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It was first developed to help children with epilepsy, so what is a ketogenic diet and can help with your weight loss goals?
THE ketogenic diet It may not have muscled up by as many hundreds of inches as Paleo, 5:2 and the like, but it's been around for a long time (and it's perhaps the only diet plan to inspire a television movie – 1997's … First Do No Harm with Meryl Streep, in case you were wondering).
It was first developed by endocrinologist Dr. Henry Geyelin in 1921 to control seizures in patients with epilepsy. Dr. Geyelin discovered that using a 4:1 protein-to-fat ratio for carbohydrates—in other words, a very low amount of carbohydrates compared to typical diets—caused the liver to convert fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. Ketone bodies replace glucose as an energy source in the brain, and an elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood, known as ketosis, helps reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures.
Currently, the ketogenic diet It’s being promoted by celebrities, who play an increasingly prominent role in the popularity of diet trends, even more so than nutritionists. Megan Fox and Mick Jagger are fans, and it’s been suggested that the keto diet is the sole reason for Kim Kardashian’s post-pregnancy weight loss.
However, this shouldn’t necessarily put you off. Nutritionists and personal trainers often use the diet with clients at the beginning of any fat loss program. It’s considered by some to be an ideal way for the body to shed body fat quickly.
Keep in mind, however, that you need to be careful about dropping too many calories at once – if you’re going ultra-low-carb, you need to offset the calorie drop with enough protein and fat or you could hit a wall in terms of fat loss and cause metabolic damage, when your metabolism slowly slows down due to long periods of reduced calories.
The Ketogenic Diet and Burning Fatty Acids
The fundamental principle of a ketogenic diet is that you consume almost no carbohydrates – approximately 30-50g per day – forcing the body to use its glucose stores and instead burn fatty acids for energy.
When the liver breaks down fatty acids, it produces chemicals called ketone bodies, which fuel vital organs, including the brain. As ketone bodies build up in the bloodstream, this allows the body to enter a state called ketosis, seen by some as the ideal condition for weight loss.
The New England Journal of Medicine highlights a 2003 study in which a group of 132 severely obese people with diabetes were put on either a carbohydrate- or fat-restricted diet. Those who curbed their carbs lost more weight than those who limited their fat intake.
Ketogenic Diet | Flexibility
A general rule of thumb ketogenic diet The ideal diet is to be high in fat (65%), medium in protein (30%) and low in carbs (5%). However, there are no hard and fast rules for how much fat and protein you should consume because it depends on your personal goal. This doesn’t mean you can just gorge on Big Macs all the time – instead, you should have plenty of unprocessed foods and quality protein sources like beef, chicken and fish in your meals. Swap starchy potatoes and peas for spinach and leeks and wash it all down with tea or non-distilled, decaf coffee.
If you’re after a leaner physique, you might consider swapping fat for protein. Dr. Mauro di Pasquale, the father of the anabolic diet, suggests that bodybuilders complete five to six low-carb days with a binge on the other days of the week.
It is difficult to sustain high-intensity training on a low-carb diet, but less intense exercise is possible. A plan suggested by Lyle McDonald, author of the Ketogenic Diet, to allow for the achievement of ketosis and following a high intensity training program is the ketogenic diet Cyclical Carb-Up (CKD) – alternating periods of low and high carbohydrate intake to replenish glycogen stores. Being careful in the carb-up period of a CKD is crucial because of the potential for body fat gain if more carbohydrates are consumed than needed.
Read other articles about low carb diet on our website
Ketogenic Diet | Sample Meal Plan
Here is an example of what a typical day's meals might look like when following a ketogenic diet:
Breakfast: 2 large eggs fried in butter, 2 slices of bacon
Snack: 2 celery sticks, 25g feta cheese
Lunch: 140g shredded chicken breast, 85g cabbage, 2 tablespoons low-fat (low-sugar) salad dressing
Snack: 30g roasted almonds
Dinner: 200g sirloin steak, 85g spinach, 14 button mushrooms
Are ketogenic diets safe?
Experts can't agree on whether putting your body in a prolonged state of ketosis Following a low-carb/high-protein diet is good or bad for us. Proponents point to human evolution, arguing that for most of the time humans have existed, we have been a hunter-gatherer species with diets consisting primarily of meat and plants. This means that we would have lived primarily in a ketogenic state for long periods, if not all of the time.
Ketogenic Diet | Benefits
Follow a ketogenic diet has some documented benefits:
Lowers bad cholesterol. Keto diets can lower triglyceride and cholesterol levels associated with arterial buildups that cause heart attacks and cardiac arrest.
Promotes weight loss. As your body begins to burn fat as its primary source of energy, you should start to lose weight. This makes getting rid of stubborn fat, like love handles, much easier than most traditional calorie-counting diets.
Increases energy levels. Fats are the most efficient molecule to burn as fuel, in terms of energy required to burn them versus energy created. Because you are using a more efficient fuel source, you should feel more energized throughout the day.
Reduces hunger pangs. Most carbohydrates cause a spike in blood sugar that makes you feel full and energized for a short period of time, before crashing and making you hungry again. Fat, on the other hand, will make you feel fuller for longer because it has a slower, more sustained release of energy.
Still confused? A ketogenic diet It's basically a low-carb diet that encourages your body to burn fat for fuel, which has the effect of reducing body fat levels over time.
Should you do this? There’s really no need to go to such extremes. Yes, carbs make it harder for our bodies to burn fat, but they’re also an excellent source of energy and are essential for anyone following a serious training program. Just make sure to avoid the refined versions.
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