The keto diet. What is the keto diet? In simple terms it's when you trick your body into using your own BODYFAT as it's main energy source instead of carbohydrates. The keto diet is very popular method of losing fat quickly and efficiently.
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The Science Behind It
To get your body into a ketogenic state you must eat a high fat diet and low protein with NO carbs or hardly any. The ratio should be around 80% fat and 20% protein. This will the guideline for the first 2 days. Once in a ketogenic state you will have to increase protein intake and lower fat, ratio will be around 65% fat, 30% protein and 5% carbs. Protein is increased to spare muscle tissue. When your body intakes carbohydrates it causes an insulin spike which means the pancreas releases insulin ( helps store glycogen, amino acids and excess calories as fat ) so common sense tells us that if we eliminate carbs then the insulin will not store excess calories as fat. Perfect.
Now your body has no carbs as a energy source your body must find a new source. Fat. This works out perfectly if you want to lose body fat. The body will break down the body fat and use it as energy instead of carbs. This state is called ketosis. This is the state you want your body to be in, makes perfect sense if you want to lose body fat while maintaining muscle.
Now to the diet part and how to plan it. You will need to intake AT LEAST a gram of protein per pounds of LEAN MASS. This will help in the recovery and repair of muscle tissue after workouts and such. Remember the ratio? 65% fat and 30% protein. Well if you weight 150 pounds of lean mass which means 150g of protein a day. X4 ( amount of calories per gram of protein ) that is 600 calories. The rest of your calories should come from fat. If your caloric maintenance is 3000 you must eat around 500 less which would mean that if you need 2500 calories a day, around 1900 calories must come from fats! You must eat fats to fuel your body which in return will also burn off body fat! That is the rule of this diet, you must eat fats! The advantage to eating dietary fats and the keto diet is that you will not feel hungry. Fat digestion is slow which works to your advantage and helps you feel 'full'.
You will be doing this monday - friday and then '' carb-up '' on the weekend. After your last workout on friday this is when the carb up starts. You must intake a liquid carbohydrate along with your whey shake post workout. This helps create an insulin spike and helps get the nutrients your body desperately needs for muscle repair and growth and refill glycogen stores. During this stage ( carb up ) eat what you want - pizzas, pasta, crisps, ice cream. Anything. This will be beneficial for you because it will refuel your body for the upcoming week as well as restoring your body's nutrient needs. Once sunday starts its back to the no carb high fat moderate protein diet. Keeping your body in ketosis and burning fat as energy is the perfect solution.
Another advantage keto net cars to ketosis is once your get into the state of ketosis and burn off the fat you'r body will be depleted of carbs. Once you load up with carbs you will look as full as ever ( with less bodyfat! ) which is perfect for them occasions on weekends when you go to the beach or parties!
Now lets recap on the diet.
-Must enter the state of ketosis by eliminating carbs from the diet while intaking high fat moderate/low protein.
-Must intake fibre of some sort to keep your pipes as clear as ever if you know what I mean.
-Once in ketosis protein intake must be at least that of a gram of protein per pound of lean mass.
-That is pretty much it! It takes dedication to no eat carbs through out the week as a lot of foods have carbs, but remember you will be rewarded greatly for your dedication. You must not stay in the state of ketosis weeks on end as it is dangerous and will end up with your body turning to use protein as a fuel source which is a no no. Hope it's helped and good luck dieting!
The ketogenic diet, colloquially called the keto diet, is a popular diet containing high amounts of fats, adequate protein and low carbohydrate. It is also referred to as a Low Carb-High Fat (LCHF) diet and a low carbohydrate diet.
It was primarily formulated for the treatment of epilepsy that did not respond to medications for the disease.
The diet was originally published in 1921 by Dr. Russell Wilder at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Wilder discovered that putting epileptic patients on a fast helped to reduce the frequency of the symptoms. At the time of its publication, there were few other options available for the treatment of epilepsy.
The ketogenic diet was widely used for the next several decades in treating epilepsy both in children and adults. In several epilepsy studies, about 50% of patients reported having at least 50% reduction in seizures.
However, the arrival of anticonvulsant drugs in the 1940s and afterward relegated the ketogenic diet to an "alternative" medicine. Most health care givers as well as patients, found it a lot easier to use the pills compared to adhering to the strict ketogenic diet. It was subsequently ignored in the treatment of epilepsy by most specialists.
In 1993, a renewed interest in the ketogenic diet was sparked by Hollywood producer Jim Abrahams. Abraham had his 2 years old son, Charlie, brought to the Johns Hopkins Hospital for epilepsy treatment. Charlie experienced rapid seizure control within days of using the ketogenic diet.
Jim Abrahams created the Charlie Foundation in 1994 which helped to revive research efforts. His production of the TV movie called "First Do No Harm" starring Meryl Streep also helped to greatly promote the ketogenic diet.
The meals were designed to provide the body with the right amount of protein it needs for growth and repair. The calculation of the amount of consumed calories was done to provide adequate amounts that will be able to support and maintain the proper weight necessary for the child's height and weight.
Underlying Concepts of the Ketogenic Diet
The classic ketogenic diet has a "fat" to a "combination of protein and carbohydrates" ratio of 4:1.
The general daily calorie breakdown of the ketogenic diet is as follows:
However, the ketogenic landscape has expanded considerably both in its application and implementation. While the classical ketogenic diet is still extensively used today, it has now formed the basis for the development of several alternative ketogenic protocols.
Ketogenic diets basically encourage the intake of about 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrates per day. Protein consumption is moderate and mostly depends on factors such as the gender, height and activity levels of the individual. Essentially, the overall calorie of the diet is balanced primarily based on the amount of consumed fat.
The Fat and Protein Ratios in a Ketogenic Diet
Increased healthy fat consumption is the main focus of the ketogenic diet. Also, the purpose is to maintain the state of ketosis at all times thus allowing your body to use more body fat for fuel.
The body digests fat and protein differently. Fat is arguably the body's best source of energy and in a state of ketosis, the body can make use of body fat and dietary fat equally well.
In general, fats have very limited effect on blood sugar levels and insulin production in your body. However, protein affects both of these levels if consumed in large amounts beyond what your body requires.
About 56% of the excess ingested protein is converted to sugar. This has the effect of upsetting the ketosis state of far burning as a result of the body reacting to the glucose created from the protein breakdown.
Depending on the type and source of ingested fats, a high fat diet can be much healthier. Reducing carbohydrate intake and increasing your consumption of more saturated fats from mostly medium-chain fatty acids will greatly improve your body's fat profile.
The ketogenic diet increases HDL (good) cholesterol levels while at the same time reduces triglyceride levels. These two factors are the main markers for heart disease.
A ratio of less than 2.0 in your Triglyceride-to-HDL ratio means that you are doing well. However, the closer this ratio is to 1.0 or lower, the healthier your heart.
This kind of fat profile is associated with increased protection against heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems.
Consumption of increased lean protein in the absence of adequate of amounts of fats in the diet can cause "rabbit starvation." Rabbit starvation is a condition where there is an insufficient amount of fats. This condition is seen in diets that mostly consist of lean proteins.
One of the major symptoms of rabbit starvation is diarrhea. The diarrhea can often become serious and may lead to death. This often occurs within the first 3 days to one week of pure lean protein diets. If adequate amounts of fats are not consumed in the succeeding days, the diarrhea can worsen and may lead to dehydration and possible death.