Carbs to restart metabolism


(Jeff Ryan) #1

Hey guys,

I know alot of people on a low carb diet but not the keto diet and they have a carb refeed once a week to restart their metabolism.

Could the same principle apply to the keto diet? For the past 4 months now I’ve been on keto I’ve had 2 carb days. When I did have those carbs day I found it hard to sleep. I spoke to someone and they said the reason why I can’t sleep after a carb day is because my body doesn’t know what to do with the carbs. Is that right?


#2

When I eat carbs, I feel like crap. I really pay for it, especially pain in my joints. It takes a few days of keto to recover.

On metabolism…the only thing that helped me improve metabolism is extended fasting.


#3

John Kiefer may not have invented carb refeeding, but he certainly popularized it with “Carb Nite Solution (CNS)” and “Carb Back Loading (CBL)”.

These can be generalized as Cyclic Ketogenic Diets (CKD).

Trying these repeatedly over about a year is what delayed my final switch from LCHF to staying keto-adapted.

I do have a deranged metabolism being a T2DM in remission and now being over the half-century mark, but the only thing I have to show from CNS and/or CBL are headaches and feeling lousy while I got back into ketosis.

Kiefer’s arguments are convincing, but they didn’t work for me.

What these forums and experts discussing seem to agree on is that total calories are what’s important to maintain and/or restart metabolism and I’ve found this to be true for me as evidenced by going from feeling cold on low calories to feeling warm on more even when the average temperature is lower.


(Jeff Ryan) #4

How do you measure your metabolism?


(Jeff Ryan) #5

Cool thanks I’ll read his articles. I would like to know the science behind it.


(Dave) #6

Well I did the Anabolic diet for a bit which is a re-feed every week… Its not bad for putting on muscle but not as good as just staying in keto for weight loss… If you really want to have a day of carbs for a social occasion or something it won’t kill you


#7

I was not perpetually cold anymore. And was able to break through weight loss stalls.


(L. Amber O'Hearn) #8

I don’t find the premise convincing at all, because there is nothing to “restart”. The metabolism is just fine, as long as you’re eating enough.


(Jeff Ryan) #10

Okay yes I do want to put on muscle but wouldn’t that be just added water in your muscle?


(Larry Lustig) #11

No.

The medical term for someone with a stopped metabolism is “deceased”. “Restarting” your metabolism is a silly term. There are some extremely serious medical conditions that interfere with digestion, but not simply varying your diet over the course of the week.

Your friends may be:

  1. Eating a relatively low-carb diet and not going into nutritional ketosis. They might lose weight this way from some degree of caloric restriction.

  2. Eating free enough calories to get into short-term ketosis, then jumping out before they become fully fat-adapted.

  3. Doing #2, but passing through ketosis into a stage where they’re lowering their basal metabolism and cutting into weight loss, then loading their system with carbs to raise it again to restart the cycle.

In all cases eating carbs once a week sounds like it may avoid passing through the carb withdrawal / “keto flu” phrase which would make it easier to keep doing the cycle week after week. If the person is not metabolically compromised they might we’ll see considerable benefit because carbohydrates would wind up substantially limited.

In ketogenic reading the goal is not to reduce basal metabolism. The goal is to provide the body with continuous fuel (from fat, either body fat or plate fat, and not carbohydrates) to maintain a fully-up-regulated metabolism. Weight loss comes from a fully functional metabolism burning body fat and a functioning hormonal system declining to deposit additional fat.


(Mark) #12

Great post very good explanation, how often do you fast or do you?,I have been finding it very effective,and I know I’m getting the fat from my body,but that little voice of you are going to damage your metabolism if you don’t eat lingers in the back of my mind even after all the reading I’ve done and results I’ve achieved, just curious to hear other’s experiences are since we are all in the same boat,


#13

I embarked on fasting slowly…cautiously. Started with IF, extending fasting windows, and then EF, adding number of days fasting. My conclusion was no recognizable damage at all. It put that little voice to rest.