What is the ketogenic diet?
Have you heard people talking about their ‘ketones’ or being on a ‘ketogenic’ diet and are wondering what it all means? It’s an interesting approach to nutrition, and one that’s becoming increasingly popular.
So we’ve looked under the microscope to see what the diet is all about.
Low-carb, high-fat
At its core, the ketogenic diet is about eating a high amount of fat, and a low amount of carbohydrates. This makes it fairly similar to the Atkins diet, which you might recall was pretty popular with celebrities back in the ‘90s.
When following a ketogenic diet, the idea is to restrict carbohydrate intake so much that your body no longer uses glucose as its main fuel source. Instead, your body goes into a state called ‘ketosis’ and starts burning fat for energy. When the fat is burned, it’s turned into ketones (fuel molecules) in the liver. These are then sent to the brain for energy. (source)
Due to this, insulin levels get very low while fat burning increases. Which is why many advocates say they’ve lost staggering amounts of weight following the ketogenic diet – and others say it’s helped treat or prevent diabetes.
So what fats can you eat? Foods like avocado, salmon, eggs, coconut oil, animal fat and even cream.
Is the ketogenic diet healthy?
Before we look into the apparent health benefits of the ketogenic diet, it’s important to realise that it’s not exactly an easy diet to follow. It requires precise intakes of macro nutrients (usually 10% of energy from carbs, 25% from protein and 70% from fat), and you’ll probably need to give blood, urine or breath samples to check when your body is in ketosis.
For these reasons, the keto diet should only be done with the guidance of a health professional, to ensure the diet agrees with you and your health goals.
That being said, several scientific studies appear to suggest that the ketogenic diet is more effective than others in aiding weight loss. One website cites numerous studies that show “participants on the ketogenic diet lost 3 times more weight than those on the Diabetes UK’s recommended diet” and people on a ketogenic diet lost 2.2 times more weight than those on a calorie-restricted low-fat diet. Triglyceride and HDL cholesterol levels also improved.”
