If you’re wondering about how to get into ketosis fast – you’ve come to the right place. It doesn’t matter whether you are just starting your keto journey or had a few slips – tips that you’ll find here will get you on track.
In this article I will answer some essential questions about keto and ketosis including ‘How long does it take to get into ketosis?’ and ‘How to get into ketosis in 24 hours?’
Here you will also find some useful and scientifically proven tips that will help you reach ketosis fast.
What Is Ketosis?
In short, ketosis is a metabolic process. This process starts when your body doesn’t have enough glucose to provide itself with energy. Your body starts burning accumulated fat instead of carbohydrates. That process is called ketosis and the molecules that participate in the fat burning process are ketones.
You can reach ketosis voluntarily and involuntarily. To put it in other words, people who follow a low carb or ketogenic diet aim to reach ketosis and to reach it fast. Being in the state of ketosis means burning fat and losing weight 24/7, even without exercising.
People who have diabetes sometimes also reach ketosis. However, this mostly happens due to having too little insulin or using it incorrectly. So, they enter ketosis not on purpose. Overall, any persona can reach this state simply by doing a day of fasting.
How to Achieve Ketosis?
Ketosis can be achieved by lowering the levels of your blood glucose. To put it in other works, you need to reduce your carbohydrate intake. The fastest way to get into ketosis is by eliminating two main groups of products that are high in carbohydrates:
- Sugar – such foods as sweets, sugary drinks, fruit and dairy
- Starchy foods – everything from bread to pasta and pizza
Reducing these food groups are the first steps and essential steps to reaching ketosis. If you’re wondering how to get into ketosis fast – then you need to reduce your carbohydrate intake to a minimum. That is done by following keto or a low carb diet. In general, the more you reduce your carbohydrate intake, the faster you can expect to reach ketosis.
How to Know if You’re in Ketosis?
You could know that your body reaches the state of ketosis if it starts showing specific signs and symptoms. Some symptoms of ketosis are positive. However, it has some negative signs as well, so can be quite unpleasant. You can assume that your body has reached ketosis if it shows some of the following signs:
Positive Symptoms
- Weight loss. Probably the most wanted symptom of keto. When you go on a ketogenic diet, you are most likely to experience fast weight loss, even on the first week. Until your body reaches ketosis, you will lose water weight and then switch to pure fat burning for energy. Most people experience short-term as well as long term weigh loss effects (1).
- Suppressed appetite. Naturally, one of the reasons why you start losing weight is because you start eating less. When you’re in ketosis that happens naturally. There are several theories explaining the appetite suppression. Some claim that it happens due to increased consumption of protein and vegetables. Other studies say that the ketones themselves have the power to reduce appetite (2).
- Increased focus. Even though most people suffer from keto flu during the first weeks of the diet, in a few weeks people claim that it becomes easier for them to focus. That is because your body started to burn ketones as brain fuel instead of carbohydrates. Ketones are very powerful source to power your brain with. Ketones are also tested to help cure illnesses such as concussions and memory loss (3).
- Increased energy levels. Similar to increased cognitive capacities, people also experience higher energy levels. They no longer feeling sluggish after eating and feel more energized throughout the day.
- Lower blood sugar. Once you stop consuming foods that are rich in carbohydrates, your blood sugar levels will become lower. Having lower / normal blood sugar is a great prevention against cardiovascular diseases.
Negative Signs
- Bad breath. This is a very common symptom of ketosis. It happens when your body reaches full ketosis and produces a lot of ketones. The cause of the bad breath is acetone. Acetone is the smallest ketone that leaves your body through urine and breath. The easiest way to fix your breath is sugar-free gum or cleaning your teeth more frequently.
- Short-term fatigue. As your glucose levels drop – your energy levels may drop as well. However, this symptom of ketosis is temporary and will pass once you reach ketosis. After that most people claim to feel positive affects on their physical and mental performance.
- Insomnia. Some people claim to suffer from insomnia when they first start keto. That happens most likely due to sudden and extreme changes to your diet. Such changes cause your body stress. The stress caused leads to sleepless nights. This keto side effect is temporary and usually passes within a couple of weeks.
- Digestive issues. At the very beginning of keto, many people suffer from digestive issues. What is interesting, is that some suffer from constipation, while others get keto diarrhea. This side effect is also temporary. However, to make sure that it doesn’t last long, you need to supplement your diet and eat diverse foods. This way you’ll have a balanced and nutritious diet.
So, if you’re wondering how to get into ketosis fast – reduce your carbohydrate intake to minimum and search for the signs and symptoms listed above in your body .
