Keto is not a miracle, but exceptionally useful for burning fat and losing weight without hunger and cravings. People have more success losing weight with keto compared to other diets, thanks to its powerful satiety effect.There are two problems with experiencing the benefits of keto in my everyday life:1. Starting keto can be hard 2. Finding keto meals that take me to optimal ketosis can be stressful and suck up too much effort, time and moneySo, with my cofounder and recipe mastermind Arno, we wanted to share the results of a simple experiment: Zero to Keto in 16 hours!In this post, we'll tackle the tricky business of getting into ketosis without hours of planning, stressing out or breaking your bank.This is something you'll obviously need to nail first. If you're curious and want to try keto for the first time, or if you're experienced with keto and want to make it easy and tasty, this one's for you."Easing in" VS Zero to Keto in 16 hours?In my previous newsletters, I've talked about taking it slow and not going "full keto" within 24 hours. Easing into keto gradually can be helpful, especially if you normally tend to eat meals high in carbs. Too fast a transition to a fat-heavy diet can upset your stomach and lead to loose stools, which can make social life the wrong kind of "exciting" for a few days. After eating carbs for a while, I've often preferred to prepare my body by gradually increasing the amount of fats in my diet for 1-5 days before going full keto (<20-50 g of carbs / day, 70-75% energy from fats, 20% from protein, depending on my goal).For me, this has meant adding more fats like extra-virgin olive oil and butter into my foods, preferring plant-based bowl foods like veggies and avocados with eggs and tuna, and leaving out potatoes, starches, rice and oats.However, a faster route is also possible: Simply enjoying a simple low-carb meal 2-3 hours before bedtime, and starting my day with an Ambronite Keto Meal Shake Chocolate.The last time I followed this simple method, my evening meal was an avocado with some cherry tomatoes, a handful of almonds and a salad with greens and veggies like spinach and broccoli with some tasty extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and tasty Italian balsamic vinegar. This "pre-keto" evening meal doesn't even have to be ketogenic or too strict with limiting carbs: I've noticed that for me, it can easily contain 10-20 grams of carbs, although I'll reach ketosis a bit faster if it has less.With Arno, we've turned our salad game into an art form. Here's Arno's simple yet elegant recipe for the first evening of Zero to Keto in 16 Hours. It's ketogenic and packed with gut and stomach healthy fibre to aid with the transition, so it's a great choice for any keto meal.Arno's Big Keto Dinner SaladCalories (kcal): 600-650 kcal in total (scale to half for smaller appetites!)Prep time: 10 minIngredients:1 avocado (~300 kcal)1-2 boiled eggs (~75 kcal each) and / or handful of nuts (e.g. macadamias are great)2-3 cups of spinach (~7 kcal per cup, 30 g) or other greensHalf cup (50 - 100 g) cherry tomatoes (~15 kcal)30 g olives (~30 kcal)Optionally add feta cheese on top.Preparation: Mix spinach and greens in a bowl, add avocado, add eggs. Voila!Top it off: Extra virgin olive oil (1 tbsp), balsamic vinegar, squeeze of lemon juice, salt, pepper.Pro tip: You can add more olive oil for more keto-friendly calories: 1 tbsp is ~120 kcal. Also, you can add more eggs or nuts for more protein.The role of this evening meal is to aid with the fast zero-to-keto transition while being stomach-friendly.In the morning, I'll have a full Ambronite Keto Meal Shake.Then I'll just wait for a few hours.Normally when transitioning into ketosis, I'd go for a long walk or easy jog while listening to music or podcasts or take calls on work days, but with the keto-accelerating mix of premium fats and MCTs in the Ambronite Keto Meal Shake, this isn't even required.Before dinner on the same day, I've reached ketosis. Often my ketones pop to over 0,5 mmol/L roughly during the time I'd normally reach for an afternoon snack, around 3 PM.Within 4-5 hours after my Keto Meal Shake breakfast, a simple CareSens blood measurement from my finger tip reveals that my blood ketones are at 0.6-0.7 mmol/L.With very little effort, I'm now in ketosis, and already enjoying many of the benefits - including fat burn, weight loss and satiety.Cravings and hunger are a common question at this stage. Hiding high-carb treats can make everything easier. Personally, I don't even feel the need to hide the high carb treats and snacks in my house anymore, because the craving-stopping effect of keto is pretty strong for me once I pass the 0.6 mmol/L threshold. Don't try this at home if it's your first time though, or if you know you love your high-carb treats A LOT.It's weird to look at your favorite treats and not feel tempted to munch on one!This shouldn't be too surprising though: blood ketone levels of around 0.6 mmol/L and over seem to