When we talk about keto - do we mean the same thing?


#1

So now I have learned that there is the actual keto program which is 70% fat, 25% proteins and only 5% carbs,
And then there is a modified keto which allows for more protein/carbs and goes something like this: 60% fats, 30%proteins and 10% carbs.

5% carbs is only about 10g
10% carbs is 20g

I was doing the 20g carb version, thinking this IS keto and didn’t know there was another form.
SO my question is- how many of you are speaking of the first version when you talk “keto” - and how many of you are doing the second version with more carbs and more protein?


(Gregory - You can teach an old dog new tricks.) #2

Any ’ Keto ’ program is what the author decided to put together. Hopefully, the program will actually result in ketosis…

Metabolic ketosis happens when one limits their carb intake to the point that the body uses fat for energy which results in ketones being produced.

Ketosis


#3

My Keto program is a list of low carb veggies I can eat. Period. I don’t measure, I don’t count beyond those veggies. I don’t do well under any regiments. My Keto works great for me. I may eat too much of whatever one day, and not enough the next, but I don’t care. If it feels right and tastes right and I lose weight as planned, what’s not to love. Usually I stick around 20 carbs. Some days more, some days less.

My way of looking at Keto is that it is a guide, not a rule book.


('Jackie P') #4

I measure carbs in grams. Percentages gets a bit complicated. Stay under 20g and you will be fine!


(charlie3) #5

The carb limit is a starting point. The goal is to be fat adapted and making ketones most of the time. My tracking says I’m eating 40 grams net carbs, twice the common recommendation but I burn 2,800-3,000 calories daily so around 5% carbs. To amp things up I do 2 hours a day of low heart rate training, walking or air bike. Those sesssion burn around 1100 calories at a low enough intensity to ensure that it’s fat, not sugar, being burned. So 160 calories of sugar from the diet plus what ever my liver is making.


#6

If I am below my personal ketosis carb limit, it’s keto. Ketosis matters, not numbers. But if we use numbers, it’s usually below 20g net carbs. Not everywhere, I saw 30g and 50g many times.

I had a day with 40-42% fat once but it was usually 65-70% for very long. Now it’s often around 75%, I am at 78% now, after lunch. I don’t care about percentages, they don’t matter, grams and food choices do. As long as I eat little carbs, it’s keto. Technically, even a water fast is keto… It puts me into ketosis or keeps me there.

My carbs went up to 8% back then (40g net carbs but I could afford it. I never could afford 10%. low-calorie with carbs, I can’t do that), now I prefer 1-2% most of the time.

PKD folks do 0% carbs, 80+ % keto… That is totally keto as well.


(Scott) #7

I was shooting for 50g carbs to have room for veggies and wine. Now I am zero carb (carnivore) except for wine. One thing I noticed right away is that I could taste ketosis again. My take on that is I was eating more veggie carbs than I thought.


(Allie) #8

I just do my own thing and what works for me without worrying about the label someone else chooses to give it.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #9

In my opinion, technical and what works for me are not necessarily the same. But for the sake of consistency and having something common to discuss and compare, using technical to define and what works for me to modify makes sense. Technically, ‘keto’ means eating in such a manner that you are in ketosis all or almost all the time and producing ketones consistently above a baseline amount. How you do it, is up to you to figure out, but following accepted guidelines will generally get you there.


#10

Percentages and ratios are next to worthless unless you’re doing some type of therapeutic keto (e.g. treating epilepsy).

  • There are no essential carbs, so that percentage could be zero. The carb intake just needs to be low enough for one to stay in ketosis. The rule of thumb of keto is 20 net grams of carbs, just because that’s low enough to guarantee ketosis except in very rare situations.
  • The need for proteins should be based on lean body mass, NOT a percentage of caloric intake. If one is consistently low on your proteins, the body will get it from where it can, which could mean breaking down muscle tissue.
  • The need for fats can partially be satisfied with stored body fat, which a percentage of a caloric intake can’t account for. Ideally, hunger should be the guide.

When determining macros from some type of calculator, the proteins macro is a lower limit, while the carbs and fats macros are upper limits.


