The ketogenic or keto diet is a low-carb, high fat, and moderate protein diet allowing you to burn enough fat. There are lots of benefits of weight loss on performance and health. This is the reason why lots of doctors and nutritionists recommend this diet.
This type of diet is useful for reducing hunger, losing excess fat as well as improving type 2 diabetes. If you are also interested in the keto diet then keep reading further.
What is ‘keto”?
The Keto diet is given the name keto because it causes the production of small molecules called ketones. Ketones are an alternative fuel source in the body that can be used instead of sugar as a fuel source.
When a person eats a few carbs and calories, the liver produces ketones from fat. Ketones serve as a fuel source, especially for the brain. The brain is very hungry or game and it consumes a lot of energy daily. But it cannot run on fat directly. It only operates on glucose, else ketones.
When you take a ketogenic diet, your body starts running mostly on the fat as a fuel supply and does burning fat along with it. When the level of insulin drops the fat burning is increased dramatically. Hence it becomes easier to build fat stores and burn them.
Apart from this, they are various other benefits of the keto diet, as a steady supply of energy and less hunger. When the body makes ketone, it comes under the metabolic state which is known as ketosis. Fasting is one of the methods to enter into that state but nobody can fast forever.
Who cannot take this diet?
The remaining myth and controversies about the keto diet. however, most people who have taken this diet appear to be safe. People who should avoid taking this diet falls into three groups:-
- Someone who is taking diabetes medication such as insulin
- If a pregnant or breastfeeding mother
- People who are taking high blood pressure medicines
Different type of the ketogenic diet-
One may think that the keto diet fits all but there are different types of the keto diet and they have different benefits depending on your goals. Although they have the same gist- low carb and high fat however they have their unique set of guidelines.
1. Cyclic keto diet-
This type of diet is similar to the standard keto diet. A person in this diet plan will follow standard keto guidelines for 5-6 days every week. And for one or two days, they will follow the carb cycle which is also known as carb refeed day. This day, a person has to eat 140-160g of carbohydrates.
Usually, athletes follow this type of diet. Lots of athletics training makes glycogen stores empty and so to replenish them, a refeed day is needed. If you decide to follow this diet then remember that your day off will involve tons of desserts and processed foods. It is recommended to go for whole grain and starchy vegetables instead of for carb intake.
2. Targeted keto diet-
Here also you follow the standard keto diet guidelines with an exception- eat carbohydrates before an intense workout. Dieters in this keto diet consume 25-50g carbohydrates for 30 minutes 1 hour before a workout. This makes dieters feel stronger and can do more workouts.
This will make your body ketosis inactive temporarily but it will resume after a few hours. The theory behind this keto diet is as additional carbs are burnt immediately they won’t be stored as body fat.
3. Vegan keto diet-
This type of keto diet is for someone who wants to follow the low carb high fat but without consuming animal products. This is a little difficult to achieve as most keto diets involve animal products in large quantities.
A common source of protein for vegan keto dieters is tempeh, tofu, nut butter, legumes, and beans in moderate amounts.
Food to involve in keto diet-
Finally, you have decided on one of the above keto diets. You are not eating your favorite carby- food doesn’t mean you will stay hungry. You will be eating healthy fats such as avocado and olive oil along with lean protein such as chicken, grass-fed beef as well as non-starchy veggies.
Another good thing is snacks are allowed in this diet. There are lots of packaged snacks designed to assist keto dieters. One such snack is FATBAR, it has 200 calories, 4 g net carb, and 16 g fat. It consists of coconut, Cashew butter, almond, chia seeds, pea protein, and sunflower.
Bulletproof coffee is an option for vanilla late lovers. It will be your standard coffee along with MCT oil and grass-fed butter giving a boost to your healthy fats.
If you love pasta but miss it during your keto diet, then you can go for black bean spaghetti as it gives you a pasta-like experience without giving carbs.
Food to avoid during ketogenic diet-
As you will be focusing on the protein and fat level is going easy on the carbs-there are few things you should be waiting for in your keto diet. Say no to sweets like candies, doughnuts, cakes even fruits not allowed they have tons of sugar. Apart from that alcohol is also not allowed to say no to sugar cocktails and beer.
Side effects-
Usually, three to four days are needed for your body to go into ketosis. This is because your body has to use the stores of glucose. The immediate change in your diet can give you some issues such as tiredness.
It is also known as keto flu other side effects include cramps, nausea, mental fog, lightheadedness, and headache. Good thing is that keto flu doesn’t last for long and stays for a week only.
Some people also have reported having diarrhea because of the keto diet. So if you face side effects which stay for a long time then you should quit the keto diet and talk to your doctor.
This was all about the ketogenic diet and its type as well as benefits. To know more you can talk to your nutritionist or doctor and take proper guidelines!