There are various health benefits of the ketogenic diet ( or keto diet, in short ), a low-carb, high-fat diet. In fact, over 20 studies show that this type of diet can helps to lose weight and improve your health. Ketogenic diets may even have benefits against Brain diseases and diseases such as diabetes, cancer and epilepsy.
WHAT IS A KETO DIET?
The ketogenic diet is a very low-carb, high-fat diet that resembles with the Atkins and low-carb diets. It involves extremely reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into an organic state called Ketosis. When this happens, your body becomes incredibly systematic at burning fat for energy.
Ketogenic diets can cause huge reductions in blood sugar and insulin levels and has various health benefits.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF KETOGENIC DIET
There are various types of Ketogenic diets:
- Standard ketogenic diet (SKD) – A low-carb, moderate-protein and high-fat diet which contains 75% fat, 20% protein and only 5% carbs.
- Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD) – A diet which involves periods of higher-carb refeeds, such as 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high-carb days.
- Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD) – A diet which allows you to add carbs around workouts.
- High protien ketogenic diet – A standard ketogenic diet, but it includes more protein in the ratio of 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs.
However, only the standard and high-protein ketogenic diets have been studied a lot. Cyclical or targeted ketogenic diets are more advanced methods and mostly used by bodybuilders or athletes.
HEALTH BENEFITS OF KETO DIET
The ketogenic diet actually started as a tool for treating neurological disease such as epilepsy. However, diet can have benefits for a wide variety of different health conditions such as Heart disease, cancer, brain disease, acne, polysyctic ovary disease, etc.
SIDE EFFECTS OF KETO DIET AND HOW TO DECREASE THEM
Although the ketogenic diet is safe for healthy people, there may be some initial side effects while your body changes which is often referred to as the keto flu and is usually over within a few days.
The side effects could be poor energy and mental function, increased hunger, sleep issues, nausea, digestive discomfort and decreased exercise performance. To decrease this, you can try a regular low-carb diet for the first few weeks and teach your body to burn more fat before you completely eliminate carbs.
A ketogenic diet can also change the water and mineral balance of your body, so adding extra salt to your meals or taking minerals can help. For minerals, intaking 3,000-4,000 mg of sodium, 1,000 mg of potassium and 300 mg of magnesium per day can significantly decrease the side effects.
It is important to eat atleast in the beginning until you’re full and avoid restricting calories too much. Usually, a calorie restriction is not involved in the process of weight loss in keto diet.
FOOD INTAKE
The majority of your meals should be around foods such as eggs, butter and cream, cheese, nuts and seeds, avocados, etc.
KETO DIET HELPS TO LOOSE WEIGHT
A ketogenic diet is an effective way to lose weight and lower the chances of disease. In fact, research often recommended low-fat diet is inferior to ketogenic diet. The diet is so filling that you can lose weight without counting calories or following your food intake. One study, it was found that people on a ketogenic diet lost 2.2 times more weight than those on a calorie-restricted low-fat diet. Triglyceride and HDL cholesterol levels also improved.
There are various reasons why a ketogenic diet is superior to a low-fat diet, including the increased protein intake, which provides many benefits.
The increased ketones, lower blood sugar levels and improved insulin sensitivity may also play an extremely important role.
Hence, a ketogenic diet can be great for people who are overweight, diabetic or looking to improve their organic health. But it is always adviced to consult an expert before jumping to try anything like this.
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