“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