Ketogenic Diet
What the heck is the ketogenic diet? How it works and what are the claims it made?
Keto diet or ketogenic diet actually is a type of diet that has a high percentage of fats and low carbs as compared to a standard diet. In this article, we tried to provide you with a complete guide on the keto diet.
Basics of Nutrition
Before we get into the keto diet, let’s discuss some very simple nutrition basics. There are three major macronutrient groups, proteins, fats, and carbs. These are nutrients that we find in the foods we eat every day. This standard diet consists of 35% of fats,15% of proteins, and 50% of carbs.
But in a ketogenic diet, there is a drastic change with 75% being fats, 20% being proteins, and only 5% being carbs.
How does Keto Diet work?
Let’s assume, we have switched from our standard diet to a ketogenic diet, what changes happen inside the body? The body deals with this low carb consumption in two ways:
First, it enters a state called ketosis (a metabolic state in which Fats provide most of the energy to the body) which shifts your body’s energy source to primary fats. This means that it breaks down fats and then uses those for energy.
Body begins to burn fat as its primary energy source and moves away from carbohydrates. The process of going into ketosis does take a few days, and during those days, people experience some adverse side effects too.
The second process your body uses is gluconeogenesis (the body’s ability to produce glucose from non-carbohydrate sources), which sounds scary, but it’s not. A fact here is that for survival purposes, you don’t need to consume any carbs as long as you’re getting enough fats and proteins.
Benefits of Keto Diet:
Let’s take a look at the benefits of keto diet and find out what’s true, and what’s not.
The Ketogenic Diet is Good for Weight Loss:
The ketogenic diet is good for weight loss and it happens through two important mechanisms.
First; since fats are used as a primary source of energy, you’re burning a lot of fats stored in the body.
Second; because fats are very satiating. They make you feel full.
People look surprised when they start a keto diet. That they started losing weight very quickly, but that’s a little misleading. Because the weight loss comes from water loss, not from fat loss.
But for those who are seeking long-term weight loss, the diet is not very sustainable.
It’s a farewell day, all your friends are going to get ice cream, cookies, and milkshakes. And you can’t have any cause you are on a diet. You have to be super vigilant when you’re on a keto diet because carbs have a nasty habit of just sneaking into your foods.
Keto Diet Prevents Many Chronic Diseases.
When we talk about the role of the keto diet in chronic diseases. There is a yes and no because in certain diseases it helps a lot. And in some cases, ketogenic diet is not recommended at all.
Type II Diabetes
A keto diet really works in Type II Diabetes. Because when you have Type II Diabetes, you have high sugar content in the blood and have insulin sensitivity issues. Researches have shown that the ketogenic diet for Type II Diabetes works wonders.
Childhood Epilepsy
The keto diet actually got its roots in Childhood Epilepsi. The ketogenic diet is prescribed to children who have refractory epileptic seizures. It has been found that ketosis has a decreased frequency of these seizures. It has a proven effect on this disease.
Oncology
The keto diet has shown some promises in the field of oncology, aka cancer. It’s not ready to be a premier cancer treatment yet. But it is supported to be a preventive measure for developing cancer.
Keto Diet is Good for the Brain.
Some people say that they feel more focused and sharper when on a keto diet.
Harms of Keto Diet
When there are many benefits of a keto diet. There also some harms too that can arise from following a ketogenic diet:
• Nutritional deficiencies from cutting out large groups.
• Increase in your “bad” LDL cholesterol.
• Kidney issues, bone issues, and even the increase of certain cancers when you’re overeating foods like processed or red meat.
Final Thoughts on Keto Diet:
I think it’s a good diet for weight loss. It’s better for short-term weight loss but not long-term weight loss. The fact that the diet is very difficult to sustain. Because you have to drastically change your eating patterns. So if you have a function that you’re getting ready for or some kind of big event that’s upcoming. I don’t think it’s a bad diet to go along.