Keto Diet For 190-Pound Individuals: How Many Carbs?

The ketogenic (keto) diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that aims to put the body into a state of ketosis, where fat is burned for energy instead of carbohydrates. To stay in ketosis, a person should consume no more than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day, though some sources recommend staying below 20 grams. The keto diet typically consists of 70% fat, 20% protein, and 10% carbs. This means that for someone consuming 2000 calories a day, no more than 50 grams should come from carbohydrates. The keto diet has been found to aid weight loss and improve type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

How to calculate your macros

To calculate your macros for a keto diet, you need to understand what macros are and what role they play in your health and fitness goals. Macros, or macronutrients, are the carbohydrates, protein, and fat in food, and they provide all of your calories.

The keto diet is a low-carb, moderate-protein, and high-fat diet. The typical macro ratio for keto is 5% of calories from carbs, 25% from protein, and 70% from fat. This ratio is intended to promote ketosis, a metabolic state in which the body uses fat for energy instead of sugars.

Step 1: Determine Your Calorie Needs

The first step is to determine your calorie needs based on your fitness goal. Are you trying to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain your current weight? This will dictate whether you need a calorie deficit or surplus.

Step 2: Estimate Your Carb Needs

Estimating your keto carb needs is crucial. Research suggests that a carb intake of 20 to 50 grams per day is sufficient to promote ketosis in most people. Start with a carb intake of 20 to 25 grams per day, and if you find that challenging, you can increase it to 50 grams.

You can also use your total calorie intake as a guide. Since carbs provide roughly four calories per gram, if you're consuming less than 2,000 calories per day, 20 grams of carbs should be adequate for reaching 5% of your calories from carbs. For higher calorie ranges, you may need slightly more.

• Calorie range less than 2,000 calories/day: 20 grams of carbs or less per day
• Calorie range 2,000 to 2,500 calories/day: 25 to 30 grams of carbs per day or less
• Calorie range 2,500 to 3,000 calories/day: 30 to 35 grams of carbs per day or less
• Calorie range more than 3,000 calories/day: 35 to 50 grams of carbs per day or less

Step 3: Calculate Your Protein Needs

Protein intake is important as it supports lean body mass and other essential bodily functions. Some argue that protein intake should be kept low on keto because it can be metabolized into glucose. However, research suggests that higher protein intake may improve appetite control and lower body fat percentage without interfering with ketosis.

Your keto protein needs can be estimated based on your activity level and fitness goal.

Choose one of the following activity levels:

• Little to no exercise
• Moderate exercise 2 or more days per week
• Hard exercise 3 or more days per week

Then, based on your goal and activity level, use the following recommendations:

• Maintain/sedentary: 0.6g/pound of body weight per day
• Fat loss/moderately active: 0.9g/pound of body weight per day
• Gain muscle/very active: 1.1g/pound of body weight per day

For example, if you weigh 150 pounds and are moderately active, looking to lose weight, you would need 135 grams of protein per day (150 x 0.9 = 135). To get this amount in calories, multiply by four (as protein provides four calories per gram), which gives you 540 calories from protein.

Step 4: Calculate Your Fat Needs

Your keto fat needs can be calculated based on your remaining calories after accounting for carbs and protein. Each gram of fat contains about nine calories.

Here's the calculation:

• Take your carb amount and multiply the grams of carb by 4 to get your calories from carbs. For example, 20g x 4 = 80 calories from carbs.
• Do the same with your estimated protein needs. For the above example, 150g x 4 = 600 calories from protein.
• Now add your carb and protein calories and subtract this sum from your total daily calorie needs. For example, if your daily calorie needs are 1,800: 1,800 - (600 + 80) = 1,120 calories remaining.
• Finally, divide your remaining calories by 9 to get your grams of fat per day. For the above example, 1,120/9 = 124 grams of fat per day.

Step 5: Calculate Your Macros Percentage

To calculate your macros as a percentage, divide the calories from each macro by your daily calorie needs and multiply by 100%.

Using the above example:

• (80/1800) x 100% = 4.4% of calories from carbs
• (600/1800) x 100% = 33.3% of calories from protein
• (1120/1800) x 100% = 62.2% of calories from fat

The total should equal 100% (4.4 + 33.3 + 62.2 = 99.9%).

Step 6: Build Your Keto Meal Plan

Once you know your macros, the next step is to plan your meals accordingly. You can use a keto food list, a macro meal planner, and portioning guide to help you. There are also keto-friendly apps available to track your macros and stay within your daily ranges.

Remember, it's important to consult with a healthcare professional or registered dietitian before starting any new diet, especially one as restrictive as keto. They can help ensure you're meeting your nutritional needs and provide guidance tailored to your specific circumstances.

How to get into ketosis

Ketosis is a metabolic state in which the body uses stored fat, instead of glucose, for fuel. This happens when the body has a lack of glucose, which is usually the body's primary energy source. In this state, the body may also produce ketones, which can be detected in the blood and urine.

