There has been a feeling lately that everyone is talking about the keto diet. People brag about the advantages, argue about the disadvantages. Keto seems like an addictive attraction that tempts you to ride. However, before starting a new diet, it is always a good idea to do some research, weigh the pros and cons, and talk to your doctor about your plans.
Below we have compiled scientific information on what the keto diet is, how it works, what types it has, and compiled a list of pros and cons to help you better understand this diet and decide if it suits your lifestyle.
The main idea of the diet is to reduce the intake of carbohydrates enough to put the body in a "hungry state" without giving up food. Normally, the body takes energy from glucose (sugar), most of which is consumed by the brain - about 120 grams daily.
During fasting and with a deficiency of carbohydrates, in order to supply energy to the brain without interruption, the body first destroys the muscles and releases glucose from them, then takes the accumulated glucose from the liver. After 3-4 days of this regime, the glucose reserves are completely depleted and the body goes into a state of ketosis: it begins to break down fat, forming ketones - alternative sources of energy to glucose.
When nutrition is 60-75% fat, 15-30% protein, and only 5-10% carbohydrates, dietary ketosis is triggered. With a complete rejection of food, the body goes through a metabolically very similar process - the so-called hungry ketosis. Ketosis dulls appetite and can interfere with the hormone insulin, which regulates hunger.
For reasons not fully understood by science even today, using ketones as an energy source for the body can also reduce seizures. This is why, originally in 1920, the keto diet emerged as a treatment for clinical diseases (epilepsy).
There are several ways you can reduce your carbohydrate intake. There are four types of the keto diet, below we have described the essence of each of them. Please note that only the standard ketogenic diet and the high protein ketogenic diet have been thoroughly researched, the other 2 areas - cyclical and targeted ketogenic diets - are still under investigation.
The ratio of macronutrients: 75% fat, 15-20% protein, 5-10% carbohydrates. On a standard keto diet, all meals should include healthy fats. The main sources of such fats are avocados, oily fish and meat, olive oil, ghee, and butter.
To change your metabolism, you need to get about 150 grams of fat per day. This is about ¾ cup of olive oil - three times more than the average person consumes in a day. At the same time, you need to reduce the number of carbohydrates from about 300 grams to no more than 50 grams per day. And eat a moderate amount of protein, about 90 grams daily.
The ratio of macronutrients: 65-70% fat, 20% protein, 10-15% carbohydrates. The targeted keto diet is popular among athletes. With such a diet, a person consumes an additional 20-30 grams of carbohydrates immediately before and after training. This is done to provide the body with the energy to perform an intense exercise and accelerate tissue repair.
The extra carbs are easily burned during exercise so they are not stored as fat. The total amount of carbohydrates consumed is 70-80 grams per day.
The ratio of macronutrients:
This is the standard keto diet with a break for more balanced meals on the "weekend." One of the options: follow the traditional keto diet for five days, eat on all 50% of the carbohydrates in the diet for two days. And so in a circle. Some people choose to postpone their weekends for holidays, birthdays, and vacations.
The ratio of macronutrients: 60-65% fat, 30% protein, 5-10% carbohydrates. This nutrition plan suggests eating about 120 grams of protein and about 130 grams of fat per day. Fewer than 10% of daily calories still come from carbohydrates, however, many people find it easier to follow this modified keto diet, as it allows them to eat more protein and reduce fat than following the standard keto diet.
This approach does not always lead the body to ketosis: like carbohydrates, protein can be converted to glucose for fuel. More often, however, a high protein keto diet results in weight loss.
There are different versions of ketogenic diets, but they all prohibit carbohydrate-rich foods. For example, bread, cereals, pasta, rice, and biscuits. And also not so obvious: beans, legumes, and most fruits. A list of foods that should not be eaten on a keto diet:
Most keto diets allow for foods high in saturated fat, including fatty cuts of meat, lard, and butter, and sources of unsaturated fat. Here is a list of all the low-carb keto-friendly foods you can eat on your diet:
A ketogenic diet is high in fat and protein, which saturates a person and can reduce the levels of hormones that stimulate hunger. Therefore, adherence to the keto diet promotes weight loss. As well, according to a 2012 study, the keto diet reduces acne symptoms when the skin condition is related to blood sugar levels.