NOTE: you may not experience the whole list of ketosis symptoms. However, experiencing only several, most common of them can already mean that your body is in ketosis.
How Long Does it Take to Get Into Ketosis?
The time needed to reach ketosis varies from person to person. Usually it takes from 2 to 4 days if you limit your carbohydrate intake to 20 – 50g. However, some people sometimes require up to a week or two to enter ketosis. So if you’re thinking about how to get into ketosis fast, the best way is to drastically reduce your carbohydrates intake (3).
Fastest Way to Get Into Ketosis if You Struggle
If you struggle to get into ketosis while consuming only 20-50g of carbohydrates per day, there are actually ways that could speed it up. You can try reducing the carbs to a maximum of 20g per day- follow. Or, to put it in other words – follow strict keto.
Strict keto is the type of ketogenic diet when you eat only up to 20g of carbohydrates per day. When you consume 20-50g of carbohydrates, you’re following the moderate keto version. Following the moderate keto is recommended for beginners. Keep in mind that going straight to strict keto can cause your body a lot of unnecessary stress. Especially if you’re used to a lot of carbs on a daily basis.
So, your fastest way to get into ketosis, if you’re struggling to reach it, is lowering the carbohydrate intake even more or trying intermittent fasting.
How to Get Into Ketosis in 24 Hours?
Getting into ketosis in 24 hours is possible. However, it may come with very tiring side effects, such as keto flu and headaches.
If you need to know how to get into ketosis in 24 hours, then the secret is intermittent fasting. Taking a break from food and only drinking water for 24 hours should be enough for most people to reach ketosis. So, if you’re wondering about your fastest way to get into ketosis – intermittent fasting should do the trick.
How to Get Into Ketosis Fast? Useful Tips
If you are struggling to reach ketosis or simply want to reach ketosis faster without taking any drastic measures, here are some useful tips that helped many people:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake. If you want to reach ketosis faster, you shouldn’t consume more than 20 to 50g of carbohydrates per day. The lower, of course, the better, especially if you’re struggling.
- Avoid drinking and eating out. Avoiding to drink and eat out is always recommended especially at the very beginning of keto as there are many temptations out there. It’s not only difficult to resist but also at first it’s quite difficult to track your macros.
- Track what you eat. Make a food journal to accurately track how much food and carbohydrates you eat in a day. In most cases, people are likely to underestimate the food / carbs intake. Tracking your meals will help to keep you carb intake in the recommended up to 50g.
- Eat more fat. Your goal should be getting 70% or more calories from healthy fat sources. Such products include fatty fish, butter, coconut and extra virgin olive oil, avocados and various meats. This way you will feel fuller throughout the day and will be more likely to skip snacking.
- Read the labels. Before you eat anything that is not home-made, be sure to read the labels. Various sauces, drinks and similar products could have many carbs hidden in them.
- Give intermittent fasting a shot. For those who wonder how to get into ketosis in 24 hours, intermittent fasting could be the answer. Not eating for a day may be one of the most drastic measures to take, however it is one of the most effective ones out there. Intermittent fasting is one of the fastest way in turning your body into a fat burning machine instead of carb burning.
- Try MCT oils or Brain Octane oil. MCT oils are an excellent keto supplement, especially for those who want to reach ketosis faster. MCT oils are made of coconut and palm oils. The oil doesn’t follow the regular digestion and is quickly converted to ketones by your liver. Brain Octane oil is also an MCT oil, however it is 3x stronger than the regular ones as it is made from the most ketogenic part of coconut.
- Check symptoms and test ketone levels. If the list of symptoms listed above is not enough for you to be sure about whether or not you’re in ketosis, you can try buying some keto strips or a device that would help you accurately track ketones in your body.
- Give exercising a chance. Exercising can help you burn some calories and glycogen stores (sugars stored in your body). This way your body will run out of accumulated sugars faster and will get into ketosis faster. Some studies have shown that doing sports combined with fasting can lead to increased ketone levels(4). However, do this carefully. Not eating anything and doing sports can do damage to your health.
How to Get Into Ketosis Fast – TL;DR
If you follow the tips outlined above and search for symptoms and signs, you will no longer be wondering how to get into ketosis fast. You will be burning fat faster than ever. Also, you’ll be full of energy and in a better mood.
Keep in mind that going on keto is tough only for a couple of weeks. Once you get used to it and start seeing the benefits – it gets pretty awesome.
If you’re in a rush and want to reach ketosis within 24 hours – give intermittent fasting a chance. Fasting for 24 hours could be the quickest way to jump-start your ketosis.
