Amount of carbs per day to go into ketosis over night with 15 hours between meals?

#1

I have heard many say things like “We all go into ketosis every night while we sleep.” in reference to people who are not on a ketogenic or even low carb diet.

This does not seem possible as we store 24 hours of glycogen and so probably switch to burning that while we sleep and make zero ketones.

So I’m wondering: what would be the number of carbs to eat per day that one would go into ketosis every night (assuming one does not eat for at least a 15 hour period between dinner and breakfast)?

Perhaps 100 carbs in a day? Then maybe around hour 12 after dinner one would enter ketosis and be producing ketones and have their brain running on ketones for 3 hours until breakfast?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

An limit of 20 g/day will guarantee practically anyone can get into ketosis. :grin:

But you are right, there is probably some level, below which people would automatically enter ketosis while they sleep. But I doubt anything like the standard American eating pattern would qualify, since it promotes continuously elevated insulin levels. A paleo diet might, however.

(Robert C) #3

I think you are missing the point.
I think the 20 g limit is to ensure that only incidental carbs come in (broccoli, spinach, etc.).
Move it up to 100 g and you can have Quest bars, sugar in coffee etc. essentially some allowance of non-food processed carbs.
With these, maybe you’ll be in ketosis a few hours a day but also not really making a difference on your goals.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

Sorry, Rob. It was supposed to be a joke, but it’s late, and I’m tired, so it didn’t work. :frowning:

The point of the 20g limit is, of course, to put people in ketosis all the time, but you were asking about ketosis from nighttime fasting. That was the joke—guess I should go to bed, huh?

The way Dr. Phinney talks in his older lectures, 100g of carbs is low enough for people to get into nutritional ketosis. I suspect, however, that you’d have to be pretty insulin-sensitive for that to work. I notice that Dr. Phinney’s recent video for Virta Health now mentions a limit of 50g, which makes sense, because all their patients are diabetic or pre-diabetic. He’s not working with fat-adapted endurance athletes at Virta!

Anyway, see you in the morning! :bacon:

(Robert C) #5

Actually the “I think you are missing the point” comment was for the original poster.

Anytime I see the mindset of upping carbs I try to make the point that the 20g limit is to keep you in incidental cabs found in some otherwise healthy vegetables.

Always want to avoid the “diet” mentality of a budget of carbs to put anything in.

Sorry if the wording seemed to pull your reply into the mix.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

[Emily Litella mode] Oh! Never mind . . . [/Emily Litella mode]

(Robert C) #7

I’d like to also add - from all I have seen on this site. I think you are a straight shooter. I think of you much more as a positive contributor.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

(blush!) :grinning:

(E.O.) #9

During the recently online Keto summit discussions, I heard an interview with Mark Sisson of Mark’s Daily Apple. He mentioned he was doing a lower-carb, paleo type lifestyle for a long time (which anyone who knows of him, knows is true–he is well known for this lifestyle) but then he wondered if he could do better. This is when the interview really got interesting. Mark said he was doing way less carbs than the SAD and in fact never went over 100 carbs a day but yet he greatly benefited, in his opinion and experience, from going to 20 or less and doing the low-car-high-fat keto “reset” as he calls it. In his own thinking, and words, he was already grain-free for decades and yet he still benefited from dropping carbs lower.