However, in the long term, the benefits of such a regimen are controversial. The keto diet does not involve counting calories, but only limits the number of carbohydrates to 10-20 grams per day. Already this system itself is incorrect in the framework of systematic weight loss since it is not carbohydrates that create excess weight, but an excess of calories. If you eat more calories per day on the keto diet, your weight will increase. And it doesn't matter that there is a lot of protein and fat in the diet and almost no carbohydrates, the weight will increase, and at the same time, the normal metabolism will go down.
People who are keto say they have improved mood and thinking, but this is likely due to the fact that they stop eating foods with added sugar, white flour, and so on. Fast carbohydrates cause blood sugar levels to rise and fall rapidly, which is why such a diet leads to "brain fog". Accordingly, if you do not eat fast carbohydrates, but at the same time eat slow, correct carbohydrates, the effect will be the same as if you refused carbohydrates altogether.
On average, women of different weights and for different purposes need to consume from 120 to 240 grams of carbohydrates per day. Men are even more. The keto diet offers no more than 10-50 grams of carbs each day. One medium zucchini has 20 grams of carbohydrates, and two pears also contain about 20 grams of carbohydrates. This is a very small amount, considering what functions carbohydrates perform in our body.
Everyone knows that there are fast and slow carbohydrates, that fast carbohydrates should be minimized and consumed mostly slow ones. The following only applies to slow carbohydrates: legumes, pasta, vegetables, and fruits.
It is important to understand that reducing your carbohydrate intake to 10-20 grams per day is the first step towards future problems.
Keto proponents insist that cutting carbs to critically low levels is beneficial for health and weight loss. But this is not the case.
The keto diet can cause side effects known to many as the keto flu, the main symptoms of which are:
These signs are especially common at the beginning of a diet when the body is in the process of adapting to new sources of energy. Also, long-term use of the keto diet increases the risk of:
If you are planning to switch to a keto diet, be sure to consult with your doctor, as this diet is absolutely contraindicated for many groups of people. We are against the self-prescribed keto diet. Doctors may prescribe the keto diet for diabetes and other medical conditions solely for medical purposes. Not to lose weight, but to improve your health. And in this case, not all carbohydrates are limited, but only a few. As with gastritis or ulcers, when there is a list of prohibited foods that can provoke an exacerbation of the disease. The self-prescribed keto diet is only harmful to the body.
If you are already on a restrictive diet, it is extremely important to be able to get out of it correctly, that is, return to your normal diet. But, as practice shows, women leave the diet incorrectly or break down even before it is over, therefore they quickly gain the weight back and often even in excess.
For proper weight loss, you need to make sure that the calorie consumption exceeds their consumption. You just need to lower your daily calorie intake by 10% and go in for sports 2-3 times a week in order to find a good, and most importantly, reliable result in weight loss and a healthy fit body.
Exercising regularly is important for everyone's health - especially in the case when there are attempts at losing weight. During exercise, the body not only burns calories but gradually builds muscle mass. From this, over time, weight may even increase. However, if your goal is a healthy lean body, the numbers on the scales are not the main thing. Everything is decided by the ratio of muscle and fat.
Fat is looser in density, so a kilogram of fat is voluminous, fluffy, and takes a place the size of a small grapefruit, and a kilogram of muscle is firm, dense, and the size of a tangerine. Therefore, the scales can show the same numbers in people who are overweight and athletic.
Remember, a healthy body is always a balance of physical activity and proper nutrition. That is delicious food and discipline. In this state, without diets, it is much easier and more pleasant to achieve your goals.
