KETOGENIC DIET BENEFITS: How This Diet Helps You
- josephplatt1979
- Feb 8, 2022
- 9 min read
Updated: Jul 1, 2022
WHAT IS THE KETOGENIC DIET
The ketogenic diet or keto for short is a low carb, high fat diet that offers many health benefits. It involves reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. When ketosis happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy. The ketogenic diet is distinctive for its exceptionally high-fat content, typically 70% to 80%, though with only a moderate intake of protein. People choose Keto because the Ketogenic diet benefits include weight loss, fight disease, improve mood, give more energy and improve brain function.
WHAT IS KETOSIS
Ketosis is a metabolic state in which your body uses fat for fuel instead of carbs. It occurs when you significantly reduce your consumption of carbohydrates, limiting your body’s supply of glucose (sugar), which is the main source of energy for the cells. A ketogenic diet is the most effective way to enter ketosis which will involve limiting carb consumption to around 20 to 50 grams a day and filling up on fats, such as meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and healthy oils. It’s also important to moderate your protein consumption. This is because protein can be converted into glucose if consumed in high amounts, which may slow your transition into ketosis. To know when your body has entered ketosis, there are tests you can take. These determine whether you’ve entered ketosis by measuring the number of ketones produced by your body. These tests can involve Blood, urine, and breath tests. There are certain symptoms that indicate that you’ve entered ketosis, including increased thirst, dry mouth, frequent urination, and decreased hunger or appetite.
KETO FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Ketogenic diet benefits for losing weight and burning fat are excellent and many people choose keto for that reason. As we now know when in ketosis, the body begins to burn stored fats for energy, so a person following the keto diet aims to burn unwanted fat by actually pushing the body to rely on fat, not carbohydrates for energy. Unlike many diets, keto will not leave you feeling hungry after eating a pre-set number of calories for the day. Keto is a satisfying and filling method of dieting, the satiating capabilities of fat and protein helps suppress the hunger hormone, ghrelin. For people who are always hangry, this is a really big plus. Another thing that makes keto great is you can lose weight without tracking calories, something that deters many people from adhering to other diets. In fact, when compared to a low-fat diet a ketogenic diet appears to achieve greater long-term reductions in body weight.
OTHER KETO DIET BENEFITS
Studies have now shown that the diet can have benefits for a wide variety of different health conditions. Other keto diet benefits include helping fight:
HEART DISEASE - The ketogenic diet can help improve risk factors like body fat, HDL (good) cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and blood sugar. A ketogenic diet can help people with heart disease by reducing inflammation and lowering oxidative stress.
CANCER- The ketogenic diet, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet with adequate amounts of protein, appears to sensitize most cancers to standard treatment by exploiting the reprogramed metabolism of cancer cells, making the diet a promising candidate as an adjuvant cancer therapy.
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE - The keto diet may help reduce symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and slow its progression. Diets heavy on fat and very light on carbohydrates can improve thinking in people with Alzheimer's disease, and that it may even help reduce the risk of the deadly brain disorder in the first place.
EPILEPSY - Research has shown the keto diet has proven effective over time to help epilepsy. About 40% to 50% of children who start the keto diet have 50% fewer seizures. And roughly 10% to 20% of children achieve more than 90% reduction in seizures
PARKINSON DISEASE – The keto diet given to patients had improved the motor symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. The ketogenic diet also showed significant improvements on non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, e.g. Urinary problems, pain, tiredness, cognitive impairments and daytime sleepiness.
BRAIN INJURIES - Some research suggests that the diet could improve outcomes of traumatic brain injuries. Ketones can help combat post-traumatic cerebral energy deficits while also reducing inflammation, oxidative stress, and neurodegeneration.
FOODS TO EAT
A keto diet is built on whole, nutrient-dense foods, such as meat, fish, eggs, and non-starchy vegetables, along with natural fats like butter or olive oil. You want to include foods such as:
Meats - You can have beef, pork, lamb, wild game, and poultry of all kinds. Soy products like tofu and tempeh also work. You can also have deli meats like sausages and cold cuts. Choose items with no added sugars, starches, or breading to keep your carbs low.
