Ketosis vs. Ketoacidosis – Which Is Better in Weight Loss?

The keto diet has been making noise in the health and fitness industry due to its ability to lose weight while eating fats. Contrary to popular belief, not all fats are bad for your health according to health experts.

There are mono and poly-unsaturated fats, also known as healthy fats, which aid in weight loss while improving your heart health. This principle becomes the core value for a keto diet. The health experts want you to make peace with healthy fats and incorporate it back to your healthy diet.

However, some people are still confused because they encounter two terms when they try the keto diet: the Ketosis and Ketoacidosis. What is the difference between the two keto diets? Here’s what the experts have to say.

The Difference

According to health experts, your body goes into a ketosis state when you’re eating very few carbs. This is because when your carb intake is very low, it halts your body to burn glucose (a.k.a the sugar your body burns from receiving carbs) and converts it to energy for your body to use.

This forces your body to burn your stored fats for energy instead. According to Eric Klett, M.D., your body releases ketones as a byproduct, which triggers the weight loss in your body. Also, going into keto diet is generally safe and normal according to health experts. But what about ketoacidosis, then?

The health experts want to load your diet with lots of healthy fats while going low-carb to activate your body’s burning fat state.

Due to its term starting with keto, most people think that ketoacidosis has something to do with weight loss. But according to health experts, these two are loosely connected. Ketoacidosis typically occurs in people with type 1 Diabetes and it can be a fatal situation for them.

According to Klett, the people suffering from type 1 Diabetes don’t have enough insulin in their body to drive glucose utilization. This forces their body to start burning excess fats by over-producing ketones that go way beyond the normal fat-burning process.

The Dangers of Ketoacidosis

Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease where your immune system attacks and destroys the cells in your pancreas responsible for producing insulin. This causes patients to have very low insulin levels. They also have a hard time regulating their blood sugar levels due to low insulin.

The only way to remedy their medical condition is to take daily insulin injections, and they should be fine. Otherwise, they may face a life-threatening situation should they fail to take insulin injections.

All patients with Type 1 Diabetes need to take daily insulin injections to regulate their blood sugar levels.

If a diabetic’s insulin levels drop dangerously low, they produce ketones at an abnormally fast rate. Since these ketones burn your fats at an abnormal rate, it turns your body’s blood super acidic – which affects your organs eventually.

If a type 1 diabetic experienced diabetic ketoacidosis without injecting their much-needed insulin, they must get hooked up to an IV ASAP. Otherwise, they can die within 24 hours after the attack according to Klett.

The Loose Connection

Fortunately, the signs and symptoms of someone suffering from DKA are pretty obvious, so you can expect to get help ASAP or if not, the people around you can act quickly and accordingly to save you.

The symptoms include peeing a lot, unquenchable thirst, as well as getting confused and delirious – which may turn into a cardiovascular collapse due to low blood pH. These affect your organs from functioning properly, so immediate care and treatment are necessary.

If your type 1 diabetic friend or someone you know suffers rapid and heavy breathing, it’s crucial to call 911 or emergency hotline to save their lives.

So, do the two ketotic states have a connection to each other? According to health experts, they are loosely connected. However, the difference is ketosis is a normal and safe process of our body burning fat to lose weight.

Meanwhile, the latter is an abnormal ketosis state which usually happens in type 1 diabetics. Ketoacidosis is not only extremely uncommon but also a life-threatening state. So if you want to lose weight, it’s recommended you go into a ketosis diet.