The fundamental ideas of a diet are to burn fat from your body and store it as energy. This principle is adopted by Atkins diet wherein ketosis performs the above function. However, people on low carbohydrate diets do not understand the functions of ketosis and how it operates.
Diets are basically on calorie-reduction which helps in losing weight. Weight reduction can be from fat and also from lean muscle tissue. But this results in losing muscle and leads to a slower metabolism although you may appear to weigh less on a scale. So the effect is weight gaining is simpler and quicker than losing weight which becomes more difficult.
The Atkins diet restricts carbohydrates with the function of ketosis. Ketosis not only helps in burning fat but protects you from losing muscle. Fat is converted into energy, your primary source in the form of ketones. This operation is done by liver which converts fat into ketones. Logically, ketones are not converted back into fat and excreted in the natural way.
To know more about ketones and their primary function, first let us understand what is ketones. Ketones are actually a normal source of energy for the human body. These ketones are formed in the liver due to breakdown of body fat from the fatty acids. When both glucose and sugar are absent in the body then ketones appear. So, Atkins diet helps you in reducing both glucose and sugar which is in the bloodstream. This results in your body producing ketones and the process of creating ketones in your body is called ketosis.
Unfortunately, there is a misconceived belief that following Atkins diet is dangerous to health which is not true. On the other hand ketosis is a completely natural state and ketones are produced as a fuel by the human body as a substitute when there is no glucose.
Dr. Atkins, in his diet book gives valuable testing strips to determine the state of ketosis in your body while dieting.
The procedure is as follows:
a) small plastic strips which contain a special chemically treated absorptive pad are held in the urine stream
b) change in the pad color indicates the precense of ketones in the urine
c) the strip will change color from pink to purple, if ketones are present
The ketone levels are determined by a color scale that is available on the label of the bottle.
Now let us discuss about the availability of ketone strips. They can be found in the diabetic supplies of any pharmacy. At times these strips are stored behind the counter in a few shops and you may have to ask for it. You can buy them without a prescription. The shelf life of ketosis strips is 6 months and whenever you open the packet, it is desirable to have the opening date on the box for avoiding any use of expiry strips.
Ketone strips guides correctly on the progress you have made by following Atkins diet. Sometimes, you may not see purple in spite of following the induction plan to the letter. But there is no need to worry because for a few individuals the ketone count does not reveal or shows only a moderate count . Sometimes, doing exercises few hours before using the strips may also result in not seeing the purple. As long as you are losing your weight and inches is an indicator of your successfully using ketones.
A common belief in some dieters is that a dark purple color on the testing strip indicates a faster way of losing weight. On the other hand it is a signal or warning for dehydration and such persons should drink more water to avoid dehydration. The color change is due to urine concentration.
Ketone strips are meant as a guide for your use as they come from fat in the bloodstream. The fat can be from what you eat or what you burn from your body. So, testing strips should not be used immediately after you eat a heavy meal as it may result in a dark purple color. Use the strips when necessary and dont be overworked on the color.
Atkins diet is successful when you reach the state of ketosis and is simple in eliminating carbohydrates from the diet. Use the ketone strips when required and be sure to follow correctly your eating plan.