Ketogenic diet a complete guide
Isn’t it too good to be true that you can burn calories while eating fat? That’s incorrect. You’ve already heard about the ketogenic diet if you haven’t been hiding under a rock for the last few years.
The keto diet is a low-carb, high-nutrition diet consisting of about 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% net carbs. This low-carb diet has been shown in studies to help people lose weight while also improving conditions like type 2 diabetes and cognitive impairment.
In this article we’ll go over the following topics:
- What is a ketogenic diet?
- Ketogenic diets come in a variety of types.
- The ketogenic diet has a number of health benefits.
- Foods you should eat on the ketogenic diet.
- Foods you should avoid on the ketogenic diet.
- A sample ketogenic meal plan.
- Things to bear in mind while dining out on a ketogenic diet.
- Tips to help you get started on the ketogenic diet.
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What is a ketogenic diet?
The ketogenic diet, also known as the keto diet, is based around the concept of switching your body’s food source from carbs to fat. As carbohydrate consumption is heavy, the body develops two substances:
- Glucose: Glucose is the chemical that the body converts to energy the quickest. This is why carbohydrate consumption can prevent the body from going into ketosis. When carbohydrate consumption is high, the body turns to glucose as a source of energy.
- Insulin: Insulin is a hormone that helps in the transportation of glucose in the body. When you cut carbs and swap them with fat, the body enters a metabolic state known as ketosis.
The mechanism through which your body breaks down fatty acids to create ketones in the liver, which in turn will provide energy to both the brain and the body, is known as ketosis. There are three types of ketones:
- Acetoacetate (AcAc)
- Beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHB)
- Acetone
Simply put, if you want to stay in ketosis, you must avoid carbohydrates. In general, you can limit yourself to 25 grams of net carbs per day (total carbs minus fiber).
You should also keep an eye on your protein consumption. Protein, unlike carbohydrates, is not the enemy. Protein should account for a large portion of the diet. Protein has a lot of important roles that are also important for the body to function in ketosis. However, limit the ammount of this macronutrient to a quarter of your caloric intake.
Fat is king of ketosis. You should get the rest of the calories from fat. In the absence of carbohydrates, this is the new energy supply that the body can break down for energy.
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Types of ketogenic diet
There are many various types of keto diets. The following are few examples of keto diets:
- Standard Ketogenic Diet (SKD)
If you’re new to the keto diet, the SKD is the normal diet you can adopt to get started. This diet adheres to the ketogenic diet’s general recommendations, which require a low-carb, moderate-protein, and high-fat intake. - Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD)
The CKD is more suited to athletes and healthy people who depend on carbs to sustain their rigorous workout sessions. During the week, this diet has a period of higher-carb refeeds. For instance, 5 days of following the SKD followed by 2 days of high-carbs (anywhere from 400-600 grams). - Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD)
The TKD is also for more active people who have trouble staying energized during their exercises, although it is less rigorous than the CKD. For the most part, the TKD resembles the SKD, but with an additional 25-50 grams of net carbs during the exercise hours (about 30 minutes pre and post-workout). - High-Protein Ketogenic Diet (HPKD)
This form of ketogenic diet is similar to the SKD, except it has a higher protein content. In contrast to the SKD’s 25% protein consumption, the high-protein ketogenic diet usually provides up to 35%.
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Benefits of ketogenic diet
The list of health benefits that the ketogenic diet can provide is endless. Not only can the ketogenic diet help you lose weight, but evidence suggests that it is preferable to the commonly recommended low-fat diet for weight loss. The ketogenic diet’s main health benefits are:
1. Improves Weight Loss
Weight reduction has been very effective for overweight and obese people who have followed the keto diet. According to one report, individuals who follow a keto diet lose 2.2 times as much weight as those who follow a calorie-restricted low-fat diet. The ketogenic diet is also known for transforming your body into a fat-burning machine. What does this imply? Weight loss.
2. Reduces Inflammation
Although inflammation is a normal biological reaction, it is harmful in the long run. Through turning off a variety of inflammatory mechanisms, a keto diet can help decrease inflammation in the body.
3. Raises your energy levels
When you turn to a keto diet, the brain uses ketones instead of carbohydrates as a source of energy. If you eat a lot of carbs, you get energy slumps. When you eat ketones, you don’t get any energy slumps. Ketosis aids in the removal of brain fog and the development of further mitochondria (cells that help generate energy and power).
So far, we’ve covered the basics of the keto diet as well as some of the health benefits. So what exactly should you eat on a keto diet?
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Foods you should eat on the ketogenic diet
The guidelines for choosing what to eat on the keto diet are fairly straightforward. Eat more balanced fats (approximately 75% of your daily calories can come from fats), mild protein (approximately 20%), and few carbohydrates (no more than 5% ). Low-carb foods like grass-fed beef, wild-caught fish, eggs, leafy greens, and high-quality fats are ideal.
