Comment by eigenspace | Hacker News Reader

Comment by eigenspace | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

I feel like this is a pretty sensationalist article. In particular, it seems to assume that people on keto aren't doing quantitative checks to see if they're in ketosis.

I know that back when I did keto, I was checking my urine ketone levels twice daily for weeks before I was able to 'feel' if I was in ketosis. Maintaining ketosis was difficult and I had to closely monitor my food but I honestly found it to not be that bad a diet once I got used to it. Your milage may vary.

I guess I should just acknowledge that the article isn't actually addressing me personally, but I can't help but feel there are many people out there doing keto who are actually measuring their ketones and know whether or not they're in ketosis.

That's also the standard advice you'll get from almost anyone who gives advice on doing keto.

It looks like a pretty typical keto/low carb hit job piece.

You get a couple quotes from nutritionists who are ignorant of the current science, add a couple turns-out facts, and you have a great click bait article.

ding ding ding.

There's a lot of industries set up to loose money the more people wake up to learning about modern nutritional science. Regardless of motive people in general love to hear that their bad habits are totally ok so they can rationalize it for themselves and continue their behavior.

I recently started a keto-style (high fat low carb) diet after reading a book on fasting [0]. I also picked up a ketone/glucose meter out of curiosity. Much as the book describes, fast for about 24-36+ hours and there's a good chance you'll be in ketosis.

After about 36 hours I've consistently measured 1.3-6 mmol/L. Between 48-60 hours I've measured around 4.4-4.6. As I understand it, anything above 0.5 is essentially ketosis. I agree with you in that, at least to me, there is a feeling of when you are in ketosis.

Ketosis is the generation of ketone bodies in the absence of glucose, ketoacidosis it the generation of ketone bodies despite the fact that the bloodstream is flush with glucose. Ketoacidosis is clearly a real concern, however as I understand it it's primarily an issue for type-1 diabetics.

This article feels awfully superficial, but I find the final statement, "maybe not being in ketosis isn’t so bad after all—now just cut back on the saturated fats", to be very reasonable.

[0] https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-Fasting-Intermittent-A...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com