Self-Experimentation & Bio-individuality on the Keto Diet
We all deep down have a little bit of a desire to do some self-experimentation. What I mean by that is truly understanding what works for our specific bodies. I’m Thomas DeLauer with Keto-Mojo, and today I want to talk about something I call bio-individuality. All that means is that we all respond to things in a different way. When we’re specifically talking about ketosis and particularly testing your ketones when you’re on a ketogenic diet, we have to remember that we all utilize nutrients in a different way.
Why is Self-Experimentation Critical?
I’m going to lead off by giving you a personal example. I am someone that gets kicked out of ketosis very, very easily. What that means is that through self-experimentation and through lots of testing, I have found that ultimately proteins kick me out of ketosis if I have too much of them. However, I know people that don’t have that situation. I know plenty of people that can consume large amounts of protein and never get kicked out of ketosis through the process of gluconeogenesis. So self-experimentation is very critical when it comes down to finding what works best for you. You might find through the course of testing multiple times throughout the day that certain foods affect your ketone levels more than others. You might also find that certain kinds of exercise effect your ketone levels more than others. By understanding your bio-individuality you can start cherry picking the foods that are going to be most effective for you and get the best results. But it’s also going to help ketosis become a lot more of a sustainable lifestyle for you because quite frankly, it can get very frustrating when you’re getting kicked out of ketosis and not sure why. So if you start testing and you find out that perhaps a chicken breast kicks you out of ketosis, maybe try reducing the amount of chicken that you’re eating and seeing what happens. This way, over time, over a period of weeks and months, through accurate testing you can truly know if a food is a go or a no-go.
Will High Intensity Excercise Kick You Out of Ketosis?
When it comes down to exercise, a lot of people find that low intensity cardio doesn’t kick them out of ketosis but doing high intensity exercises like weight training or high intensity interval training does sometimes kick them out of ketosis. Again, by testing multiple times throughout the day, you can see if it’s a temporary response or if it’s something that is affecting your fatty acid utilization more throughout the day than you would think. Last but not least, science is starting to show that some people are better fatty acid oxidizers than others. What that means is some people utilize fats more efficiently than others, their body is more efficient at breaking down triglycerides into fatty acid molecules that can be used for energy. It doesn’t mean that you’re not going to burn fat or create ketone bodies, it just simply means that some people will create more ketones and utilize more fatty acids than others. It’s not the end all be all, and it doesn’t mean you’re not in ketosis. Again, it doesn’t mean you’re burning more or less fat than someone else, it just means that you oxidize less per gram than someone else might. Here at Keto-Mojo we’re all about rising the tide so that all ships rise, so we can all learn about the ketogenic diet and take the best steps that we possibly can to live the healthiest life possible. I’ll see you in the next video.
