Keto Diet Explained Simply
This is the keto diet explained simply or a 101 guide to the keto diet for the beginner. This will bring you up to date and provide some background on the ketogenic diet (keto diet).
The Keto diet has been growing in popularity the last few years mainly for its health benefits the biggest benefit being weight loss.
The Keto diet is a diet plan that is based on the guidelines of low-carbohydrates, good proteins and high-fat food items in substitute of carbohydrate-rich foods.
Studies have shown that the keto diet is good for people who want to lose weight either a little or a lot and it can be helpful for those with certain diseases like type 2 diabetes.
There have also been studies that show it can help with epilepsy, alzheimer’s disease, and cancer. Obviously this is something you would want to check with your doctor or physician about.
How it works?
Keto diet involves cutting down on carbohydrates and increasing the intake of good fats such as avocados, butter from grass fed cows, olive oils etc.
As you start the keto diet and eat more good fats and reduce your carbohydrate intake in major the body begins to adapt to the new way you are eating.
It then starts burning fat more efficiently and since there are fewer carbs to burn your body will burn fat within its cells for energy.
This new body metabolic state is known as ketosis. This process of burning fat also converts fat into ketones in the liver, and improves blood supply to the brain helping you become more alert and aware.
Types of keto diet
There can be a number of ketogenic diet varieties depending on the amount of carbohydrates, protein and fat you eat.
There are keto diet plans that allow high carb foods after being on the keto diet for awhile and going into what is called ketosis.
There are also some keto diet plans that allow you to have carbs around workouts where you are burning a lot of calories.
A good aspect of the keto diet is that when adding these good fats and proteins and reducing carbs is that these foods are very filling and you become full faster and more satisfied. Your cravings for more food and or sugar will also be reduced. And you wont be as hungry as often craving more food.
Health Benefits
Studies (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101) suggest that the key advantages of keto diet are increased ketone levels, reduced blood sugar and higher insulin sensitivity.
This all plays a key role in controlling and managing a number of diseases.
Studies have shown that keto diet is more effective in losing weight than a lower fat diet. As the Keto diet is low in carbohydrates, it can reduce blood sugar and insulin spikes and your overall insulin level which can benefit diabetics greatly.
A keto diet can also help in neurological, metabolic and insulin-related diseases.
Keto diet traces its origin as a tool in the treatment of neurological diseases such as epilepsy.
Additional studies have also shown that keto diet can be beneficial in many other health conditions.
The keto diet can be of great help to the health of your heart as it reduces body fat and cholesterol levels. If you make sure you are eating clean good fats and proteins. Eating this way also reduces blood sugar levels which leads to a more stable blood pressure.
When the body has a stable and normal blood pressure there is overall less stress and harm on our vital body organs.
There have also been studies that have shown the keto diet in helping with parkinson symptoms. The study was a pilot study that included 47 participants and the participants were randomly assigned to 2 different diets. Diet 1 was a low fat / high carbohydrate diet and Diet 2 was a Keto Diet of high fat / low carbohydrates.
Each diet included the same amount of calories and proteins.
The results showed an improvement for all participants in movement and non movement symptoms and both groups lost weight
The difference they found was that the Keto participants improved a great deal more in non motor symptoms (41% vs 11%)
You can find more details related to keto and Parkinson study here
Keto and Polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS.
One of the main causes of PCOS is insulin resistance meaning people suffering from PCOS have high levels of insulin which suppresses ovulation.
The idea behind the small study was that since keto diet reduces insulin levels in body, it can be beneficial in polycystic ovary syndrome cases. The study showed that the women involved benefited from weight loss and their ovulation. Find more about the PCOS study here
Brain injuries and the Keto diet. It is believed that the sugars in a high carb diet affects the brain and that a reducing / removing the carbs from the diet helps the brain recover fast after brain injury. Find more here on brain injury and keto study
Can Keto help cancer? Early research that was published in the Cell Reports journal has some promise that restricting blood sugar may help combat certain cancerous growths.
