Is there a way to raise my net carb limit?

#1

Hey guys,
What’s the most net carbs you’ve heard to still remain in ketosis. I read that most people will be ketosic at under 20-30g net carbs and some were able to achieve ketosis close to 100g net carbs ! Is this an innate genetic thing or is there a way there a way to raise my net carb limit ?

(Ron) #2

Each individual is different and will have a personal limit that also will vary depending on types of carbs. It is a trial and error thing that you will have to do yourself.

(Banting & Yudkin & Atkins & Eadeses & Cordain & Taubes & Volek & Naiman & Bikman ) #3

Lose weight, do more exercise, and experiment to find what works.

(Robert C) #4

I think the only real way to tell (since everyone is different so a single number will not work) is to use a blood ketone meter several times a day when consuming something 100 grams vs 50 grams vs 20 grams per day to see how your numbers change. As well, this might change over time as your body adapts to your diet (and diet fluctuations) so retesting periodically would be necessary to see if your formerly okay higher carb load is not okay anymore.

But, if you don’t want to spend a bunch of money for blood keytone strips to monitor you levels several times a day with varying carb load - it might be best to just assume under 20 is safe and go with it (it probably is for most of the population).

(Candy Lind) #5

The other answers pretty much cover it - are you fat-adapted? If you are very active or feel like you would do better with more carbs for some reason, you can choose to try increasing them say maybe to 25 for a week, then to 30 for a week, etc & see if you stay in ketosis. It’s all your “N=1”.

Just don’t tell us why you want to do it if it’s not a good reason! :smiling_imp:

(Roy D Rushing Jr ) #6

You start out at <20g carbs because that pretty much works for everyone, but everyone has an upper limit somewhere north of that. I guess it’s just about finding it. I’m not sure I would want to be perpetually on the cusp of getting kicked out of ketosis though.

(Erin Wilson) #7

I can stay in at 80-100grams, but I suspect I can only do this very occasionally–like once every couple of weeks. If I have a couple of carby days I noticed much lower ketones for the next 3 days, (0.5-1.0 for me) so ultimately it’s not worth it for me because it means a couple of sketchy food choices set me back for 3-5 days. I like my ketone numbers to be between 2 and 4.

(Joy) #8

In a recent interview, Jimmy Moore said that after his many years in ketosis, he now can tolerate a higher amount than he could previously. I think he said he’s good now at 35 grams a day.

I guess it depends on whether you’re getting the results you want, whether that would be ketone readings, other biomarkers, appetite suppression or weight.

(Tricia) #9

Why do you want to increase your carbs? Dont you feel better with what you’re doing?

(Ken) #10

You have to be more specific. Do you mean raise your carbs and still continue to lose fat, or do you mean raise you carbs and still prevent fat regain? The two are drastically different.

(Alex Yohn) #11

You may want to track total carbs not net carbs.

(Todd Allen) #12

The drug acarbose inhibits the enzyme alpha glucosidase which impairs the ability to break down starch and complex sugars into glucose. That ought to let you eat more carbs and stay in ketosis so long as you don’t mind diarrhea, flatulence and any related gut discomfort.

Otherwise fasting and exercise are probably the two most potent things for increasing carb tolerance. In the short term they deplete your glycogen in liver and muscles. This will push you deeper into ketosis and when you are glycogen depleted you can eat some carbs to replete glycogen with minimal impact on blood sugar and insulin. It will shift you back to a lower level of ketones but not shut down ketosis if you don’t eat more carbs than that needed to replete glycogen. In the long term losing body fat and increasing muscle mass should improve insulin sensitivity and let you dispose of carbs more readily at lower levels of insulin. Since insulin inhibits fat burning anything you do to keep it low should help.

#13

“Total carbs” ?!!
I thought consensus is that fiber wasn’t absorbed and didn’t trigger an insulin response !?

#14

I actually feel amazing…never felt better…the only reason I will ever refeed is because, well, I will eventually reach the bottom of my BMI range and I guess I have to stop…:slight_smile:
The reason I wish to raise my carb limit is that there are some really healthy but “very carby” ingredients such as nuts, garlic, green chilli peppers (400% vitamin C per 100g !), spices…kinda ironic to live the bland flavourless life of a diabetic without actually being one myself !

#15

I mean to raise my carb limit and still remain in ketosis.

(the cheater) #16

lol @ concensus in the keto community :smiley:

But yeah, as said before - probably just more exercise, honestly. The thing about the 20g/day is that it’s just an average number; a catch-all regardless of activity level. It may be lower, it may be higher. If you’re burning 4k calories per day racing bicycles, then you’re probably safe eating more than 20g carbs. Hell, it’s almost guaranteed since you’re gonna be eating a ton more, and likely will have incidental carbs.

I’m fine right around 20, but I’ve never felt the need to increase or decrease since sometimes I fast and about once a week I have a cheat day/meal/window.

(Ken) #17

I suggest you look at it differently. The issue is not ketosis, but lipolysis. Your goal should be sustained lipolysis, of which ketosis is only a part.

#18

The more active you are the faster you metabolize whatever nutrient you intake. That’s not to say, eat carbs without control or any nutrient for that matter obviously. Lifting weights in particular burns glucose for fuel when you’re not fat-adapted. Being fat-adapted and gradually increase your carb intake whilst lifting, carbs will be stored as muscle glycogen very fast.

You can experiment with lifting and gradually increasing your carb intake and measure your ketone levels to find your sweet spot. I believe it will be very easy to achieve since lifting and keto greatly increases your ability to efficiently utilize carbs. Speaking from my n=1 even tho I’m a small female with average muscle mass, when I tried UD2 (basically a cyclical keto diet) I would refeed on 400g of carbs once a week and get back to ketosis within the next couple of days max. That took a while to occur ofc and UD2 is a pretty extreme diet with different purposes, that is, goal is not ketosis or fat-adaptation but u do enter ketosis on zero carbs and glycogen depleting workouts.

Lastly I’m not suggesting u should go up to that amount of carb intake since that was a 1x/week thing. Just an example for you to see that 30, 50, even 100g of carbs can be ingested without compromising ketosis if you do it right. Experiment and find out what works for you

(Candy Lind) #19

I limit myself to 20 net carbs and eat all this in moderation on a regular basis. What’s preventing you from doing it? Where are your carbs coming from if not this? Do a search in the “What did you keto today?” thread for @rustyk61 and look at how many jalapeno and serrano peppers that man is packing away!

(E.O.) #20

Heard Mark Sisson speak on this yesterday at the Keto Summit. His book goes into depth on this, but this is the summary. He was eating Paleo, no grains or dairy, for about 100 to 120 net carbs per day and doing very well. Then he tried Keto to see if he could do better. Immediately, his health improved in the 20-50 net carb range. He discovered doing 30 days of 100% keto made him fat-adapted. He still eats keto most days. However, he likes other veggies such as peas–which are too “carby” to be keto. He experimented around–like recommended in this thread by the other folks here–and discovered that 30 days developed fat adapted status and that it continues (for him) well beyond the 30 days…but everyone is different and he was recommending people find out what works best for their own body.