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All about the Ketogenic Diet also called (Keto Diet)
Its low-carb, high-fat diet offers many benefits for weight loss, health, and athletic performance.
What is the ketogenic diet?
In this complete guide, dietasynutricion.com offers information to help you most simply start with the ketogenic diet (also called the keto diet).
Around 20 studies show this diet can help you lose weight and improve your health.
By significantly reducing the intake of carbohydrates in the body and replacing them with healthy fats, the body enters a metabolic state called Ketosis.
When we eat less than 50 grams of carbohydrates daily, the body enters the state of Ketosis. This state provides multiple benefits to the body, such as reducing blood sugar, insulin levels, and body fat.
What is the Ketogenic diet?
There are several versions of keto diets:
- Standard Ketogenic Diet – Very low carbohydrates, moderate protein, and many healthy fats. It is generally a diet that contains 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbohydrates.
- Cyclical Ketogenic Diet – Based on alternating between the high carb and keto periods, typically five and two high carb days.
- Targeted Keto Diet: You stick to a standard keto diet but only add carbs when working out.
- High Protein Ketogenic Diet – Similar to the standard keto diet, we add more protein. The distribution changes to 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbohydrates.
Cyclical and targeted diets are used primarily by athletes and bodybuilders, but the standard diet is the one that most studies have been done on.
Ketogenic diet phases to lose weight
This ketogenic diet has only two phases:
Keto diet, phase 1: attack
In the first phase of the attack, you should eat at least four times a day so that you will replace the three main meals with 4, preferably at 8 a.m., 11:30, 15:00 and 18:30. Also, you will eat 500 fewer calories than you will in the maintenance phase, because now you need to force your body to burn as much as possible.
Generally, an intake of approximately 1,500 calories is recommended for women and 2,000 for men. The attack phase lasts a maximum of two weeks.
Keto diet, phase 2: Maintenance
In phase two, maintenance, you will keep to 4 meals a day but will increase the number of calories: 2,000 for women and 2,500 for men.
You can add 1-2 slices of whole wheat bread a week, but all other rules on the menu remain unchanged. This stage lasts as long as it takes you to reach your desired weight but no more than a month.
What foods are allowed on the ketogenic diet?
- Meat: red meat, ham, bacon, chicken and turkey, veal, sheep.
- Fatty fish: salmon, trout, tuna and mackerel.
- Eggs
- Dairy: milk, butter, Greek yogurt, raw cheese (sour cream, mouldy cheese, or mozzarella).
- Seeds and nuts: hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, cashews, macadamia, pistachios, flax and sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, apricot kernels and sesame seeds, chia seeds
- Healthy oils: whole extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, or fresh guacamole.
- Low-carb vegetables: most green vegetables, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, green beans, kale, bell peppers, cucumber, tomato, carrot, onion, garlic, zucchini, eggplant, lettuce, radish, celery
What foods to reduce or eliminate on the ketogenic diet?
- Sugar: juices, fruit juices, smoothies, cakes, ice cream, sweets
- Starchy cereals: products made from wheat, bread, rice, pasta and cereals
- Fruits: all fruits, except small portions of berries
- Beans or berry vegetables: peas, kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas
- Vegetables and roots: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsley
- Low-fat or diet products: They are highly processed and often high in carbohydrates.
- Some spices or sauces – often contain sugar and unhealthy fats
- Unhealthy Fats: Limit Your Intake of Processed Vegetable Oils
- Alcohol – Due to the carbohydrate content, many alcoholic beverages can bring you out of Ketosis.
What is Ketosis, and how does it work?
Ketosis is a physiological state in which the body uses fat for energy.
Ketosis, or burning fat for fuel, occurs when glucose in the diet is restricted, usually to less than 20 g of carbohydrates per day.
In addition, during periods of fasting (when no food is consumed), the state of ketosis sets in, and the body begins to burn stored fats in the body, that is, to use reserve energy.
The idea behind this diet is that, in this way, your body will get used to the fact that fat is the most critical fuel you must consume in its entirety rather than a deposit.
The state of Ketosis brings more health benefits, but we cannot deprive ourselves for a more extended period to continue burning fat.
For this reason, the keto diet can be installed by the state of Ketosis, and the body continues to burn fat longer. However, the body consumes food during this time, ensuring its energy and nutrient needs.
Read more about Ketosis:
How to enter the state of Ketosis?
What are the benefits of the keto diet?
It helps you lose weight. Because the body is transformed into a fat-burning machine, you will lose weight more quickly without starving yourself.
This diet can help cure type 2 diabetes, but we recommend you consult your doctor.
The keto diet is recommended when we want to lose weight and tone up, with the advantage that you will not feel hungry, unlike other weight loss diets.
It can help in the treatment of depression, migraines, but also cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. It was first used to treat epilepsy in children.
It increases the level of good cholesterol and reduces the risk of heart problems if healthy fat sources are consumed.
It increases the ability to concentrate. This happens after the body adjusts to the new diet (a few days a week).
It gives you energy and stamina when doing sports.
People who used a keto diet lost two times more weight than those who used a diet with low fat and calories, also improved triglyceride and cholesterol levels.
Side Effects and How to Treat Them
In the first week, you may encounter these problems:
- pain
- fatigue
- dizziness
- irritability
- palpitations
Also, you may have bad breath, cramps, constipation, palpitations, and cold symptoms while dieting.
- The effect is called keto flu and usually ends within a few days.
- Keto-flu includes low energy and mental function, increased hunger, sleep problems, nausea, digestive upset, and decreased physical function.
To minimize this effect, you can try a regular low-carb diet in the first few weeks. This can teach your body to burn more fat until it gets used to eliminating carbohydrates.
A ketogenic diet can also change the body’s balance of water and minerals.
For minerals, try taking 3,000 mg of sodium, 1,000 mg of potassium, and 300 mg of magnesium per day to minimize side effects.
In the beginning, it is important to eat until you are full and to avoid cutting too many calories.
Contraindications:
People taking medications for diabetes or hypertension, but also lactating women, should not follow this diet.
Before starting any diet, consult your GP.
My name is Ellie Lauderdale, MD and I am USA based professional Nutritionist .
I am a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and board certified specialist in sports dietetics who is trained in integrative medicine. I have worked with hundreds of clients, from those suffering with chronic disease to professional and olympian athletes. My goal is to help optimize you from the inside so that you can feel, perform, and look your best on the outside.