Fish - Fatty fishes such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, and herring are excellent choices, as are mild white fishes such as cod, halibut, and trout. Choose fish and seafood without added sugars or breading to keep your carbs low.
Eggs - try them boiled, fried in butter, or in an omelet for a quick, inexpensive meal. Enjoy eggs as often as you’d like because when you avoid carbs, you don’t have to avoid dietary cholesterol.
Non-starchy vegetables - such as leafy greens and crunchy salad veggies such as cucumber, celery, and radishes. Other favorites include cauliflower, cabbage, avocado, broccoli, and zucchini. Fresh or frozen, most vegetables that grow above-ground are keto-friendly.
Nuts and seeds – these are low in carbs but don’t eat too many. Some nuts, such as cashews, are much higher in carbs than others, such as pecans or macadamia nuts. You can also enjoy pumpkin, sunflower, and other seeds on keto. So be careful of what nuts and seeds you choose but they are overall a great keto food.
Dairy - Cheese, butter, and cream can all be part of a keto diet. Greek yogurt in particular, makes for a protein-rich breakfast with few carbs. Avoid flavored low-fat yogurt that is often full of added sugar.
Fats - Most of your fat should come with protein-rich foods like meat, poultry, fish, and eggs. But you can also cook with olive oil or flaxseed oil, you can top your veggies with cheese, and add dressings to salads.
FOODS TO AVOID
Sugary foods - strictly limited on nearly every diet, and keto is no different. Avoid sodas, candy, sports drinks, cookies, biscuits, desserts, cakes, pastries, sweetened yogurts, ice cream, and breakfast cereals.
starchy food - All starches turn into sugar when digested. Many foods you’ve been told are healthy end up as sugar and can prevent you from losing weight or reaching your health goals. Starchy foods to avoid include bread, tortillas, pasta, rice, couscous, potatoes, French fries, chips, crisps, bagels, crackers, cereal, porridge, oatmeal, and muesli.
VERSIONS OF THE KETO DIET
A ketogenic diet is a diet that is designed to bring about ketosis, the breaking down of body fat into ketones, and allow the body to largely run on ketones rather than glucose.
There are a number of ways in which ketosis can be brought about and therefore there are a number of different variants of ketogenic diet. Another ketogenic diet benefit is there is not only one version, but many keto plans that can fit your needs. Because the end goal of these diets is the same, the different types of ketogenic diet usually share a number of similarities, notably in being low in carbohydrate and high in dietary fat. There are 4 types of keto diet listed below:
Standard ketogenic diet (SKD): This is a very low carb, moderate protein and high fat diet. It typically contains 70% fat, 20% protein, and only 10% carbs. A general rule is to avoid fruits, starches, added sugars, and other foods that are high in net carbs. Your primary sources of carbohydrates on the SKD will be low carb vegetables, nuts, seeds, and high-fat products.
Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD): This diet involves periods of higher carb refeeds, such as 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high carb days. It is typically used by people who are more advanced in terms of high-intensity exercise. Bodybuilders and athletes are a prime example of people that should use the CKD, since a high volume and intensity is needed in their training to optimize their performance. The goal of the CKD is to completely replete glycogen during carb loads and deplete glycogen and increase ketone levels between the carb loads.
Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD): This diet allows you to add carbs around workouts usually 60 mins before training. The TKD provides us with a simple way to maintain high-intensity exercise performance and promote glycogen replenishment without interrupting ketosis for long periods of time.
High protein ketogenic diet: This is similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but includes more protein. The ratio is often 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs. The benefit to this diet versus the standard keto diet is the ease of implementation. Many people find it hard and also intimidating to eat so much fat in one day when they first start. This version of the diet allows people to ease into keto by eating more protein and less fat.
