You might have observed the new buzz about Keto diet with people bragging about their quick weight loss and health coaches convincing people to try it. But you might have wondered, “What is Ketogenic diet? Where the hell did it come from?” Your question is legit and the here I’m to briefly explain the concept of ketogenic diet, how it helps you lose weight and what the benefits of the ketogenic diet are.

What is Ketogenic Diet?

The term “Ketogenic” is taken from “ketone” that our body produces in the form of ketone bodies. This diet helps liver convert fats into fatty acids and ketone bodies that further let brain replace glucose as an energy source. A bit tricky? Let me simplify it.

The ketogenic diet is a high fat-low carb diet that promotes the consumption of body fats as a primary source of energy rather than glucose. When body consumes fats to burn fats, it means your body is losing much of its stored fat in the process. The ketogenic diet is about cutting fats with fats such as cutting iron with iron.

Normally, our bodies consume carbs and glucose as the energy source as it is easy to break carbs down. Our body keeps on using carbs as the energy source and ignores stored fats that are approached only when the body is carb deficient. So, simply, to target fats, you need to lower the carb concentration to let your body focus on stored fats as a source of energy.

I think I’ve made my point.

The ketogenic diet was originally used to treat the symptoms of epilepsy in children after the failed treatments with drugs and fasting. Ketosis, the elevated presence of ketone bodies in the blood, helped more than half of the epileptic children gain back their sanity.

This diet plan doesn’t have any side effect besides some cases of constipation and is widely used to lose weight by huge population including celebrities such as Kim Kardashian.

What is Ketogenic diet? It is a diet plan that encourages the body to burn fats in place of carbs.

Usually, our body breaks carbs into glucose and uses it as the primary source of energy. While ketogenic diet tracks down the brain to use fats as the primary source of energy and store glucose for strong actives such as fight and flight situations and robust exercises.

The ketogenic diet is mostly about fats, fibers, and proteins. You’ll intake, carbs as low as possible (even lower than 30 grams per meal). Your fat diet can include vegetables, meat, and other unprocessed natural fats.

What is Standard Ketogenic Diet?

For standard ketogenic diet, the following can be the acceptable range of macro-nutrients you might take:

• 60-75% of calories taken from fat
• 15-30% calories taken from proteins
• 5-10% of calories from carbs

Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet

To help you make the right decision about your weight loss plan, let me share some basic benefits of the ketogenic diet that can assist you to realize and choose what you actually need.

NOTE: These benefits aren’t self-made but proved through experimentation and science.

Lowers Appetite

Carbs are addictive and perhaps, you don’t realize it until you decide to kick them away. While depending majorly on carbs, our body craves more of it and leads us to binge eating and eventually to weight gain. People say sugars are even more addictive than drugs and you’ll know it when you’ll try to switch carbs to fats. But it’s worth it.

Thus, ketogenic diet lowers the appetite and helps your body survive on lower proportions of carbs.

Lowers Blood Sugar

When the body uses carbs as the source of energy, it breaks them down into sugars such as glucose that enters the bloodstream, elevates the blood glucose level, triggers insulin ( the hormone responsible for main the training the balance of glucose in the body) and tries to maintain stability. If this process continues, the body becomes insulin resistant and blood sugar increases to the alarming level and falls you prey to diabetes type 2.

Rationally, you can think by yourself that lowering the carbs intake is the first and effective solution to this problem. And that’s what ketogenic diet does.

Ketogenic Diet is Anti-Inflammatory

Anti-inflammatory functions of the ketogenic diet are appreciated. Everyone who tries it, see these benefits of the ketogenic diet right away. It helps you lean up quickly and you look finer than ever. It helps you retain less water and lets your body de-bloat to stay active and functioning.

In first 2 weeks, the unhealthy feeling will be replaced and it is the first step that ketogenic diet takes, making you feel healthier.

Makes organs healthy

One of the benefits of the ketogenic diet is that it burns down abdominal and visceral fats (fats around our organs) just because your body uses fats as the primary source of energy, not glucose.

Most of the fats that your body burns during the ketogenic diet plan comes from abdominal cavity and dream of flat belly becomes real. It also reduces the chances of diseases such as diabetes type 2 and obesity and makes you look leaner, healthier and beautiful. That’s what users say!

Promotes Weight loss

The phenomenon of weight loss with the ketogenic diet is rather clear now. Using fats to burn fats is the main code and crabs will be reduced to avoid glucose accumulation. You can couple your exercise and yoga with the ketogenic diet, it can be the best health-related decision you have ever made.

It Clears Thinking

Consuming a lot of processed food can cause something called “Brain Fog.” It happens when your brain goes subdued because of the elevated level of ammonia due to the processed food. In the ketogenic diet, you consume less processed food that not only helps you improve your physical health but also facilitate neural functioning through stimulating GABA neurotransmitters.

Types of Ketogenic Diet you can consume

1-    Standard Ketogenic Diet

This diet plan is ideally low-carb, moderate protein and high fat plan including 75% calories from fats, 20% from protein and 5% from carbs.

2-    Vegan Ketogenic Diet

It focuses on low-carb vegetable consumption. Ignoring the basic animal fat intake, vegan ketogenic diet emphasizes the higher fat and low carb macronutrients to lose weight.

3- Cyclical Ketogenic Diet

This plan follows a cycle of high fat to high carb diet involving specific time periods for both food charts. Such as, you’ll follow the keto diet in first 5 days of the week and high-carb diet on rest of the two days.

4- Targeted Ketogenic Diet

This plan targets a specific time period and introduces high crab diet into it such as between work-outs. This specific keto plan helps you target specific areas of the body and elevate the body’s metabolic activity.

5- High Protein Ketogenic Diet

As depicted from the name, it targets the protein portion of the diet and increases its ratio. It is almost similar to standards ketogenic diet focusing on 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs.

Call to Action

What is ketogenic diet and what are the benefits of the ketogenic diet?

You are, perhaps, clear about it. But I’m not asking you to believe every word you read without experiment. To see if this plans really work, you need to try it yourself. Brainstorm now, consult a coach and go for it when you’re completely convinced. There is wide research going on targeting this very topic and I hope you’ll find it directional.

I’ve also compiled some reason to use the ketogenic diet that you can have a look upon before making your final decision.

I’m planning to write a beginner guide for the people who’re interested in ketogenic diet, please stay in touch and don’t forget to leave feedback.

Stay healthy and spread the love.