Ketogenic Diet or Keto Diet, An Effective Way to Lose Weight

The ketogenic diet or simply keto diet is a term for a low-carb diet that offers many health benefits. It is the process of getting more calories from protein and fat and less from carbohydrates. The Ketogenic diet helps to lose weight and to improve health. It may have benefits against diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease. It is similar to the Atkins diet.

A ketogenic diet helps to restrict carbohydrate intake so that the body must break down fat for energy. It is the method of reduction in carbs that puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. It also helps to turn fat into ketones in the liver, which can supply energy for the brain. The Ketogenic diet lowers blood sugar and insulin levels and shifts the body’s metabolism away from carbs and towards fat and ketones.

Types of Ketogenic Diet

There are several types of the ketogenic diet, they are given in below:

• Standard Ketogenic Diet (SKD): It is a typical low-carb, moderate protein, high-fat keto diet that contains 70% fat, 20% protein, and 10% carbs.
• Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD): Generally, bodybuilders and elite athletes follow this kind of diet. Because it allows for short periods like 2 days a week of high-carb, high protein, and low fat.
• Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD): This kind of diet allows you to eat small amounts of carbs around your workout.
• High-Protein Ketogenic Diet: It is similar to the standard ketogenic diet, but it includes more protein. The ratio of the diet is 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.

Foods to Eat on A Ketogenic Diet

There are several foods to eat on a ketogenic diet. It can help you to lose weight. Those who followed a ketogenic diet for 8 weeks lost nearly five times as much total body fat as those who followed a low-fat diet. It’s best to base your diet mostly on whole, single-ingredient foods like meat, fish, eggs, butter, cheese, nuts, healthy oils, avocados, and plenty of low-carb veggies. On a ketogenic diet, water is the perfect drink, and coffee or tea is fine too. A splash of milk or cream in your coffee or tea is OK on a keto diet. But you should avoid sugar and sweeteners foods. You should avoid carb-based foods like grains, sugars, legumes, rice, potatoes, candy, juice, and even most fruits. You should avoid alcohol on a keto diet.

Benefits of Ketogenic Diet

By decreasing carb intake, a ketogenic diet could reduce your acne problems. The ketogenic diet may reduce the risk of certain cancers. It may improve heart health and may protect brain function. A keto diet may help a person prevent or manage conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Ketosis can reduce seizures in people with epilepsy especially those who have not responded to other treatment methods. It improves Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder that can lead to excess male hormones, ovulatory dysfunction, and polycystic ovaries. It may reduce high-carbohydrate that can cause adverse effects in people with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), such as skin problems and weight gain. Keto diet and low-carb diets can provide powerful blood sugar control for people with diabetes. The ketogenic diet may play a strong role in improving metabolic health, including blood pressure, blood sugar, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. It may also reduce fatty liver disease like Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Risks and complications

Staying on the ketogenic diet long-term can have an adverse effect on health. It may increase the risk of kidney stones, excess protein in the blood, mineral and vitamin deficiencies, and a build-up of fat in the liver. The keto diet can cause adverse side effects that many people know as keto flu. These adverse effects may include constipation, fatigue, low blood sugar, nausea, vomiting, headaches, and low exercise tolerance. Some people should avoid the keto diet including people with diabetes who are insulin-dependent, people who have eating disorders, those with kidney disease or pancreatitis, and women during pregnancy and breastfeeding.