The Ketogenic Diet: All You Need To Know

We have talked about the CICO diet before, which stands for ‘Calories In, Calories Out’ and was a major hit with our readers. So, today, we will be taking a look at another diet formula which is said to turbocharger your fat burn and heighten your body’s energy levels. This new and popular diet is called The Ketogenic Diet.

According to the research we did, some people have managed to lose over 20 pounds of fat over six months by eating more bacon than ever before and without altering the existing exercise routine. Yes, that’s right! Some people have managed to pull this off by using this science-based diet that is said to accelerate fat loss while increasing your energy levels.

Before we decide to dive into how the Ketogenic diet works and why this diet works for many people, we strongly recommend you consult your doctor about any changes in diet you are considering, just to make sure that you aren’t unknowingly hurting yourself.

What Is The Ketogenic Diet?

The Ketogenic diet, also known as the Keto diet is an extremely high fat, low carb diet that consists of around 75% Fat, 20% Protein, and only 5% Carbs. When compared to a regular low carb diet, that’s 25% more fat, 20% less protein and 5% fewer carbohydrates in the Keto diet. This comparison brings to light the extreme at which this new diet takes your food habits for the fast weight loss benefits you desire. However, before you read further, you should know that the Ketogenic diet is not for everyone and is known to reduce your insulin levels which can be a big problem if you have Type I or Type II diabetes. So, if this is you, don’t try this diet before confirming with your doctor.

The process of Ketogenesis is used in the Ketogenic diet which forces the body to use ketones instead of glucose as its source of fuel. With your regular food intake, the carbohydrates you take in are converted to glucose which helps your body function. With the reduction of carbohydrates with this diet, your body is starved of its primary fuel source of glucose, resulting in the body tapping into its reserves of ketones to continue functioning. A simple metaphor for Ketogenesis would be how a hybrid car starts to use its electricity reserves when the car runs out of its primary fuel, petrol.

Ketones are components made in your liver in small amounts. But if your body indicates that the blood insulin levels are getting low, the liver increases the production of ketones to sustain your body’s needs for fuel. When you are eating a typical balanced diet, Ketogenesis isn’t active but if you reduce your carbohydrate and protein intake, Ketogenesis actives with an activation period of around three days for healthy adults.

As mentioned previously, the Ketogenic diet can be categorized with the following calorie-intake restrictions:

• 60-80% from Fats
• 10-20% from Proteins
• 5-10% of Carbohydrates

When this diet is converted into an actual food list, it comes out like this:

• Breakfast consists of four eggs made in two tablespoons of olive oil with half an avocado.
• Lunch consists of four ounces of baked salmon in a tablespoon of olive oil, asparagus, and butter.
• Dinner consists of a rib-eye steak with coconut oil and two cups of spinach along with two ounces of macadamia nuts.

What Do The Experts Think Of The Ketogenic Diet?

According to Alan Aragon, who is a nutrition advisor, the Ketogenic diet is not a practical diet and that “extreme diets such as the Ketogenic diet have no therapeutic or practical use for people without neurodegenerative disorders such as epilepsy.” The reason for this is that because of the severe restriction on carbs, you are often limited in your food options. You can eat bacon, but little else since foods like potatoes, pasta, bread, rice, beans, corn, squash, and milk have too many carbohydrates.

Fortunately, there are specially made Ketone supplements and diet pills that are said to induce Ketogenesis to help speed up weight loss. However, if you get this pill, you should be willing to manage your diet and carb intake since that is the only way your body will be in a state of Ketogenesis.

What Are The Negatives With The Ketogenic Diet?

And according to Spencer Nadolsky, author of The Fat Loss Prescription, “ketogenic diets tend to be more severe in carb restriction and have a more moderate protein restriction [when compared to Atkins Diet].” This diet can get very difficult for most people to sustain for long because we take in almost half our calories from carbohydrates usually which needs to be cut down to 10% for us to enjoy the benefits of the Ketogenic diet.

Some even speculate that this diet can help, not only burn fat faster, but also improve mental and physical performance, lower insulin levels, improve immunity and regulate your appetite. With these possible benefits, shouldn’t we all be doing the Ketogenic diet? Well, let’s take a look if this new diet works for you:

Can You Make The Ketogenic Diet Work For You?

The reason most people fail to sustain a diet for effective weight loss is that they are not able to maintain it for long. A perfect diet should become a way of life for you, not just a chore that you struggle to complete every day. Unfortunately, we searched for scientific comparisons between diets with long-term data but were unable to find any definitive results.

According to our research, a 2014 study found that a very-low-calorie Ketogenic diet led to 44 pounds being lost over a year. However, there was a 33% dropout rate during the study duration. Another study in 2015 found participants losing 26 pounds in only three months with a dropout rate of 50% by the end of the first year. A point to note is that those who stuck with the Ketogenic diet in this study found little weight loss in the nine months after the initial weight loss.

What Do You Think About The Ketogenic Diet?

Do you think that the Ketogenic diet will work for you? Do you think you can make it work for you and not give up half way? When deciding on whether the Ketogenic diet is for you, you should ask yourself if you can handle a structured diet that limits a lot of your daily diet items. If so and you really want to lose weight fast, the Ketogenic diet might be for you.

But if controlling your food intake is difficult for you or you don’t like high fat, low carb diets, this may not be the diet for you. Either way, we hope this article has given you an insight into how the Ketogenic diet works for you to make an informed decision regarding your journey to fat loss. You can also take a look at our article on CICO diet if the Ketogenic diet seems too extreme for you.