DIETS

The Ketogenic Diet

If you’re trying to lose weight, your first reaction to hearing the word “fats” would probably be to shake a stick of celery at whoever dares to utter that word in your presence. But did you know that a high-fat diet could help you lose weight? Before you take up your battle-veggies and declare war, this is something that’s been scientifically proven and is known to the world as the ketogenic (keto) diet.

What’s a keto diet exactly? A keto diet is a very low-carbohydrate (carbs) and high-fat diet. It’s almost similar to the Atkins diet in that you have to reduce your intake of carbs. However unlike the Atkins diet, you take a high amount of fats and small portions of proteins and vegetables.

How does the keto diet work?

Normally, with a diet high in carbs your body will produce glucose and insulin. The resulting glucose is used as the main source of energy, which means your body fats remain in storage, unused. Reducing your carb intake and increasing the amount of fats you eat will push your body to burn fats instead of storing them. This process is called ketosis and is the foundation of the keto diet.

To eat or not to eat?

Foods to eat on keto diet include various types of meat such as steak, bacon, and chicken, fatty fish, eggs, unprocessed cheese, low carb vegetables, avocados, and condiments. If you’ve decided to follow the keto diet, you should avoid any foods that are high in carbs. Other foods to avoid on keto are sugary foods, fruit, beans or legumes, saturated, alcohol, and root tubers and vegetables.

Is the keto diet safe for everyone?

This diet comes with a big, yellow caution sign tacked onto it. It’s recommended to consult with a doctor first before adopting the keto diet. This is especially important for children, who will need to be screened for fat metabolism disorders in order to prevent a metabolic crisis.  When it comes to adults, the doctor will need to conduct a functional test to check for any nutrients deficiency before giving you the go-ahead to try the keto diet. The keto diet is not recommended for people with pre-existing conditions such as liver disease, kidney stones, constipation, gastroesophageal reflux, and cardiomyopathy.

The keto diet has some adverse side effects which include fatigue, headaches, bad breath, high cholesterol, kidney problems, dehydration, and rapid weight gain when you resume a normal diet.

What are the health benefits of keto diet?

Initially, the keto diet was found to be beneficial in treating epilepsy. Other health benefits of the keto diet include cancer treatment, weight loss, and lowering of risk factors for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The keto diet has also been found to reduce Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, and acne.

How fast can you lose weight with the keto diet?

The rate at which you’ll lose weight depends on your health, daily habits, body composition, and how quickly you adapt to the diet. Initial weight loss rate will be high due to rapid water loss as a result of low carb intake. The weight loss rate will lower and stay consistent over time, and average expected weight loss rate is 2-5 pounds over the first two weeks.

Many people have managed to stay committed to the keto diet for as long as 12 years without any trouble. Sticking to the keto diet is all about your mindset. As long as you stay motivated to keep your carb intake low, it should be easy to stay on the keto diet until you achieve your goal. Even though the keto diet has been endorsed by celebrities like Katie Couric, Halle Berry, and Kourtney Kardashian; it’s affordable enough for anyone to try. The keto diet actually helps you save money since you cut out a lot of expensive processed foods and learning keto cooking skills is easy. A meal that follows the keto diet guideline should take you no more than an hour to prepare depending on the recipe. To save even more time, you can prepare larger batches of food that you can refrigerate then defrost when you need them.