What is the ketogenic diet and how to eat it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Ideal for fans of fatty meat, indifferent to bread and sweets.

What is the essence of the ketogenic diet

On a ketogenic diet, you eat a lot of fatty foods and exclude all flour and sweets. 60–70% of all calories in the Ketogenic Diet should come from fat, 20–30% from protein and only 10% from carbohydrates. Particular attention is paid to carbohydrates: you cannot eat more than 50 g per day, regardless of your weight and calorie consumption.

Fats can be obtained from vegetable oils and lard, meat and fish, cheese, sour cream, unsweetened yogurt, eggs, avocados, and nuts. Most of these foods also contain enough protein to fit into the daily allowance of 1.5–2 g per kilogram of body weight. You only get carbohydrates from vegetables, unsweetened fruits and berries to get enough vitamins. No usual side dishes: porridge, pasta, potatoes. Absolute ban on sweets and alcohol.

How do you lose weight on a keto diet?

Carbohydrates are the body's main fuel. When you consume less than 50 g of carbohydrates per day, their stores in the body are depleted within 24 hours, and the body begins to break down fat and use fatty acids for energy.

However, not all organs can feed on fats: the brain simply needs glucose or some kind of replacement.

To obtain glucose, the liver makes ketone bodies from fatty acids: acetoacetate, which is then converted to beta-hydroxybutyrate and nourishes the brain, heart, kidneys, muscles and other tissues. Acetone is formed as a metabolic product, therefore, its concentration in the urine increases, and the breath becomes sweet.

In general, ketones are constantly produced in the body, their concentration in the blood is about 0.2-0.5 mmol / l. When their level rises A randomized trial of classical and medium-chain triglyceride ketogenic diets in the treatment of childhood epilepsy to 0.5-5 mmol / L, nutritional ketosis sets in. It is not hazardous to health, unlike ketoacidosis, in which the concentration of ketone bodies rises to 10-25 mmol / l. This condition can occur in those dying of hunger.

Despite the fact that you do not cut calories in your diet, in a state of ketosis the body begins to get rid of Ketogenic Diet for Obesity: Friend or Foe? from fat reserves. Since the level of glucose in the blood tends to zero, the production of the hormone insulin is inhibited, and with it lipogenesis - the deposition of fat in reserve.

What's more, does the keto diet reduce Do ketogenic diets really suppress appetite? A systematic review and meta-analysis, appetite, which also helps you lose weight: you do not count calories and do not rush into eating food.

How much can you lose on a ketogenic diet?

Everything here is individual. In a review of Effects of Low-Carbohydrate vs Low-Fat Diets on Weight Loss and Cardiovascular Risk Factors from six studies on the ketogenic diet, participants lost 3.2 to 12 kg in six months. If you take the average of all the results in the review, you get about 6 kg in 6 months.

Who should try the keto diet

Despite the complexity of the early days and strict restrictions, for some people the ketogenic diet is ideal. It is worth trying it:

• For those who love meat. If you cannot live without it and fatty foods, and are indifferent to sweets and bread, the keto diet is your option.
• For those who want to lose weight without losing muscle mass. Efficacy of ketogenic diet on body composition during resistance training in trained men: a randomized controlled trial helps to lose fat, including visceral fat, while maintaining lean muscle mass. Moreover, the diet does not affect the strength performance in elite artistic gymnasts on the strength indicators, so it is quite suitable for strength athletes and bodybuilders. Although it will not work to build muscle.
• People with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Due to disruptions in the production of insulin, diabetics are forced to take this hormone in order to avoid sudden surges in blood sugar. The Keto diet greatly reduces its level, Management of Type 1 Diabetes With a Very Low-Carbohydrate Diet. But before switching to a keto diet, you should consult with your doctor.
• Those who want to keep their brain healthy. Ketogenic diet positively Effects of two weight-loss diets on health-related quality of life affects mental and emotional health, protects Ketogenic Diet in Neuromuscular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Evaluation of a carbohydrate-free diet for patients with severe head injury, Dietary ketosis enhances memory in mild cognitive impairment of the brain from neurodegenerative diseases, helps with migraines Short term improvement of migraine headaches during ketogenic diet: a prospective observational study in a dietician clinical setting and epilepsy Ketogenic diet for treatment of epilepsy.
• For those who want to reduce the risk of atherosclerosis. The diet reduces A ketogenic diet favorably affects serum biomarkers for cardiovascular disease in normal-weight men the amount of "bad" cholesterol and blood fats and increases the percentage of "good".
• For those who are afraid of cancer. Ketogenic diet restricts reactive oxygen species and reduces inflammation Ketogenic diet benefits body composition and well-being but not performance in a pilot case study of New Zealand endurance athletes, Consuming a hypocaloric high fat low carbohydrate diet for 12 weeks lowers C-reactive protein, and raises serum adiponectin and high density lipoprotein-cholesterol in obese subjects - a factor that is often associated with the occurrence of oncology.
• Runners and triathletes. If you are a cyclical endurance athlete, the keto diet can improve your Keto-adaptation enhances exercise performance and body composition responses to training in endurance athletes.

