Nick Bare

Because when ketones are produced in the body in the absence of carbohydrates or limited carbohydrates, ketone bodies can reduce the brain excitability.

So that's where I was first introduced to the ketogenic diet because it is an effective and established treatment protocol for people with seizures.

And then years later, I started hearing more about the keto diet for the mental clarity people get, for the health benefits, for the fat loss benefits, which can be extremely effective.

The keto diet, it's when about 70 to 80% of calories are from fat.

And your carbohydrates generally are below 50 grams per day.

Our brains utilize glucose.

about 20% of our daily caloric intake.

Even though our brains only weigh on average about 2% of our body weight, even when we are on a ketogenic diet, very low carb, our bodies can still produce glucose in the absence of carbohydrates through this metabolic process called gluconeogenesis.

And this process occurs in the liver and in the kidneys, which is pretty interesting.

Our bodies know, hey, we need glucose for certain bodily processes.

And if we're not consuming carbohydrates, and if we're not consuming carbohydrates, we can't create glucose from the carbohydrates.

Our body is smart enough to create glucose

from other non-carbohydrate substrates through this metabolic process called gluconeogenesis.

And it uses substrates such as glycerol, lactate, propionate, and certain amino acids.

Pretty interesting stuff.

Now, with that note, it takes time.

to create glucose through gluconeogenesis.

It is a much more effective way to supply our body with the glucose that it needs and is required from carbohydrate sources, which we'll get into here in a little bit.

You've probably heard of ketosis if you've heard of the ketogenic diet.

Ketosis is a natural metabolic state where your body shifts from relying on glucose as energy