Can You Be In Ketosis And Not Lose Weight?
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| Are you in ketosis, but not losing weight? Did you know: there's an alternative fat metabolic pathway that can store fat independent of insulin! |
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Are you in ketosis, but not losing weight?
This phenomenon is far more common than you think.
What you might not know is that insulin is not necessary to store body fat. That's a low-carb myth. The body actually has a back-up system to store excess energy even when carbs and insulin are very low.
However, the situation isn't hopeless. It just requires you to embrace your individuality and have the strength and determination to do what needs to be done to achieve your weight loss goals.
If you're in ketosis, but not losing weight, here's what you can do to get the scale moving.
Are You Confused About Ketones and Ketosis? Most Dieters Are!
If your metabolism is average, you lost a decent amount of weight during the first two or three weeks, but then suddenly, toward the end of the month, weight loss slowed down.
Maybe, it stopped completely.
Perhaps, you've even regained some of that initial water loss that came off the first week.
What's frustrating you is that you know you’re in the state of ketosis. The Ketostix are turning pink or lavender or maybe even purple. Your appetite has severely dropped. You have more energy than you had before, and you haven’t eaten anything off plan.
You’re drinking plenty of water, sprinkling salt on your foods, and eating your vegetables, but you’re just not losing weight!
(If you honestly think you are NOT in ketosis, and you're wondering why you're still struggling to get there, check out our article on the 12 reasons why you might not be in ketosis. It will clear up any misconceptions you might have about ketosis and ketone testing strips, so you can get moving toward your weight-loss goals today.)
Confused, you may start to wonder if dieting is worth all the effort:
- Maybe you’re doing something wrong.
- Maybe you’re not really in ketosis.
- Maybe a low-carb diet just won't work for you.
- Can you even be in ketosis and not lose any weight?
Misconceptions surrounding the state of ketosis and what makes a low-carb diet work are rampant within the low-carb community.
Bad advice, personal opinion, and non-scientific theories are common. A low-carb diet isn't magical, even though it's often presented that way by the ketogenic elete.
In 1972, Dr. Atkins introduced the world to the concept of carbohydrate sensitivity.
Bad advice, personal opinion, and non-scientific theories are common. A low-carb diet isn't magical, even though it's often presented that way by the ketogenic elete.
He talked about the damage that excessive carbohydrates can do to your metabolism. He suggested that overweight and obesity was caused from a metabolic defect and played up the necessity of being in the state of ketosis to achieve easy weight loss.
Since then, many ketogenic dieters have mistakenly thought that the number of ketones that has backed up in their bloodstream is what makes the diet work.
It doesn't.
This is a strong misconception. The false idea that ketones are vital to fat loss has caused a lot of confusion about ketosis, nutritional ketosis, and low-carb diets.
While being in ketosis is essential to trigger the metabolic changes needed to switch your metabolism from predominantly burning glucose to predominantly burning fatty acids for fuel, you can certainly be in ketosis but not lose weight.
And here's why:
Ketosis and Weight Loss
Weight loss on keto is typically fast when you first restrict carbohydrates because you’re using up your carbohydrate stores called glycogen in the liver. Once those liver glycogen stores have been dramatically reduced, your weight-loss pace slows to a normal speed, but fat loss usually doesn’t stop.
The state of ketosis causes you to eat less.
So what goes wrong?
How can you be in ketosis but not lose weight?
There are several reasons why ketosis and weight loss do not always go hand-in-hand.
Some of those reasons have to do with the myths surrounding the state of ketosis, but not always. There can be legitimate biological reasons why effective weight loss on low carb is more difficult for you, than for others.
So let's start with one of the major myths surrounding ketosis, that high insulin is necessary to store fat.
How can you be in ketosis but not lose weight?
Some of those reasons have to do with the myths surrounding the state of ketosis, but not always. There can be legitimate biological reasons why effective weight loss on low carb is more difficult for you, than for others.
So let's start with one of the major myths surrounding ketosis, that high insulin is necessary to store fat.
Is Insulin Necessary to Store Fat?
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| Can you gain weight if you are in Ketosis and eating zero carbs? |
Several years ago, some of us were having problems losing weight on the Atkins Diet. Since I was also having problems getting the celiac disease under control, as well as controlling my blood sugar, I decided to go on a zero-carb diet.
