Hello you clever peoples….I need to pick your brains. I have just finished a 24 hour fast and have no signs of Ketosis…the sticks you pee on also said I was normal. So my question is this….am I getting confused about when you achieve ketosis? Surely after 24 hours it should be there?

All advice appreciated. Thanks.

Nonna Mary
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As I understand it, it can take up to 3 days water fast to enter full ketosis, depending upon how much non-fat energy stores you have, as your body will burn these first – not that I am an expert, but I do practice water only fasts periodically and, by doing so I have maintained for 5 months. My longest water fast was 49.5 hours as an experiment (interested in autophagy as opposed to weight loss) but normally 36 hours ( 16 of which are spent in bed!!)

Thank you Theodora. Can you tell me the difference between ketosis and autophagy…I have tried to read up on this but they both seem to be the same. Or it’s me being thick (probably the latter).

I think you are amazing to be able to fast for so long. I find 24 hours enough for me. Thanks again.

Nonna Mary

Hi Mary – thanks for the compliments, but I’m afraid that there is nothing particularly amazing about me😅 I just want to live a long and healthy life, and any way that enables me to do that has to be worth exploring.

To answer your question, and very much in layman’s terms, I understand ketosis to be the burning of fat, rather than glucose. Carbs are converted into glucose and as glucose is easy for your body to use, it will burn this supply of energy first. When it is deprived of carbs, the body is forced to source energy from elsewhere and starts to burn fat, which it converts into ketone bodies which are then used as a source of energy.

The word autophagy, on the other hand, is derived from the Greek, meaning to eat oneself. This sounds rather unhealthy, but in fact is quite the opposite, as it is the body’s way of getting rid of old, worn out or broken down cells and encouraging the growth of healthy new ones. For a fuller, but simple, explanation of autophagy and it’s benefits, visit The Diet Doctor’s website………https://www.dietdoctor.com/renew-body-fasting-autophagy

I hope this helps?

Deleted – sorry, for some reason my post went through twice.😨

Theodora thank you. You make it very clear. A while after I posted I realised what the difference was! I am such a numpty! However, your answers helped anyway.

Please don’t be so modest, you and others on this site give the likes of me hope for the future. You have lost, maintained and helped others by sharing your stories and knowledge. Thank you, you are great!

Lots of love
Nonna Mary
xxx

Hi Nonna Mary! I read (way back last year lol) that keto sticks are notoriously unreliable and don’t always measure ketosis correctly — or at all.
My experiences when I tried them were less than stellar — they NEVER indicated ketosis, even when I was as low as 20 gram carbohydrate per day.
The good news is, they don’t matter anyway. Save your money — when you are at very low carbohydrate you are most likely in ketosis so you can trust it is happening.
Actually, our metabolism is very active all the time, with fat moving in and out of the tissues all day long. It isn’t like a black and white switch, where you are burning carbs and burning carbs and suddenly you switch over to fat burning. It is dynamic back and forth all the time — the goal being to increase the time you are fat burning and decrease the time your insulin is driving the show.
Interesting fasting research (on a 24 hour fast) shows that peak benefit is around 18-24 hours — that’s when you are mostly burning fat. Of course, it continues to get better if you continue past 24 hours but you get a lot of benefit from just those 18-24 hours.
But, you don’t have to fast to get the benefits of lowered insulin — just keep your carbs very low, as low as 20 grams per day — some folk can go higher and I recommend playing around with the numbers for a few weeks and watch your body’s response to different carb levels — I am a “high background insulin” person so sadly, even now in maintenance, I have to stay lower than about 40 grams/day to keep weight off and preferably around 20 grams/day.
Anyway, ketosis sticks — probably mostly just a novelty, in my opinion! And by the way, lots of people have posted the same thing you did, that their keto sticks didn’t measure anything.

Thanks, Californiagirl – I completely agree with your post. This
has been my experience, also!
Best wishes,
Allie

Thank you Californiagirl, my research today has upheld everything you have said. I have been using only 20g or less of carbs for a week now (apart from obvious times when alcohol or birthday celebrations got in the way). I have also been doing 24 hour fasts so I thought I would definately be in ketosis. However, I don’t have smelly breath, or a funny taste…and my pee is a clear as the water I am drinking, so I was curious to see if I was, as other people reported these symptoms. The pack I bought didn’t cost very much so I am not a lot out of pocket. I saw research today by Jason Fung that made a lot of sense, and researched the background research too. He agrees with your comments as well.

You along with Ensecca, Theodora and Sunshine Girl (apologies if I have forgotten anyone) are the stalwarts of this forum and we all learn so much from you. Thank you for helping me.

Nonna Mary
xxxx