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Is Ketosis Safe? Why It’s Important To Know

Being in ketosis is a natural state. However, is ketosis safe to do on a regular basis? Is it even right for you? Learn more about what it means to be in ketosis.

Are you new to the low-carb, keto diet? Have you been asking yourself if ketosis is safe? It’s a fair question, especially when first embarking on this lifestyle.

The rise in popularity of the ketogenic diet means that more people are becoming aware of a low-carb keto lifestyle.  They have either tried a keto diet or know someone who has.

Although it’s great to see more people interested in ketogenic dieting, it does not negate the responsibility to find out if it’s the best option for you.

Unfortunately, the spike in popularity has also come with a lot of confusion, mainly questions about the safety of being in ketosis.

In today’s post, I hope to clear up some myths and put to rest any concerns you may have about the safety of being in ketosis. As well as to encourage you to visit your doctor before embracing a keto diet.

We commonly hear, “is ketosis safe”? And if it is, is it something to pursue?

The reason we hear this question being raised often is due to either misinformation or outdated science that is still being circulated.

In addition, there is an assumption that ketosis carries the same dangers as ketoacidosis. But there is a vast difference between the two.

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Ketoacidosis Is Dangerous

Ketoacidosis is in fact a dangerous metabolic state. It’s one that occurs when individuals with type 1 diabetes and occasionally type 2 diabetics are not managing their diabetes properly.

It’s caused by a lack of insulin in the body. When insulin isn’t being produced by the body, it causes blood sugar levels to rise to very high levels and stored fat streams from fat cells.

The excessive amount of fat that is metabolized produces abnormal amounts of ketones.  When this occurs there is a combination of high blood sugar and high ketone levels.

This state is also known as DKA when large amounts of ketone bodies in the blood cause it to become acidic. If left untreated, it could even be deadly. Ketoacidosis causes ketone levels that are greater than 20 mmol/L

Ketosis Is Different From Ketoacidosis

When it comes to ketosis, it’s a completely natural state that occurs when an individual adheres to a ketogenic diet and reduces carbohydrates or abstains from food by fasting for an extended time.

It’s when their body begins to produce ketones for energy instead of glucose because glucose is in short supply.

In a state of nutritional ketosis, your blood sugar levels are normal to low, and your ketone levels are between 0.5-3 mmol/L.

Ketosis is a controlled, insulin-regulated process that allows for small ketones to be produced when fat is metabolized.

is Ketosis safe

Is Ketosis Safe?

If you are wondering, is ketosis safe or a good state to be in? This, of course, depends on your current state of health.

This is why we encourage individuals to get a check-up before starting a low-carb keto diet. Not only is it important to get your doctor’s approval, but in many cases, medications will need to be adjusted as your health improves.

Randy and I were able to get off medications, but we did so with our doctor’s approval and guidance.

Most diabetics are familiar with the term ketosis but usually only hear the negative side of it. This is because when a diabetic’s sugar levels are too high, the body produces an enormous amount of ketones.

The pancreas is the organ responsible for creating the hormone insulin. Insulin is what helps the body to manage blood sugar and fat storage.

Unfortunately, when insulin is not being produced because the pancreas is too taxed, the body can no longer use glucose to fuel the cells. It also cannot store fat in the fat cells.

When this happens, an individual is classified as having Type 1 diabetes, and the diagnosis is usually accompanied by unexplained weight loss.

In fact, it’s this sudden weight loss that usually gets them to visit a doctor and get diagnosed.

People with Type 1 diabetes have pancreatic damage, which explains why they are unable to produce insulin.

Type 1 diabetics need to be injected with insulin because their pancreas can no longer produce this hormone. They can develop ketoacidosis if they are not getting the right levels of insulin.

However, ketosis is a perfectly normal metabolic process. It’s when your body switches to burning fat for fuel by breaking down fatty acids and producing ketones.

This only happens in the absence of glucose, when our carbohydrate levels are quite low.

When our bodies burn fat for fuel we produce three bi-products of fat breakdown, β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), acetoacetate (ACA), and acetone. These bi-products are called ketones.

In a state of ketosis, our liver breaks down fat and then releases ketones into the blood to be used by the brain and organs for energy.

While on a low-carb, keto diet, you are basically inducing this process by cutting back intentionally on carbs. In addition, your ketone levels do not rise to dangerous levels.

Why is this?

Because ketones are water-soluble, meaning whatever excess amounts of ketones may be in your system will be eliminated through the urine naturally.

What’s more, ketone levels for adults who have a functioning pancreas and whose insulin production is normal very rarely have ketone levels that go beyond 8-10 mmol/L.

Is ketosis even safe to do?

What Can Cause Ketoacidosis?

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One of the main reasons people ask is ketosis safe. s because of the more commonly heard term ketoacidosis.

You can’t blame people for wondering if ketosis is safe because it does sound familiar to ketoacidosis. In fact, even medical professionals who are not well versed in this topic get the terms confused.

The number one cause of ketoacidosis is poorly managed Type 1 and 2 diabetes. And it is more commonly seen in Type 1 diabetics that are either not getting enough insulin or using too high of an insulin dose.

Ketoacidosis (DKA) usually shows up initially when someone first becomes diabetic because they have yet to introduce a blood sugar management protocol.

For this reason, a person with a high risk of developing diabetes should be under a doctor’s care.

