Can being in a state of ketosis for so long be bad? Also, can it be bad if you already have a low body fat percentage but you want to get it even lower for bodybuilding reasons or to lose fat to get into a lower class weight for powerlifting?
How long is so long?
As far as powerlifting, I dont see a value for that. How can losing LBM and not having enough fuel for the muscles to properly work be beneficial?
Bodybuilding maybe, although you do realize you are going to lose LBM if on too long.
I don’t even get below 10% and I notice the loss in strength when in ketosis. Can’t imagine how bad it is when you are like 4-6%…
Seek and thou shall find.
So you don’t think if I up my protein intake I can keep my muscle tissue?
Djm, increased protein only HELPS minimize muscle catabolism.
Low Calorie, low Carb diets increase Cortisol levels, whose function involves…breaking down muscle!!!
Additionally, its been shown a high carb diet will increase T levels much higher than a high fat/low carb diet. If you couple that with a low calorie diet, your T levels are most likely lower. Muscle breakdown depends on the Testoetrone/Cortisol ratio. If Cortisol levels are too high in comparison with T levels, muscle breakdown will occur at a higher rate.
Either way, Ketosis puts your body in an acidic state. This could potentially be dangerous in itself. Couple that with the fact that a) your body does not perform optimally in an acidic state, and b) a net acid in your system will force your body to breakdown muscle in order to get glutamine which it can use to neutralize the net acid. It will also extract calcium from the bones to do the same job.
My personal experience tells me a very low carb diet for fat loss is only effective for the first 3-4 weeks, after which muscle/fat loss ratio increases. At this point Berardi’s guidelines are much more effective.
Also, remember low carbs for prolonged periods of time lead to low insulin sensitivity. That means your insulin will spike higher when carbs are reintroduced in your diet, and less of them will be stored in the muscle as glycogen. The rest will be taken to adipose tissue which will much more sensitive to the insulin spike, and your muscle/fat gains will not be optimal.
That is another reason why low carbs for more than 3-4 weeks at the most is not a good idea in my book.
diesel, can you point me to the study showing high carbs increase T levels more than anabolic-type diets?
Diesel, could you substantiate any of that?
What’s wrong with being on permanant ketosis?
-Zulu
D.
your points are valid, but you have painted an innacurate picture of ketotic diets.
For example
do they lower insulin sensitivity? Yes, but only transiently so, particularly when high fat keto ratios are the rule; this can be mitigated via higher protein diets which have been shown in numerous studies to increase insulin sensitivity; in addition, one can supplement nicely on ala/r-ala to combat both the relatively higher free-radicals associated with ketotic diets and to maintain or increase insulin sensitivity
in addition, the longer one continues on a strict ketotic diet, the more effective, not LESS, effective it will be. This has been shown many times. As a matter of fact, ketosis serves a very important muscle sparing function during periods of starvation.
V.
Wait a minute, I thought doing this would make my muscle cells more sensitive to insulin. That is why I was going to do ketosis during the week, then load up on carbs during the weekend cause I figured my cells would be real sensitive since I haven’t had much carbs all week, and I wouldn’t have to worry about the carbs going to my fat cells. This is very similiar to taking carbs after your workout. Since your glycogen level is low after your workout you should take carbs because your cells is begging for some energy and they will soak the carbs up. Make since at all.
Diesel,
I’m with clintpatty; let’s see that study.
Vain is the boss for ketosis info, so I’d take what he says pretty seriously.
I’ll also agree with the fact that ketosis is very protein sparing and is physiologically similar to starvation. Once one adapts to starvation, protein losses are minimized. Of course, we have macronutrient availability on the diet, but the point is, if you are truly in ketosis, it is a very protein sparing state.
If ketoacidosis is a concern, it shouldn’t be as this is really only an issue with diabetics. In people with normal and healthy insulin function, high levels of blood ketones trigger the release of insulin to clear ketones from the blood stream. This is a protective mechanism.
No scientific studies, just real world evidence. I’ve been on a ketogenic diet since Memorial Day. During this time I’ve started training Westside Style. I’ve actually gotten bigger and my strength has increased every week. This has happened while losing bodyfat. Also, I never get too tired to train, which is something I experienced when eating carbs.