Metabolic Health
How to Quickly Enter Ketosis in Herbivorous, Carnivorous, or Omnivorous Diets
Whether you are a plant or animal eater, you can customize your diet to experience ketosis with minor dietary tweaks.
Our bodies create unique molecules that can perform healing functions. Imagine a molecule serving as an alternative energy source and also acting as a signaling molecule that can talk to our genes.
I am talking about ketone bodies. The undermined molecules are a gift given to our bodies during our evolution. Unless we have underlying health issues or genetic defects, our bodies naturally can create ketone bodies based on eating certain foods, refraining from food, or regular exercise.
Regarding eating, some of us only enjoy consuming plant-based foods, some prefer animal products, and others enjoy both types of foods. As diet is an individual matter, we must respect people’s choices. No one enjoys their lifestyle choices being criticized or judged.
Talking of diets, I’d like to emphasize a common feature in three types of eating styles. My goal is to highlight the importance of ketogenic diets to leverage ketosis, which might provide additional benefits to some people.
Of course, the keto diet is not for everyone, as some people prefer their bodies to run by glucose only, but knowing the pros and cons can empower us to make better choices and helpful decisions for health and well-being.
The purpose of this story is to show how herbivores (plant eaters), carnivores (animal eaters), and omnivores (both plant and animal eaters) can benefit from ketogenic eating regimens to maintain a healthy weight, improve overall health, fitness, and well-being.
Even though I follow a specific diet, I am not biased against any of them. I keep my neutrality. For example, I have friends and family members who use different diets, and I support them as they reciprocate.
Previously I wrote three stories explaining how people on different diets can enter ketosis. I am adamant about ketosis as I experienced its value personally and read a lot about its value for others too. As part of keto communities, I always explore new possibilities and would like to share them with my readers.
First, let me explain why nutritional ketosis is a helpful metabolic tool for health and well-being.
What is ketosis?
Ketosis is a metabolic function. It happens when the body utilizes dietary or body fat in the shortage or absence of glucose.
Three lifestyle factors can initiate or contribute to ketosis. The quickest one is abstaining from food for a while. Typical examples are skipping a meal, time-restricted eating, also known as intermittent fasting, and long-term fasting.
The second option is consuming more fat than carbohydrates with moderate protein, also known as the ketogenic diet that I cover in this article.
The third option is increasing movement burning more calories than taken. This happens to athletes or very active people. However, this method is used supplementary rather than primary.
So the previous two methods are more effective than exercise. However, if we exercise while fasting or using a ketogenic diet, we can increase ketone production and enter more profound ketosis.
Even though there are different protocols to enter ketosis, in this story, I only focus on nutritional ketosis.
Nutritional ketosis means creating ketone bodies by adding or removing certain food types to achieve this goal.
Why does ketosis matter, and what are the key benefits?
Entering ketosis and maintaining it for a while can bring numerous benefits. From my reviews, observations, and experience, the benefits of ketosis can be summarized under three points.
The first is reducing the risks or effects of metabolic and mental health disorders. The second is using ketosis as a treatment method for some diseases. The third is increasing energy and improving performance. I’d like to touch on each briefly.
Literature indicates that people use ketosis as a disease risk prevention method, especially for metabolic and mental health.
For example, people staying in ketosis can significantly reduce blood glucose, decrease insulin spikes, and reduce the risks of insulin resistance, causing metabolic syndrome. Ketosis can make the body more insulin sensitive.
As β-hydroxybutyrate provides alternative energy to the brain, it also has the potential to reduce the risks of neurological and mental health conditions, preventing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
For example, I use ketosis as a tool to increase my cognitive reserves. β-hydroxybutyrate can increase Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)
Regarding treatment, the key candidates to benefit from ketosis are metabolically disadvantaged people with type II diabetes, obesity, and those who experience insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. In addition, ketosis can treat neurological disorders such as seizures.
The literature indicates the use of use ketosis for cancer patients. The main premise is cancer cells use glucose to grow. Interested readers might check out my reviews in an article titled Intermittent Fasting and Keto Diet for Cancer Prevention and Treatment.
