The Ketogenic Diet: Does it really work?

What It Is | How It Works | Who Uses It | Weight Loss |
Keto And Exercise | Health Benefits | Possible Side effects |

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What is a Ketogenic Diet?

The Ketogenic program is a diet that is low in carbohydrates, moderate on protein, and high in fat, with the diet aiming for meals with 5% carbs, 20% protein and 75% fat.

The diet was created in 1924 as a treatment for epilepsy. The Ketogenic Diet can cause a huge reduction in blood sugar and insulin levels, which may also ease diabetes symptoms.

How Does A Keto Diet Work?

The aim of the Keto diet is to deplete the body’s glycogen reserves so that it relies on fat and protein for energy. This reduction of carbs allows your body to enter the state of ketosis.

This state of ketosis ensures that your body becomes very efficient in burning fat for energy. It can also turn fat into ketones in the liver, which helps supply energy to the brain.

Many people often think you can lose weight fast with only exercise. The truth is, exercising (i.e cardio) without a proper diet is not an efficient and speedy process to help you cut down 3 jean sizes.

In fact, according to Doctor Shawn M Talbott, nutritional biochemist and former director of the University of Utah Nutrition Clinic, “weight loss is generally 75 percent diet and 25 percent exercise.” Consistent running at a pace of 10 minutes per mile for 30 minutes can only burn off around 270 calories!

The most effective way to lose weight fast is to have a proper diet targeted at losing weight and adequate amount of exercise.

Who Uses It?

The Ketogenic Diet is mainly targeted for people who desire to lose weight fast. Although it is not an ideal diet for those who wish to build up muscle quickly, the diet offers a good amount of health benefits to its users.

How Does a Keto Diet Help Weight Loss?

Of course, the most obvious and targeted result of a ketogenic diet is to help you lose weight in the least amount of time. In fact, the ketogenic diet is seen to help people lose weight significantly faster than the average recommended low fat diet.

Source: Johnstone AM, et al. Effects of a high-protein ketogenic diet on hunger, appetite, and weight loss in obese men feeding ad libitumThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2008.

From the graph above, the group that tried the ketogenic diet lost more weight than the group that tried the low-fat diet, despite the fact that their caloric intake was exactly the same throughout the time period.

Furthermore, due to the high fat and low sugar content of the diet, those who tried it generally experience reduced levels of hunger even by consuming little calories. This means binge eating much less which results in more effective weight loss.

Source: Johnstone AM, et al. Effects of a high-protein ketogenic diet on hunger, appetite, and weight loss in obese men feeding ad libitum.The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2008.

One of the main reasons why many have failed to lose weight during dieting is because of their constant hunger which causes them to eat more. However, with a ketogenic diet, due to the fact that it decreases hunger, is beneficial for those who wish to lose weight quickly.

It Can Help You Burn More Fat During Exercise

This may seem unbelievable but a ketogenic diet does enable the body to burn fat at a much faster rate compared to other low-fat diets.

This is because the ketogenic diet enhances your metabolic flexibility and help you burn stored body fat during exercise instead of the typical glucose.

Source: Volek JS, et al. Metabolic characteristics of keto-adapted ultra-endurance runners.Journal of Metabolism, 2008.

The graph above shows that those runners who adapted to the ketogenic diet burnt around 2.3 times more fat per minute during a workout compared to those who adapted to a low-fat diet.

Over the long term, this ability to burn body fat can provide various health benefits as well as prevent obesity, which helps you not only to lose weight, but also live healthier.

Other Health Benefits of Ketogenic Diet

Studies have shown that the keto diet offers a wide variety of different health benefits for its users.

  • Heart disease: The ketogenic diet can improve risk factors such as HDL cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.
  • Lower risk of diabetes: Research shows that the ketogenic diet is very effective at lowering blood sugar levels and managing diabetes.
  • Epilepsy: A ketogenic diet can cause massive reductions in seizures in epileptic children.
  • Acne: Besides losing weight, the ketogenic diet helps to clear acne due to the lower insulin levels and eating less foods with sugar.
  • Cancer: The diet is currently being used to treat several types of cancer and slow tumor growth.
  • Alzheimer’s disease: The keto diet may reduce symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and slow its progression
  • Parkinson’s disease: One study found that the diet helped improve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease 
  • Obesity: Since the ketogenic diet is a powerful weight loss tool, it will help reduce the risks of being obese.

