The ketogenic diet simply means a diet rich in fats but low in carbohydrates. It is recommended for a person who desires a weight loss and has been proven scientifically to help in reducing risk factors in diabetes, heart diseases, strokes, epilepsy, and more.
The ketogenic diet is able to do all these by putting your body in a state of metabolic ketosis. While in ketosis your body uses ketone bodies for energy instead of glucose. A massive amount of ketone bodies is derived from fats, while glucose is made out of carbohydrates.
You achieve a state of ketosis when you consume more fats and burn more calories. Excess glucose in the blood can cause major damage hence the reason to abstain from carbohydrates and start moderating on diet rich in protein and fats. Ketosis usually occurs within the range of three days to one week, working religiously on a keto diet.
THE TRUTH ABOUT FATS AND CARBOHYDRATES
There are many myths on fats consumption which have been rebuffed by the emergence of scientific researches. Dozens of studies and meta-studies with over 900,000 subjects have arrived at the conclusion that fat is good for consumption. This has come at the height of a series of 'fatty' misconceptions, and which include:
- Eating any amount of fats will make you gain weight.
- There is only one type of fat and it causes heart failure.
- Fat is bad for you and should be avoided.
- Fat has no nutritional and metabolic purpose.
- Fat is more harmful while carbs are less harmful
But in truth, fats are needed to lose weight, reduce heart failure risks, and a large quantity of which is more beneficial than a large chunk of consumed carbs. If you eat a high-carb diet, your body burns glucose for fuel. Excess glucose raises insulin which acts to drive up your weight, heart failure, and epilepsy. Whereas all that your body needs are ketone bodies for your liver to be able to burn fats for fuel.
In essence what you got to know as myths of fats are actually what you should have held in mind against carbohydrates, and vice-versa. Fats are staging a comeback in a new world of improved scientific researches.
WHAT TO EAT AND WHAT NOT TO EAT
Basically, the keto diet is a switch from foods high in carbohydrates, low in fats, to the contrary. So it is more like a choice, a dietary preference of one at the expense of another.
When trying a keto diet, foods rich in carbohydrates should be avoided for foods low in them. Here are some of the foods to avoid for the keto diet:
- Sugary foods: smoothies, cakes, ice-cream, candy, etc.
- Grains or starches: rice, pasta, cereal, etc.
- Fruit: all fruits
- Beans or legumes: lentils, peas, chickpeas, etc.
- Alcohol: all alcoholic drinks
- All processed foods
And here are some foods not to avoid:
- Meat: red meat, steak, sausage, chicken, turkey, etc.
- Seafood: salmon, trout, tuna, etc.
- Avocados: whole or freshly made
- Eggs: all eggs
- Vegetables: vegetables that grow above ground
AVOIDING THE KETO FLU AND WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU CHEAT
Many people cheat for many reasons, prominent among them is the keto flu. By cheating, I mean having to go back on high-carbs after renouncing. What happens to someone who cheats depends on how fat-adapted he is. Some people lack the patience to go on carbs strike and so have to revert. The punishment is that they are forced to start all over again when the target is not met.
Keto flu occurs to keto dieters due to a low level of sodium and electrolytes. The symptoms associated include:
- Fatigue
- Headache
- Nausea
- Irritability
- Cough
- Sniffles
But the keto flu can be avoided by adding more sodium and electrolytes to your diet. This can be done by adding more salt to your food, drinking soup broth and eating plenty of bacon.
BENEFITS OF THE KETOGENIC DIET
Some of the benefits of the ketogenic diet include:
- Weight loss
- Reduction in fats
- Reduced sugar level
- Better levels of good cholesterol
- Elimination of blood glucose spikes
- Reductions in blood pressure
- Consistent energy levels
- A significant adjustment in eating habits
7 Steps You Should Follow Before Starting the Keto Diet
Starting a keto diet can be quite difficult especially when you are new to it. Trying to limit your carb consumption and rather turn to one that helps you burn fat could be a herculean task. This is more so because a keto diet is very different from the kind of diet you are used to.
Keto diet has been known to reduce cases of diabetes as it puts the body in a condition called ketosis. However, knowing the things to do before you begin your first keto diet could make the whole processes bearable. Here are therefore the 7 steps you should follow before starting your first keto diet.
Know what’s allowed and what isn’t
The first thing to know when starting out on your keto diet is knowing what food items contain carb and the ones that do not. Knowing this will help you to avoid carb-containing foods in your keto diet pursuit. For instance, fruits are very heavy with carbs. So, if you are a frequent fruit lover, you may want to cut down on them to reduce your carb.
It is also good to know that not all protein contains food are absent of carbs. Beans for example, despite being a protein food, also some measure of carbs. Your best bet is to stick mostly with fatty foods like meat, butter, oil, and fish.
Become closer to with fatty foods
Now that you are just starting on your keto diet, it is very advisable that you become closer to fatty food. If you have not been cooking with much oil, then start doing so, even as you eat more meat, consume more butter, and fishes. Build your food regime with more fat containing food items.
Source for more keto-friendly recipes
Go online and browse through many keto teaching websites to get more recipes so you do not get easily tired as you exhaust your list of known keto food items. Having more recipes to prepare a keto friendly meal makes the staying on a keto diet more bearable and even enjoyable.
Bulletproof coffee is one of the drinks you should be taking
There are many keto friendly drinks out there. One of them is the bulletproof coffee. This coffee is made when coconut oil and butter are commixed and added to coffee. However, if you have a heart diseases history, you should reduce the addition of coconut into your coffee when making the bulletproof coffee. If you are not sure you do, please consult your doctor.
Bring your family along on your keto journey
Letting your family know you are on a keto diet would not send them into a sudden shock when you refuse to eat most of the family foods. They would understand already that you are keto dieting. When your family is aware of your keto pursuit, you get some form of a support system when it seems the keto journey is seeming more difficult than you thought.
Expect some side effects
You will definitely experience some of the side effects of a keto diet. Some of the very common ones are the ‘keto flu’ and some weakness in your limbs. The ‘keto flu’ is generally used to refer to that period of adaptation your body goes through when you are just starting out on the diet.
After the keto diet, what next?
You should have an after-plan after your keto diet is done as you are not meant to stay on the keto diet forever. It is also not a permanent weight loss plan. So get an after-plan in place and ready.
This is most of the information you really need to get you started on the keto diet. However, if you find it too restrictive, you might want to try The South Beach Diet which is low in carbs the first two to four weeks of the plan.
