Keto Flu, keto diet for beginners, ketogenic foods, and keto tips (The Guide to Ketosis) & Study Shows Coffee In The Morning Increases Ketone Levels
What's the deal with Ketones? And should you drink coffee in the morning to boost them? In prelude to the insights provided below by Emily Gonzalez, ND, here's everything you need to know about ketones:
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Ketones (there are 3 different types) are a type of chemical that your liver produces when it breaks down fats. Your body uses ketones for energy typically during fasting, long periods of exercise, or when you don’t have as many carbohydrates.
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Essentially, to enter into ketosis, you need to cut way down on carbs and eat more fat and protien, among other things.
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Too many ketones inside the body is actually toxic and can cause diabetic ketoacidosis, so be careful with experimenting with ketosis alone and especially careful if you know you have a insulin condition that will predispose you to diabetic ketoacidosis.
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The keto diet seeks to force the body to use ketones for energy and thus, burn fat and lose weight naturally. Eating a keto bar won't put you into ketosis. It's a long process and fasting is also important. Supposably, if you hit this right, ketosis also improves workouts, insulin conditions, blood sugar, nerve condition, mental performance, as well as food cravings.
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Is it worth the hype? Ketosis isn't magic, and some people just feel like sh*t on ketosis, so make sure you consult an expert before you consider going into ketosis and a tailored ketosis plan for you. Sample plan here and here.
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Exogenous ketones are supplements for boosting health, performance, and energy. They can actually be safely used for a boost even if you are not doing a ketosis diet. This is because ketones are a 4th fuel that the body can use for energy and mental/brain capacity, especially in the short term. Learn more about this 4th fuel book here.
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If you were wondering, even just more than a little intake of these common substances will break your ketosis: carbs, sugar, alcohol, & juice. On this note, don't trust those keto bites and similar products with claimed low net carbs that seek to keep you in ketosis. Why? Net carb digestion is not 100% realistic and individualistic. The only for sure way to know how food effects your ketosis is to check your blood levels and ideally also blood sugar response with a CGM.
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See below for more info on coffee and ketosis...
Researchers in Canada found that coffee helps your body produce ketones, and as participants drank more coffee, ketones in the blood increased.[1]
What the study says:
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Drinking coffee in the morning increased ketone biomarkers by 88-116% for up to four hours after drinking it.
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Coffee consumption broke down fats in the body and increased free fatty acids (FFA) in the blood, which the liver converts to ketones.
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The ketones produced after drinking coffee contribute to 5-6% of brain energy needs.[2]
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Ketone levels in the blood increased as coffee consumption increased.
What we already know:
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Ketosis helps weight loss by resetting your hunger and fullness hormones.[3]
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Fat in the morning signals to your body that you’re not experiencing a famine.
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Fat increases ketones, especially in the morning because you’re still in a fasted state from sleeping.
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Researchers found that caffeine increased insulin sensitivity, which would make you crave less sugar because you are able to use the sugar you have.[4]
DOES COFFEE KICK YOU OUT OF KETOSIS?
A portion of the low-carb community avoids coffee because they think it raises blood sugar, kicks them out of ketosis, and makes them hungry.
You can find studies that both support and reject the idea that coffee alters blood glucose, and that’s usually because the foods offered alongside and added to coffee mess with blood glucose and insulin.
However, the Canadian study measured elevated ketones in the blood in addition to FFAs, which the liver converts to ketones, after coffee consumption. All that ketone power gives you steady energy and mental stamina to make it through your intermittent fast without even thinking about food.
WHAT ABOUT FAT IN YOUR COFFEE?
Does blending high-quality fat with your morning coffee compound these effects? The scientific community hasn’t studied the synergy of coffee and high-quality fats together, but you can experience the benefits first hand.
If you’ve tried even one cup of Bulletproof Coffee, you know how limitless it makes you feel. So coffee can’t be bad, right?
AN EASIER PATH TO KETOSIS
People find that the Bulletproof Diet gives them endless energy while suppressing hunger. Part of the Bulletproof Diet is getting into ketosis and staying there much of the time with short cycles of “refeeding” carbohydrates.
The easiest way to get into ketosis is to ramp up your ketone production with Bulletproof Intermittent Fasting:
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You start by making yourself a Bulletproof Coffee in the morning using grass-fed butter and Brain Octane Oil.
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Then, eat your meals for the day within a shorter time span.
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Once a week or so, have some green-zone carbohydrates, like squash or sweet potato.
The idea is that when your body is in the fasted state, it isn’t looking for food. Instead, your cells take out the trash and your body burns fat for energy. Once you eat something, your system switches to the fed state and you start getting hunger signals.
Your body doesn’t treat protein, carbs, and fat the same way. Protein and carbs kick you out of ketosis, but a pure fat breakfast like Bulletproof Coffee won’t mess with your hunger hormones. You’ll stay in the “fasted” state until afternoon or later. When you’re Bulletproof, you don’t experience the typical mid-afternoon energy dip because your body doesn’t think it’s starving.
The result: time-released energy, a sharp mind, and noticeable changes in the way your clothes fit.
You don’t have to play a guessing game. Have your Bulletproof Coffee first thing in the morning, and see how you feel. If you need to know exactly what’s happening in your body, get yourself a blood ketone meter and test yourself. You can collect piles and piles of research and expert accounts, but you are the best person to decide what’s working and what’s not.