Ketosis is a natural state for the body, when it is almost completely fueled by fat. This is normal during fasting, or when on a strict low-carb diet.

Ketosis has many potential benefits – related to rapid weight loss, health or performance – but there are also side effects. In type 1 diabetes and certain other rare situations excessive ketosis can even become dangerous.

There are many benefits of ketosis. By giving your body and brain an almost unlimited supply of energy, you can increase your mental and physical endurance. It also reduces hunger, facilitating effortless weight loss. Furthermore, as getting into ketosis requires eating very few carbs, it can effectively reverse type 2 diabetes.

One way to enter the state of ketosis is to eat a ketogenic diet. Another is to do a period of fasting. Under these circumstances, as soon as the body’s limited reserves of glucose starts to run out, your entire body switches its fuel supply to run almost completely on fat. The levels of the fat-storing hormone insulin levels become very low, and fat burning increases dramatically. You thus get easy access your fat stores, and can burn them off. This is great for losing excess weight. Studies prove that keto diets result in more weight loss, faster.

Side effects

When starting a low-carb ketogenic diet and reaching ketosis it’s common to get some side effects during the first week. Possibilities include headache, lethargy, irritability, leg cramps, constipation and heart palpitations.