Humans are dual-fuel hybrids; we can burn sugar & fat for fuel.
The main organ involved with fat and sugar metabolism is your liver. It is your liver that turns fatty acids into ketones ready to supply your energy pipeline. When your body is deprived of carbohydrates, it will turn fat into ketones for fuel. This metabolic state is known as Nutritional Ketosis.
An important fact to know and understand about nutritional ketosis is that your body does not burn sugar and fat equally. Here’s why:
Your body will always prioritize the burning of sugar over fat. Elevated sugars and insulin levels in the blood are dangerous to all tissues, especially the eyes and brain…too dangerous to keep circulating around.
Insulin, which is necessary for sugar metabolism, inhibits ketone formation by the liver. So, when you are busy processing carbs via insulin, your body cannot kick into the higher levels of ketone formation necessary for ketones to operate as a primary fuel.
Achieving nutritional ketosis is a process that requires reduction of carbohydrate consumption to under 30-50 grams of carbohydrate per day and generally takes a week or two, sometimes longer.
The pay-offs are big. As your body shifts into fat-burning you will notice that you feel different. Better. Great!
Emergency hunger and cravings lessen and eventually disappear. Energy improves. Weight is lost. Muscle is retained. Inflammation is reduced, Organs heal and stabilize. Diseases often go into remission or are cured.
For athletes, nutritional ketosis spells endurance!
Adapting your physiology to become efficient at burning fat for fuel is a process that takes 2-6 months and is called Ketogenic Adaptation.
When you are keto-adapted, your cells manage water and minerals a little differently. The thyroid gland tends to throttle down a bit. (Nutritional ketosis is a great support for the hypo-thyroid individual.) You generate more enzymes necessary for ketone formation and your liver starts making ketones as primary fuel!
Once you understand ketosis and how to put your body into fat-burning, you can use this powerful tool to address all kinds of problems and stay healthy!
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