Alzheimer’s disease: Studies have shown that keto diet may slow the progress of Alzheimer’s disease and even control it to some extent. Further research on this is shown here
Epilepsy: Keto diet came into being as an experiment to treat epilepsy and studies have shown that it can drastically reduce seizures among epileptic children. Additional information here
Acne and the keto diet. Since keto diet drastically cuts down on sugar and processed food, it can potentially help in acne as well.
What you should not be eating while living the Keto Life
Under the keto diet, the intake of all foods that are rich in carbohydrates should be reduced.
- Empty Carbs Including
- Sugar: Fruit juice, cake, cookies, ice cream, candy etc,
- Grains: Rice, pasta, wheat-based products, cereal
- Root vegetables: Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes
- Low-fat diet products: These are highly processed food and often high in carbohydrates
- Sauces: They contain sugar and fat not fit for health.
- Unhealthy fats: Reduce intake of processed vegetable oils, mayonnaise
- Alcohol: They are rich in carbohydrates so while on keto diet one should avoid them
- Fruit: All fruits, except berries like strawberries
- Beans: Kidney beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas
All of these items must be avoided while on the Keto Diet
What you SHOULD eat while on the keto diet
- Meat: Red meat, bacon, chicken, ham, sausage and turkey. Preferably all Organic and grass fed.
- Fatty fish: All fish that are rich in fat like tuna, salmon, trout and mackerel.
- Eggs: But prefer pastured or omega-3 whole eggs.
- Butter: Ensure this comes from an organic farm
- Cheese: Unprocessed cheese
- Nuts and seeds: Almost all of them are rich in fat and can be consumed. You can take flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, chia seeds.
- Avocado – one of my favorite things on this meal plan.
You can plan your meals in such a manner that it contains more quality meat, eggs, nuts and very little or none of the carbohydrates. Keep changing the meat and vegetables so that you can derive all kinds of nutrients from your food.
Snacking
If you can’t do without snacking, here is a list of things that you can eat between your breakfasts and meals: Fatty meat or fish, cheese, nuts or seeds, boiled eggs, dark chocolate, full-fat yogurt, strawberries, avocados.
Eating out
Eating out should not be a problem as most restaurants offer non-vegetarian dish options, which you usually taste very good compared to your normal vegetables you might make at home.
You can replace high-carb foods with vegetables. You can also select egg-based meals. Try to get a bun-less burger ask if they can put it in lettuce (protein style) and avocado, cheese, eggs or bacon.
Downside
When you switch over to the keto diet your body will take time to adapt to the new diet. There is potential for some side effects. Such as:
Keto flu: The “keto flu” can happen within the first few days of going into ketosis and last just a few days.
The Keto flu has symptoms of poor energy, increased hunger, nausea, digestive and sleep issues.
To control this, you can try regular low-carb diets initially till your body adapts to ketosis and after some time you can completely remove carbohydrates from your food.
Water, mineral deficiency: You may need to have extra salt and mineral supplements as your body might experience a deficiency of these items in your body due to your body going and staying in ketosis
Supplements during the Keto diet
While on keto diet, you can try some supplements if you find you are low on energy or experiencing fatigue or weakness. MCT oil, minerals, caffeine, exogenous ketones, creatine and whey for protein can be used as supplements to enhance your energy levels while on and learning the keto diet.
Recap of the keto diet 101
All in all the keto diet is a diet of less carbs and more quality fats and proteins. There are many known benefits of the keto diet. One main one being weight loss. By eating less carb / sugars the body produces less insulin.
When eating less sugars and carbs our body is able to burn through the carbs and then starts burning the fat in our cells for energy which in turn causes the weight loss.
Also as stated above there are promising studies being done on how the keto diet can help with additional diseases.
If you like all this and are ready to get into ketosis you might want to check out this article on how to get into ketosis even faster which includes intermittent fasting.