Eating absolutely no carbohydrates was supposed to lower insulin dramatically and eliminate food sensitivities for those of us having problems on typical low-carb diets.
Or so the theory went.
I was also having gastrointestinal problems from celiac disease at the time, and I didn't know I also had Grave's disease, so my personal results eating no carbs will be different from you, if you don't have the exact same health challenges I do.
Since a low-carb diet isn't automatically gluten free, I used that no-carb diet in the same way as you would use an elimination diet. My hope was that it would make discerning problematic foods easier to spot and eliminate.
When first diagnosed with celiac disease, your guts are still quite tender and inflamed, so you often have to move to a diet that is very limited in fiber in order to heal. I was hoping that an elimination diet would help point out problematic foods quicker.
According to the Insulin Hypothesis, as presented by Gary Taubes in his book, Good Calories Bad Calories, if your insulin level is low, you can eat as much as you want of low-carb foods without gaining weight.
A zero carb diet takes your insulin level down as far as it can go, but what I, and several other low-carb dieters learned during that zero-carb experiment was that the Insulin Theory as presented by ketogenic influencers is not true.
While high basal insulin levels can cause a wide variety of health issues, you can have very low insulin levels and stall on your weight-loss diet.
You can even gain weight.
This is because the body has an alternative fat metabolic pathway.
Body fat cells are actually an endocrine organ. As a single unit, they secrete various types of hormones that affect metabolism.
A substance known as Acylation Stimulating Protein (ASP) is secreted by your fat cells. This ASP increases the activity of Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL), an enzyme that helps you break down dietary fats into a form that can pass through your upper small intestine and into your bloodstream.
Triglycerides are too large for the body to absorb the way they are, so the pancreas secretes LPL into your small intestine where it can break down the fats you eat into smaller particles. Once these smaller particles pass through your small intestine, they are picked up by LDL cholesterol molecules or encased by chylomicrons and transported into body cells for fuel.
They can also be shipped to the liver.
In the liver, chylomicrons are either converted to VLDL and used as energy, or they are sent to the fat cells for storage. Notice that not ALL chylomicrons are used for energy, even on low-carb diets. The decision belongs to the liver.
ASP plays a similar role to insulin inside the fat cell.
Rather than being secreted by the pancreas when you eat carbs, the fat cells produce ASP whenever they come into contact with chylomicrons. So the presence of chylomicrons in the liver causes the fat cells to produce ASP, which takes the place of insulin.
A substance known as Acylation Stimulating Protein (ASP) is secreted by your fat cells. This ASP increases the activity of Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL), an enzyme that helps you break down dietary fats into a form that can pass through your upper small intestine and into your bloodstream.
Triglycerides are too large for the body to absorb the way they are, so the pancreas secretes LPL into your small intestine where it can break down the fats you eat into smaller particles. Once these smaller particles pass through your small intestine, they are picked up by LDL cholesterol molecules or encased by chylomicrons and transported into body cells for fuel.
They can also be shipped to the liver.
In the liver, chylomicrons are either converted to VLDL and used as energy, or they are sent to the fat cells for storage. Notice that not ALL chylomicrons are used for energy, even on low-carb diets. The decision belongs to the liver.
ASP plays a similar role to insulin inside the fat cell.
Rather than being secreted by the pancreas when you eat carbs, the fat cells produce ASP whenever they come into contact with chylomicrons. So the presence of chylomicrons in the liver causes the fat cells to produce ASP, which takes the place of insulin.
Role of Dietary Fats in Stalls or Weight Gain
When you eat a high-fat diet, you make more chylomicrons in order to transport those triglycerides. This results in additional ASP being produced, which stimulates greater fat storage. ASP is what allows fat to be removed from chylomicrons.
This fat-storing activity is independent of insulin. Your basal insulin level can be high or low and it will happen either way. This is independent of how many carbs you're eating.
The fat that’s encased in chylomicrons does not need insulin to be stored because body cells are free to take from them whatever fatty acids they need.
This is not true for the VLDL that the liver converts fatty acids into, so not everyone has a masalah with a higher load of dietary fats. It all depends on what your liver decides to do with the fat it receives from those chylomicron transporters.
If you were overweight or obese for a long time before going low carb, the body will believe that your starting weight is your normal body-fat level.
