Originally Posted by
RH Clark
There is a real thing sometimes referred to as the keto flu. It's a period of time, usually between 2-6 days of feeling very low energy when first going very low carb. When ketosis levels reach a certain point, it goes away, and you have just as much energy as ever. There is also a mitochondria adaptation that will happen after about 3 months in a very low carb state where the mitochondria change from optimized carb burning to optimized ketone burning. At least that's what my previous research into this has led me to believe.
I'm glad you mentioned "mitochondria." These organelles are the powerhouses of the cells. And they are the things that use either fat or carbs for fuel. And when they are healthy they freely switch back and forth between both fuels to make power. But when a person consumes too many carbs on a daily basis they forget how to switch to burning fat as a fuel. And when the source of carbs runs out, the person feels like they are starving. In fact, they are since the mitochondria cannot switch to stored body fat as a fuel. Why is this? Too much insulin in the blood stream. It takes the body as few days to get the insulin out of the system so the body can then start burning stored body fat. Also, during this time, the body has to remember how to create ketones. The time it takes for these two things to happen is the keto flu period.
The mitochondria "adaptation" is not really an adaptation. It's a cleansing period through the process of mitophagy whereby dysfunctional mitochondria are discarded and new mitochondria are grown. It does not have to take 3 months to occur. And if full health is to occur through Zone 2 rides like I did in 2022, then it might take 6 or 7 months to fully take place.