For me, the most compelling and well-proven benefit of ketosis is reducing inflammation. β-hydroxybutyrate serves as a signaling molecule to reduce inflammation by affecting gene expression. Therefore, people experiencing chronic inflammation might benefit from ketosis with supervision from their physicians.
In terms of physical and mental performance, fixing impaired glucose metabolism can improve physical and mental performance. When the organs, especially the brain, cannot utilize glucose as an energy source due to impairment, β-hydroxybutyrate can provide an alternative energy source.
Therefore the brain and other organs can obtain the required energy and perform better. Some athletes use ketosis as a performance-boosting tool.
For example, I feel more creative and productive when I am in deep ketosis during long-term fasting. Furthermore, even after not eating food for several days, I still have sufficient energy to do my work and even do physical workouts.
Any side effects of ketosis?
The short answer is yes. However, it depends on different factors, some of which are easily fixable. First of all, like all good things, ketosis might not work for everyone posing risks for people with underlying health conditions.
One of the well-documented risks of attempting ketosis is a condition called ketoacidosis. It affects people with type I diabetes whose bodies cannot create adequate insulin. In addition, some type II diabetes who consume high alcohol can also be affected by it.
I’d like to highlight that ketosis and ketoacidosis are two different metabolic states. Ketosis is normal and beneficial, but ketoacidosis is a dangerous health condition.
Ketoacidosis occurs due to metabolic disorders when the body creates excessive ketones in order of magnitude. Like excessive glucose, the body also sees too many ketones as toxic.
According to NIH (National Health Institute), there are three types of ketoacidosis: diabetic, alcoholic, and starvation. It is critical for people with metabolic disorders to obtain support and supervision from qualified healthcare professionals before attempting ketosis.
Another common side effect usually experienced by beginners of ketogenic diets is known as keto flu. The leading causes are the body's adaptation, like switching from sugar-burning to fat-burning metabolism and losing some minerals such as sodium and magnesium.
Since I experienced the keto flu, I know the nuisance and feeling down. However, it is easily fixable by increasing sodium and magnesium intake slightly. In addition, beginners also face sleeping issues.
I provided practical solutions in an article titled Here’s How to Improve Sleep in Ketogenic Diets and Intermittent Fasting in Five Steps. I also provided my experience in fixing the side effects of fasting.
Now I’d like to briefly summarize key points on how to enter ketosis and maintain it in three types of eating regimens.
1 — How can plant eaters enter ketosis?
Sole plant eaters such as vegetarians and vegans can enter ketosis by considering the following four factors.
1 — Reducing refined carbs
2 — Increasing healthy fats
3 — Consuming only adequate protein (not too much)
4 — Performing cortisol-controlled workouts
Many healthy plant eaters already know the risks of eating excessive refined carbs, especially from highly processed foods, which can raise blood sugar too quickly and overly, leading to insulin resistance. So lowering or cutting refined carbs is the first option.
Healthy fats are the most effective macronutrient contributing to ketosis. Fats are digested much slower than carbs. Thus, they have minimal impact on increasing insulin. An insulin-sensitive body can create ketones easier than an insulin-resistant body.
The best foods contributing to ketosis in plant-based diets are avocados, Macadamia nuts, walnuts, seeds, vegan butter, olive oil, and coconut oil. And the most offending foods are excessively consumed sugary fruits and fruit juices.
There is a fear of cholesterol in plant-based eating communities. But it is unnecessary as plants do not include dietary cholesterol. Besides, dietary cholesterol has little effect on blood cholesterol, as I explained in a story titled Here’s the Cholesterol Paradox and How It Impacted My Health Positively.
I mentioned cortisol (stress hormone) as it affects sugar metabolism and prevents the body from entering ketosis. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone for muscles.
Excessive cardio, sleep deprivation, and other stressful situations can elevate it, leading to fat gain and muscle loss, as I explained in this story titled Here Are 4 Reasons You Can’t Reduce Visceral Fat and Lose Muscle Mass Instead.
I don’t follow a keto-vegan diet, but some of my family members and friends do. Based on observations of those who perform it successfully, I documented my findings in an article titled How to Benefit from Ketosis in a Keto-Vegan Diet. I also shared a story reflecting on the experience of a vegan friend.
