New to the keto diet? The keto diet, also known as the ketogenic diet, is an effective way to potentially treat diseases such as epilepsy, lose weight, improve the mind, and balance hormones. To be on the keto diet, one must go on a high fat, low carb diet. It sounds challenging, but once a body reaches a state known as ketosis (when a body burns fat instead of glucose), many people report experiencing fewer food cravings. Achieving their health goals also becomes much more manageable. Wondering how long it takes for new dieters to get into ketosis? The process doesn’t have to be challenging, but it will take some effort. Below we outline 5 ways to switch a body over to burning fat effortlessly, and we go into further detail about the keto diet and ketosis in the Body Reboot book. 

For starters, we thought we’d outline some of the benefits of the keto diet, besides, the benefits we mentioned above. Perfect Keto provides a brief overview of some of the keto diet benefits. 

This has several health benefits, including:

Healthy fat loss

Reduced hunger and cravings while staying full longer

Reduced risk of diseases such as heart disease, type II diabetes and even cancer

Higher energy levels

Fewer blood sugar spikes

Overall better well-being

But how long does it take to experience these benefits? The short answer: it varies from person to person.

1. Reduce your carb consumption 

The beauty of the keto diet is that it reduces your appetite after you get used to cutting back on your carb consumption. According to Healthline, if you want to get into ketosis more quickly, you should reduce your carb consumption and increase your fat intake. 

Eating a very low-carb diet is by far the most important factor in achieving ketosis.

Normally, your cells use glucose, or sugar, as their main source of fuel. However, most of your cells can also use other fuel sources. This includes fatty acids, as well as ketones, which are also known as ketone bodies.

Your body stores glucose in your liver and muscles in the form of glycogen.

When carb intake is very low, glycogen stores are reduced and levels of the hormone insulin decline. This allows fatty acids to be released from fat stores in your body.

Your liver converts some of these fatty acids into the ketone bodies acetone, acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate. These ketones can be used as fuel by portions of the brain.

The level of carb restriction needed to induce ketosis is somewhat individualized. Some people need to limit net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) to 20 grams per day, while others can achieve ketosis while eating twice this amount or more.

2. Fast for short periods 

If you feel up to it, you should consider fasting for short periods to lose weight. As Medical News Today mentions, intentionally going without food can push your body into ketosis a lot more quickly. 

Fasting, or going without food, can help a person achieve a state of ketosis. Many people can actually go into ketosis between meals.

In some controlled cases, a doctor may recommend a longer fasting period of between 24 and 48 hours. A person should speak to their doctor before deciding to fast for longer than a few hours at a time.

Fat fasting is an alternative form of fasting. Fat fasting involves significantly reducing calorie intake and eating a diet consisting almost entirely of fat for no more than 2 or 3 days.

Early research indicated that this might have a positive effect on weight loss. However, fat fasting is difficult to maintain and may not be the best option for most people.

Very small sample sizes and the lack of more robust evidence mean that people should be cautious about taking this approach.

Healthline further explains how fasting can improve your chances of getting into ketosis at a faster rate. 

Moreover, “fat fasting” is another ketone-boosting approach that mimics the effects of fasting.

It involves consuming about 1,000 calories per day, 85–90% of which come from fat. This combination of low calorie and very high fat intake may help you achieve ketosis quickly.

A 1965 study reported a significant fat loss in overweight patients who followed a fat fast. However, other researchers have pointed out that these results appear to have been highly exaggerated.

Because a fat fast is so low in protein and calories, it should be followed for a maximum of three to five days to prevent an excessive loss of muscle mass. It may also be difficult to adhere to for more than a couple of days.

3. Increase your healthy fat intake & eat enough fat 

In addition to reducing your carb intake and fasting, Healthline reminds us to eat enough fat. After all, it’s hard to get into ketosis on a high-fat diet if you’re not eating enough fat. So don’t be afraid to pile up on the good fats because that’s what’s going to get you and keep you in ketosis.  

Consuming plenty of healthy fat can boost your ketone levels and help you reach ketosis.

Indeed, a very low-carb ketogenic diet not only minimizes carbs, but is also high in fat.

Ketogenic diets for weight loss, metabolic health and exercise performance usually provide between 60–80% of calories from fat.

The classic ketogenic diet used for epilepsy is even higher in fat, with typically 85–90% of calories from fat.

However, extremely high fat intake doesn't necessarily translate into higher ketone levels.

A three-week study of 11 healthy people compared the effects of fasting with different amounts of fat intake on breath ketone levels.

Overall, ketone levels were found to be similar in people consuming 79% or 90% of calories from fat.

Furthermore, because fat makes up such a large percentage of a ketogenic diet, it's important to choose high-quality sources.

Good fats include olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, butter, lard and tallow. In addition, there are many healthy, high-fat foods that are also very low in carbs.

However, if your goal is weight loss, it's important to make sure you're not consuming too many calories in total, as this can cause your weight loss to stall.

Perfect Keto also explains how important it is to eat enough fat so that you feel full. At first, you may be afraid of overeating fat. However, fat is what is going to make this diet work, so eat until you’re full or satisfied. 

Eat enough fat to feel satisfied. A keto low-carb diet is normally a high-fat diet.53 This is the big difference between a keto diet and starvation, that also results in ketosis. A keto diet is sustainable, but starvation is not.

When starving you’re likely to feel tired and hungry and give up, but a ketogenic diet is sustainable and can make you feel great. So eat enough to feel satisfied, and if you’re hungry all the time, you should probably add more fat to your meals (like more butter, more olive oil, etc.). Our keto recipes have the needed fat included.

4. Continue to eat protein

Even though you’re going to increase your fat intake, Perfect Keto tells us we shouldn’t forget about protein. The good news is typically you get protein from eating high-fat foods, anyway, though, you may need to increase your protein intake if you’re not eating enough. Just remember, it’s a high-fat diet and not a high-protein diet.  

Going keto doesn’t mean you have to drastically reduce protein. You don’t.

Eating enough protein is crucial for feeling your best on keto. It provides many of the nutrients you need to be healthy, helps satisfy you, and helps prevent muscle breakdown.

Going into keto focusing only on fats sets you up for failure because you can start experiencing negative side effects from the lack of nutrients that adequate protein provides.

As a rule of thumb, you should be consuming at least 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass.

Plus, high-quality proteins like grass-fed beef also provide healthy fats.

5. Get enough sleep 

Diet Doctor says getting enough sleep is essential to succeed on a diet, and that makes sense. When you’re changing the way your body functions sleep is imperative to your success. Without it and it’s going to be all the more challenging to make the adjustments you need to get and stay in ketosis. 

Sleep enough – for most people at least seven hours per night on average – and keep stress under control. Sleep deprivation and stress hormones raise blood sugar levels, slowing ketosis and weight loss a bit. Plus they might make it harder to stick to a keto diet, and resist temptations. So while handling sleep and stress will not get you into ketosis on it’s own, it’s still worth thinking about.

The keto diet has done wonders from many people, and we explain why in the Body Reboot book. Want a free copy of the book? To get your free copy TODAY simply help us cover shipping! Visit this page to snag your free copy before they’re all gone!

Sources: Medical News Today, Healthline, Perfect Keto, Diet Doctor