Eating too much protein can reduce your ketone levels or even knock you out of ketosis completely. This is due to the fact that some amino acids in the proteins you eat stimulate an insulin response and provide substrates that fuel gluconeogenesis. Both higher insulin levels and gluconeogenesis can keep your liver from firing up the process of ketogenesis to produce more ketones.

In general, as long as you follow these recommendations, you should be able to get all of the benefits of protein without missing out on the power of ketosis:

• If you are sedentary — consume 0.6 – 0.8g of protein per pound of lean body mass.
• If you are regularly active — have 0.8 – 1.0g of protein per pound of lean body mass.
• If you lift weights — eat 1.0 – 1.2g of protein per pound of lean body mass.

To find out exactly how much protein you should eat, use our keto calculator. For a deeper look at how amino acids trigger insulin and slow ketone production, what the research shows about protein and ketosis walks through the mechanisms in full detail.