Ketosis

Hi, can any one explain ketosis;
why & how it works?
I have bought some stick thingy's, carried out the 'procedure' waited for the colour change.........& waited & nothing, exactly the same shade as the ones in the cannister?:wave_cry:

Why did you buy those? Such a waste of money!

Dukan only gives us a very light ketosis anyway, and he doesn't even mention it..

You're only on day three of attack. You mightn't even be in ketosis yet. And, when you are, you know it without giving the diet industry any of your hard earned cash!

Ketosis is a metabolic state in which the body breaks down stored fat to produce energy, rather than relying on the quicker release of energy from carbohydrates.

In order to enter ketosis you first have to use up all the glycogen (roughly speaking "stored carbohydrate") in your muscle tissue. This happens in attack, and accounts for the rapid weight loss in the first few days (most of which is water, which is released as the glycogen is used up).

Cruise then keeps the body dipping in and out of a very light state of ketosis by providing just enough carbohydrate from vegetables/oatbran/milk to avoid the nastier side-effects of deep ketosis (bad breath, headache, smelly wee etc).

Therefore the sticks are only going to show a colour change in cruise, and only at certain times of the day, on pp days only.

I've never used one.

Thank you, you 2 'wise owls' for letting me know, it's that it keeps being mentioned through out this forum.

regarding ketosis, the sticks are not the most accurate thing going. ketosis is when the body is in a state of fat burning and as a result of the breakdown releases ketones into the body. These are excreted in urine. The more fluids you are drinking, the more dilute your urine and the less likely you are to see any colour change on the sticks. The most accurate urine of the day to test is the first one of the day before you start guzzling drinks down. ketosis usually kicks in around days 3-7 of very low carbohydrate diets and personally I would not bother with the sticks and rely on other means to know if you are in ketosis.
1. You stop feeling hungry
2. You feel quite energised
3. bad taste in mouth, bad breath smell
4. You feel the cold
I did a vlcd a number of years ago and we had to test our urine at each weigh in. One lady broke down in tears and said I am never in ketosis, so whats happening. The counsellor asked her how much weight she had lost; 8 stones replied the lady in 6 months..... moral of story is sticks are NOT accurate.
I hope that helps

Thankyou for your reply...........wise owl - frenchfancy. It has helped to put things in perspective.