Important Life Hacks

Solving the Ketosis Puzzle by Understanding Glycogen Stores

If you can’t enter ketosis despite lifestyle changes, you need to understand the role and function of glycogen stores in the liver

I’ve been living a keto lifestyle for many years, as documented in numerous stories before. This unique lifestyle is all about a diet where we eat low carbs with moderate healthy fats and bioavailable proteins, stick to a specific eating window, and get moving with moderate and consistent exercise.

By reading the decades of research and experimenting, I’ve learned how ketosis and glycogen play together along the way. I thought sharing this tacit knowledge in this short story would be helpful to my readers. I aim to give a valuable perspective to a frequently asked question concerning some readers.

Some of my friends and readers are all gung-ho about getting into ketosis, which is a good thing. However, they say they follow all the tips from magazines and online sources, hoping to see that magical purple color on their pee sticks.

They think these pee sticks are like their secret signal saying, “Hey, congratulations, you’re in ketosis!”

Unfortunately, many beginners get disappointed. Some friends humorously say that if one day they see that purple color in their pee sticks, they will throw a party.

I have empathy and compassion for them, as I felt disappointed like them when I enthusiastically started a keto lifestyle with no tangible observations.

However, I missed the nuanced information hidden in the old textbooks, epilepsy research, and disguised scientific papers recently gaining popularity.

I convey this valuable info under two headings in this piece. In addition, I provide a few handy tips for beginners to leverage a keto lifestyle.

1 — Relieving the first pain point for keto-enthusiasts

First of all, I ask my disappointed friends to hold up, as not seeing the purple color doesn’t mean they’re out of the keto game.

Those pee sticks they buy from pharmacies or online stores only show some of the ketones, not all those doing their thing in our bodies.

The brain, heart, and many other organs use ketones as an alternative energy source, so there is little or none left over for the kidneys to extract.

I shared with them a more informative approach to measuring ketones, emphasizing the accuracy of blood tests and breath analysis.

Here’s a sample blood test showing my ketones and blood sugar after a 7-day extended fast, which put me into deep ketosis. During that period, my β-Hydroxybutyrate was 7.9 mml/l and glucose 3.7 mml/l. With abundant ketones in my blood during that time, I had this remarkable lucid dream.

2 — Clarifying the core issue of missing ketosis

As mentioned in my previous stories, ketosis is a valuable metabolic switch for energy production and utilization. Normally, our bodies chow down on carbs, creating glucose for energy.

But with ketosis, it’s like the body switches gears and uses fat instead. This happens when we cut down on carbs. Our bodies break down stored, or dietary fat into these molecules called ketone bodies. Ketones are clean fuel for several organs like the brain and heart and signaling molecules talking to our genes.

So you might wonder how they relate to glycogen, which is the energy stash our bodies keep. Glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles, ready to act when we eat carbs, especially refined ones that quickly become sugar.

You may think glycogen stores are our tiny backup energy, always on standby. The real and bigger tank is our fat stores, which allow us to survive and thrive.

But here’s where the fun begins in this metabolic process. Our glycogen stash starts running low when we go low on refined carbs. That’s when the ketosis magic starts happening in the liver.

So, without glycogen, our bodies tap into the backup plan that is encoded in our genes as part of the evolutionary process that allowed our ancestors to survive famines and other difficult situations.

During this metabolic switch, those ketones (unique fat molecules) become our new energy sources.

Now, I will be honest with you. Getting into ketosis wasn’t a breeze in the beginning. I remember when I first started, I felt like I was dragging a tired body around.

My brain was like, “Wait, where’s my quick energy?” It started tantrums, what we call keto-flu. It took a bit for my body to get used to this metabolic switch. The tricks were straightforward. I covered them in a previous story.

After a few weeks, things started looking good. My energy levels were up, and my brain was back in the game with more clarity.

The bonus was shedding some pounds, real fat, not water, and defeating my metabolic syndrome. It was like my body found a hidden energy stash it didn’t know it had before.

But for me, the most important benefit was defeating chronic inflammation, helping me to eliminate the symptoms of arthritis, which is an inflammatory autoimmune disease and arthritic pain.

Research into ketogenic diets looks promising. For example, a recent clinical trial found it better than the Dash diet, producing excellent outcomes for metabolically broken people.

If you’re considering going keto, you must go easy on yourself. It takes time for the body to catch up with the new fuel system. Let me give you a few quick pointers.

Key Takeaway Points

1 — You must ease into the low-carb life. Be careful not to shock your system overnight. It will take time. For beginners, the easiest and fastest way is to skip one meal, like breakfast, and stop snacking, as I did in the beginning.

2 — Load up on good-for-you foods like carbs from veggies or nuts, healthy fats like avocados and fish, and a decent amount of bioavailable proteins, depending on your needs and diet.

3 — Herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores all can enter ketosis, as it does not discriminate people’s diets. You can still enter ketosis if you eat some carbs. But you need to refrain from refined carbs.

4 — You need to drink enough water as the body loses much water to adjust when insulin is low, and the glycogen stores get emptied. So you may keep sipping on water, tea, or coffee without the sugar.

5 — Electrolytes are always essential but critical in a keto lifestyle because we lose lots of fluids and minerals during ketosis. You can get them from whole foods, but if you are fasting or doing too much intense exercise, you might need to supplement to keep your minerals in balance.

6 — You must be careful with fruit juices and sugary beverages, as they will instantly take you out of ketosis as they fill in the glycogen stores quickly.

So until glycogen stores are emptied, there is no way to enter ketosis. That is the reason ketosis is delayed for some beginners.

Before our bodies can enter ketosis, they must use their stored glycogen. Until those glycogen reserves are depleted, ketosis won’t kick in.

Diving into ketosis and living a keto lifestyle is a journey. You may see it like our bodies are discovering a new way to get its groove on.

And remember, even though it might feel a bit weird initially, those side effects of ketosis that I documented before are all part of the process. Here is why people quit keto diets and intermittent fasting quickly and how to fix issues timely.

So, take it easy, keep things balanced, and stay optimistic.

Stay mindful of ketoacidosis, a distinct condition from nutritional and exercise-induced ketosis. This medical concern typically affects individuals with type I diabetes and some with type two diabetes, as I highlighted in an earlier story.

Like anything else, ketosis might not suit everyone. If you’re unsure about any of these points, it’s wise to talk to your family physician, a diet expert like a dietician, or a sports nutritionist specializing in ketogenic diets and lifestyles.

As ketosis and ketogenetic lifestyle are critical in my health, fitness, and wellness journey, I wrote a lot about them. So, I added some key stories in the attached link.

Recently, I answered another critical question like this. Please remember that if your body is insulin-resistant, it is impossible to become fat-adapted and enjoy the remarkable benefits of ketosis.

Thank you for engaging with my insights. My best wishes for your journey towards a healthy and joyful life.

I wrote many articles about significant health conditions. You may find them in the attached list easily. Please share the relevant ones with your friends so that they can benefit from my research and experience.

I also wrote several stories about valuable nutrients.

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