Keto diet: how many carbs a day?
Most keto protocols say 20-50g of carbohydrates per day. That's the standard answer, and it works for entering ketosis. But the more useful question is whether you need keto at all, or whether you just need to know which carbs your body handles well and which it doesn't.
The standard keto numbers
Strict keto: under 20g net carbs per day. Moderate keto: 20-50g. These thresholds push your body into ketosis, where it burns fat for fuel instead of glucose. For some people this produces significant weight loss, reduced cravings, and stable energy. The research supports short-to-medium term efficacy for weight loss.
The research is less supportive of long-term adherence. Most people find strict carbohydrate restriction difficult to maintain beyond a few months. When they return to eating carbs, the weight often returns, because the underlying glucose-insulin dynamics haven't changed. You've avoided the problem rather than understanding it.
The question keto doesn't answer
Keto treats all carbohydrates as essentially equivalent: something to minimise. But your body doesn't process all carbs the same way. A bowl of white rice and a bowl of lentils are both "carbs," but they produce very different glucose responses. The rice might spike you to 11 mmol/L; the lentils might barely move the needle.
Individual variation makes this even more unpredictable. The same food produces different glucose responses in different people, depending on gut microbiome, insulin sensitivity, sleep, stress, and dozens of other factors. Glycemic index tables give you a population average. Your body gives you a specific answer, and it might be very different from the average.
What a glucose monitor shows you
A CGM reveals which carbohydrates your body handles well and which it doesn't. You might discover that sourdough bread barely moves your glucose while a banana spikes it sharply. You might find that rice after a workout is fine but rice at dinner causes a crash at midnight. The data is specific to you.
This matters because the goal isn't to avoid carbs forever. The goal is to eat in a way that keeps your glucose stable, your energy consistent, and your metabolism functioning well. For some people that means very low carb. For others it means choosing the right carbs at the right times. You can't know which camp you're in without seeing the data.
How Nico approaches this
Nico doesn't prescribe a keto diet or any other diet. The AI coaching reads your glucose data and helps you identify which meals work for your body and which don't. If certain carbs spike you, you'll see it and get guidance on alternatives or timing changes. If your body handles carbs well after exercise, you'll see that too.
The result is usually more nuanced than "eat fewer carbs." It's a personalised map of how your metabolism responds to food, built from your own data over weeks. Most of our members end up eating more variety than they expected, not less, because the data shows them where the real problems are rather than restricting everything as a precaution.
Ready to see what your metabolism is actually doing?