The Ketogenic Dialogue The_Ketogenic_Dialogue | Page 11

Fat-adapted
You may hear the term “fat-adapted” when you’re learning about this diet. This simply means that your
body effectively burns stored fat for energy throughout the day. It can take anywhere from three days to
two weeks to become fat-adapted. You are likely fat-adapted when you stop craving carbs and you can
go long periods of time without getting ravenously hungry.
Fat-free
Do not confuse fat-free with calorie-free. Foods labeled “fat-free” are often full of solutions like bad salt,
high fructose corn syrup, modified food starches, and other unhealthy ingredients and are higher in carbs.
Stick to real food with natural fats and good salt such as Himalayan pink salt. Fat-free foods can actually
cause weight gain!
The Carbohydrate Break-Down
It’s fairly simple to understand fat and protein grams. Carbs, however, are a bit trickier since
there are different types.
The amount of carbs a person can consume and remain in ketosis varies from person to person.
It can be anywhere from 20 to 100 grams per day; however, most people who have reached
ketosis consume about 20-50 grams per day or less.
If you look on the nutrition label of a food, you will notice that Carbs are broken down into sub-
categories: Fiber, Sugar, and possibly Sugar Alcohol. These are the most common ones that are
required by the FDA to be printed on the label. Carbohydrates are a broad range of sugar,
starches, and fibers.
Water and fiber have no calories so we do not count the grams of fiber on the nutrition label
which is a sub-category under the Carbohydrates. To calculate the carbs that count (net carbs),
subtract the grams of fiber from the total number of carbohydrate grams. That will give you
your net carbs. Your fiber intake is not limited, however, your carb intake is.
11