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Keto or Fat-Adapted?
Health | February 20, 2018
“Get fat adapted and melt away the pounds!”
“Become a fat-burning machine with Ketosis!”
Have you ever wondered what the difference was between being in ketosis (keto) and becoming fat-adapted? It turns out that the two are not exactly the same. You’ve probably seen them getting mixed up or used interchangeably. Let’s clear the confusion and get down to the differences of keto and fat-adaptation.
Ketosis
Simply put, ketosis is a state when your body starts to produce a certain amount of ketones.
Ketones, or, ketone bodies, are produced in the liver (i.e., hepatically) as a result of eating fat. However, our body is always breaking down fat from food, but in the vast majority of diets, there isn’t enough ketones being produced to promote ketosis.
When you reach ketosis, your body thinks there is hardly any glucose (sugar) available to use as fuel, so it switches over to producing ketones for energy.
Ketosis can be achieved in a few ways. You can go a long time without eating (fasting), starve, reduce the number of calories you eat, eliminate carbs altogether or eat a very low-carb, high fat diet. The goal here is to boost your production of ketones by lowering glucose.
That’s why a ketogenic diet is often the simplest way to do so. Many people aren’t ready to intermittent fast, and of course starvation is not a sustainable, or even safe, approach. When you’re eating a ketogenic diet, your carb requirements hit an all time low to the point that your body loses enough glucose your body to produce more ketones as an energy source.
Dr. Stephen Phinney, co-author of the Art and Science of Low Carb Living, states that when ketone production gets between 0.5-5 mmol/dl, then the body has reached ketosis.
With ketosis, you’re producing ketones for energy. It happens a lot sooner than you think, and can be sped up through practices like intermittent fasting, high intensity exercise, and lowered carb intake in order to get rid of glucose in the body.
Achieving keto-adaptation requires you to stay in ketosis to the point when the body is no longer using glucose (sugar) for energy, relying solely on fat and ketones.
On the other hand, fat adaptation is when you’re burning mostly fat (instead of mostly sugar) for energy.
Both of these adaptations take longer to attain- about 6 weeks or more. For some people, it might be even longer. Either way, this does not happen overnight given the fact that it requires time and patience. You’re essentially switching fuel sources and re-wiring your metabolism.
Keto Adapted
When you enter and maintain ketosis for a prolonged period of time, you’ve become keto adapted. People also refer to this as being ketogenic, keto, or staying in nutritional ketosis; although it can be confusing, they’re simply referring to the fact that their body is constantly producing ketones. When you become keto-adapted, your body is no longer dependent upon glucose (sugar) for energy. Instead, it’s running completely on fat and ketones.
Fat Adapted
Although our body is always using some combination of glucose and fat for energy, one is always the more dominant. In diets that are high in carbs, this ends up being sugar. Fat-adaptation is when your body’s main source of fuel switches from glucose (sugar) to fat. And this happens when you re-wire your metabolism to rely mostly upon fat. Glucose doesn’t necessarily go away, but it’s no longer the go-to energy source, either. Some people use the term “metabolic flexibility” for fat adaptation, since the body is capable of using either one of these for fuel. An example of this diet would be my Z-Shred Super Food Meal Plan.
Differences
Here’s how to make sense of all of this.
Hopefully this helps to clear any of the confusion between Ketosis (specifically, being keto-adapted) and Fat-Adaptation. It’s easy to get lost in figuring out which is, so don’t worry about mixing the two up! You now have a guide towards understanding them.
Sources:
https://ketosummit.com/optimal-ketone-levels-for-ketogenic-diet
https://bpisports.com/blog/difference-between-fat-adapted-keto-adapted-and-in-ketosis/
http://www.vespapower.com/ofm/fat-adapted-metabolic-state/
https://thenoakesfoundation.org/nutrition-network/ketosis-fat-adapted-whats-difference
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-fat-adapted/
http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2016/01/dont-be-a-ketard1.html
http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2017/09/measuring-ketones.html
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka. My concern is losing muscle when limiting carbs. I already fairly thin and am a hard gainer so have to fight for every ounce of muscle. I’m currently trying a carb cycle of high carb/low fat, then low carb/high fat every other day. Gained a few Christmas pounds that I’m trying to shed. What are your thoughts for hard gainers? I train 5-6 days a week. Thank you!
Private Member |
I started gaining crazy muscle when we switched to Low Carb High Fat in my home..
Private Member |
mza, argentina
For several years I have eaten a kind of low carb diet but I just cant get rid of fruits and vegetables. Is that a keto? I dont eat any flour and no sugar at all, I cant stand anything sweet at all, fruits are the only thing sweet I eat. I am very thin and try to eat proteins enough to build some muscle but is too difficult.
