The Ketogenic Diet for Health Blog:

The Ketogenic Diet for Health was a blog started by Amber and Zooko in 2012 to explore the science behind ketogenic diets and its use improving multiple health parameters.

The medical-grade diet

This post is based on a talk we gave at BSidesLV on August 1st, 2013. You can also watch the video (20 minutes long). In the face of a severe medical condition, typical dietary therapies have little or no power. The ketogenic diet, however, has proven potency. Here’s how it’s different. In brief Ketogenic diets […]

Protein, Ketogenesis, and Glucose Oxidation

In our last post, we discussed the relationship between protein and blood sugar in ketogenic dieters. Despite all the evidence we have brought to bear suggesting that increased protein does not increase GNG, there is an important line of argument that does support the idea that increased protein increases GNG. Although the data is indirect, […]

BCAAs and Keto diets

(Note: This article is a departure from our tradition of end-to-end citations, and other practices necessary for establishing high confidence in medical assertions. This departure is merely in the interest of publishing more ideas in less time, as our intensely busy lives have led to a huge backlog of unfinished articles for which the verification […]

We were talking about gluconeogenesis, not ketogenesis.

Our last post described the evidence that the rate of gluconeogenesis (GNG) is stable under a variety of metabolic conditions. We also described several experiments in which large amounts of protein were ingested or infused and did not increase the rate. We concluded that eating more protein than your body needs probably doesn’t increase GNG. […]

If You Eat Excess Protein, Does It Turn Into Excess Glucose?

Gluconeogenesis is Demand-Driven, not Supply-Driven We have seen the claim that any protein you eat in excess of your immediate needs will be turned into glucose by spontaneous gluconeogenesis 1. (Gluconeogenesis (GNG) is the process by which glucose is made out of protein in the liver and kidneys.) Some people think that because protein can be […]

Ketogenic Diets, Cortisol, and Stress: Part I — Gluconeogenesis

One recent myth, prevalent in the Paleo Diet community, is that the keto diet is stressful to the body1. This idea arises from misunderstandings about cortisol — “the stress hormone”. There are two different arguments we know of, and this post will address the first one, the “gluconeogenesis requires cortisol” myth. This myth comes from […]

Keto-adaptation: what it is and how to adjust

What is keto-adaptation? Keto-adaptation is the process of shifting your metabolism from relying mostly on glucose for fuel, to relying mostly on fat-based sources of fuel. Not only does fat oxidation itself increase, but your body starts producing enough ketones that they can be used as a significant source of fuel as well. Ketones are […]