The ketogenic diet is a diet based on a process called ketosis. It is a specific state of the body, which is characterized by an elevated level of ketones in the blood, which occurs due to the conversion of fats into fatty acids and ketones. This occurs when the body gets only very small amounts of carbohydrates over a certain period of time. When you start with this type of diet, your body goes through several changes. After 24-48 hours since the beginning of this diet, the body starts to use ketones in order to use the energy stored in fat cells more efficiently. In other words, the primary source of energy becomes fat (fatty acids), instead of carbohydrates (glucose). Because of that, during ketosis it is not a problem to eat food with higher amounts of fat, than would otherwise seem reasonable. This way the body is rapidly losing weight (specifically fat). In addition, the loss of muscle tissue (proteins) is minimal, since the vast majority of food consumed during ketosis, also contains relatively large amounts of proteins that are good for your muscles.
Although ketosis is the basis of the ketogenic type of diet, in its strictest form it doesn't need to be kept for long. The state of ketosis can be held up until the body weight is just a few pounds higher than the one that is desired. In this period, it would be very useful to keep a food intake diary in which daily amounts of taken carbs would be noted. That way you can find the maximum amount of daily carbs that still allows you not to gain weight. Once you discover this parameter, you will no longer have overweight related problems, because until that moment you will certainly learn to take account of calories and amounts of carbs, proteins and fats that you consume daily. That way you will get to know your body better, in terms of the maximum "allowable" daily intake. Because of that, we could say that the ketogenic diet is, in a way, a procedure for learning habits that will ensure that you never return to the old potentially problematic overweight levels. There are many types of ketogenic diets that can be found on the internet or in other sources, but they all have in common one basic principle - intake of high amounts of proteins and fats, and minimal amounts of carbohydrates. Which exact diet you will choose, isn't as important, as long as it will allow you to enter ketosis, which is the basis of the biological mechanism that will help you lose weight efficiently.
Balanced blood sugar also means your brain and body are calm and focused. You are also satiated on the ketogenic diet so there are no urges to pick up those unhealthy processed foods that wreak havoc on your body. Overall on a ketogenic diet, you have more energy, you are more focused, you drop all excess weight and will feel better than you have ever felt in your life. What does type-2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease have in common? All chronic diseases that the keto diet can help prevent. One study conducted on an obese individual who followed the ketogenic diet for 24 weeks, resulted in a significant risk reduction in chronic diseases by weight loss, decreased levels of triglycerides, LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and blood glucose, and increased levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol). Being that heart disease, diabetes, and stroke are three of the leading causes of death in the world, it is phenomenal to have a diet combat them. Keto eliminates processed, refined carbs that have been linked to several diseases, including obesity, heart disease, and type-II diabetes.
In fact, the development of type-II diabetes is strongly contributed to continuously eating high glycemic foods (e.g., whole grains, bran, germ) that spikes your blood sugars. Another chronic disease that correlates with those other three is high blood pressure. High blood pressure (HBP) is one of those diseases that gets swept under the rug in terms of how lethal it is for a person’s health. Be aware that these aren’t symptoms of HBP. HBP is a symptomless disease for most people except in most rare cases known as hypertensive crisis. If you or your family have a history of high blood pressure, following a low-carb diet, may be a godsend. Medical researchers tout low-carb diets like keto as an effective method to reduce blood pressure. If you take high blood pressure medication, please consult with your doctor first before trying this diet out. One way that people develop high blood pressure is by eating too many refined carbs over a lengthy period of time.
0 Comments