Who shouldn't be on a ketogenic diet

This diet is contraindicated:

• People with kidney and liver diseases of the Ketogenic Diet, fatty acid oxidation disorders.
• Team sports, crossfitters, middle distance runners. If classes involve a long stay in anaerobic mode, the keto diet will lower your low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet impairs anaerobic exercise performance in exercise-trained women and men: a randomized-sequence crossover trial.
• People with fragile bones. Possible side effects of the diet include changes in the Progressive bone mineral content loss in children with intractable epilepsy treated with the ketogenic diet in bone mineral composition, which can lead to an increased risk of fractures.

Is it difficult to stick to a ketogenic diet?

The keto diet is not the easiest diet, especially at first. When your body begins to lack glucose, the symptoms of the Ketogenic Diet Keto Flu may include nausea, vomiting, headaches, fatigue, dizziness, insomnia High-glycemic-index carbohydrate meals shorten sleep onset, and constipation. They last from 2-3 days to several weeks.

In this case, you can not consume more carbohydrates in order to alleviate the condition.

If you fail, the body will receive the desired glucose, you will come out of ketosis and have to repeat all over again. This is the difficulty of maintaining a diet. On the other hand, this is its advantage: you know that after the breakdown you will have to go through an unpleasant adaptation again, so you will hold on.

How to go on a ketogenic diet

Personal Trainer and Nutritionist John Fawkes suggests How to Get Started With the Ketogenic Diet to divide the period of entering the diet into several phases and adhere to certain rules.

1. Pre-adaptation (2-4 weeks)

Add 40-80 g of coconut oil to your diet to provide your body with MCT 7 Science-Based Benefits of MCT Oil. They are quickly absorbed, are not stored in fat, and are processed in the liver into ketone bodies. Instead of oil, you can consume The use of nutritional supplements to induce ketosis and reduce symptoms associated with keto-induction: a narrative review

Reduce carbs to 100 grams per day. This will keep you from going into ketosis, but train yourself to eat fewer carbohydrate-rich foods.

2. Entering ketosis (4 days)

Day 1. Skip breakfast and lunch, fast all day until evening. Dinner should contain no more than 200-300 kcal, 10-15 g of protein and 15-30 g of fat. No carbohydrates.

Day 2. Eat the same portion for breakfast and lunch, and for dinner - ⅔ of your regular meal. No carbohydrates.

Day 3. For breakfast and lunch, you can eat ⅔ of the usual portion of food, make dinner full. Still no carbs.

Day 4. Eat your regular portions, you can include non-starchy vegetables and unsweetened fruits.

During this phase, training is best replaced with long walks. This will burn the glucose and help you enter ketosis faster. If during a walk it seems to you that your legs have run out of strength, this is a good sign: glycogen stores are almost depleted.

Continue to take coconut oil or ketone powder, add vitamins and an electrolyte drink.

3. Ketoadaptation (2-4 weeks)

It will take you several weeks to fully adapt to your diet. During this time, you need to maintain carbohydrates at around 30 grams per day - if you are exercising, and 20 grams - if not. Please note that the energy level will be slightly lower at first. This is normal and will gradually pass. It is no longer necessary to take ketone powder at this stage.

How much to sit on the keto diet and how to get out so that the weight does not return

A ketogenic diet can last anywhere from 3-4 weeks to a year. It makes no sense to stick to the diet for less than three weeks, because during this time your body will go through ketoadaptation and you will only begin to receive all the benefits of such a diet.

As for the timing of more than a year, there is not enough scientific evidence to judge this, but eating this way all your life is a bad idea. First, a long-term ketogenic diet increases the risk of the Ketogenic Diet for liver steatosis, hypoproteinemia, kidney stones, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Secondly, the rejection of one of the macronutrients does not have the best effect on the lifespan. An analysis of Dietary carbohydrate intake and mortality: a prospective cohort study and meta-analysis of data from more than 15,000 people showed that both excess and lack of carbohydrates in the long term increase the risk of death. People whose diet consisted of 50–55% carbohydrates lived the longest.

The good news is, keeping weight off the keto diet won't be that difficult.

With a normal diet with a reduced calorie content, the amount of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, due to which a person wants to eat all the time, breaks down and, after completion, pounces on food, increases. The Ketosis and appetite-mediating nutrients and hormones after weight loss study showed that ketogenic changes do not occur, making it easier for you to maintain weight.

Another study, Long term successful weight loss with a combination biphasic ketogenic Mediterranean diet and Mediterranean diet maintenance protocol, found that 40 days of a keto diet with a half-year break for a Mediterranean diet led to sustained weight loss without further gain.

The Mediterranean diet is a great option after keto. They are also high in fat that you will get used to, and carbohydrates are consumed from healthy sources such as whole grains, vegetables and fruits. Unlike the keto diet, the Mediterranean diet can be sustained throughout life without any health risks.