20g Carbs

(Lucia) #1

Hi everyone

I’m a 7th day into Keto. My apologies, I have a silly question to ask. Is 20g carb only come from Keto diet?

Thanks in advance

(Allie) #2

Not exactly sure what you mean but 20g carbs would only be required if someone were wanting to be in ketosis.

#3

20g is the number where most people do the best as far as getting into ketosis staying there. People who are very physically active, do weight training, and sometimes just really fast metabolisms or people who aren’t insulin resistant can eat more and still be in ketosis most of, or all the time. But you should start at 20g and hold that for a couple weeks at least before you try to test if you can do more. The majority of people do best in the 20-30g range. WHERE those extra carbs are coming from also can make a big difference.

(Sheri Knauer) #4

20g of carbs would be carbs from foods considered to be ketogenic, such as above ground, non starchy vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, etc. You also get some trace carbs from some meats, eggs, and whole milk dairy products. The 20g of carbs should NOT include breads, pastas, processed foods (foods that come in a package that are marked keto but have a ridiculously long list of ingredients and aren’t really even keto).

(Carl Keller) #5

One of the first articles I ever read about keto was about a husband and wife when they started this way of eating. They began at 50 total carbs and the husband was producing ketones less than a week later. The wife had to lower her carbs until she was under 30 total before she did the same.

So I started at 50 total carbs and within 3-4 days I noticed results. It was not until a month later that I dropped it to 20 total (now I do 20 net) to try and achieve the best results. I’ve heard that other keto experts say ketosis is possible at even higher amounts of carbs, but I believe weight loss is going to come at a much slower rate. The less glucose there is to burn, the more fat will be burned.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #6

The point of a ketogenic diet is to keep your insulin level as low as possible, so as to promote metabolic health and the loss of excess stored fat. Carbohydrate in the diet above a certain level will stimulate excess insulin secretion. The level at which that happens is different for everyone, and it is possible for your level to be higher or lower than 20 g/day, but 20 is a good place to start. Unless your insulin level is under your personal threshold, however, you cannot metabolize your stored fat, which is what makes a ketogenic diet necessary. However, fat loss is far from being the only benefit of such a way of eating.

Since fiber is indigestible, many people in North America subtract the amount of fiber from the total amount of carbohydrate in their food (net carbs), but many others consider it safer to count the fiber as part of their carbohydrate intake (total carbs). Be aware that in Europe, Britain, and the Commonwealth, nutrition labels list the amount of carbohydrate with the fiber already subtracted, so if you want to do total carbs in such countries, you would need to add the fiber back in. (Are you confused yet? :grin:)

Welcome to the forums, and to this way of eating (sometimes abbreviated WOE). Feel free to ask any questions you want. We’d rather have you ask even a stupid question than persist in ignorance, and we promise not to beat you up too badly, lol! We bark a lot, but rarely bite. :bacon:

(Lucia) #7

Thanks everyone for the clarification. I appreciate your input. Have a nice day!

(Sandra Barger) #8

Any suggestions for raising my resting metabolic rate? I started keto Aug 1 and lost 10 pounds quickly (170 lbs to 160) but now have reached a plateau. My resting heart rate is 51-56 beats per minute. I exercise and drink coffee but nothing seems to raise it. Prior to keto, my resting heart rate was 56-61. I want to get past this plateau, frustrating me for several weeks. If I just keep eating only 20 good carbs a day, will that work over time?? I have severe insulin resistance.

(Susan) #9

If you only eat 20 carbs or less of carbs a day (some people find they have to go to like 10 grams even), no sugar, no artificial sweeteners (many of us stall or even gain weight with them) lots of healthy fats and proteins, and make sure you are eating enough calories, if you go below in calories this can also cause a stall. If you are doing exercise, early on this can also mess up losing weight, or you can gain muscle mass which ways more then fat, so can be deceptive on the scales.

Best wishes in breaking your stall and welcome to the forum =).

(Sandra Barger) #10

Thank you so much for the tips. I will definitely try them and keep you posted !!

(Titus) #11

Be happy my HR on keto at rest is 75, and it used to be 60. Lower is better

(Carnivore for the win) #12

You are replying to a few different posts implying keto and mct create heart issues. Any insight to why it is higher? Is it your hypothesis regarding MCT and alleged arythmia from the other post replies?

(Titus) #13

Arrhythmia is one thing and elevated HR is another thing. Arrhythmia is gone in a few hours by eliminating MCT, and this not a hypothesis, is a reproducible fact, but HR remains high. For the latter I didn’t find a solution, and I pulling my hair to find one

(Carnivore for the win) #14

So this post in summer of 2020 didn’t help you?

Seems like you concluded, in you past thread, it was from difficulty adapting to keto, so the solution was to adjust electrolyte supplementation and stop ketosis by increasing carb intake. Did that help? Are you back under 20 grams of carbs daily and the issue came back? Or did your heart rate never go back down, even after the increased carb intake and electrolyte supplement adjustment?

Were you on an ambulatory heart monitor during the arythmia from MCT? Or was it just a feeling?

(Titus) #15

Yes this was two years ago, now I’m 62. Since then I discovered what caused the arrhythmia, it was the MCT. No I didn’t have any holter but I can tell you my friend, arrhythmia appeared every few minutes, on and off, at rest, and it was scary, though I didn’t go to the hospital. I stopped MCT and I was OK.
Regarding the elevated HR, I continued keto without MCT, but I couldn’t reduce it, and yes the moment I increased the carbs at around 50g everything went back to normal within 2 3 days.
When in ketosis I have tried all the electrolytes adjustments with huge quantities of salt mg and potassium without luck, HR remained high. Then I gave up. Recently I started keto again, because it helps me with my brain fog and I hope to find a solution for the HR

(Carnivore for the win) #16

Interesting. It’s amazing what people assume is arythmia without getting medical intervention. I thought I had the same problem before I started keto, but tests showed it was GERD. My heart was in good condition in all medical tests. MCT can have significant effects on the gastrointestinal system, especially when first trying it. After about a year in consistent ketosis, my GERD was gone and so was the fluttering/spasms I’m my chest that it caused.

My father was an emergency room physician and said anytime people thought they were having palpitations or arythmia, he would first give them a heavy-duty antacid. If that didn’t work, he would administer atavan, which is an anti anxiety medication. If neither of those worked, then the patient would be tested for heart issues.

How many days in a row have you had your carbs below 20 grams? It takes quite a while to adapt to ketosis, especially after eating carbs for many decades. It took me three months to adapt. Now years later, my heart rate and blood pressure are both way down, compared to the first few months. It has been a slow but consistent reduction as my entire body heals over the long term.