OK...stupid question:

One of the girls I work with was doing Atkins up until today...

She asked a good question, and neither of us remember Dr. Atkins going over this in his book.

You get into Ketosis when your body burns YOUR stored fat for energy.

So, what happens to the fat we eat????

Is it stored?

?????

Most of the fat eaten is used for fuel, just as your body fat is used for fuel. It is NOT stored. If you do not eat carbs it cannot be stored - period. Without insulin there is no fat storage; conversely in the presence of insulin there can be no fat burning.

Please read: Fat and Insulin and Why a calorie isnt just a calorie

You might also want to get yourself a copy of Protein Power. The Eades explain why LC works for fat loss and for overal improved health.

Nat

P.S. In the event you're thinking that reducing fat would make body fat loss greater/faster please look at the link in this post by Gwilson38 - nothing could be further from the truth.

Hi lmannheim,

That is a good question and one to which I learned the answer just recently.

All dietary protein is broken down into the amino acids and taken into the body. Carbohydrates are also broken down and taken into the body. Undigested carbohydrates in the colon leads to diseases such as colitis. However, excess dietary fat is excreted by the body with no problem. You can read about body chemistry at the following link.

Biochemistry of Nutrition

Here is a quote from the above page:

"The products of fat metabolism are fatty acids and glycerin. The glycerin is used as a fuel source and the fatty acids are broken down further into ketone bodies, which become the primary fuel of the body in the absence of glucose. Any excess ketones are not stored but are excreted in the urine. The production of ketones during fat metabolism is called ketosis.

The upshot of these different metabolic processes is that a calorie of carbohydrates will tend to make you fatter than a calorie of fat that is eaten in the absence of carbohydrates. That is because excess carbohydrates turn to fat, which is stored, but excess fat is broken down and excreted."

Kent

And the hormone that makes all this possible is insulin - or rather a lack of insulin. As stated above, restricted carbs result in lowered glucose levels, lowered glucose leves will result in less insulin being produced. Insulin is the fat storing hormone, in its absence (and the presence of its opposite, glucagon) fat is not store but rather burned.

Nat