My husband and I both did NutriSystem back in 1989-90 (or
around then). We both did very well, and he lost weight like
wildfire. There was no ketosis though, no peeing on a stick.
The food was interesting, some meals better than others, but
they made major modifications in it sometime later. A friend
had one of the meals and we tried it, and it was nearly
inedible, much worse. Hubby lost 70 pounds in about 4
months... very quickly. It took me almost a year to lose 70
pounds. Is that fast? For him, yes, for me, not so much; under
6 pounds per month, which is within the 1-2 pounds per week
suggested by most doctors/dieticians.
I have never heard ketosis being connected with any
gallbladder problem. Ketosis is, in fact, a pretty normal
process in which our body burns the fat we have stored. The
only way we can ever lose fat is to go into ketosis. The
difference is whether it's heavy ketosis or just a "bit" of
ketosis. Gallbladder disease is more connected with high
intake of fats and rapid weight loss, although the articles
I've read say there is still some doubt as to exactly whether
the person would have had the problem anyway. The body is a
complicated critter. :-)
While ketosis is "normal" in that sense, the ketones (the
byproducts of the use of fat) are "poisons" to the body, and
that's why you must make sure you're not dehydrated. You want
to flush them out. They don't build up to toxic levels though,
from what I understand and have read in books like the Johns
Hopkins book on diabetes, UNLESS you are a diabetic with out
of control hyperglycemia. Normally ketoacidosis is something
type 1 diabetics have to worry about although type 2s can also
be afflicted. Often it's a problem when the diabetic gets sick
and isn't hydrated enough, which is why they say to check for
ketones when you're ill. In addition, the JH book said that
people who produce insulin have a build-in protection against
burning too much fat because the insulin itself will keep the
ketone level in the body down.
My husband and I are both low carbing right now. He is doing
it to keep me company and get off the pounds he put back in
the last ten years. He did keep off the weight lost with NS
for many, many years, but then gradually started eating way
too much and drinking, and back it started to come. I, OTOH,
began gaining weight after a hysterectomy and have had
problems ever since, through several more surgeries, etc.
I am a type 2 diabetic, and my doctor believes the low carb
(i.e., Atkins) is the best diet to control BG. I am doing
Atkins of a sort, but more in the OWL category, which allows
some nuts and berries, and I plan to try a few more carbs as
I get more used to what my body is doing (yogurt, small
apples, etc.)
All in all, ketosis is not only NOT bad for the body; it's a
normal process. Unless you never want to lose any of your
weight (fat), you MUST be in ketosis. Whether you know it or
not, that's another thing, and you certainly don't have to be
in heavy ketosis. Any time you exercise in the moderate range
(60-70% of your max HR), you will be burning both stored
glucose and fatty acids, i.e., having a mild form of ketosis.
Cheryl
"Dana" <AuntieDana@juno.com> wrote in message
news:2p60avob7imh0vcflfnis4que4r4or0gte@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 18 Apr 2003 13:57:20 GMT, "Evelyn Ruut"
> <mama-lionsox@hvc.rr.com> wrote:
>
> >I lost mine the same way. Not from Nutri-System but from
> >Medifast,
which
> >was just like Optifast. You drink these protein shakes
> >three or four
times
> >a day. No food at all. This doesn't work that way.
>
> Well, NutriSystem wasn't a drink, it had food, but they
> made it. I'm still not sure what that mystery meat was. <G>
> Most of it was edible but not real tasty. When you reached
> goal you really went wild for real food and gained all the
> weight back.
>
> Anyway, I don't think that's good for a body, I mean
> Ketosis.
>
> Dana