How to follow a ketogenic diet

  • Eliminate carbs: Aim for less than 30 grams of carbs a day
  • Stock up on staples: Buy meat, cheese, whole eggs, nuts, oils, avocados, oily fish and cream, as these are now staples in your diet.
  • Eat your veggies: Fat sources are high in calories, so base each meal on low-carb veggies to fill your plate and help keep you feeling full.
  • Experiment: A ketogenic diet can still be interesting and tasty. You can even eat ketogenic pasta, bread, muffins, brownies, puddings, ice cream, chocolates etc.
  • Build a plan: It can be hard to find low-carb meals for when you’re on the go. As with any diet, it is important to have a plan and go-to snacks or meals.
  • Try supplements: To boost the ketogenic process, you can take ketone salt supplements, MCT oil (5–10 grams twice a day) or use coconut oil regularly.
  • Be consistent: There is no shortcut to success. With any diet, consistency is the most important factor.

Possible side effects of Ketogenic Diet and how to minimise them

Even though a ketogenic diet is safe for everyone, there may still be initial side effects while your body adapts.

This side effects are known as Keto Flu, which symptoms include poor energy, sleep issues, digestive discomfort and decreased exercised performance. However, these side effects are mostly rare and can be avoided.

To minimize this, you can try a low-carb diet for the first few weeks. This helps your body to adapt to the new diet that its about to take. Therefore, it is important to follow a professional keto diet guide which is most enjoyable and created by a team of expert nutritionists.

CLICK HERE NOW TO GET YOUR CUSTOMIZED KETO DIET PLAN!

Not sure whether to try the Keto Diet?

The ketogenic diet can work wonders for your body when trying to lose weight, and is one of the most effective diets. However, if you dislike high-fat foods but love carbs, this diet may be difficult to stick to in order to lose weight.

The main goal of a diet is to help you to lose weight in the fastest possible way and achieve the ideal body shape that you so dearly wish to get, as well as be healthy at the same time.

Of course, all diets probably can help you attain weight loss if you are able to commit to it. That is how they earned the title “diet”. Nevertheless, according to research and those who tried the keto diet, it still offers one of the most effective and fastest weight loss results that one could possibly ask for.

Furthermore, the keto diet takes an edge over the others because of the abundance of health benefits that it provides.

To sum it all up, if you are trying to lose weight in a short amount of time and have sufficient dedication and discipline, the ketogenic diet is the one for you to try.

“If you look good, you feel good, and if you feel good, you do good.” I’m sure everyone wants to be in the best shape they possibly can. Therefore, in order to get there, you have to take action and work on the most important aspect – diet. Good luck!

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References:

  1. Freeman, J. M., Kossoff, E. H., & Hartman, A. L. (2007, March). The ketogenic diet: one decade later. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17332207.
  2. Veech, R. L. (2004, March). The therapeutic implications of ketone bodies: the effects of ketone bodies in pathological conditions: ketosis, ketogenic diet, redox states, insulin resistance, and mitochondrial metabolism. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14769489.
  3. Cahill, G. F. (2006). Fuel metabolism in starvation. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16848698.
  4. Yancy, W. S., Foy, M., Chalecki, A. M., Vernon, M. C., & Westman, E. C. (2005, December 1). A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet to treat type 2 diabetes. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16318637.
  5. Paoli, A., Grimaldi, K., Toniolo, L., Canato, M., Bianco, A., & Fratter, A. (2012). Nutrition and acne: therapeutic potential of ketogenic diets. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22327146.
  6. Zhou, W., Mukherjee, P., Kiebish, M. A., Markis, W. T., Mantis, J. G., & Seyfried, T. N. (2007, February 21). The calorically restricted ketogenic diet, an effective alternative therapy for malignant brain cancer. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1819381/.
  7. Hession, M., Rolland, C., Kulkarni, U., Wise, A., & Broom, J. (2009, January). Systematic review of randomized controlled trials of low-carbohydrate vs. low-fat/low-calorie diets in the management of obesity and its comorbidities. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18700873.
  8. Hemingway, C., Freeman, J. M., Pillas, D. J., & Pyzik, P. L. (2001, October). The ketogenic diet: a 3- to 6-year follow-up of 150 children enrolled prospectively. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11581442.
  9. Jabre, M. G., & Bejjani, B.-P. W. (2006, February 28). Treatment of Parkinson disease with diet-induced hyperketonemia: a feasibility study. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16505339.
  10. Choragiewicz, T., Zarnowska, I., Gasior, M., & Zarnowski, T. (2010). Anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects of the ketogenic diet. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20687386.

One thought on “The Ketogenic Diet: Does it really work?

  1. Extremely helpful article!! Helped me to start my journey in weight loss and introduced me to the wonders of a ketogenic diet. Recommend this article to whoever that wants to start losing weight and live a healthy life! 🙂

    -Cheers
    Thomas

    Liked by 1 person

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