This is why maintaining your fat losses is so difficult. The body literally fights to defend its perception of normal weight. It doesn't care what you think or what society thinks. It has a set point in mind and does what it has to do to get you back there.
When you lose over 100 pounds as I did, the body will panic since it believes a diet is a famine. It will be concerned with future famines and do everything it can to regain those lost fat stores.
This is the most challenging part of the weight-loss game that most dieters do not understand. Successful weight loss isn't about carving off the pounds. Success is being able to keep those pounds off!
This fat-storing activity is independent of insulin. Your basal insulin level can be high or low and it will happen either way. This is independent of how many carbs you're eating.
The fat that’s encased in chylomicrons does not need insulin to be stored because body cells are free to take from them whatever fatty acids they need.
This is not true for the VLDL that the liver converts fatty acids into, so not everyone has a masalah with a higher load of dietary fats. It all depends on what your liver decides to do with the fat it receives from those chylomicron transporters.
If your body is prone to fat storage rather than fat burning, which can easily happen if you’ve already lost a large amount of weight, you’ll store a lot of the fat the liver receives whether you’re in ketosis or not. Being in ketosis won't make any difference, which is the masalah I'm currently having myself.
If you were overweight or obese for a long time before going low carb, the body will believe that your starting weight is your normal body-fat level.
This is why maintaining your fat losses is so difficult. The body literally fights to defend its perception of normal weight. It doesn't care what you think or what society thinks. It has a set point in mind and does what it has to do to get you back there.
When you lose over 100 pounds as I did, the body will panic since it believes a diet is a famine. It will be concerned with future famines and do everything it can to regain those lost fat stores.
This is the most challenging part of the weight-loss game that most dieters do not understand. Successful weight loss isn't about carving off the pounds. Success is being able to keep those pounds off!
Role of Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL) in Fat Metabolism
One of the theories I investigated a couple of years ago had to do with dietary enzymes.
I was interested in these enzymes because on zero carb, I had gained a lot of weight eating nothing but meat, so I started questioning the body's ability to digest fats. These dietary enzymes are needed to digest the macronutrients you eat.
Macronutrients are:
I was interested in these enzymes because on zero carb, I had gained a lot of weight eating nothing but meat, so I started questioning the body's ability to digest fats. These dietary enzymes are needed to digest the macronutrients you eat.
Macronutrients are:
- protein
- fats
- carbohydrates
Those with celiac disease, like me, are more likely to have a masalah digesting fats, due to intestinal inflammation, but you could also have problems with protein or carbohydrates. Hyperthyroidism, like I have, causes the food you eat to move so quickly that the body rarely has time to digest and absorb everything you eat.
Many celiacs and those with Graves' Disease struggle to break down and absorb all three macronutrients!
The same holds true for those with food sensitivities, so don't ignore this point if you don't have gluten or thyroid issues. Anything that causes inflammation in the body, including sugar (cheating), can interfere with the way your food is absorbed.
Fats need Lipoprotein Lipase (LPL).
LPL is secreted into your small intestine by the pancreas. LPL is what breaks down dietary fats, so the fat molecules can eventually pass into the bloodstream. Without LPL, you cannot break down fats. They would simply pass through your digestive track undigested and cause a multitude of problems in the colon.
A shortage of LPL can cause your weight loss to stall because the lack of digestion would put your body under a certain degree of stress.
Higher stress levels mean high cortisol levels, which interferes with weight loss and can even cause weight gain due to its affect on the liver. High cortisol tells the liver to stop using fats for energy and convert glycogen into glucose and use that instead.
However, a lack of LPL cannot cause you to gain weight.
Fats cannot be stored in your fat cells without first being broken down by LPL and then pass through the intestine and into the bloodstream.
LPL is secreted into your small intestine by the pancreas. LPL is what breaks down dietary fats, so the fat molecules can eventually pass into the bloodstream. Without LPL, you cannot break down fats. They would simply pass through your digestive track undigested and cause a multitude of problems in the colon.
A shortage of LPL can cause your weight loss to stall because the lack of digestion would put your body under a certain degree of stress.
Higher stress levels mean high cortisol levels, which interferes with weight loss and can even cause weight gain due to its affect on the liver. High cortisol tells the liver to stop using fats for energy and convert glycogen into glucose and use that instead.
However, a lack of LPL cannot cause you to gain weight.
