The ketogenic diet or Keto diet is a low carb, high fat and protein diet that provide many health benefits. There are more than 20 studies that indicate that this type of diet can help you lose weight and improve health. The ketogenic diet can even fight diabetes, cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.
What is the Ketogenic Diet?
The ketogenic diet as mentioned above is a very low carb, high fat and protein diet that has many similarities to other low carb diets with the difference that the ketogenic diet is the only one that reaches a kety state.
“The keto diet will reduce the maximum intake of carbohydrate intake and replace them with fat intake”.
The reduction of carbohydrates will cause the body to change to a state called “metabolic ketosis.” When this situation occurs, the body burns fat to use it as energy in a very efficient way since the body is absent from its main source of fuel (glucose). It will also convert fat into ketones through the liver, which will provide the energy necessary for good brain function. The ketogenic diet can cause blood sugar and insulin levels to decrease significantly, along with the increase in the number of ketones, and this brings a lot of health benefits.
The Different Types of Ketogenic Diets:
There are many types of ketogenic diet, including:
· The Standard Ketogenic Diet:
This is a very low carbohydrate diet, followed by protein and in greater proportion fat. Usually, the rate will be 5% carbohydrates – 20% protein – 75% fat.
· Ketogenic Cyclic Diet:
This diet includes the “Compensated Eating” phase. An example can be eating 3 days a week with a normal amount of carbohydrates and the remaining 4 days of the week applying the standard ketogenic diet.
· Ketogenic Diet by Purpose:
This mode will allow you to add the amount of carbohydrates in practice.
· Protein-Rich Ketogenic Diet:
This mode is similar to the standard mode, but it will have more protein, a 60% fat rate – 35% protein and 5% carbohydrates. However, this diet is only used for a more advanced purpose and usually only applies to those who want to increase muscle mass or athletes. The information in this article mainly applies to the standard ketogenic diet, although some content can be applied to all forms of the ketogenic diet.
Ketogenic Diet to Lose Weight:
The ketogenic diet is a weight loss diet and has been proven to be one of the most effective out there. In fact, the researchers noted that the ketogenic diet has many more advantages compared to other low carb diets. In addition, ketosis mode can also help you feel full. One study showed that people on the ketogenic diet lost weight more than 2.2 times more than those on other low-carb and low-fat diets. Triglycerides and also the amount of HDL cholesterol improved in these individuals. Another study showed that people who performed the ketogenic diet lost weight 3 times more than those who made the recommended diet for people with diabetes in the United Kingdom. There are many reasons to explain why the ketogenic diet is more favorable than other low carb diets. One of the reasons is due to the amount of protein that the body can increase over the diet, this can have many benefits. The increase in the amount of ketone, reduces blood sugar and improves insulin sensitivity, this also plays a certain role in the interests of the ketone diet.
Ketogenic Diet for People with Prediabetes and Diabetes:
Diabetes is characterized by the process of changing the state of metabolism; hyperglycemia affects the function of insulin. The ketogenic diet helps reduce fat, and this is closely related to type 2 diabetes, prediabetes and metabolic syndrome. A study shows that the ketogenic diet helps improve the state of insulin sensitivity of up to 75%. Another study on diabetic patients indicates that 7-21% of participants may stop using diabetes medications. In another study, a group performed the ketogenic diet and lost 11.1kg of fat in reduction mode, compared to the implementation of a diet rich in carbohydrates that reduced 6.9kg. In addition, 95.2% of people in the ketogenic diet group can stop or reduce the use of diabetes medications compared to 62% in the group who ate more carbohydrates.
Ketogenic Diet for Other Diseases:
The ketogenic diet is a tool originally used in the treatment of neurological diseases, such as epilepsy. Today’s researchers have shown that this diet has many benefits for many different diseases:
· Cardiovascular Diseases:
Ketosis mode improves risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, such as body fat, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.
· Cancer:
In recent times ketosis mode is used to treat some types of cancer and to reduce the growth of tumors
· Alzheimer’s:
The ketosis mode can reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and reduce the course of the disease.
· Epilepsy:
Several studies have shown that the ketogenic diet helps to treat epilepsy for a long time.
· Parkinson’s Disease:
There was a study that shows that this diet helps improve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
· Polycystic Ovary Syndrome:
Ketosis mode can reduce insulin levels, which play an important role in polycystic ovary syndrome.
· Brain Injury:
An animal study indicates that in ketosis mode confusion can be reduced and help to be in a state to recover from brain damage.
· Acne:
Decreasing insulin levels and eating less sugar and processed foods reduces acne.
Foods to Avoid in the Keto Diet:
In short, all carbohydrate foods. Here is a list of foods that should be reduced or completely eliminated in ketosis mode:
- Foods with sugar: soft drinks, fruit juices, smoothie, cakes, ice cream, sweets …
- Cereals or derivatives: Products based on wheat, rice, cereals …
- Fruits: all fruits, except for a handful of mulberry fruits, such as strawberries.
- Legumes: peas, beans, chickpeas, lentils
- Vegetables: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, beets
- Products that contain less fat or diet product: because these products often contain a large amount of carbohydrates and often the type of product processed.
- Some spices, sauces that contain sugars and fats are not good for your health.
- Alcoholic beverages: Due to the amount of carbohydrates contained in these drinks if they can damage the body’s process of ketosis.
- Sugar-free foods: it often contains a lot of sugar and low energy can affect the amount of ketones in the body. These are foods that are processed very carefully.
Foods Allowed in the Keto Diet
You must have a menu based primarily on the following foods:
- Meat: Red meat, sausage, bacon, chicken, pork …
- Fatty fish: like salmon, tuna, mackerel eggs …
- Butter and cream
- Cheese: Cheddar, goat, cream, blue, mozzarella …
- Nuts such as almonds, nuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, …
- Healthy oils: virgin olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil.
- Low carb vegetables: most green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, onions, peppers …
- Spices: you can use salt, pepper and spices, other herbs.
Side Effects of the Keto Diet:
Although the ketogenic diet is safe for healthy people, it will also have some side effects that may occur at the beginning, when the body cannot adapt to this diet. You may be experiencing a “flu-ketogenic” (keto flu). It includes symptoms such as low energy and poor mental activity, or having a feeling of hunger, having trouble sleeping, nausea, discomfort in the digestive tract and a reduction in the possibility of playing sports. To curb this situation, you can try to apply low carb diet frequently in the first few weeks. This will help the body adapt to burning more fat, before completely eliminating carbohydrates from the diet. The ketosis mode will also alter the balance of water and minerals in the body, therefore, salt should be added to meals or dietary supplements that contain minerals. To reduce side effects, try to consume 3000-4000mg sodium, 300 mg of potassium and 1000 mg of magnesium daily. The ketogenic diet is a good diet for people who are overweight, diabetic or want to improve metabolic function. This diet may not be appropriate for athletes who want to gain weight or gain muscle. And the most important thing of any diet is not that it is only effective is that it has to be carried out in the long term and constancy.