Glycerol is a component of fat (yes, it's the backbone the actual fatty acids hang off of).
Glycerol is actually recommended to help stave off or stabilize hypoglycemia (see Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, for one), as it is processed by the liver (the home of ketosis) into glucose as needed, but more slowly than the normal glucose transport route through the stomach and intestinal walls and straight into the bloodstream).
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In ketosis, fat is partially burned to form a ketone body. And the glycerin is released as fuel in ketosis
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Actually, glycerol is released in lipolysis, where the fat molecules get broken down; the glycerol is processed in the liver and the fatty acids remaining (
triGLYCerides) are broken down and metabolized by the glucagon (insulin's partner in blood sugar management) producing ketone bodies of various sorts which are then burned for energy... THAT burning is ketosis.
Glycerol, as a natural component of fatty acids, is a
much smaller amount than is ingested through a processed food product like a bar. e.g., 1:3 ratio (
triGLYCerides) of glycerol/fatty acid means for every gram of glycerol there are 3 grams of fat... so to EAT, say, 15g of glycerol as in a bar, there's a solid 45g or so of fat (now how many calories would that be, I wonder). And since we
normally don't eat fats in isolation, all that fat is usually attached to some kind of protein... that's one big hunk of fatty meat we'd have to eat to get that much glycerol "naturally". It's also a lot of our own fatty acids we'd be burning.
These basics are in the primers of biochemistry. Facts.
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So if you are in ketosis, consuming glycerin in protein bars is not going to take you out of ketosis. You are already producing a ton of glycerin from ketosis.
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Well, then, not quite... the ketosis is managed by the glucagon in the bloodstream which permits the breakdown of stored body fat into free fatty acids, etc. etc., starting with the glycogen in the liver and THEN working it's way out to the long term storage elsewhere in the body. EXCESS or large amounts (relative to NORMAL amounts) of glycerin, being metabolized in the liver to glucose/glycogen, can and often does raise blood glucose levels, in turn raising insulin levels, in turn lowering glucagon levels and, for many
slow metabolisms (differing strongly from athletic or fast metabolisms) halting ketosis. The metabolism and the volume of glycerol will both have an impact on how long it is before ketosis is achieved again.
You just skipped the whole lipolysis/glucagon/liver part...