Fats cannot be stored in your fat cells without first being broken down by LPL and then pass through the intestine and into the bloodstream.
The other masalah is one of up-regulation.
While you might produce a normal amount of LPL and be able to digest a certain amount of dietary fat, a high-fat diet might be too much.
Not everyone has the capacity to produce the additional LPL needed to digest the high amount of dietary fats in a low-carb diet.
For that reason, many experts recommend taking digestive enzymes to help break down fats, proteins, and carbs. However, everything I have read about LPL says that LPL deficiency is hereditary with no cure.
It cannot be fixed through dietary supplements because fats are not broken down in the stomach. Fats are broken down in the upper small intestine.
Current scientific thought is that the acid in your stomach breaks down supplemental LPL and makes it inoperable, the same as many probiotics. But I honestly don't know if it would help those who can't digest fats very well, or not.
Since I have celiac disease, my own dietary fat issues may or may not be related to a lack LPL. It could just be an inflammation masalah for me. And then again, the potential Gilbert's Syndrome might play into this too. Gilbert's Syndrome is a hereditary liver condition where you go into jaundice when severely stressed, making it more difficult for the liver to handle dietary fats.
While you might produce a normal amount of LPL and be able to digest a certain amount of dietary fat, a high-fat diet might be too much.
Not everyone has the capacity to produce the additional LPL needed to digest the high amount of dietary fats in a low-carb diet.
For that reason, many experts recommend taking digestive enzymes to help break down fats, proteins, and carbs. However, everything I have read about LPL says that LPL deficiency is hereditary with no cure.
It cannot be fixed through dietary supplements because fats are not broken down in the stomach. Fats are broken down in the upper small intestine.
Current scientific thought is that the acid in your stomach breaks down supplemental LPL and makes it inoperable, the same as many probiotics. But I honestly don't know if it would help those who can't digest fats very well, or not.
Since I have celiac disease, my own dietary fat issues may or may not be related to a lack LPL. It could just be an inflammation masalah for me. And then again, the potential Gilbert's Syndrome might play into this too. Gilbert's Syndrome is a hereditary liver condition where you go into jaundice when severely stressed, making it more difficult for the liver to handle dietary fats.
What Can You Do?
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| The ONLY thing that works for me is to eat less fat and calories. I can't do standard Atkins and lose weight. |
I first tried taking digestive enzymes several years ago, but before I knew that I had celiac disease and thyroid disease. They were not effective for me, but I've heard others say that they gave them a lot more energy.
I tried taking digestive enzymes again in 2016, but the only effect I got was weight gain. I didn't feel any better and didn't benefit from any more energy than I already had, and since I'm trying to get rid of my excess body fat, not gain more, I stopped taking them.
So far, the only thing that has been effective for me is lowering the amount of dietary fat I eat, as well as my total calories, but that decision upsets a lot of low-carb folks. And I mean a LOT.
Sure, a large amount of fat makes dieting more luxurious, but we are all individuals and what works for me won’t necessarily work for you.
We each have different metabolic issues, different types of metabolic damage, and different genetics, so your ketogenic diet will have to be fine-tuned at some point to address your particular issues.
Yes, you can be in ketosis and not lose weight, but most of the time, it’s fixable -- if you’re willing to live with the dietary changes and tweaks that are necessary to carve off the pounds for the rest of your life.
For many people, lowering their carbs down to very low levels is what it takes to get the job done.
I was reading an article over at the Diet Doctor website yesterday where an individual who was not in ketosis eating 30 net grams of carbohydrates a day, suddenly went into ketosis and started losing weight eating 10 to 20. For him, the amount of protein he ate didn't matter.
On the other hand, comments on the article from those with diabetes claimed that reducing protein was the correct answer for them, but that can also be a challenging way to live.
So the truth is this:
Whether you need a lower fat diet, a lower protein diet, or a very low carb diet to trigger fat loss, whatever changes you make must be permanent. You can't go into these changes assuming that they are only temporary inconveniences. They're NOT.
A lifestyle is something you firmly embrace and make a complete part of you for the rest of your life.
Which brings up another important point:
Not everyone can do what's required to be thin. I couldn't. But then, maybe being thin isn’t as necessary as we’ve been taught it is.
If the medical profession is wrong about low-carb diets, what else are they wrong about?
