More about Ketogenic Diet

A Ketogenic (Metabolic Theory) diet plan can help you regain your health! Following a keto diet causes your metabolism to switch from burning sugar to burning fat and ketones as a primary body fuel. When your metabolism switches from fueling itself with the sugar from carbohydrates to using fat-based fuels and fat-derived molecules called ketones, positive changes at a cellular level occur, and this translates into better overall health. A metabolic process called ketogenesis and a body state called ketosis are responsible. Ketosis is simply a normal metabolic pathway in which body and brain cells utilize ketones to make energy, instead of relying on only sugar (i.e., carbohydrate). In fact, human beings evolved the ability to burn ketones as an adaptation to times when food was scarce. This state of “nutritional ketosis” has allowed the human race to survive over millennia through all kinds of famine and other tough living conditions. So, it’s no surprise that being in nutritional ketosis is a beneficial body state, and as nutritional researchers start to let go of the detrimental “fat is bad” dogma, a great deal of research is being done on ketosis as it relates to disease. Ketone bodies themselves are beneficial, and have been shown to alleviate many disease conditions through improvement of cellular energy pathways and mitochondrial health. Ketogenic diets are now being used to treat medical conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, autism, Alzheimer’s, cancer and others, and much of the success of these treatments is rooted in these cellular effects. https://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/ketogenic-diet-plan.html

BOOK: Fight Cancer with a Ketogenic Diet: Fat-Burning as Metabolic Therapy by Ellen Davis, MS

Ketogenic Diet Basics

There are many ways of implementing a low carbohydrate, ketogenic diet plan but most involve following a higher fat, moderate protein, low carb food plan. (The Atkins diet is one of the most famous ketogenic diets, but certainly not the only one). Many people think of ketogenic diets as high protein diets but this is incorrect. As far as calorie percentages go, ketogenic diets are higher in fat, and moderate in protein. There are differences in how most people view low carb diet plans and a ketogenic diet plan, and these differences center around the amount of carbohydrate and protein allowed on a daily basis: Carbs: A ketogenic diet plan requires tracking the carb amounts in the foods eaten and reducing carbohydrate intake to about 20-60 grams per day. For some people, less than 100 grams per day may work, but this level of carb intake is too high for most people to achieve ketosis. Protein: In addition, the daily protein requirement should be driven by your ideal body weight or lean body mass. Protein intake also depends on height, gender and the amount of exercise done. It should not be factored on percentage of calories, especially when calories are restricted. Fats: The balance of daily calories after calculating carbs and protein requirements will be from fats. Designing a ketogenic diet plan with these guidelines will most people go into ketosis and stay in that state. NOTE: If your goal is fat loss, pay attention to your fat intake. Be aware that overeating fat can interfere with weight loss. The idea is to force your body to burn stored body fat for fuel instead of fat from the diet. Calories: The nutrient intake on a ketogenic diet of normal calorie amounts typically works out to about 65-75% of calories from fat, 20-30% from protein, and 5-10% from carbohydrate on a daily basis. However, again, these ratios don’t work well at very low calorie or very high calorie daily totals. And although calorie counting is not required, it is important to understand how macronutrient percentages can be affected by caloric intake, so you may want to read my page on calorie counting to get more information on this subject. https://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/ketogenic-diet-plan.html

How To Start A Ketogenic Diet

Although this website contains all the information you need, there are also several books which explain the science behind ketogenic diets as well. They were my “go to” sources and I recommend that you get one or two and read them. The bottom line here is to make sure to understand everything that will happen when carbohydrate intake drops. Ketogenic diets are very, very powerful, metabolically speaking and this is especially important if you take any kind of medication for blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol or triglycerides. The dosage of these medications will need to be sharply reduced while on a ketogenic diet to avoid negative effects such as excessively low blood sugar or blood pressure. These books and websites are highly recommended: The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living: An Expert Guide to Making the Life-Saving Benefits of Carbohydrate Restriction Sustainable and Enjoyable by Dr. Jeff Volek and Dr. Stephen Phinney. For another science-based resource on ketogenic diets, I highly recommend visiting the site that Raphael Sirtoli and his team over at Break Nutrition have put together. They have good content about low carb and ketogenic diets, and they offer more information on how to kick-start a ketogenic diet, measure your ketones and there’s a great post on the benefits of ketogenic diets for inflammation. https://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/ketogenic-diet-plan.html