Everybody is asking, what is Ketogenic Diet and should you try it?
Well of course, Ketogenic Diet is just like any other form of diet plans in the market – to promote a healthy way to lose weight.
But this particular form of diet actually has therapeutic health benefits, and some even says that it can even promote medical effects.
So to start with, Ketogenic Diet is quite a beneficial diet for most people with certain health conditions, but not for everyone.
Interested in Ketogenic Diet? Read on and learn if this diet regimen is the perfect solution to your weight gain dilemma.
What is Ketogenic Diet?
According to diet experts, Ketogenic Diet is a very low-carb, high-fat diet, which is a very common trait from other diet regimens such as Atkins or Paleo diet.
It works by significantly reducing carbohydrate intake while increasing fat intake. This reduction in carbs will make your body to trigger a metabolic stated called by experts as “ketosis” (1).
Ketosis is a a body process that enhances its fat burning efficiency for energy. It also converts fat into “ketones” in the liver which gives energy for your brain.
So basically, Ketogenic Diet is focused on burning more fat which gives you noticeable results.
The key benefits of Ketogenic Diet is its capacity to reduce blood sugar and insulin levels. This diet also boosts your body’s metabolism away from carbohydrates and towards ketones and fats.
What “Keto” Means?
The word “Keto” in Ketogenic Diet means ketones, a small fuel molecules produced by the body.
Ketones are alternative source of energy, used specifically when blood sugar or glucose, is running short of supply.
Your liver produces ketones from fat, then it serves as fuel source throughout the body especially for brain function.
So following a Ketogenic Diet means using ketones as its fuel supply to use body fat, burning more body fat in the process (2). This can be supported by the fact that when your body is low insulin levels, significant burning of fat occurs.
How does Ketogenic Diet Work?
Eating a low-carb diet will make your body to run out of fuel or blood sugar quickly than normal, typically 4 days.
The “keto” in a ketogenic diet comes from the fact that it allows the body to produce small fuel molecules called “ketones”.
This is the easiest way to lose weight as ketones uses your fat stores to burn them off continuously.
When your body produces more ketones, it triggers a metabolic state called “ketosis“.
You can reach this state by simply fasting, but not all people can fast for weight loss. On a Ketogenic Diet, you can eat indefinitely while reaching ketosis, so you get more benefits of fasting including weight loss (3).
A Unconventional Way to Lose Fat
So Ketogenic Diet offers a unique way of burning fat – by eating fat itself!
Well, or bodies really knows how to adapt to either times of abundance or scarcity, by using carbohydrates metabolism to fat metabolism.
Eating fat doesn’t necessarily boost your insulin levels, compared to carbs or protein intake. So Ketogenic Diet won’t increase your insulin levels and definitely won’t going to store fat, but burn it!
Foods to Eat on a Ketogenic Diet
This diet focuses on low-carb and high-fat diet, so we now know what foods to expect with Ketogenic Diet.
This diet regimen usually limits 20 to 50 grams per day of carbohydrates, which is quite challenging to many people. However, dozens of nutritious foods fall into this category.
So limiting your carbohydrate intake while increasing fat may be beneficial not only for your weight loss program but also for your overall health.
The following foods are perfect for people who wanted to lose weight, and improve their immune system against chronic diseases such as cancers and diabetes.
Non-Starchy Vegetables
Obviously, non-starchy vegetables are low in both calories and carbs, but offers significant amounts of nutrients, minerals and vitamins.
These vegetables also contain fiber, which is highly essential to your digestive and cardiovascular health. Fiber doesn’t easily digested and absorbed by the body like other carbs, a truly perfect foods for Ketogenic Diet.
Such foods include broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, artichoke, asparagus, beets, beans and many others. These vegetables also carries a good amounts of antioxidants, which can help fight disease-causing free radicals.
Avocados
To be specific, most people on Ketogenic Diet eat avocados. This is the reason why hundreds of pictures in the Internet use avocado fruit as a model for this particular diet.
If you are not yet aware, this fruit is extremely healthy for your body. A 100 grams of avocado only contain 9 grams of carbs, 7 of which are actually fiber, so the total carbs only amounts to 2 grams.
Avocados are also high in vitamins, minerals and good cholesterol, which helps improve overall cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Meat and Poultry Foods
Ketogenic Diet is also focused on meats and poultry foods, and they are even considered as key part of this diet regimen.
Fresh meat and poultry products contain zero carbohydrates while providing you protein, potassium, selecnium, zinc, B vitamins and other numerous minerals.
Protein alone helps preserve muscle mass especially if you are on a very low-carb diet such as Ketogenic Diet.
Studies suggest that grass-fed meat have higher amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and antioxidants. So always choose this type of meat in the market.
Seafoods
Another keto-friendly foods are fish, shellfish and other delicious seafoods. They are rich in vitamins, potassium, selenium and most of them have almost no carbs.
Plus, salmons, sardines, mackerel and other seafoods are high in omega-3 fats, which can help lower insulin levels while increasing insulin sensitivity among obese and overweight individuals.
Dark Chocolates
Like other food on this list, dark chocolates are quite delicious and nutritious as well. They are packed with antioxidants, at least considered in the likes of berry fruits.
Dark chocolates contain flavanols, which helps improve heart function and lowers blood pressure levels.
Many people use dark chocolates as part of their Ketogenic Diet, but it is important to choose dark chocolates that at least has 70% cocoa solids or more.
Cheese and Eggs
First off, cheese is very nutritious and delicious as well. With hundred kinds of cheese, all of them are are fortunately very low in carbs and high in fat, a perfect food for Ketogenic Diet.
