?? about Ketones/Ketosis

Hi all, 

Does anyone out there take Raspberry Ketones?  Do they help with your weight loss?  I am not clear on how they help or work.  The few articles I have read are very technical/medical articles about Ketosis in general but saw that GNC and Vitamin Shoppe sell Raspberry Ketones.  Curious to hear your thoughts about them - Are they worth it?  Is it a gimmick?  Are they safe?  

Thanks all!

Rox

I did some research into them a while back and, while I have a few friends who swear by them, they seem fairly gimmicky to me.  That said, I couldn't find anything that led me to believe they were unsafe or risky, so I tried them.  They did nothing, I got the VSG :P

As far as I can tell, it's a load of crap.

The  liver produces ketones when it breaks down fatty acids to create energy. It does this whenever there isn't enough glucose around for the body's energy needs.  Most (thin!) people don't need to do this to any great degree, because their energy in/energy out is stable.  Us folks in weight loss obviously do.  We're burning fat, so we're producing ketones.

But ketones are pretty short lived, and convert into acetone after several hours. Acetone isn't something your body can  use for anything. So if you have more ketones in your blood than you can use, you will pee them out as acetone.  It takes several days on a low carb diet for our bodies to adjust from using energy-in-for-energy-out to using ketones, so early in our weight loss process our cells aren't using the ketones and we pee them out.  The acetone is part of the reason why our pee and breath smell kind of stinky at first.  But then most of our body's cells catch on that ketones are edible and it sorts itself out.

Eating extra ketones isn't going to do much of anything.  You'll use a bit of it for energy if you need it, and pee out the rest. The reason I think they're being marketed is because, if you are producing ketones, you are burning fat. Burn  lots of fat, make lots of  ketones.  Being in ketosis, the state of making more ketones than you can  use so you're peeing them out (with stinky breath and pee) means yes, you are definitely burning fat.  So scammers are using that to go "Look, eat these ketones and your breath will stink and that means you're losing fat!" 

I think it's  like saying " The more you sweat at the gym, the harder you're working out.  So, if you slather this sweat-lotion all over yourself, it will put more sweat on your skin, and that means you're working out harder!"  Crock o' **** if you ask me.

Wow so impressed with your knowledge and logic!!

I didn't get sleeved yet..on 26th

im on 7 th week of liquids and suffering! 9 more days left!

i cheated 3 times and had crap.. Call me weak :(

i cook a lot and it's a challenge..everyday..

Did I screw up my liver shrinking process?

i really am dying for that "last meal" it's taking everything in me not to crack! 

I lost 35lbs so far.. 

Did you cheat? 

Thx 

val

I didn't cheat, because I built into my process one dessert a week, one glass of wine a week, etc, and I ate real food.  I NEEDED to know before I had surgery whether or not I could happily live with protein first, low carbs, and limited treats.  It did work for me -- stuffing myself on protein kept me full, and knowing that a fatty liver could seriously screw with my surgery/recovery kept me focused, and being realistic rather than obsessively "dieting" made it pretty easy to do. If I'd had to do months of liquids....nah, I don't think I could have pulled it off.

I teach pathology/physiology at university, so I know a little too much for my own comfort about this stuff  :D  It's why I chose the sleeve rather than the RNY; I'd just written a textbook chapter on how minerals get absorbed in the duodenum, and I didn't want to lose that happening in me!

It really helped that my wife was on board 1000%, and made all the dietary changes I did, so as to support me.  Without that, I don't know how well I'd have coped.  Hang in there....and remember, you're not giving up all yummy food forever.  I'm a year post op, still losing (very slowly) but I don't feel deprived or miss eating big platefuls of food.  It's so awesome to finally know what 'full' means (I never, ever felt it till post op, and now I'm like Holy Cheesola, no wonder most people don't overeat! They're normal, and I never was, but now I am, woohoo!).

Wow sounds great, amazing that you have all this knowledge too!

So, your liver was ok before surgery with the diet you were on? 

I always wondered why we couldn't do the Atkins instead of these expensive protein shakes. Isn't the point to be in keytosis in order for your liver to shrink?

Why couldn't I have a grilled chicken breast with greens instead of these shakes that I can't bare anymore :(

Thanks again for your info!!

Atkins tends to be high fat as well as high protein, so that wouldn't be as useful for liver-shrinking.  But, quite honestly, yes a grilled chicken breast would work just as well as shakes.  I reckon the reason they use the shakes is because they're controlled -- they know you're not going to be slathering them in butter and cheese sauce, whereas you could do that with a chicken breast. They contain all the vitamins and minerals you need, so you won't become deficient in anything. (And, cynical me also reckons the surgical centres sell the shakes to the patients at an extra profit....)

Liquid diet just before surgery makes sense to clear your bowels; it's easier for the surgeon if they're empty rather than full, and it's easier for the patient the first few days post op because pooping would be painful with those new incisions in the abdomen. I did that voluntarily.

Liquid diet for a week or two pre surgery I can sort-of see, to check if the patient will be compliant and to force them to shrink their liver if they've been having food funerals right up till the last moment.  A fragile, fatty liver is dangerously easy to damage; the patient will suffer both with pain and prolonged recovery if the liver is nicked.  And those stats don't help a surgical centre any; they want a track record of zero deaths and minimal complications.

But a liquid diet for six or eight or ten weeks?  IMO that's just crazy.  Lean protein, lots of veggies, low carbs, and a multivitamin worked well for me.

My doctor's surgical notes said that my liver was "small, tight, and mobile" so whatever I did clearly worked (I started out at a BMI of 53, so I was nothing like a lightweight). 

Your just full of knowledge!! It all makes sense! 

$50 for 14 packages of protein powder, gets expensive.. Then again so do drive throughs right? Lol

After reading all these feedbacks, I feel much better and don't have that crazy craving as much. 

Regarding the clear bowels, if I don't take ducolax, I'd be going once a week!! No matter how much water I drink! I drink 1.5 - 2L a day!!

Thanks again for all that great info!! :)

Thanks for the replies.  I am thinking its much more gimmick than actual weight loss aid.