Blog79: Ketogenic Diet a.k.a Keto Diet

Ketogenic diet is has gained so much popularity for weight loss, it was initially created to treat epilepsy in children. Dr. Walter was the one who first introduced ketogenic diet to the world in 1921 and he did so to treat children with epilepsy. Before the keto diet came into existence, fasting was being used as a powerful treatment for epilepsy. When we fast (or starve), the brain forces our body to run on ketone bodies produced by the liver instead of glucose and this process is called ketosis. The increase of ketones (ketonemia) during fasting was found to be beneficial for epileptic children. Thus Dr. Walter created the keto diet as an alternative method to mimic the effect of fasting.

What is Ketogenic Diet?

The ketogenic diet is a type of low carb diet that focuses on eating high fat, moderate protein, and low carbs. The ketogenic diet also known as the keto diet is a way of eating where you actively help your body burn the excess fat that it has already stored. In order to do that, the amount of carbohydrates that you consume per day is limited (to 5% of total daily calorie), and fat (around 70-80%) and protein (15-20%). When you limit the amount of carbs your body can no longer rely on carbohydrates for its energy needs and it now burns the fat present.

What’s Ketosis?

Ketosis is a process that the body does on an everyday basis, regardless of the number of carbs you eat. Ketones are formed in the liver, from fat. These serve as fuel for the body, including the brain. The brain relies on glucose or ketones as a source of fuel.  Following a keto diet result in ketosis, without having to fast. Insulin levels are drastically reduced, and fat burning increases intensely.

Benefits of Ketogenic Diet

• Shed Body Fat: In the absence of carbs, your body will burn fat for fuel. Fat is the form of energy your body consumes in the Ketogenic diet.
• Preserve Muscle: In a fat rich surrounding, the body will mostly will go after the fat before it goes after the muscle for fuel.
• Polycystic ovary syndrome: The ketogenic diet can help reduce insulin levels, which may play a key role in polycystic ovary syndrome.
• Cancer: The diet is currently being used to treat several types of cancer and slow tumor growth.
• Parkinson's disease: One research found that the diet helped improve symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
• Epilepsy: Research has shown that the ketogenic diet can cause massive reductions in seizures in epileptic children.
• Diabetes: Low carb diets, including the keto diet, have been found to be beneficial for treating diabetes.

Foods to Eat

The lower the carbs, the more the diet is effective. Read Also: Good Carbohydrate vs. Bad Carbohydrate

Food                   Net Carbs (gms)

Cheese                          1

Cabbage                       1-5

Cauliflower                  1-5 

Broccoli                        1-5 

Bell pepper                  1-5

Cucumber                    1-5

Tomato                         1-5

Brinjal                          1-5

Avocado                       1-5

Butter                           0

Olive oil                        0

Eggs                              1

Meat & Sea foods       0

Foods to Avoid

• Sugars: Soft drinks, candy, juice, sports drinks, chocolate, cakes, buns, pastries, ice cream, breakfast cereals.
• Sugar-free diet foods: These are often high in sugar alcohols, which can affect ketone levels in some cases. These foods also tend to be highly processed.
• Starch: Bread, pasta, rice, french fries, potato chips, porridge, muesli and even whole grain products.
• Fruit: All fruit, except small portions of berries like strawberries.
• Root vegetables and tubers: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, etc.
• Low-fat or diet products: These are highly processed and often high in carbs.
• Alcohol: Due to their carbohydrate content, many alcoholic beverages can throw you out of ketosis.

Drinks to aid Ketosis

• Water is the best choice of drink, it can be flavoured.
• Coffee/Tea no added sugar, little of milk is fine.

A keto diet is not safe for:

• People with Type 1 Diabetes:  These individuals are insulin-dependent, and a keto diet could lower their blood sugar to dangerous levels.
• Person on blood pressure medication.
• Lactating mothers.

The Take Away

• Ketogenic diets were originally developed to help improve symptoms of epilepsy (specifically in children who didn’t improve from other treatments), but today very low-carb diets are used to help adults, too, including those suffering from many other chronic health problems like obesity, cancer and diabetes.
• Does the keto diet work? Yes! Rapid and reliable weight loss will occur in even a keto for beginners diet, due to lowered insulin levels and the body being forced to burn stored body fat for energy.  Read Also: Glutathione: Mother of all Antioxidants

"Remember, don’t fear fat. On keto, fat is your friend."

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