In addition to poorly managed diabetes, a person can experience ketoacidosis for the following reasons:

  • A thyroid that is overactive
  • Starvation
  • Alcoholism
  • Pancreatitis
  • Sepsis
  • Urinary tract infections
  • Heart attack
  • Pneumonia
  • Medications that cause improper use of insulin
  • Drug abuse

Main Ketoacidosis Symptoms

  • Dehydration
  • Extreme thirst
  • Vomiting
  • Nausea and/or abdominal pain
  • Excessive urination
  • Hyperglycemia (low blood sugar)
  • Shortness of breath
  • Extreme fatigue
  • Brain fog

Individuals with diabetes or who are at a higher risk of developing the disease should visit their doctor immediately if they have any symptoms of ketoacidosis.

Note that in the case of a well-formulated keto diet, individuals only produce ketone levels between 0.5-3 mmol.  This range of ketone levels is considered safe for healthy individuals. Understanding this makes the question, is ketosis even safe, a mute one?

But What Exactly Is A Ketogenic Diet?

The most traditional explanation of a ketogenic diet is a diet that contains less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day or 5 to 10 percent of total daily calories.

It also can have an intake of dietary fat as high as 85 percent. Another way of saying it is that it’s a diet that has four times more fat than carbs, with protein levels managed so that 90 percent of calories are coming from fat. This is what is considered strict keto.

A ketogenic diet has been referred to by several different names, including low carb, LCHF (low carb high fat), lazy keto, and keto.

When a properly formulated ketogenic diet is maintained, it forces your body into a state of metabolic ketosis. It’s not done by extreme calorie restriction but by drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake instead.

In this way a keto diet mimics fasting. This is why Randy and I believe that combining a keto diet with our Christian faith is a powerful transformative tool.

Being in a state of therapeutic ketosis offers many health benefits that go beyond weight loss. It has many other physical and mental benefits.

Read more about ketosis, its benefits, and how to enter into this state quickly.

Use our keto food guide to help you get started.

is ketosis even safe

Type 2 Diabetics Using Keto

Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common forms of diabetes. Accounting for almost 95% of all cases of diagnosed diabetes.

Over 29 million people in the United States alone suffer from diabetes. What’s frightening is that over a third of US adults have pre-diabetes, and 90% of them are clueless about the fact.

We are facing a real diabetes crisis in this country, and yet most people are walking around unaware of it.
In most cases, people are diagnosed when their uncontrolled sugar levels land them in the emergency room of a hospital.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Dr. Jason Fung has been a strong proponent of using a keto diet to manage Type 2 diabetes. In his book The Diabetes Code, he goes into great detail on how you can prevent Type 2 diabetes and reverse it naturally.

He is a great advocate of using a keto diet and intermittent fasting as effective tools in the fight against diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetics Using A Ketogenic Diet

In the case of Type 1 diabetics, you need to tread lightly when doing a keto diet, but it can be used as an effective tool to manage it. Once again, I remind you to enlist the help of a doctor.

Dr. Richard K. Bernstein is a pioneer in using a low-carb, keto diet to address Type 1 diabetes. I encourage you to visit his site for more information.

The latest study on Type 1 diabetics using a keto diet are promising. It points to how it’s helped them reduce HbA1c levels, reduce the amount of insulin used, and allowed for weight loss.

If you are interested in learning more about the science behind experiencing ketosis, I encourage you to visit Ketogeniccom  or read  The Ketogenic Bible. These two resources have been invaluable for us in understanding ketosis.

 Keto Flu

Are there any downsides to being in ketosis? When an individual switch from being primarily glucose (sugar-burner) to a ketone (fat-burner) they can sometimes temporarily experience unpleasant symptoms, such as:

  • Lethargy
  • Brain Fog
  • Mood Swings
  • Headaches
  • Tiredness

These symptoms can occur when first embarking on a ketogenic diet or after eating a high carb meal once you have been doing this diet.  This is because your body has to burn through the excess glycogen before burning fat for fuel.

Can The Keto Flu Be Avoided?

The good news is that keto flu symptoms are short-term and they can be reduced or even prevented by taking some measures.

  • Make sure you are properly hydrated: A good guide is to drink half your weight in ounces of water. Calculation: Your weight X .05= ounces of water per day
  • Use exogenous ketones: You can raise your ketones by taking them in the form of a ketone supplement. Doing so helps you get into a state of ketosis faster and thereby reduces keto flu symptoms quicker.  In this way, it doesn’t rely on your diet alone to be in a state of ketosis.
  • Add more salt: A keto diet has a diuretic effect and can therefore excrete more sodium. For this reason, adding high-level salt in the form of Himalayan pink salt, or Celtic salt is advisable.
  • Raise your healthy fat intake: By having enough healthy fats you keep your brain properly nourished. The key is to replace the carbohydrates you eliminated with keto-approved fats.

Learn more about being in ketosis and how to enter quickly for optimal results.

Join Our Jesus And Keto Movement 

Looking for an online support system to help you stay the course on keto? As a family, we came to the keto diet looking at it from a Christian perspective. As believers, we live our lives supported by God’s grace.

So when the Holy Spirit led us to combine our Christian faith and the keto diet, we did so in hopes of finding lasting transformation. When we followed the Holy Spirit’s prompting we got on the path to real transformation. 

Knowing firsthand the benefits of this decision we have created a closed Christian group that is using the keto diet to transform their lives.  We invite you to join our Private Facebook Group and see if it’s not the key you have been missing.

Be sure to request our FREE Jesus and Keto E-Book (First 7 Days) We hope it blesses you.

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Enjoy early access to recipes before they go live on the website. Plus, bonus recipes that are exclusive to the app. Make your own personal cookbooks that you can use to organize your favorite recipes.

Search recipes by title, ingredients, keywords, and categories, and of course every recipe shows complete nutritional facts.  Get the Fit to Serve Group App for easy-to-follow keto recipes made with easy-to-source ingredients. 

The app is loaded with hundreds of yummy recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and even desserts!

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