Cheese contain saturated fat, which you may think unhealthy. But experts suggest that cheese hasn’t been shown to increase the risk of heart disease and may even help protect against it.
Like meats, cheese has conjugated linoleic acid, which is linked to fat loss and body composition improvements.
Eggs on the other hand, contains less than 1 gram of carbs, and offers at least 6 grams of protein. Another perfect food for Ketogenic Diet.
Most of the nutrients in egg are found in its yolk, which includes antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, both of which are beneficial for your eye health.
Though eggs contain cholesterol, experts suggest that it doesn’t raise blood cholesterol levels in most people following Ketogenic Diet. It may even help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds are high in fat but very low in carbs, of course a perfect fit for this type of diet program.
Some of the nuts and seeds that most people eat on a Ketogenic Diet include almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, cashews, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachos, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and many others.
Nut and seeds contain a lot of fiber, making them digestive and heart-friendly foods. Most of these foods provide zero to eight grams of net carbs per ounce.
Berries
Aside from avocados, berry fruits are the second fruit group that you can eat on a Ketogenic Diet.
Why? Because berries are low in carbohydrates but contains substantial amounts of nutrients, minerals, vitamins, fiber and antioxidants, making them quite essential to our health.
Some of the most ideal berries that you can eat include blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.
Other notable foods that you can eat in Ketogenic Diet include olives, butter and cream, unsweetened coffee, green tea, plain greek yogurt, and coconut and olive oils.
Brief Summary on Ketogenic Diet’s Overall Health Benefits
So this diet program can give you numerous health benefits, and experts say that you can get these benefits from it in the first three to six months compared to other diet plans.
The most obvious benefit is of course weight loss (4).
A high-fat, high-protein and low-carb diet can truly satisfy you more, so you tend to eat less. The theory is this, it takes more calories to change fat into energy than it does to change carbohydrates into energy.
The next important benefit is its anti-cancer properties. As you can see from the food list above, Ketogenic Diet is packed with foods that are high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that can help shield your systems from cancer diseases.
And aside from cancers, Ketogenic Diet foods such as berries, avocados, dark chocolates, nuts, and many others will help you to lower your risk of heart diseases. These foods can significantly lower your bad cholesterol and your blood pressure levels.
Low-carb diets also helps keep your blood sugar levels low, preventing your from developing Type 2 diabetes.
Ketogenic Diet also helps athletes by raising the amount of oxygen their bodies are able to use when it’s at their limit. So basically, this diet supports endurance athletes such as cyclists and runners, to achieve their fitness needs.
Other people suggests that Ketogenic Diet can help prevent diseases such as polycystic ovary syndrome, nervous system disorders, epilepsy and even acne.
What are the Possible Side Effects?
Since you are limiting your carb while increasing fat intake, there’s no denying that Ketogenic Diet may trigger adverse health effects.
Some of the most common side effects include digestive disorders such as constipation, indigestion and diarrhea, mild low blood sugar, and acidosis (high levels of acid in the body) (5).
There are isolated reports of kidney stones though the cause wasn’t verified to be from following Ketogenic Diet.
Other notable side effects include irritability, weakness, bad breath, fatigue and headache. Some people reports flu-like symptoms and is called “keto flu“.
To ensure a safe diet program, consult your doctor first before you start Ketogenic Diet.
Is Ketogenic Diet for You?
Ketogenic Diet is one of the best diets out there in the market, and thousands have allegedly benefited from using this diet plan.
With its popularity, hundreds or even thousands of “ketone-based” supplements and diet programs popped up online such as Raspberry Ketone Max and many others.
Check out this search query about Ketogenic Diet in Amazon and see how big of a market this is.
Or, you can try Keto Diet from Vita Balance Limited. This supplement is one of the bestselling brands for keto-based weight loss program.
But is Ketogenic Diet truly for you? Well, first things first – your health.
Like any other diet programs out there, Ketogenic Diet is not for everyone and can inflict short term or permanent damage to your health if done wrong.
First, when your body burns its stores of fat, it can give a big burden on your kidneys.
Starting a Ketogenic Diet or going back to your original diet regimen afterward, can cause health issues especially if you are obese and prone to health conditions such as diabetes, heart problems or high blood pressure.
So if this sounds like you, then you have to follow a cautious and slow diet changes and only with the guidance of your doctor or dietitian.
For me, I suggest that you eat real, whole, fresh foods when you are on a Keto diet. But do it in moderation and feel if your body is at ease with this type of diet.
Remember, what matters the most is your overall health so choose the best quality food for your health and rest assured that you will have a happy and healthy life.
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References:
Ketogenic Diet
by: Wajeed Masood, Pavan Annamaraju, and Kalyan R. Uppaluri
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499830/
Biochemistry, Ketogenesis
by: Kiranjut K Dhillon, and Sonu Gupta
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493179/
Long-Term Effects of a Ketogenic Diet in Obese Patients
by: Hussein Dashti, Thazhumpal Mathew, Talib Hussein, Sami Asfar, Abdulla Behbahani, Mousa A Khoursheed, Hilal Al-Sayer, Yousef Bo-Abbas and Naji Al-Zaid
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/
Effects of a High-Protein Ketogenic Diet on Hunger, Appetite, and Weight Loss in Obese Men Feeding Ad Libitum
by: Alexandra M Johnstone, Graham W Horgan, Sandra D Murison, David M Bremner, and Gerald E Lobley
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18175736/
Ketogenic Diets: Boon or Bane?
by: Joshi Shilpa, and Viswanathan Mohan
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6251269/
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