Been keto for 4 months. Did a refeed post workout with white rice and a large sweet potato. 250g carbs in one meal.
Blood ketone levels dropped to .5 (tested an hour and a half after meal). And then they were back to .9 this morning. Why am I not being kicked out of nutritional ketosis with such a large amount of carbs??
It usually takes quite a few carbs to halt lipolysis for any significant duration of time. One meal usually won’t last very long or recompensate any significant glycogen. It doesn’t’t mean they are not beneficial, especially if you’re training or very active.
Total refeeds set out in Lyle MacDonald’s book lasted 36 hrs.
Doesn’t it seem weird that I didn’t get thrown out of ketosis after 250g carbs though?
Nope, doesn’t seem weird. That’s just your n=1 based on this isolated moment in time. Doesn’t mean you’ll always be able to tolerate eating that amount of carbs, but you got off scott free this time so chalk it up to experience!
For the sake of the initial question, I didn’t mention that this isn’t my first refeed.
I’ve been doing a refeed after my chest workouts (twice a week) for about 3 weeks. Usually about 50g dextrose powder pre workout and 200g carbs post workout from rice and sweet potato. One time I dropped down to .3 ketones but other than that I don’t drop below .5. And I’m always back to .8 or .9 before bed.
I ask because I usually see that people will wake up the next morning and drink MCT and about an hour after that they are back in ketosis. I don’t think that if I continued refeeding twice a week that this would keep happening but I’m just curious how it’s possible that so many carbs are not throwing me out.
Fascinating! Are you reasonably metabolically healthy? Do you exercise a lot? Maybe you have a naturally high tolerance for carbs!
I can eat a whole tub of Halo Top and blood ketones go up to 3mmol, but it’s because my body is burning the sugar from the ice cream while the ketones build up instead of being used.
Extremely active. Workout 6 days a week and lots of fasted cardio. It’s possible that I have a high tolerance but I would be surprised based off what carbs to do my body. Is it possible to have an intolerance for carbs but a high threshold for the amount I can consume and stay in ketosis?
Great question- your n=1 is key to the answer. I’d hazard a guess that you exercise enough to get away with occasional high volumes of carbs but I’m no expert.
I wonder if they really are back in ketosis or just have elevated ketone levels from ingesting MCT. Doesn’t mean they are producing ketones just that they’re present. They give MCT oil to epileptic children who still eat carbs, they aren’t in ketosis but the ketones present in the blood help the brain function the same way ketosis brings mental clarity. Ketones are present in the blood in high levels without being in ketosis when they test them.
I’d guess you still had ketones leftover in the first post-meal test. If the carbs you ate were used during the workout, or went back into muscle glycogen after it, they will not come back out to replenish liver glycogen.
What you did you do for the rest of the day after the meal? It’s possible you built up more ketones during the overnight fast.
I worked out at 3 and then ate the carb refeed for dinner at 5. Sat on the couch after dinner didn’t do anything physical. Tested ketones at 6 and then was back to my normal numbers in the morning.
And was that all you ate that day? It could be you’ve stumbled upon a Pritikin-like refuel that will also result in lower insulin.
…another reason is, your making up for it by depleting your glycogen stores with working out (creating a glycogen deficit). Drop in ketones is very temporary.
No I ate normal keto leading up to the workout. I refeed about once every 10 days or so and it’s the same response every time. Sometimes I’ll go down to .2 ketones but then I’m back around .9 before bed (about 5 hours after refeed)
Nick you look like Zeus! You’re evidently well adapted. Sounds like you’re a lucky man doing the right thing for you… mixing it up is the right thing for most everyone once in awhile.
Haha! Thanks man! That’s actually right at the beginning stages of keto and I’ve lost about 30 lbs since then and look better than ever!
Iirc, some of Phinney and Volek’s elite athletes can eat 200g carbs a day and stay in ketosis. Sounds reasonable that someone putting in the kind of gym time you do can get away with the occasional 250g bolus without much issue.