• Reduce Carbohydrate Intake: This is the most important factor for reaching ketosis. The recommended amount varies, but it is generally advised to consume under 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. Some sources suggest that 20 grams per day is a better target, as it will help you reach ketosis faster.
• Increase Physical Activity: Being more active will deplete your body's glycogen stores. This will encourage your body to turn to fat as a source of fuel. Exercise, especially in a fasted state, can help increase ketone levels.
• Fasting: Intermittent fasting can help you reach ketosis. This involves going without eating for several hours or periods of 24-48 hours.
• Increase Healthy Fat Intake: Most people in ketosis replace carbohydrates with healthy fats. Good sources include avocados, avocado oil, fatty fish such as salmon, and olive oil.
• Test Ketone Levels: You can measure ketone levels in your breath, urine and blood. This will help you track your progress and make any necessary adjustments to your diet.
• Check Protein Intake: It is important to consume enough protein to supply your liver with amino acids and preserve muscle mass. However, eating too much protein may hinder ketosis, as it can encourage your body to use gluconeogenesis, a process that converts amino acids from protein into sugar.
• Consume More MCT Oil: Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) can be converted into ketones by the liver. Coconut oil is a good source of MCTs, but introduce it to your diet slowly to minimise any digestive side effects.

Other Tips:

• Track your Carbohydrate Intake: This will help you stay within the recommended range and not underestimate your carb intake.
• Limit Eating Out: This will make it easier to track your carbohydrate intake.
• Be Aware of Hidden Carb Sources: Many sauces and dressings are high in carbs.
• Try Intermittent Fasting: This may help your body shift its fuel source from carbs to fat.
• Exercise More: This will deplete your body's glycogen stores and encourage the production of ketones.

The time it takes to reach ketosis varies from person to person. It generally takes 2-4 days, but for some people, it can take a week or longer.

Symptoms:

As your body transitions into ketosis, you may experience symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, nausea, bad breath and increased thirst. This is sometimes known as the "keto flu".

How to know if you're in ketosis

To enter ketosis, a person needs to consume under 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. The fewer carbs consumed, the quicker the body will enter ketosis. However, the keto diet is restrictive, and it can be challenging to stick to it. Therefore, it is recommended that beginners start with an upper limit of 50 grams of carbs per day and stay on it for weeks instead of drastically cutting out carbs.

• Increased ketones: One of the most definitive signs of ketosis is having ketones in the blood. Doctors may also use urine and breath tests to check for ketone levels, but blood samples are the most reliable method. When a person is in nutritional ketosis, they will have blood ketone levels of 0.5–3 millimoles per liter. People can use a breath analyser or test strips to check for ketones in their breath and urine, respectively.
• Weight loss: One of the goals of the keto diet is weight loss, so losing weight is a sign that the body has entered ketosis. Initially, this will be a rapid drop in water weight, but this will be followed by consistent fat loss as long as the diet is maintained and a calorie deficit is achieved.
• Increased thirst and dry mouth: As the body loses water weight, thirst levels will increase, and the mouth may feel dry. Dehydration is a common side effect of ketosis, and it can lead to other serious health complications, so it is important to drink plenty of fluids.
• Bad breath: The ketones produced by the liver during ketosis leave the body through the breath and urine. This can cause the breath to smell sweet or fruity, and it is one of the most common side effects of ketosis.
• Fatigue and sleep changes: In the initial stages of ketosis, people may feel more tired and experience changes in their sleeping patterns, such as nighttime waking or difficulty falling asleep. This is a short-term effect, and energy levels should increase after several weeks.
• Decreased exercise performance: In the early stages of ketosis, people may experience a decrease in their exercise performance due to reduced glycogen levels in the muscles. However, this should return to normal after several weeks, and the keto diet can be beneficial for certain endurance sports.
• Muscle cramps and spasms: Dehydration and electrolyte imbalances can cause muscle cramps and spasms. Electrolytes such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium are important for carrying electrical signals between the body's cells, and disruptions can lead to muscle contractions.
• Appetite suppression: The keto diet can lead to a decreased appetite, possibly due to alterations in hunger hormones and increased protein intake.
• Digestive issues: Any dietary changes can affect digestion, and the keto diet is no exception. People may experience constipation and diarrhoea when entering ketosis, but these issues should subside over time.
• Increased focus and energy: While people may initially experience "keto flu" symptoms such as brain fog and tiredness, long-term keto dieters often report increased focus and energy. This is because ketones are a potent fuel source for the brain.

It is important to note that not all of these signs will be present in everyone, and the effects of ketosis can vary from person to person. Additionally, it is always recommended to consult a doctor or healthcare provider before starting any new diet, especially a restrictive one like the keto diet.

The keto diet and your hunger hormones

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that can help with weight loss and fat loss. It involves limiting your carbohydrate intake to around 50 grams per day, which is significantly less than the typical American diet, which consumes 225-325 grams of carbs daily. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis, where it burns fat for energy instead of carbohydrates.

