A Beginner's Guide to the Keto Diet Plan
- What is the Keto Diet?
- How the Keto Diet Helps You Lose Weight
- What to Eat on Keto Diet?
- Should You Do Keto?
What is the Keto Diet?
Often associated with other low-carb diets such as Atkins, the keto diet involves reducing carbohydrates from one's regime and replacing them with healthy fats. The mere fact carbs are eliminated compels the body to enter a metabolic state, also known as ketosis
When people consume foods high in carbohydrates, the body begins producing insulin and glucose. Glucose is the body's easiest molecule to use and convert into energy. Insulin enters the scene to process the glucose within the bloodstream.
Considering the body uses glucose as a primary type of "fuel", the fat stored within your body is no longer required for energy. As a consequence, it is stored. A diet high in carbs uses glucose as main fuel. But when the carb intake is reduced, the body goes into ketosis.
The moment that happens, the body starts burning fat to preserve its levels of energy. Furthermore, the diet turns the fat into compounds called ketones (within the liver), thus suppling energy to the brain as well.
Switching to a keto diet causes massive reductions in insulin levels and blood sugar. Together with increased amount of ketones, the health benefits abound.
How the Keto Diet Helps You Lose Weight
Unlike low-fat diets, the keto diet is a lot more efficient because it compels the body to lose weight without forcing it to eat less and without feeling the sensation of hunger.
- Keto is extremely filling and you feel less hungry as the fatty foods take a longer time to break down.
- You don't have to count your calories every day to make sure they're on the right track.
- The reduction of carbs also causes you to retain less water leading to loss of weight.
- One study, in particular, has assessed people who adopt the keto diet can lose 2.2 times more weight than if they had chosen a low-fat diet with calorie restrictions.
4 Reasons Why Keto is Better Than a Low-Fat Diet
- Controlled blood sugar levels. The keto diet lowers blood sugar levels because of the different food varieties you consume on a daily basis. It has shown to prevent and manages diabetes, a health condition no other diet can keep under control.
- Improved mental focus. Many studies have shown the ketogenic diet increases mental performance. Ketones are a fine source of fuel for your brain. When carb intake is lowered, blood sugar spikes don't happen anymore. Together, the result is improved concentration and focus.
- Blood pressure & cholesterol. A ketogenic diet improves cholesterol and triglyceride levels linked to arterial buildup.
- No more acne. Switching to a keto diet may trigger skin improvements. In one study, skin inflammation and lesions dropped when giving up carbs completely, and consuming only foods high in healthy fats. How to Get Rid of Acne at Home
But if You're Not Losing Weight on the Keto Diet,
Then you're simply eating too many calories. At the end of the day, weight loss comes thanks to calorie restriction, aka you will end up eating fewer calories than you burn.
Diets are just a method to keep your body in a caloric deficit and Keto is just an easier way to do this because high-fat foods will suppress your appetite.
What to Eat on a Ketogenic Diet?
Before starting a keto diet, you should have a diet plan properly laid out. The foods you eat are fundamental to getting your body enter the ketogenic state. The more carbohydrates you give up, the faster your body will go into ketosis
- Carb intake should be limited to vegetables, dairy and nuts.
- Refined carbs like wheat, starch (legumes, potatoes, and beans), and fruit should be avoided. There are small exceptions: start fruit, berries, and avocado.
- As for foods that are highly recommended, we should mention: meat products, leafy greens, high-fat dairy, nuts and seeds.
- 8 Best Keto Diet Foods
4 Reasons Keto May Not Be For You
1. Lack of Glucose for Brain Functioning
Once you take up a keto diet, you may experience what is commonly known as keto flu due to significant reduction in intake of carbohydrates.
The symptoms may include hunger, headache, constipation, fatigue and irritability. Such changes may be because of the lowering of blood glucose levels. Our brain derives energy from blood glucose and carbohydrates are essential for glucose to enter the bloodstream.
Reduction or absence of glucose may alter cognitive functioning of the brain.
2. Eating Unhealthy Fats
A keto diet increases fat intake but in the process people at times end up eating high amounts of highly saturated animal fats. These fats are not necessarily good for health and can actually reverse the whole purpose of you taking up a keto diet.
3. Nutrient Deficiency
The keto diet is very restricted diet and you may not receive enough nutrients, like vitamins, fibers and minerals you ideally get from fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Lack of nutrients may hamper cognitive functioning of the body.
Therefore it is very important to include a Multivitamin and/or a variety of foods of nutritional value while having high amounts of fat in a keto diet.
4. Gut Health
When you adopt a keto diet the dramatic increase in fat intake and and drastically cutting your intake of carbohydrates may lead to gastrointestinal issues.
Constipation is one of the gut issues that can arise due to lack of fiber in the diet and the loss of water in the body. However once the body gets used to high-fat diet and with high intake of water, this problem may eventually get resolved.
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