Ketosis: What is it?

Simply put, ketosis is when your body burns fat for fuel, rather than burning carbs for fuel. In essence, your body needs fuel to function, very similar to the way a car needs fuel to drive. In your body, that fuel can come from one of two places—either carbohydrates or fat.

And because carbohydrates are less work & easier for your body to burn, your body will always default to burning carbs FIRST, before burning fat.

Thus, as long as you continue refueling your body with carbohydrates, your body will continue relying on carbohydrates as its primary energy source.

Ketosis happens when your body runs out of carbohydrates to burn, and instead begins burning fat for energy. This can happen after a prolonged period of fasting (such as overnight), but it will also happen when you eliminate carbohydrates from your diet. Essentially you are forcing your body to switch fuel sources and start burning fat instead of carbohydrates.

Ketosis is not at all dangerous; on the contrary, the more often our body can achieve ketosis, the better.

However, "ketosis" is sometimes confused for a similar term called "ketoacidosis," which is a rare complication of diabetes that can sometimes be dangerous.