What is a keto diet - A Guide on what a keto diet is and how to construct one

So, what is a keto diet? Keto diet is short for ketogenic diet. Simply put, a keto diet is a high fat, high/moderate protein and low carb diet. Throughout this article we will refer to a ketogenic diet as keto diet for short. The keto diet is specifically designed to try and force your body to burn fat rather than carbohydrates. The idea behind this is that by consuming hardly any carbohydrates in your diet you force your body to burn fat as energy instead of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are your bodies preferred source of energy as it’s easier to utilise and when it’s not available your liver will begin to convert fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. These are then passed around your body and passed into the brain to replace glucose as an energy source. This state is known as ketosis.

The keto diet is not new, it has actually been around since the 1920’s but is recently coming back into favour with a lot of athletes and bodybuilders as they attempt to drop body fat levels as quickly as possible. A lot of regular dieters are also giving the keto diet a go as it allows for a completely different variety of foods to be eaten than most other diets. Since the keto diet needs to be high in fat and low on carbs, foods that are usually off limits for many people looking to lose weight such as cheese, cream, butter and nuts are perfectly fine to eat on a keto diet as long as they fit into your daily calorie requirements. Foods high in protein will also make up a lot more of your calories in a keto diet especially if you are an athlete or bodybuilder.

Keto Diets - Do Keto Diets Work?

So, we have a basic understanding of what a keto diet is but the question everyone’s asking is do keto diets actually work? Yes keto diets do work as long as they are followed properly and safely. Following a keto diet has a number of benefits such as increased fat loss, an increase in energy levels and a decrease in hunger. As mentioned earlier on in this article, the aim of a keto diet is to try and limit the carbs you eat in your diet to an absolute minimum to ensure your body is deprived of glycogen (formed from carbs) and enters a state of ketosis. Being in a state of ketosis simply means that your body is burning fats for energy. This can help you burn off more fat. Interestingly enough carbohydrates are your body’s preferred source of energy due to them always being readily available and easy to utilize in the body. However, consuming a high fat diet will actually give you more energy than ever before. The reason being is that free form fatty acids are your body’s actual preferred source of fuel but because of the high amount of carbohydrates you consume each day (often without knowing) your body finds it a lot easier to use carbohydrates as energy. If we feed the body with high amounts of carbs it will use carbs as energy. On the other hand if we feed it high amounts of fats it will use fats for energy. Fats take more energy to burn at 9 calories per gram compared to 4 calories per gram for carbohydrates so if you’re eating under your maintenance level you can expect better fat loss results following a keto diet. The keto diet is also great for decreasing hunger levels when dieting. Hunger levels are often decreased when following a keto diet due to the high amounts of fat you consume. Fats will help keep your body feeling fuller for longer as they take a lot longer to digest properly compared to carbs. Fats are also far more nutritionally dense than carbs making them even more important when following low calorie diets.

Carb-based meals have a tendency to fill us up only for a short period of time. An hour or so after a carb-based meal we often seek out additional snacks to fill us up, mainly junk food. As you can tell this is not good for any diet and can eventually force you to give up your diet altogether. Carb-based meals can also make you feel tired due to the sudden rise of insulin in our bodies. Insulin is a hormone that constantly rises and falls depending on what we eat. Rapid increases in insulin are mainly caused by eating simple carbs and sugary foods such as white rice, doughnuts and biscuits. You will not have these sorts of problems with a keto diet and should be able to control hunger a lot easier.

Keto Diets - Whats So Good About Being in Ketosis?

I mentioned about being in ketosis briefly in the previous paragraphs but let’s take a quick look at what this really means. As explained before ketosis is the state in which your body burns fat as fuel. Therefore the main benefit of being in ketosis is that it increases the body’s ability to utilize fats for fuel allowing you to lose more body fat. Ketosis also has a protein sparing effect meaning more of the protein in your body can be used to repair and rebuild muscles. Perfect for athletes and bodybuilders! Another benefit of being in ketosis is that you will not feel as hungry as you normally would and will not have food on your mind every minute of the day. Being in ketosis will also mean there are no rapid rises of insulin in your body helping you feel less tired and more energized than normal. You may not experience the increase in energy straight away as your body will need time to adapt to the keto diet and you may feel worse than you ever did during the first week. Once you make it through the first week you will begin to feel more energized than ever before so don’t give it up!

A number of people often question the principle of consuming high levels of fat on a keto diet which can of course lead to high levels of cholesterol. Although there is a risk of cholesterol increasing on a high fat diet you should remember that you are getting a lot of the fat in your diet from healthy sources such as fish, nuts and oils while at the same time maintaining a calorie deficit. People following a keto diet have actually reported lower levels of cholesterol than when they first started so we have to presume that it will affect different people in different ways. It’s also good to note that you are not going to be following a keto diet for the rest of your life and will therefore not be consuming high levels of fat all of the time. Another concern is that by cutting out the majority of carb foods, deficiencies of vitamins and minerals may occur. If you’re worried about this go out and get yourself a good multi-vitamin.

Keto Diets - What Foods Can I Eat On a Keto Diet?

Before jumping straight into a keto diet you will need an idea of the kind of foods you can actually eat on a keto diet. Foods will need to be high in fat and low in carbs. When on the keto diet it is inevitable that you are going to end up consuming some carbs so try not to go above 30-50 grams of carbs a day. This should be enough to keep your body in ketosis (body burns fat as energy). That’s take a look at the kinds of food you can eat while on a keto diet:

Ensure you keep your protein levels up on a keto diet as this will help preserve muscle and repair them if you workout or exercise. Chances are you will get enough protein following a keto diet as a lot of the foods that are available for you to eat on a keto diet are high in protein. Your meals whilst on the keto diet will probably look a little strange at first as no carbohydrate rich foods such as potatoes, chips or white rice/pasta are used to fill up your plate but don’t get discouraged. Keto Diets can be one of the tastiest diets you can follow.

Keto Diets - An Example Meal Plan When On a Keto Diet

We have covered the types of food you need to be including in your keto diet but now let’s actually design your keto diet. A lot of people often struggle for meal ideas when following a keto diet so let’s take a look at an example meal plan you may choose to follow when on a keto diet:

Meal 1 - 3 whole eggs, 3 strips of bacon

Meal 2 - Protein Shake and 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter

Meal 3 - Grilled chicken breast salad with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Meal 4 - Tuna and 1 tablespoon of some kind of oil (flaxseed, olive oil etc)

Meal 5 - Fish/Chicken/Steak and broccoli

Meal 6 - Protein shake and a handful of almonds/mixed nuts

On workout days a lot of people will have to change their routine slightly to take into account their Pre workout meal and their Post workout meal. For post workout you will probably be wondering whether or not you should consume any carbs as these are known to be good for you after a workout. It is perfectly fine to consume around 30 grams of carbs after your workout as this can help speed up recovery and provide your muscles with valuable nutrients when it needs them the most. Consuming this amount of carbs after your workout should not take you out of ketosis.




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