In nutrition, the ketogenic diet has been constantly trending. With its results and rising popularity, many people are trying it lately that even celebrities have also tried it like Tomb Raider’s Alicia Vikander and the Silicon Valley Bros. Not only that, but some advocates even say that this diet is a one-size-fits-all solution to all dieting needs and obesity.
What is a Ketogenic Diet?
The ketogenic diet is a low-carb and high-fat diet. It shares many similar aspects with the Atkins diets and other low-carb diet plans that you usually hear a lot of health enthusiasts use. It works by greatly reducing your carbs intake and substituting it with fat.
With this drastic reduction of carbs, your body will be put into ketosis’s metabolic state. In this situation, your body will go into a fat-burning mode, which makes it very efficient in burning fats because your body will be using your fat as an energy source instead of carbs.
Your brain will have more energy in this state, and your blood and sugar levels will significantly reduce. Also, it turns your fats into your liver ketones, which have many health benefits for your body. With all that said, here are some other things you have to know about the ketogenic diet.
It Goes Beyond Weight Loss
The main reason people go on a ketogenic diet is to lose weight. However, the diet isn’t just simply for losing weight. This diet could help you avoid that notorious afternoon energy slump that some of us hate. In general, a ketogenic diet makes us more active by providing us with more energy.
With a ketogenic diet, you don’t have to rely on carbs and sugar to gain more energy for your daily activities, so you don’t have to worry about sugar spikes and the like. Also, since it provides more energy for our brains, it will help us with mental clarity once we reach ketosis mode.
Different From Other Low Carb Diets
If you think of keto as just Atkins 2.0, you’re wrong. As mentioned earlier, the ketogenic diet shares many similarities with other low-carb diets, especially with Atkins; however, the amount of fat you need for this diet sets it apart from other low-carb diets.
In a ketogenic diet, you need lots of fat, as in lots of them, you get 60-75% of your calories from fat. If you do not eat this amount of fat every day, your body will go back to burning down glucose instead of the fat you consume.
Never Overdo Meat
Most people who are new to keto overly focus on consuming protein and fat. However, too much protein can be converted to glucose, making it harder for your body to go into ketosis. Also, consuming root vegetables and squash does the same thing, so you may want to avoid consuming them. You can instead go for leafy greens, cauliflower, and cabbage because they are rich in potassium, fiber, and magnesium.
Also, animal meat contains a lot of protein and saturated fats. Overconsuming them can lead to an increased level of cholesterol in your body, which puts you at many health risks, especially heart disease. Instead, you can get your fat from alternative sources like nuts, avocados, seeds, olives, or fatty fish like salmon.
There is a Lot More to Know About the Ketogenic Diet
Just because a diet fits your macros doesn’t mean that it’s healthy for your body. Always remember that overconsuming saturated fats from hotdogs, bacon, and other processed meat, and under-consuming healthy fats from nuts, seeds, etc., can lead to major complications in your body such as heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
And although it is proven that keto is healthy for people losing weight in the short term, researchers lack a lot of data in the long term. This makes it complicated in terms of safety and health when a person uses the diet for a long time. Also, it’s not yet completely proven for keto to be adaptable with some medications.
Before you dive into this type of diet, you might want to research more and talk to your doctor about it, especially when you’re taking medication. You can even ask your doctor which medication you should take when you’re trying out keto and even the places where to get them by using apps like from BuzzRx.
Final Words
The keto diet is a hard thing to sustain long term. This is because avoiding carbs is impossible because it’s nearly in everything we eat. It might be a good thing since prolonged usage of the diet is still pretty much untested in safety and health. But if you want to try out the diet yourself, consult your doctor first.