#11

Good grief people! Are you all on a corona virus scare? Did the stock market leave you reeling today? ( It will get better.) I dont need any explanations about ketosis anymore. I wanted to compare what people are doing. If they got weight loss faster doing 5% carbs or 10%. Stuff like this. And nobody is trying to FORCE anybody to do anything in a particular way.
I get it that you are all doing it “My Way” like Sinatra sang.
But I never even heard of a 5% keto diet. Now I find out I am doing a “modified keto” version. Actually, all the cookbooks I read proposed the modified version and never said "“oh well we also have another way of doing it with more fat and even less carbs.” So I just wanted to know if others were doing the same as I am or differently. Thats all. No need for grand explanations or excursions into the science of it all. We have already been through all that.


(Pete A) #12

To me the word “keto” means low carb, with a goal of ketosis. People define it in many ways, too many, lots to do with selling you on a “plan”, or products.

Do what works for you.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #13

First. My current macros include 15 grams of carbs per day. That’s a max and I usually don’t eat that amount, more like 10 grams more or less. I don’t use percentages to determine macros, but currently at 15 grams per day, the carbs work out to about 4% by weight and 2.2% by calories. Less, if I eat less of them. That’s why I don’t use percentages.


(Full Metal KETO AF) #14

This isn’t necessarily accurate at all. That’s why most of us simply limit carbs to twenty grams and eat protein and fat to satiety. After a year I quit tracking everything because I had learned how to eat. I never used the percentages system because it’s flawed. The amount in grams and percentage isn’t what you wrote except for a particular caloric amount. You could eat 100g of carbohydrates with enough fat and protein to make that 5% theoretically. That’s a lot of food but it’s just to make a point. At 5% carbs you wouldn’t be in ketosis in that situation. Count grams and forget the percentage systems. As has been said the thing that makes a diet keto is just whether it allows you to be in ketosis. You might be fine at 20, 30 or even 50 grams of carbs. It totally depends on your personal metabolic health and level of insulin resistance. That’s why it’s always stressed to find what works for you rather than following a formula. If it’s to be a sustainable lifestyle you have to find your own ground. :cowboy_hat_face:


#15

@David_Stilley
Thank you but this is not what I want to know. Because I know this already. It isn’t about ME. I want to know if others have heard of these 2 versions of keto and what they practise.
This is really an awful lot of repetition. Its not what I am asking!


#16

@Pete_A
Aha - so it is about selling something! Their version.


#17

I am just getting started and found LOTS of different variations on ketogenic diets with various prefixes to call them out. Standard, Targeted, Cyclical, High Protein… Then there are more layman call outs: Lazy/Strict, Clean/Dirty. It’s a little boggling, frankly.

I really just want one to be called Basic and give very clear, easy to follow guidelines. I don’t want to track and weigh every morsel I eat, so I am going with the 20g net carbs and that’s all I will count. Still unsure if I want to count my sugar alcohols or not. Probably not to begin and then later try and eliminate them.


#18

I think there were pretty useful answers but fine, I try to answer your questions.

Yes, I heard about these - and couldn’t do much with them as percentages aren’t informative, grams are and it’s individual anyway.
I’ve heard about zillion other versions as well.
I prefer 2% carbs and 60-80% fat. I probably will slowly lose fat this way but I plan to bulk with these numbers later. It’s about food choices and other things, losing isn’t fully automatic.

No way I would lose any with 5-10% carbs on keto but I don’t even understand it, 5% doesn’t sound bad but 10% carbs is too much carbs or too low-calorie (starving) for most people. Even if they can handle way more than 20g carbs, it’s not the recommended way and there’s a big chance they need more energy so their carb percentage will be smaller.


(Full Metal KETO AF) #19

Maybe you’re question isn’t answerable in the way you ask because the majority of us don’t even use a percentage system. I did answer you, I keep a 20 gram limit mostly, which generally puts me in the 5% category. But I can go higher I believe, probably 10% and still remain in ketosis. Bring that I’ve been at it a while I have more flexibility. Others especially starting out may not. But the easiest most accurate way to make sure is just using grams.


#20

@David_Stilley
10% carbs are 20g for me. If I used the 5% version i would only be eating 10g. Honestly don’t think I could manage that, even if I only ate veg and no dairy.