These are some of the foods you should eat:
Fats:
- Avocado oil
- Cacao butter
- Coconut butter
- Cod liver oil
- Grass-fed butter
- Grass-fed ghee
- MCT oil
- Bacon fat
- Egg yolk
- Lard
- Marrow and tallow
- Sunflower lecithin
- Coconut oil
Protein:
- Dark meats
- Sugar-free jerky
- Eggs, fish
- Gelatin
- Organ meats
- Pork
- Shellfish
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Wild-caught fish
- Whey protein concentrate
Vegetables:
- Asparagus
- Avocado
- Butter greens
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Celery
- Chard
- Collards
- Cucumbers
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Lettuce
- Radish
- Spinach
- Summer squash
- Zucchini
Foods you shoud avoid on the ketogenic diet
When you’re first starting out on the ketogenic diet, avoiding those foods can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Make sure you keep track about how much carbohydrates you’re taking so you don’t want to lose track of your success and end up out of ketosis.
On a keto diet, you should avoid the following foods:
- Grains: Wheat, barley, oats, rice, quinoa, sorghum.
- Beans: Kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, lentils, pinto beans, black-eyed peas.
- Fruits: Apples, oranges, bananas, papaya, mangoes, grapes.
- Starchy vegetables: Corn, carrots, parsnips, peas, yams.
- Sugars: Maple syrup, cane sugar, agave, honey.
- Beverages: Soda, juices, sports drinks, high-sugar coffee drinks, beer.
Now that you know what you should eat and what you should not eat while on a ketogenic diet, lets see what does a keto meal plan look like?
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A sample ketogenic meal plan
Try this sample keto meal plan for 5 days:
Monday
- Breakfast: Bacon, eggs, kale.
- Lunch: Bell peppers stuffed with ground beef and extra virgin olive oil.
- Dinner: Salmon with asparagus and broccoli.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: Egg and goat cheese omelet.
- Lunch: Kale salad with chicken and avocado oil dressing.
- Dinner: Meatballs made with ground beef and cheese.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: Eggs and avocado.
- Lunch: Ground turkey meatballs with feta cheese and broccoli.
- Dinner: Pork chops with blue cheese and a small side salad.
Thursday
- Breakfast: Veggie omelet.
- Lunch: Shrimp salad with extra virgin olive oil.
- Dinner: Salmon with broccoli and kale.
Friday
- Breakfast: A ketogenic milkshake (unsweetened almond milk, 1 scoop of whey protein concentrate, 1 tablespoon of MCT oil).
- Lunch: Chicken salad with olive oil and goat cheese.
- Dinner: Bun-less burger with bacon, egg, and avocado.
Things to bear in mind while dining out on a ketogenic diet
On-the-go snacks and fast-food restaurants offer choices that function under the keto diet’s guidelines, which is a huge plus. For people like supermarket workers who order takeout or run next door on their brief and unpredictable lunch breaks, this can be a big support. It’s perfect for people who fly often and spend a lot of time in airports, where they don’t have convenient access to cooking facilities.
Here is what should you bear in mind while dining out:
- Ordering a lettuce-wrapped cheeseburger.
- If you go to a Chipotle or a similar restaurant, you can have a salad without beans or rice and cover it with steak and guacamole.
- Get a steak with a side of green vegetables instead of potatoes or other starchy vegetables.
- Instead of stopping at the nearest gas station for a short snack, pack some jerky or a bag of nuts for your trip.
Tips to help you get started on the ketogenic diet
Starting any diet, but particularly the ketogenic diet, can be difficult. It’s not only about changing your diet when you turn to the keto diet; it’s also about changing your lifestyle. It doesn’t have to be complicated, though.
Here are a few tips to help you stick to a ketogenic diet without stress:
Increase your knowledge and understanding. It’s crucial to learn how to read food labels if you choose to stick to the keto diet’s guidelines. Practice recognizing carb count, net carbohydrates, and fiber count on food labels and macronutrients to ensure you stay in a ketogenic state.
Friends and relatives will help you achieve your fitness goals. If your closest friends and family members are aware that you’re trying to start a healthier diet and lifestyle (and that it’s important to you), they’re more likely to be helpful and choose places that can help you achieve your goals. You could be tempted to eat those chips if you’re going out for Mexican food. Choose places where you can relax and have fun without thinking about food.
Invest in a keto cookbook. Getting a keto cookbook or finding recipes from a variety of blogs and tools online is a perfect way to improve your cooking and meal imagination. When it comes to the keto diet, most people complain about being too restricted, but there’s still a way to make it enjoyable.
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Make preparations ahead of time. If you’re going on a trip, make sure you schedule accordingly, and make sure you do your homework on where to eat and snack. Otherwise, stick to what you learned of the keto diet: healthy fats, low carbohydrate consumption, and moderate protein intake with no added or processed ingredients.
Bring your own food. If you’re visiting relatives or attending a get-together, bring keto-friendly treats you know you’ll be able to eat. You won’t be excluded from group dinners, and you won’t have to think about being too picky.
Final thoughts
Although the ketogenic diet may sound overwhelming at first, there’s no need to be worried. The ketogenic diet will help you lose weight comfortably while still improving your general health. The ketogenic diet, like any other diet, can only succeed if you are consistent and diligent.
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