The only way to "fix" metabolism after years of yo-yo dieting is to stop yo-yo dieting and follow a consistent, sustainable protocol, without deviation for years. That's right, years. You can't fix that kind of damage in a few weeks or months. Expecting changes to occur in such a short time frame is what got you to this problem, to begin with. You have to be aware that this is a slow process that takes a very long time to correct. So, if you are the type of person that likes jumping from one new thing to the next, because it makes you feel like you're "doing something", then you won't be able to resolve anything.
Also, exercise is a must. It is complimentary to your dietary and fasting regimen and you can't get out of it. I am not here to give out easy advice. Correcting metabolism and losing weight is difficult. That means that you will have to get out of your comfort zone and actually do something. No one said the journey would be easy.
2. The 'Deeper State Keto' protocol is expensive, so it must work.
This is just another "keto" farce. Don’t let the name fool you. There is no such thing as a "deeper state of ketosis". That's like saying there is a deeper state of pregnancy. You are either in ketosis or not. You are either pregnant or not.
This program cannot offer you anything that you can't do yourself. They pretty much just give you the information, after payment, and you are left to figure it out. Well, you can do that for free. Calculate your macros for weight loss and follow them. Done.
Since we are already on this topic, let me include another little tidbit in here. I know that a lot of people are duped by these protocols because the people pushing them look great. They are athletic or body builders with body fat percentages in the single digits. This gives the impression that these people obtained their awesome physiques from following these protocols and so that's the only thing you have to do. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Obtaining and sustaining very low body fat, while building and preserving high lean muscle mass, takes very hard work. It's difficult for the healthy, so imagine what it would be like for the sick. Body building is a 24 hour hobby of which diet is only one part. So, don't ever think that you can follow these body builders to the promised land by buying their book or paying a monthly fee to get the ins and outs of their protocol. It doesn't work that way. Diligently following macros must also be coupled with intense and consistent training, plus precise supplementation. Not to mention a little "performance enhancing pharmaceuticals", thrown in there, to boot.
Don't ever think that these obesity resistant athletes/body builders are going to solve your problem. After all, you need intact leptin and insulin sensitivity to even begin a process like theirs and you lack both.
You can still use some of the information that these people provide in order to better understand metabolism, as they are quite educated in this. They are actually much more educated in metabolism and how it works than low carb diet mongers, but don't rely solely on their information as what pertains to them, does not to you. Your metabolism is not functioning like theirs and most likely, never will.
3. "Reverse Dieting" is a new method for losing weight.
"Reverse dieting" is any eating plan that involves gradually increasing caloric intake over a period of time in hopes of "boosting" metabolism. That's where the "reverse" comes from. Instead of trying to create a caloric deficit, these protocols try to create a caloric surplus in the hopes that this will trigger your body into burning more energy. But like the saying goes "hope endureth forever in the human breast."
Basically "reverse dieting" in a new, catchy term for diets that try to manipulate leptin. We have discussed these type of protocols before. Through the years they continue popping up, repackaged for a new audience, but the contents are always the same and they aren't a gift that keeps on giving.
All of these protocols use the same formula of either increasing caloric intake, at every meal, or increasing the frequency of meals, so that there is an overall increase in daily calories. When the body senses an increase in calories, it automatically begins burning them because of an "increase" in leptin expression. This is especially true after a period of caloric restriction, like is the case for people who have serially dieted for most of their lives.
But, there are multiple problems with this strategy.
Leptin is a double edged sword as its dependent on insulin. For the obese, leptin doesn't always respond as it should, backfiring instead. Also, manipulating leptin in the short term, does not really do much in increasing your leptin sensitivity in the long term. You need to acquire leptin sensitivity in the long term, in order to keep the fat you lose off. If you don't, then you will once again have only short term weight loss, which ends in a stall or regain.
So, what can go wrong with these protocols:
- The extra "calories" are not burned, but stored instead. This is specifically determined by which macronutrients the surplus calories are coming from.
- The extra calories are burned, while the stored calories are not. Again, this is specifically determined by which macronutrients the surplus calories are coming from.
- The short term benefit of an increase in leptin expression is counteracted by the long term detriment of a further insulin increase. In other words, you start sacrificing your long term insulin function for your short term leptin expression. Guess what? This is also specifically determined by which macronutrients the surplus calories are coming from.
The main problem with these protocols is the same as with calorie restriction protocols. They only care about total calories and not where they come from. This results in obtaining the caloric surplus through an increase in carbohydrate consumption in order to avoid fat. This only causes a dysregulation of blood glucose. Recently these protocols have been revamped to be compatible with fad diets like "keto" and so the surplus in calories is now done through the intake of fat, rather than carbohydrates. Both are the wrong strategy because they will only cause the dreaded increase of insulin, over time, that will ultimately have a negative effect on leptin causing body fat to increase.
Caloric surpluses of carbohydrates or fat only end up in fat storage, particularly for the overweight/obese. Caloric surpluses of protein, only ends up in lean body mass preserving.
So, the ideal diet has a surplus of protein calories and a deficit of carbohydrate and fat calories. As you can see, that is why counting total calories is useless, but counting macros is so beneficial. If you want to stimulate leptin for the long term, make sure you eat a lot of calories in the form of protein. That's what will prevent an increase in body fat over time.
4. "Keto" works better than statins for the treatment of atherosclerosis.
There are several studies that make a good case for the treatment of atherosclerosis with ketogenic protocols, but the magic in these treatments come from the elimination of carbohydrates, not from the addition of extra fat. This makes sense, since insulin is a growth hormone so it will only aid in the thickening of the endothelial layer of your arteries, with time, as that is a form of "growth". This is not solely the result of just insulin as insulin is also needed for good growth, like the growth of lean body mass, so it's more the result of poor insulin expression of which carbohydrates contribute. Going ketogenic, which reduces carbohydrate calories specifically, would help improve atherosclerosis through better insulin expression over time.
Does it work better than statins? That's not known, since atherosclerosis is a very complex condition of which multiple factors contribute. It is not solely caused by poor insulin function, so correcting one thing does not solve a problem caused by many things. This doesn't even take into account the fact that atherosclerosis, in of itself, is actually a natural process of repair, by the body, that seems to go array in modernity.
Statins work in a different way, mainly through the reduction of inflammation. Ketogenic protocols can absolutely be an important part and complimentary to your current treatment, so it's worth discussing it with your doctor.
5. As long as ketones are high, blood glucose can go as low as it wants to.
Very low blood glucose is not good. Ketone levels are irrelevant to this.
Going into hypoglycemia causes the glucose dependent tissues of the body to suffer. The suffering is greater when there is also insulin resistance. Abnormally low blood glucose also causes unnecessary metabolic stress that further deteriorates blood glucose control over time. The presence of high ketones, at the same time, causes even more stress. Ketones are a signal to the body that it is starving aside from them being very acidic.
Low blood glucose should always be discussed with a medical professional as it should be prevented. The reason there can be hypoglycemia without symptoms is because of an abnormal adaptation to low blood glucose. This is quite common in people with advanced metabolic syndrome/diabetes. It's not because the ketones are "protective". You can still potentially have a serious medical event from this, ketones or not.
6. If ketones are high, then insulin levels are low.
Negative.
I have spoken about this misconception before. Insulin does not just facilitate glucose entry into cells. It also allows for amino acids to enter the cell, stores fat into fat cells and controls ketones. This means that you need insulin in order to halt keto acidosis, so the presence of ketones will stimulate insulin, unless you're a Type 1 diabetic. This is just one of the reasons as to why the presence of ketones means zilch for anything that has to do with the improvement of metabolism.
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