suppress the hunger hormone ghrelin that's partly responsible for the cravings we normally feel.Optimal ketone levels for weight loss: 1-3 mmol/LWhat's the optimal keto level to lose weight and burn fat?The optimal level of ketosis is best measured by the concentration of ketone bodies in blood. When we restrict carbs, fast, or exercise intensely for several hours, ketone bodies are produced by the liver from fatty acids and used by our body and brain for energy. Ketone bodies consist of the water-soluble molecules acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB, popular in exogenous ketone products) and acetone.The sweet spot and optimal ketosis for weight loss is between 1-3 mmol/L. When I'm above 1 mmol/L, I start to feel the satiety effect keto is known for more clearly. It's a strange feeling of clarity to be free of the "urge" to snack on something.Reaching the optimal ketone level for weight loss typically takes 2-3 days for me, but can be achieved within a single day with meals that are designed to not only support, but accelerate ketosis.How I measure my blood ketones affordably at homeThe best way I've found to measure my level of ketosis is a blood sugar and ketone level measuring device like the KetoSens Ketone Monitor Kit.This is the one I use to measure my ketone and blood glucose levels. I've also tried the Precision Xtra Blood Glucose and Ketone Monitoring System and the KETO-MOJO system, but prefer the KetoSens for convenience, price, and the fact that it needs less blood to get a reading and wastes less of the expensive ketone strips. A kit for blood glucose and ketone measurement can be obtained for $40-50 or 36-45 € - I paid $40 (38€) for my kit, and it came with 10 keto measurement strips and a lancet (Count Dracula's tool for medical-grade finger tip poking for the blood).The single use keto strips fed into the blood ketone measurement device are typically model-specific and tend to be a bit pricey when bought in small batches - I've found they can cost up to $1 or 1€ each in boxes of 10! In my experience, this is hardly enough when starting out. A week's worth of measurements can cost $7-20 or 6-18 € if I'm doing an experiment, so to save a bit of money, I've ordered these in larger packs of 50 keto strips and 50 lancets.There are also breath analyzers like the Swedish Ketonix device, that you essentially exhale into for a breath ketone reading. I've tried the Ketonix and met their team members at Biohacker Summit. The tech is really cool, and allows for unlimited measurements throughout the day at no extra cost, eg. after every meal if you wish (no strips, no needles!). I love the fact that it's non-invasive and doesn't require you to poke a small needle through your finger for a drop of blood. However, since it relies on measuring exhaled ketones in the breath, namely acetone, I've found it isn't as useful for me as blood ketone measurements, which are the medical-grade gold standard. Furthermore, comparing breath and blood ketone levels is complicated as the Ketonix team points out. Referencing and comparing my data with other people and clinical studies is more straightforward with blood measurement devices, since these are used by studies and lots of folks doing these n=1 measurements.You can also use the urine strips to measure your ketone levels. These reagent strips for urinalysis are originally made for diabetics, so you can find them in pharmacies everywhere for roughly $10 or 10 € for 100 strips. I've used the Bayer Ketostix that are widely available in pharmacies in the US and Europe. After soaking a strip in urine, you get a rough estimate of your ketone levels, indicated by the changing color on the tip. Determining exact ketone levels with these is almost impossible, so I rarely use them anymore. They're cheap but not ideal because of their low reliability, especially when you're just entering ketosis and are at or around 0.5-2 mmol/L. And frankly, I don't enjoy peeing on measurement strips that much.The difference between keto-compatible and keto-accelerating meals? With the right meals, it's possible to get into ketosis faster than with normal ketogenic meals. The optimal mix of premium fats and medium chain triglycerides or MCTs that are rapidly turned into ketones by the liver without requiring the actions of bile and rapidly promote ketogenesis in humans.This is exactly what we designed Ambronite Keto Meal Shake to do: make it easy for everyone to start and reach optimal ketosis for weight loss, fat burning, and experience all keto health benefits faster than with any other meal, without giving up on convenience and great taste.Typically, just one or two 400-calorie Keto Meal Shakes are enough to get me into the beneficial ketosis zone where I can also feel the benefits.A medium-carb or low-carb evening meal (which can also be a Keto Meal Shake for even faster results) and a Keto Meal Shake breakfast later, you will be in ketosis.Most people who prefer keto for shedding extra
