What is Nutritional Ketosis?

Nutritional ketosis is a state your body goes into when you greatly reduce your intake of carbohydrates. At Keep It Off, we prescribe a low-calorie, restricted-carbohydrate meal plan that results in a state of nutritional ketosis. It is called a ketogenic diet. It stimulates the production of ketones by your body.

Why is it important?

Nutritional ketosis is a very effective tool for weight loss. Hunger is reduced after a person has been in nutritional ketosis for several days to a week. This helps patients in our program comfortably remain on their prescribed low-calorie meal plan for months and even a year or more, while heading toward their weight loss goal.

Besides improving diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol/triglycerides, sleep apnea, and arthritis through weight loss, there’s also scientific evidence that nutritional ketosis reduces inflammation, resulting in improvement of some other types of diseases.

How does nutritional ketosis develop?

On a standard American diet, the body’s main source of energy is typically glucose from carbohydrates. When you cut way back on your carbohydrate intake, your body is forced to find an alternate fuel source. That fuel source is fat.  Fat is broken down into ketone bodies, which is the new fuel that feeds your brain and other organs. As you make more ketone bodies, or ketones, they rise to a level that is called nutritional ketosis.

Is nutritional ketosis safe?

In general, it is quite safe. Be aware, though, that It’s important to take in adequate water and specific minerals while on a ketogenic diet. Temporary side effects such as lightheadedness, fatigue, muscle cramps, and headaches can occur. Electrolyte imbalances can occasionally occur that are easily treatable by the Keep It Off medical providers. All patients in our program are under close medical supervision throughout their enrollment.