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Summary
On episode 23 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Jimmy Moore, an international best selling author of The Ketogenic Cookbook, Keto Clarity, and Cholesterol Clarity, who has dedicated his life to helping people get accurate information about ketosis. This is part two of a three part series with Jimmy.
Jimmy breaks down what ketosis actually is (shifting the body from burning sugar to burning fat), how to confirm you’re actually in it, and why it gets unfairly confused with the dangerous condition ketoacidosis.
He also covers the real cause of “keto flu” and how a handful of simple habits around water, salt, potassium, and magnesium prevent it entirely.
Links
- https://livinlavidalowcarb.com
Key Takeaways
- Ketosis means shifting your body from a sugar burner to a fat burner. Cutting sources of sugar, including most carbohydrates, forces the body to run primarily on fat and its byproduct, ketones.
- Protein has to be moderate, not maxed out. Excess protein gets converted by the liver into glucose, which can pull you right back out of a fat burning state.
- Blood testing is the gold standard for confirming ketosis. Urine strips like Ketostix stop being reliable once you’re keto adapted, so Jimmy tests his blood ketone level (beta hydroxybutyrate) every morning and night.
- Nutritional ketosis reads between 0.5 and 3.0 on a blood ketone meter. Anything in that range means the body is burning fat for fuel.
- Ketosis is not ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis only happens in type 1 diabetics who eat a high carb diet and skip their insulin, driving blood sugar and blood ketones to dangerously high levels at the same time; a low carb diet does not cause it.
- Keto flu is an electrolyte imbalance, not the flu. It shows up as fatigue and headaches when the body first shifts from sugar to fat burning, and it is preventable, not something you have to push through.
- Four things fix keto flu before it starts. Drink enough water, add more salt (pink Himalayan salt is Jimmy’s pick), get potassium from sources like avocado (which has roughly double the potassium of a banana), and take magnesium about an hour before bed.
- Fat is the fuel source, not the enemy. A practical plate looks like eggs cooked in butter or coconut oil, bacon or sausage, avocado, and green leafy vegetables, low carb, moderate protein, high fat.
- Beyond fat loss, ketosis brings hunger control and mental clarity. Jimmy says the hunger that derails most diets disappears in ketosis, and because roughly 70 percent of the brain is fat, it runs cleanly on ketones once you’re adapted.
“And yet I want you to know, sing it loud, sing it proud, fat is your friend.”
Jimmy Moore