Less than 20g Carb Total

(Luci) #1

Hi All,

Just wondering if you are eating less than 20g total carbs is that bad? Or it doesn’t matter if it’s less just bad if it’s over 20g carbs.

Thanks!

#2

Less is fine :slightly_smiling_face:

#3

More is fine for some people too. 20g is like the baseline standard starting point to get people initially into ketosis. Some people can manage with a lot less, some people can still produce ketones consuming more (e.g. 50g). It all comes down to the individual.

(Luci) #4

Awesome thanks, I didn’t want to affect any progress if I don’t get to 20g carbs in a day.

(Robert C) #5

The only examples I have heard (that I also believe) for needing more carbs than the trace amounts found in leafy greens are these two cases (both only apply to high performance athletes):

  1. You are starting out keto, becoming fat adapted but, still have to compete at a very high level in your sport. In this case you need to work without the effects of keto flu and at a higher level than your not fully completed fat-as-fuel adaptation allows.
  2. You are fat adapted but in a sport that needs a huge amount of energy in a relatively short amount of time (Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Crossfit etc. not marathons or long bike rides) where, it is a real advantage to be keto adapted, load up on glycogen just prior to the event and burn through all of that easily liberated energy (which gives you an advantage compared to both someone just on keto and someone not fat adapted - once they run through their glycogen, they’re done).
(Frank) #6

20 g net carbs is an upper limit that pretty much guarantees a state of ketosis and gets the fat burning machine started up after a long stint in the garage.

(Carl Keller) #7

Some might argue that the lower you go, the less nutrients you will get. However, there are some people that do great on the carnivore diet, including Dr Berry. Those folks eat virtually zero carbs.

From an ancestral point of view, especially for people living in nothern climates where carby things were just not available for large parts of the year, it would appear that they did just fine on little or no carbs.

(Frank) #8

I feel better across the board the less carbs I have relative to protein.