Posted by Atkins (216.166.228.231) on August 13, 2003 at 07:48:17:
In Reply to: Re: What Crazy Type Would Do This? posted by Sharlee (61.9.208.171) on August 12, 2003 at 20:16:05:
Staying in a permanent state of ketosis sounds dangerous to me (cows can die of it within a short time)but I cannot deny the weight loss (and benefits)that this individual has achieved.
> Sharlee
Can you post a link about that cow thing? From my readings on ungulate metabolism they tend to be in a sort of constant state of ketosis as their prime metabolic pathway is volatile fatty acids rather than glucose due to their digestive setup, so maybe by 'ketosis' in cows something else is meant?
The reason I don't think staying in ketosis is dangerous for humans (beyond my observation of the two people I saw do the Atkins diet for 6 months) is that it seems to make sense historically. Native Americans (and other native people) prior to agriculture would have had very little access to carbohydrates throughout the winter and so would have subsisted primarily on meat and fat, and thus likely would have been in a near-constant state of ketosis throughout the winter months. I would guess that this is still true for native tribes in Alaska (and Siberia, Mongolia, etc.).