How to Get into Ketosis

Paleo diet has become popular in the past few years as an effective method for losing weight. While you are following the Paleo diet, you can only eat those items which cavemen ate or which were available in the paleolithic era. The effectiveness of the Paleo diet can be attributed to the fact the diet triggers a process called ketosis.

Ketosis is the process during which your body utilizes fats instead of carbohydrates for energy. Diets like Paleo that promote ketosis in the body have multiple benefits. It helps suppress hunger and cravings and is beneficial for people suffering from type-2 diabetes and some neurological disorders as well. If you are wondering how to get into ketosis, here are a few tips to help you along:

1. Increase the consumption of healthy fats:
   As ketosis involves burning of fats for energy, you should ensure that your body gets enough healthy fats. Around 60 % of the total calories you consume in a day should come for healthy fats like avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, butter etc. It is important you choose healthy fats and not the ones that are over-processed.

2. Decrease the consumption of carbohydrates:
   Your body uses glucose as a source of energy and it derives this from the carbohydrates you consume. But the cells in your body can also derive energy from other sources. Therefore, when you decrease the consumption of carbohydrates, you are forcing the cells to find and utilize other sources of energy. And by consuming higher fat content, the cells will automatically start burning fat to gain energy and this leads to the ketosis process. It is, therefore, crucial that you limit the intake of carbohydrates to no more than 20 to 50 grams per day.

3. Maintain optimum protein intake:
   A healthy amount of protein in your diet keeps you full and suppresses your hunger. However, it is important to maintain a balance. Too much or too little can harm the ketosis process. Since you are reducing the intake of carbohydrates, it is important to consume enough proteins so that the muscle mass is maintained. Proteins also supply your liver with amino acids which aid the liver in supplying glucose to those organs that cannot survive purely on ketones.

4. Be active:
   While following a Paleo diet, you should remain active and workout for at least 30 minutes in a day. When you do exercises, your body requires glucose which is derived from the carbohydrates. But in the absence of carbohydrates, your body undergoes ketosis and produces ketones which can be used as an alternate fuel source. This accelerates the weight loss process to a huge extent.

5. Try fasting:
   When you fast, your body doesn't get fuel from the usual sources and is therefore forced to burn the fat reserves. This helps you lose weight and stay healthy. Your body maybe undergoing ketosis between dinner and breakfast without your knowledge. By fasting intermittently, you will force your body to go into ketosis faster.

6. Identify hunger and control your appetite:
   Most of the times when you feel hungry in between meals, you are actually dehydrated. Learn to identify when you are really hungry and have food only when your body really needs it. One of the main reasons for gaining weight is mindless eating. If you want your body to get into ketosis, you need to control your appetite and eat only when you are truly hungry.