KETO SIDE EFFECTS
There are lots of ketogenic diet benefits but there are also some side effects that people have when doing keto. There are several short-term side effects that are most evident at the beginning of Keto particularly when people commence the diet with an initial fast. These effects tend to improve when the diet is continued, as the body adapts to the new diet and adjust the ways in which it sources energy. The short term effects can be
Constipation - Foods containing carbohydrates are high in fibre, which is important for a healthy gut and keeping you fuller for longer. Anyone on a low-carb diet may be lacking in fibre so its very important they eat enough fibre-rich foods from leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, flax seeds, nuts, coconut and avocado.
low vitamins and minerals - The keto diet limits starchy vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, pumpkin and squash and eliminates many fruits. This might restrict the amount and variety of nutrients, vitamins and phytochemicals (plant power) you get from your food, especially if you remove them rather than replace them. This is were you may need supplements added to your diet to make sure you get your vitamins and minerals.
bad breath - One of the more common side effects of ketosis is bad breath, often described as fruity and slightly sweet. It’s caused by acetone, a ketone that’s a by-product of fat metabolism. Blood acetone levels rise during ketosis, and your body gets rid of some of it via your breath. Occasionally, sweat and urine can also start to smell like acetone. Acetone has a distinctive smell as it’s the chemical that gives nail polish remover its pungent odor. For most people, this unusual-smelling breath will go away within a few weeks.
Keto flu - People who restrict their carbohydrates and increase fatty foods may develop ‘keto flu’. These symptoms, which can feel similar to the flu, are caused by the body adapting to a new diet consisting of very little carbohydrates. You may experience fatigue, mental fogginess, even irritability but this does pass. Symptoms typically last about a week, though some people may experience them for a longer period of time.
While these side effects may cause some dieters to throw in the towel, there are ways to reduce them:
Stay hydrated - Staying hydrated can help with symptoms like fatigue and muscle cramping. Replacing fluids is especially important when you are experiencing keto-flu-associated diarrhea, which can cause additional fluid loss.
Replace electrolytes - Replacing dietary electrolytes may help reduce keto-flu symptoms. When following a ketogenic diet, levels of insulin, an important hormone that helps the body absorb glucose from the bloodstream, decrease. When insulin levels decrease, the kidneys release excess sodium from the body. Keep everything in balance by adding a pinch of good quality salt like rock salt or Himalayan sea salt to your meals. Salting food to taste and including potassium-rich, keto-friendly foods like green leafy vegetables and avocados are an excellent way to ensure you are maintaining a healthy balance of electrolytes.
Get adequate sleep - Fatigue and irritability are common complaints of people who are adapting to a ketogenic diet. Lack of sleep causes levels of the stress hormone cortisol to rise in the body, which can negatively impact mood and make keto-flu symptoms worse
WHO SHOULD AVOID A KETO DIET
Although the ketogenic diet may be helpful for many people, it’s not suitable for everyone. The ketogenic diet may not be appropriate for pregnant or breastfeeding women, children and teens, unless it’s being used therapeutically under medical supervision. This diet should be avoided by those with certain health conditions like kidney disease, liver disease or pancreatic conditions. Due to low carb and low fiber intake some people often feel constipated when following this diet. If you are already suffering from any stomach related issues like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or chronic constipation then this diet can make the situation worse. People with diabetes who are interested in following a ketogenic meal plan should consult their doctor to determine if this diet is safe and suitable for their specific needs.
BOTTOM LINE
A ketogenic diet may be an option for some people who have had difficulty losing weight with other methods. It's proven that a keto diet is fantastic for helping people lose weight. The exact ratio of fat, carbohydrate, and protein that is needed to achieve health benefits will vary among individuals due to their genetic makeup and body composition. The keto diet doesn't just help with weight loss. Evidence indicates that it has benefits in treating medical conditions. The keto diet is not for everyone and you should speak with a certified nutritionist before starting it, especially if you have a medical condition that the diet may affect.
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