit.