When You Eat Sugar In Ketosis, This Is What Happens To You
The ketogenic diet, more commonly known as the keto diet, isn't for the faint of heart. That's because once you're in this high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, the goal is to reach ketosis, where your body begins to use fat for fuel. But the problem with the keto diet is that unless you're completely committed to following the diet to the letter, it's easy to slip out of ketosis. Here's what you need to know about having a high-sugar snack while in ketosis:
On a keto diet, your goal is to eat less than 50 grams of carbohydrate per day (that's under 200 calories of carbohydrate), which can be harder to do than you would expect. Most of your carbohydrates should be consumed in the form of vegetables and fruits in order to maximize your micronutrient intake — so even though you could potentially eat some sugar while staying on a keto diet, you should skip the white bread for a healthier carb option (via Harvard Health Publishing).
And not everyone can eat 50 grams of carbs and stay in ketosis: "This amount differs from person to person but is generally less than 50 grams of total carbohydrates per day. That means all sources of carbohydrate, including refined sugar, should be limited to as little as possible to avoid the impact carbohydrates can have on blood sugar and insulin levels," registered dietitian Brittanie Volk told PopSugar.
What do you do if you ate too much sugar in ketosis?
First, don't panic. Your body will come out of ketosis, it's true, but you can get back into it without doing anything drastic. Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple explains that while you will likely deal with a sugar crash as your body processes the carb overload, and you may experience other symptoms like disrupted sleep. However, if you get back to your keto diet quickly, you'll get back to ketosis quickly as well.
"The short answer is, yes, you will recover from a carb binge. Yes, you will get back into ketosis," Sisson writes. "The important thing to remember is, you did not obliterate your goals with one misstep."
However, this doesn't mean you should regularly deviate from a keto diet, if staying in ketosis is your goal. The more often you have high-carb treats, the more you'll crave them. "If you go ahead and have a cheat day or a cheat meal, it can stimulate those pleasure centers in the brain," registered dietitian Franziska Spritzler told Livestrong. "It can be difficult to get back on track without wanting that sweet treat again."
In the future, consider swapping your high-sugar snacks and treats for keto-friendly options that use keto-friendly sweeteners like Stevia or monkfruit, or stick to fruit for your sweet carbohydrate intake (via Healthline).