Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

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If you have been exercising anaerobically for some time and have increased insulin sensitivity in muscle tissue as well as overall muscle gain (more insulin receptors) would the carbs you eat in the day be able to be increased without interuppting ketosis in contrast to someone who does not exercise.

in other words: does the carb limit needed to maintain ketosis increase with long term adaptations to anaerobic exercise

flag	asked Mar 29 2012 at 15:22 Lucas 391●4●14

miked · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-29 15:44:54Z UTC

It seems reasonable that it would be the case. I know that I can get away with more carbs (my metric is how they make me feel) as I put on more muscle, and also after a day where I use up a lot of glycogen.

However, everyone is different and everyone metabolizes carbs differently. The best thing to do is just experiment with carbs and test how many you can tolerate before being flipped out of ketosis. This is a pretty easy test to do, so it's probably easier just to test it rather than theorize about it.

paleoguy11 · Answer 2 · 2012-05-02 15:50:55Z UTC

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Basically all that means is you have more storage room for glycogen.

It also matters how fat-adapted you are. This is different than being in ketosis.

answered May 2 2012 at 15:50

paleoguy11
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Sam Knox · Answer 3 · 2012-05-02 16:16:36Z UTC

I think the upper limit on carb consumption for ketosis is determined by overall levels of glycogen-depleting (i.e., anaerobic) exercise.

If glycogen store are full, no matter what size they are, excess blood sugar has to be burned, stored as fat, or (if you're diabetic) excreted in urine.

borofergie · Answer 4 · 2012-05-12 21:45:28Z UTC

No. Ketosis depends only on your brain's requirement for fuel. Without ketones, your brain needs about 100-130g a day of glucose to meet it's energy needs (this is true for most people on a regular "balanced" high-carb diet). Your brain is selfish, and gets first call on any glucose in your system (before muscle or liver storage).

Ketosis occurs when you don't injest enough carbohydrate to fuel your brain (ie <100g), when this happens your liver breaks down free fatty acids to form ketones, which are an alternative energy source for your brain (and other cells in the early stages of ketosis).

In deep ketosis your brain's glucose requirements are redued to about 25g, with the other 75% of its energy coming from ketones. All of that 25g can be generated from protein and fat through gluconeogenesis, so you don't actually need to injest any carbohydrates.

Ketosis is therefore governed by your brain's requirement for energy (which is more or less constant in everyone) and not by your muscle mass.

muscle mass = more allowable carbs to maintain ketosis?

4 Answers