EP 57: What is the Ketogenic lifestyle?

Dr. Agolli is joined by Dr. David Jockers to discuss:

1. What is the ketogenic lifestyle?
2. How to get into ketosis?
3. The benefits it has for your body

Many of you may have heard of ketosis from the Atkins diet fad, or perhaps you know it only from the negative effects associated with ketosis with kidney issues. There is a lot of confusion about what ketosis is, why it might be beneficial, and how to maintain regulated ketosis in a moderate way that can help you thrive.

Ketosis is a metabolic state that occurs when your body burns fat for energy instead of glucose. The idea of using ketosis for health is to wean the body of off glucose and simple carbohydrates (which partially break down into glucose) in order for your body to burn it’s own fat instead- in a moderate way. Ketosis can be an excellent way to trim down by burning excess fat, but we stress “moderate” because extreme ketosis can require an extreme commitment to managing it. Long distance runners are often so lean because their body’s continually are in a state of ketosis- even if they consume glucose. The extreme energy demands of their sport burn through any glucose or carbs they consume and then burns through their own fat. These runners must consume huge amounts of calories just to keep up, and still end up extremely thin because of their huge energy demands. This is not descriptive of the average American. Often we face the opposite problem- too much glucose and carb consumption and too little exercise. Even if we do exercise regularly, it can be hard to keep up. This is even more true as we age and our metabolism continues to slow down and our exercise becomes more mild. The beauty of the ketogenic lifestyle is that it can be adapted to any age and most circumstances. Have a listen and see if you aren’t convinced!