Private Member |
ellijay, ga, united states
I’m with you! I’m trying to figure out timing to do this short-term…but I love fruit so much! And our local orchards are going to have fresh strawberries before you know it! I can’t miss out on freshly-picked berries! Noooooooooooooooooo!!
Private Member |
mza, argentina
😉
Private Member |
ellijay, ga, united states
Oh wow, interesting! All this is new to me, so I didn’t even know about keto vs. fat adapted. I’m so intrigued with the keto diet, especially with all the articles you’ve put up. And I like the idea of using it as a temporary diet to jump start into getting into a fat-adapted state, then switch back to low carb. But nooooooo, the thought of missing out on fruit! 😩 6-8 weeks would be pushing it for when the good stuff (strawberries! Droooool!) come to the local orchards! (Though, maybe if I get started SOON, I could be back to earn-my-carbs by strawberry season! 😜 )
OH, and interesting with intermittent fasting speeding up getting into ketosis! I do intermittent fasting on occasion: my husband never eats supper (it’s worked for him for weight management for years)…so if I’m only KIND of hungry (or not hungry at all), I skip as well (what’s the point of spending the extra time cooking/eating?) I’m curious as to how that works with speeding it up? (For instance: when starting the diet, do an intermittent fast at the beginning to get into INITIAL ketosis quicker? Or intermittent fasts more often?) Sorry for all the questions! 😜I’m intrigued! (And am loving all these articles on the topic!! Thank you for all the wonderful information!! ☺️ )
Private Member |
are there any health benefits apart from losing more fat with this diet?
Private Member |
germany
…
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
You can’t just try keto for 2 weeks 🙂 that’s not even enough time to get into nutritional ketosis and become adapted. Also I see a lot of misconceptions in your comment, but I’ll explain all that in the upcoming articles.
Private Member |
seattle, washington
So Zuzka are you planning a Keto Meal Plan?
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka, I’m in the middle of reading “Make Peace with Fat” by Mihaela Telecan. Really interesting information. Just thought to share since I can tell you like to read, and this book is really informative on the logic/science behind benefits of a high fat, low carb diet. 🙂
Private Member |
switzerland/, france
I did learn a lot by reading Dr.Eric Berg/and his YT channel, Dr. Steven Gundry (the plant paradox) and Chalene Johnson’s podcast (where she interviewed specialists ) and her DietBetaTest program from last summer. It is now launched as one3one, and it is a lot about education and understanding the nutrition and how our body works. I am lucky to be an M.Sc and most of these are repeated info from college, but “practical” aspects.
Private Member |
ga, united states
I have been eating very low carb since the beginning of the year. I only eat carbs after my workout when i earn them. Do you think my body would convert to ketosis faster than 6 to 8 weeks?
Private Member |
Hi Zym members & Zuzka,
Does anyone ever make keto smoothies? I like the convenience of smoothies and was thinking of trying “keto friendly” ones next week for a meal or two. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance for the continued support 🙂 !
All the best,
Katie
Private Member |
florida, usa
It probably won’t be a very sweet smoothie, but I bet some frozen cauliflower (yep!), lots of greens and/or other veggies like beet/carrots, avocado, nut butter, hemp seeds, berries, and a bit of lemon and/or ginger would be really good and filling. You could do a chocolatey one as well with cacao powder and take out the ginger/lemon. I really like beets and chocolate together in my smoothies! I’m not sure how keto-friendly beets are, however – this is all a little new for me.
That’s what I imagine would be appropriate and yummy for a keto smoothie, but I’m sure others have great recommendations 🙂
Private Member |
well I am all into carbs. My middle name is carbs. I eat pasta every day for lunch, love pastry and bread. I also love cakes and cookies. I know it is not healthy, and I know sugar is bad. But I just love it , and I feel happy when I can eat delicious food. I stay very active every single day, doing Zgym workouts for years, plenty time outside with my dog and my weight is the same for twenty years now. I love to read and to educate myself about different diet approaches and I heard only good things about keto diet. Maybe someday something will switch in my head and I will try to cut on carbs, but for now I am happy as it is. But Thank you Zuzka for the article and I am looking forward to read more about keto.
Private Member |
does anyone know where to find the video to Zuzkas Instagram post “What I eat in a day on Keto diet”?
On instagram it says its in her bio but I’m not finding that.
Private Member |
los angeles, ca, usa
I think that was part of her weekly coffee talk video on Feb 5. Here’s the link 😉 -> https://zuzkalight.com/workout-schedules/weekly-zgym-workout-schedule-the-week-of-february-4th/
Private Member |
Wonderful! Thanks so much!!!