Everyone wants a more natural way to burn off the excess fat in their body and get a shape similar to their role model. But nobody wants to go through the much painstaking workouts, nor do they want to give upon delicious recipes of cheese, cream, meat, bacon, etc. Basically, this is the primary reason why Google search for “keto” related terms has skyrocketed these days!
With keto diet, you don’t have to hamper your taste bud! It encourages eating most of the meat and dairy products that you might have been trying to cut down to lose weight. Instead, ketogenic diets argue to cut down the consumption of high carbohydrate content food like bread, pasta, legumes, sweets etc. The scientific reason behind this is to force the body to produce ketones by consuming less than 20 grams of carbohydrate per day. Due to this, the body works entirely on fat and accesses the fat stores of the body.
Although keto diets increase the overall mental performance and physical endurance; certain questions lurk in the mind of beginners like what is the keto diet, what is ketosis, how to lose weight etc.
Let’s look at the most commonly asked questions on keto dieting and their appropriate answers:
- What is the keto diet?
Keto or ketogenic diet is a food plan with about 60 to 80 per cent fat, 5 per cent carbohydrate and rest protein. Some staples of keto diets are meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, virgin oil, green leafy vegetables etc. Carbohydrate-rich foods like potatoes, rice, whole wheat grain, fruits etc. are strictly prohibited. Keto works on the way the body produces food from energy.
- How “Fat Helps in Reducing Fat”?
As you know, that a ketone diet is a fat-rich diet, and the carbohydrate consumption should not exceed more than 20-30 grams per day. Due to the extreme shortage of carbohydrate, the high-fat content food is broken down into small fuel molecules of ketones. Therefore the human body including brain works entirely on this fat fuel. Since brain works with glucose energy and it cannot take energy directly from fats; so fat energy in the form of ketones is transmitted to the brain.
In this way, after few days, the body attains a state in which the body starts consuming fat from different fat stores or fat cells of the body. This ultimately results in reducing fat and losing weight.
People think ketosis dangerous due to the phenomena of ketoacidosis!
Ketone is a potent substance of the human body. The key regulator of ketone production is insulin. Ketone production and insulin level vary inversely. Ketoacidosis occurs when the level of ketones is in the range between 15-25 millimolar and this level is approximately 3-4 times higher than the highest level of ketones when you are fasting or dieting. Since insulin regulates the production of ketones, people fasting or having low carbohydrate diet will never face a problem related to the level of ketones and ketoacidosis.
- Why is ketogenic diet weight loss trending these days?
In fact, keto diet was not at all meant for weight loss. Its roots can be found in the medical world, a century ago, when epilepsy researchers found that increasing the level of ketones helped in reducing the seizures. With the course of time, it went mainstream for a healthy weight loss dieting plan; thanks to the media exposure and celebrity endorsements!
- What is the strategy for ketogenic diet weight loss?
One can indeed lose their belly and thigh fat of which most of the people are concerned about!
Follow few suggestions from the experts to make it more effective:
- Consume a high-fat
- If you are doing workouts, consume 30-50 grams of carbohydrate post-training, if necessary.
- Always keep the protein moderate because high protein increases the insulin level as well.
- Skip the diet every seven This is a very effective strategy for quick weight loss.
- Can everyone follow the strategy for ketogenic diet weight loss?
The keto diet was manifested was Dr Gianfranco Cappello, Associate Professor of Surgery at Sapienza University in Rome; who studied with more than 19000 dieters. The patients lost more than 10 kilograms after 2.5 cycles of keto dieting. Dr Cappello concluded that keto diet is a successful way for obese people and few manageable side effects.
However, critics claim that the diet is an unhealthy way to lose weight. Their main argument is that ketoacidosis; which mostly affects people with Type-2 diabetes. Instances can be cited when keto dieting became the leading cause of death of people with diabetes under 24 years of age.
So it is always advisable to consult a medical practitioner before transiting to ketos.
- What are the keto diet benefits?
Apart from weight loss, there are manifold advantages to keto dieting.
These are as follows:
- Keto diets help to treat several types of cancer cells and destroy the slow growth of tumours.
- Few studies show that ketogenic diet can improve insulin secretion by 75 per cent.
- Keto dieting also reduces body acne.
- Keto diets can show significant changes in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and serum triglyceride.
- Overall keto diet affects strength, body performance and will give you a Ninja
- What is the keto diet side effect?
Yes! There is also a flip side of keto dieting.
Few of its side effects are:
- Keto flu – irritability, dizziness, headache, fatigue etc.
- Constipation
- Heart palpitation
- Leg cramps
- How to understand if you are in ketosis?
If you are you correctly following a ketogenic schedule, it will show some of its effects and symptoms within few weeks.
The areas such as:
- Increased thirst
- Increased urination
- Keto breathe or bad breath
- Reduced hunger and increased energy
Hope that you are clear with all your queries related to keto diet. So, consult your nutritionist and start of a great keto dieting!
