Knowing Whether You’re Ketogenic


So how do you know when you’ve reached ketogenesis? Many bodybuilders use a product called Ketostix, which are designed to change color when they come into contact with ketone-containing urine. But McDonald questions their reliability: “The defining characteristic of ketosis is blood concentration of ketones, which is harder to measure — and no, you can’t bleed on the Ketostix.” Ketogenic dieters do, however, notice that their urine takes on a peculiar smell, and many notice a metallic taste in their mouths, as excess ketones are often excreted through both urine and breathing.

Bodybuilders should also be aware that reaching ketosis isn’t always a smooth ride. If you’ve always relied purely on carbohydrate for energy, you’ll need to endure a transitional period while your body makes the switch. “It usually takes most folks about 2–3 weeks to fully adapt to ketosis,” McDonald says. “The brain is the main issue. It has to adapt to using ketones for fuel, and many people initially feel like they’ve been hit by a truck. But getting 3–5 grams of sodium, at least one gram of potassium and 300–500 milligrams of magnesium per day helps with fatigue in most people. Every so often, however, you find someone who just never seems to adapt to ketosis. If after three weeks they still feel terrible, they should pick another diet.”

Once you’re burning bodyfat in the form of ketones, you may also need to make some changes to your training. “Bodybuilders must keep some amount of heavy training in their schedule when they’re ketogenic,” McDonald insists. “If they use higher reps and lighter weights, they’ll risk losing muscle. They can do high-rep stuff in addition to heavy work, but they have to lift heavy.” You’ll likely also need to rethink your training volume. “Many find that their ability to use high volumes in the weight room suffers,” he says. “In those cases they should do a few heavy sets and then get the hell out of the gym.” And trainers who are used to using high-volume sets to burn extra calories can relax. “The diet will cause fat loss, and the training should be geared just toward maintaining muscle,” he explains.

One of the most common questions McDonald hears concerns cardio. After all, if the ketogenic diet is so adept at torching fat, is cardio really necessary? “So long as bodybuilders are in a caloric deficit,” he says, “they’ll lose fat without cardio as long as they continue weight training. But some low-intensity cardio can still be helpful. Some small-framed dieters can cut calories only so far, so cardio is the only way to create enough of a deficit for them to lose fat.”


Staying Ketogenic


If the ketogenic diet started as a medical treatment, and if following it works so reliably for nearly anyone who’s willing to endure a brief but rocky transition, why does it remain controversial? A lot of the concerns, according to McDonald, have to do with the lack of long-term studies on adult trainees. “Epileptic children have been kept on ketogenic diets for several years with no ill effects,” he explains, “but there simply isn’t any long-term data.” He adds that there’s no need for dieters to stay ketogenic for too long. “Bodybuilders using a ketogenic diet for cutting shouldn’t be doing it for several years unless their mass-gaining phase went very, very wrong,” he says.

The existing scientific literature on the ketogenic diet also raises questions about how effectively the brain functions on few carbs. “The brain can’t use fatty acids for fuel,” McDonald explains. “You’ll often hear that the brain can only use carbohydrate, to the tune of about 100–120 grams of carbs a day. But this assumption ignores ketones as a source of fuel. In fact, the body produces ketones to provide an alternate fuel for the brain during periods of total starvation. After about three weeks, the brain will actually derive about 75% of its total fuel requirements from ketones, and the body can manufacture its own glucose to fill in the rest.” Those emergency mechanisms aside, your brain will still function better with moderate carbohydrate intake, which is why trainers typically set the bar around 100 grams a day.

There’s also the question of ketoacidosis, a condition that can be fatal in extreme cases. “Ketoacidosis is a situation where the body produces an absurd amount of ketones, which cause a host of problems,” McDonald says. But he adds that this unchecked ketone production, which dangerously alters your blood pH levels, is rarely a problem for healthy dieters. “It’s something that Type 1 diabetics have to worry about, but practically speaking, it will never occur in a non–Type 1 diabetic dieter. The body has several control points that prevent ketoacidosis from ever showing up in typical dieters. It’s only an issue because many mainstream nutrition types constantly confuse ketosis with ketoacidosis,” he says.

Overall, there may be some merit to the concerns surrounding the ketogenic diet, particularly for individuals with pre-existing conditions like diabetes or for trainees whose bodies never make it through that three-week slump to start burning ketones efficiently. But for the average dieter who strictly maintains a minimum carb intake and who doesn’t stay in ketosis year round, the benefits of rapid fat loss and sustained muscle are very real. So whether you’re a bodybuilder with a stage-ready deadline or simply an avid lifter who’s in a hurry to show off your hard-earned muscle, ketoland can be a very good place to be.

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