The keto diet can also have an impact on your hunger hormones, which are the body's natural signals that regulate appetite and energy balance. When you restrict calories or markedly increase your body's energy expenditure through exercise, your body compensates by increasing your appetite and hunger cravings. This is because your body has an innate survival mode that kicks in to maintain energy balance when your stored energy reserves are threatened.

However, the keto diet may help reduce these hunger cravings and make it easier to stick to the diet. Research has shown that individuals who eat a well-formulated ketogenic diet to satiety can lose substantial amounts of weight while experiencing reduced hunger and cravings. This is because nutritional ketosis promotes weight loss by a combination of reduced appetite and better access to body fat stores for fuel.

One of the key hormones involved in regulating appetite is insulin. When blood insulin levels are high, glucose gets stored as glycogen, and fats get stored in adipose tissue. This reduction in circulating fuels stimulates appetite, leading to hunger cravings 2-3 hours after a high-carbohydrate, low-fat meal.

Another important hormone is leptin, which is produced primarily in adipose tissue. Leptin sends a signal to the brain to "eat less." Interestingly, when following a well-formulated ketogenic diet, blood insulin levels go down, but the satiety hormone leptin also decreases. This would normally signal the body to eat more, but the brain's sensitivity to leptin increases when on a keto diet, resulting in reduced hunger cravings.

In addition, the keto diet has been shown to reduce inflammation, which can inhibit the brain's response to leptin, resulting in leptin resistance. By reducing inflammation, the keto diet may help improve the brain's sensitivity to leptin, leading to a greater satiety response.

Another hormone that influences appetite is ghrelin, often referred to as the "hunger hormone." Ghrelin sends a signal to the brain to "eat more." Research has shown that ketosis can suppress the increase in ghrelin that typically occurs with weight loss, leading to reduced hunger cravings.

Overall, the keto diet's impact on these hunger hormones can help explain why individuals following a keto diet experience reduced appetite and cravings, making it easier to stick to the diet and achieve their weight loss goals.

Tips for Sticking to the Keto Diet

• Calculate your net carbs: Consider the number of "net carbs" in foods by subtracting the amount of fiber and half the sugar alcohol content from the total number of carbs.
• Choose whole, unprocessed foods: Aim to consume carbs from whole, unprocessed foods to benefit from their vitamins and minerals.
• Monitor your health: Regular health monitoring is important to check for any effects the diet may have on your heart or blood sugar levels.
• Consult a doctor: Before starting the keto diet, check with a doctor to ensure it is safe for you.
• Ease into the diet gradually: Stop eating one type of high-carb food at a time, such as bread or juice, to make the transition more manageable.
• Focus on low-carb foods: Include more low-carb foods in your diet, such as meat, cheese, dark green vegetables, avocados, nuts, and seeds.

Health benefits of the keto diet

The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat, moderate-protein eating plan that has been around since the 1920s. It has been proven to reduce seizures in pediatric patients with epilepsy and is now also touted as a weight-loss tool. Here are some of the health benefits of the keto diet:

Weight Loss

The keto diet may help a person lose weight by boosting metabolism and reducing appetite. A 2013 meta-analysis of 13 different randomized controlled trials found that people following ketogenic diets lost 2 pounds more than those following low-fat diets over 1 year. A review of 11 studies also demonstrated that people following a ketogenic diet lost 5 pounds more than those following low-fat diets after 6 months.

Reduced Risk of Certain Cancers

Some studies suggest that the keto diet may be a safe and suitable complementary treatment to use alongside chemotherapy and radiation therapy in people with certain cancers. This is because it causes more oxidative stress in cancer cells than in normal cells, causing them to die. A 2018 study also suggests that because the ketogenic diet reduces blood sugar, it could lower the risk of insulin complications, which may be linked to some cancers.

Improved Heart Health

Some evidence shows that eating healthful fats, such as avocados, on the keto diet can help improve heart health by reducing cholesterol. A 2017 review of studies of animals and humans on a keto diet showed that some people experienced a significant drop in levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, and triglycerides, and an increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good" cholesterol.

Protect Brain Function

Some studies suggest that the ketones produced during the keto diet provide neuroprotective benefits, strengthening and protecting the brain and nerve cells. For this reason, a keto diet may help prevent or manage conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

Reduced Seizures

The Epilepsy Foundation suggests that ketosis, the metabolic process during which the body uses ketone bodies for fuel, can reduce seizures in people with epilepsy, especially those who have not responded to other treatment methods. A 2019 review supports this hypothesis, and the ketogenic diet may reduce epilepsy symptoms by several different mechanisms.

Improved PCOS Symptoms

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder that can lead to excess male hormones, ovulatory dysfunction, and polycystic ovaries. A high-carbohydrate diet can cause adverse effects in people with PCOS, such as skin problems and weight gain. A 2005 pilot study found that a ketogenic diet improved several markers of PCOS, and a 2019 review of studies found that a keto diet had beneficial effects for people with hormonal disorders, including PCOS.

Frequently asked questions