2 — How can animal eaters enter ketosis?
Entering ketosis in animal-based diets is easier as animal sources, except honey, dairy, and eggs, have minimal sugar.
However, entering ketosis in a typical carnivore diet that only eats muscle meat is not easy as meat includes too much protein, which prevents ketosis. The solution is a specific diet known as keto-carnivore.
Keto-carnivore is a combination of the ketogenic and carnivore diets. This diet uses two macronutrients: proteins and fats. These macronutrients come from animal products such as beef, lamb, pork, fish, seafood, poultry, dairy, and eggs.
People on a keto-carnivore diet consume more fat than protein from calories perspectives. For example, 70% of calories come from animal fats and 30% from proteins.
When people consume adequate fats for energy, protein can be used mainly as a building block for the body.
Since I have extensive experience in the keto-carnivore diet, I documented my personal experience in a previous story. I also wrote an article providing more information about the keto-carnivore diet for interested readers.
The critical point for carnivores to enter ketosis is not just eating muscle meat but also organ meats that have more fats and more nutrients.
3 — How can both plant and animal eaters enter ketosis?
In my opinion, those who eat both plants and animals, also known as omnivores, have more options and can quickly enter ketosis if they remove some foods and add essential ones.
Omnivores can select healthy fats from both plant and animal sources as they suit their needs. As mentioned in the plant-based section, avocados, Macadamia nuts, walnuts, seeds, olive oil, and coconut oil are good options.
If they enjoy meat, then they might consider fatty meats and eat eggs, cream, cheese, and butter.
The critical points for omnivores are lowering or discarding refined carbs and eating moderate protein, as both plants and animals have a lot of proteins. For example, consuming legumes and meat in a meal can prevent people from entering ketosis as they have too many proteins.
I documented my observations and reviews in an article titled How to Enter Ketosis in a Keto-Omnivore Diet Safely and Quickly for interested readers.
Conclusions and Takeaways
It is possible to enter ketosis using herbivorous, carnivorous, or omnivorous diets with a few dietary measures.
In all types of diets, the key points to enter ketosis and maintain it is to refrain from refined carbs, not overeat protein, but increase healthy fats.
When we refrain from offending foods and do some exercise, insulin hormone declines, and glucagon takes over to make a metabolic shift in the body, initiating ketosis.
Another critical point in all diets is cutting frequent snacks. Foods, including carbs and protein, can increase blood sugar and cause insulin spikes preventing ketosis.
Overeating fat with protein from dairy foods such as cheese, milk, or yogurt can also prevent ketosis.
I’d like to summarize the key benefits of ketosis in mentioned types of diets so that if these conditions relate to you might consider it with support from qualified healthcare professionals.
1 — Reducing the risks of metabolic (e.g., type II diabetes), neurodegenerative diseases, and mental health disorders (e.g., dementia)
2— Contributing to healthy weight management, reducing visceral fat, and increasing lean muscles by making the body insulin and leptin sensitive
3 — Providing alternative energy to the brain, reducing the risks of, increasing physical and mental energy, and boosting performance
4 — Lowering chronic inflammation
5 — As reducing glucose can contribute to lowering the risks of some cancers, practitioners also use ketosis as an alternative treatment method for some diseases.
Entering ketosis by tweaking our nutrition is possible. However, despite cutting the mentioned foods, if you have difficulty in entering or maintaining ketosis, you might try skipping one meal or increasing exercise a bit.
Both time-restricted eating and exercise can quickly empty glycogen stores and initiate ketosis and even autophagy and mitophagy processes to clear cellular garbage and provide many health benefits.
Even though experiencing ketosis is valuable, we don’t have to be in ketosis at all times, and deep ketosis is not essential for most of us unless we deal with underlying metabolic issues. Nutritional ketosis, if done correctly, can give us mild ketosis that can lead to metabolic flexibility.
I hope you find these tips helpful. As a new reader, you might check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting on my reviews, observations, and decades of sensible experiments. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.
I enjoy informing my readers about hormonal intelligence by writing about neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, glutamate, and histamine.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
As a new reader, please check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and decades of experiments optimizing my hormones and neurotransmitters. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.
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