[spaghetticat]

Okay this is probably obvious to anyone who has done anything low carb for a while but I just want to be 100% sure.

I am currently on a lower carb diet (less than 100g carb per day, closer to 80-90) as well as restricted calories. It is said that I am in a slight dietary ketosis.

Now while I am reading and researching I have read and understood that when in ketosis the body burns fat instead of carbs/glyc.... whatever that word is.

Here is my question:

Everything I have read states that when your body is burning sugar, it is no longer burning fat. Now my plan has allowed sugar (in the form of fruit, and as I have read many others do as well but I am not sure about phases)

Anyways, I just want to confirm- as long as I am under 100g carbs I am likely in ketosis- so if I have say a banana as my fruit (a higher carb/sugar fruit) but end the day at 92g carbs- my body is still in that slight dietary ketosis and is still burning fat not carbs right?

Thanks in advance

[BibBob]

Over 50 grams of carbs sends me out of ketosis at my current calorie levels, but not everyone is the same. There does seem to be a transitional state where I am 'on the brink of ketosis' or perhaps 'in and out of ketosis', but I much prefer deep ketosis, when I can taste it in the back of my mouth.

You can go to a pharmacy and get ketostix to test whether or not you're in ketosis.

I think we oversimplify the discussion of burning sugar and burning fat. I know I do because that simple explanation is all I care about. I've juice fasted which means I had a lot of sugar, but the calories were so low that I went into ketosis and burned a ton of fat when the sugar was exhausted. I was fat and protein free and in deep ketosis, just based on calorie restriction. So it isn't as simple as it is often explained, and I agree, in your case the restricted calories will have plenty to do with it if carbs are around 80-90.

One possible caveat to your carb and calorie level, is that without enough protein you may burn muscle instead of or in addition to fat. I burned both juice fasting, and now I prefer to go a little slower with the weight loss and keep the muscle. Being as you say, in slight dietary ketosis sounds like a recipe for burning some muscle you'd be better off keeping.

Here's Dr. Eades on topic:

Dietary protein is converted to glucose via gluconeogenesis, which is carried out in the liver. The liver cells don’t use ketones as fuel, so ketones don’t fuel the process of converting protein to glucose. Also ketones are not necessarily “made from body fat when dietary fat runs low”; ketones are produced from fat when carbohydrate intake runs low. A low carb intake stimulates the production of ketones in an effort to replace glucose with another water-soluble fuel.

Reducing carb intake makes the body burn fat and produce ketones. The substrate for gluconeogenesis is protein, and, like the bones are the reservoir of calcium, muscle and other protein structures are the reservoir for glucose. So maintaining an adequate protein intake ensures that you have plenty of substrate for gluconeogenesis without having to catabolize muscle mass to make sugar.

[spaghetticat]

Thank you for your reply!I take in a lot of protein, more than 80g a day usually around 90-100+. I did have ketostix, well the store brand, somedays I showed other days I didn't but generally I still have the symptoms such as energy, not being hungry as I should be on those calories, but I have been low carb low calorie for like 3 months so I feel like I am used to it?

I have had some days I was as low as 65 carbs, but I think you are right, everyones body is different, because for me I was plateauing when I spent a couple weeks in the 70s but started back on weight loss when I got up to high 80s low 90s.

Thanks so much I am going to read that link!

[JulieJ08]

Originally Posted by spaghetticat

Everything I have read states that when your body is burning sugar, it is no longer burning fat.

The picture has to be bigger than that, because large numbers of people lose weight without ever eating low carb.

[spaghetticat]

It is a lot bigger than that, that was just something that stood out with me. What I meant was in ketosis vs out of ketosis and the form of energy your body uses