Dr. Ryan Lowery, CEO of Ketogenic.com, delivers an informative overview of how a ketogenic diet and lifestyle can greatly enhance health. Dr. Lowery’s passion is to bring the healthy benefits of a ketogenic lifestyle to everyone, on a global level. Lowery holds a masters in exercise and nutrition science and he has published over 100 papers, abstracts, and chapters on nutrition, physical training, diet, and general exercise.
Along with partners, Dr. Jacob Wilson and Sam Beeler, Lowery founded the Applied Science and Performance Institute (ASPI), an advanced research and performance facility focused on bringing science and application together through innovation and study. In 2017, Lowery, along with partner Dr. Jacob Wilson, published, The Ketogenic Bible, which is now heading to print in multiple languages, to further Lowery’s goal of achieving a global reach for his message.
Ketosis is a metabolic state in which your body produces and utilizes ketones as its number one energy supply. A ketogenic lifestyle is based primarily on, essentially, what’s going in our bodies. Ketones, specifically, are chemicals made by the liver. They are created when there isn’t enough insulin in the body to turn glucose into energy, so the body uses fat instead. As the liver turns fat to ketones, it then sends them pumping through the bloodstream, which muscles and tissues utilize for powerful fuel.
Lowery discusses his goal to show the science behind the diet and lifestyle, so that people understand this is not a fad but is backed by real science that can produce real results for better health. Lowery is seeing a shift, as people move to the ketogenic diet, but not everyone is experiencing full ketosis. He discusses how athletes have traditionally been utilizing ‘sideline sugar’ as a performance tool, but Lowery provides that their brains are actually starved for a true, pure energy source. The brain cannot use fatty acids for production of energy when levels of blood glucose are compromised, thus ketone bodies can be utilized to deliver an alternative, extremely viable source of energy to the brain.
Lowery discusses how the body breaks down fat and the chemical science behind the process, and how we can use this to reconfigure our nutritional cycle in our carb-adapted world. He gives an overview on some simple measures anyone can do to get that ‘full’ feeling without loading up on calories, such as starting a meal with a healthy salad, and hydrating regularly, before and during the meal. And as carbohydrates raise insulin levels, a carb-heavy diet creates tiredness, a general lethargy, that depleted energy feeling. As Lowery describes, it’s a vicious cycle that doesn’t need to happen.
The nutrition expert delivers an overview on exogenous ketones and the improvement the body can experience in insulin sensitivity and other areas, especially during intermittent fasting. By supplementing exogenous ketones, one can get their energy up, and extend fasting periods. He discusses the various chemical formulations and their individual benefits, from energy improvement to boosting sleep quality.
Ultimately, as Lowery states, there is a big psychological aspect to beginning a ketogenic lifestyle, as we often feel like we’re giving up so much. But Lowery suggests that the better way to look at it is to not dwell on the losses, but to look at all the things you can have on a ketogenic diet, and to remember the vast amount of benefits that the diet brings to good health.
