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Everything you need to know about keto or ketogenic diet: this is how it is done and how it affects your body

One of the most used alternatives to burn fat and lose weight quickly is keto or ketogenic diet of which we tell you everything you need to know: how it is done and how your practice affects your body.

What is the ketogenic diet?

The keto or ketogenic diet is one that induces in our body a process called ketosis that is the production of ketone bodies.

To achieve this process it is essential to reduce to the maximum the proportion of hydrates , the nutrient that represents the main source of energy in our diet. In this way, the body is forced to use fat as an energy source, both those we consume and those stored in our body.

There will be so many fats that are metabolized to produce energy that the body will end up forming ketone bodies with them and these will replace in some organs the glucose that is the main energy fuel of the organism.

So a ketogenic diet is made

There is not a single diet ketogenic or ketogenic, but among different miraculous proposals we find many that promote ketosis . However, all have one feature in common: they greatly reduce the intake of carbohydrates reaching less than 50 grams per day.

In order to reduce the consumption of hydrates so significantly, other energy nutrients such as fats and proteins are increased, which will be present in quantities of between 50-60% and between 20-30%, respectively.

The diet will be based on foods rich in proteins and fats such as meats, eggs, oils, seeds, avocado and nuts

To achieve the above-mentioned nutritional distribution, it is essential to eradicate from the diet foods rich in hydrates but very popular such as all kinds of cereals and derivatives, legumes and flours and limit the maximum consumption of fruits and vegetables, avoiding especially the most starchy .

Of course, you can not consume sugars of any kind or foods that contain them and in the diet should predominate food sources of fats and proteinssuch as meats in general (that do not reach 1% of hydrates), oils, eggs, cheese, avocado, nuts and some seeds.

In these foods our diet will be based so if we are regular consumers of legumes and cereals, as well as fruits and vegetables in large quantities, it will be a bit complex and we will take time to remodel our daily menu.

This affects your body

A habitual diet usually has between 5 and 10 times more carbohydrates than a ketogenic diet, but half of fats and proteins that we can find in the alternatives that promote ketosis.

The greater contribution of proteins and fats of the keto or ketogenic diets are allied to the moment of weight loss , not only because, as we said, they promote the mobilization of fatty acids as a source of energy in replacement of the almost absent hydrates, but also, because they greatly satiate favoring the reduction in energy intake even when ad libitum consumption is allowed as indicated by a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition .

On the other hand, the great contribution of proteins, if accompanied by adequate training, prevents us from losing muscle mass while burning a large amount of fat and losing weight .

Likewise, although we have always linked diets rich in proteins and fats (many of them saturated) with higher cardiovascular risk, an investigation carried out at the University of Kuwait reveals that both bad cholesterol and total cholesterol, triglycerides, urea and Blood glucose levels were significantly reduced along with weight and body fat, while HDL cholesterol was increased and creatinine levels were not significantly modified. All this indicates improvements in the metabolic profile and the general health of the people evaluated associated very possibly, to the reduction of fat and body weight that the ketogenic diet produced.

However, the ketogenic diet is not free of disadvantages and side effects , because in the first place it is complex to carry out and requires professional supervision or enormous knowledge in nutrition for its realization.

On the other hand, it is not a diet that we can carry out all our lives or that promotes healthy life habits , since it does not constitute a balanced diet but rather proposes an occasional and temporary alternative to lose weight and fat.

Because the brain must use ketone bodies to replace glucose, its preferred fuel, cognitive performance can be affected as American scientists have shown .

We can also experience bad breath, headaches, dizziness and nausea , although these latter symptoms are rare and if they do occur, experience indicates that they disappear as the state of ketosis progresses over time.

In conclusion, keto or ketogenic diet is an alternative that well controlled and planned can be very helpful to burn fat and obtain metabolic improvements , therefore, many use it in stage of muscle definition . However, we can also go to diets low in non-ketogenic hydrates that promote weight loss without our body entering ketosis and without the need for greater restrictions in the usual diet.

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