Ketogenic Diet - Beginner's Guide

If you don't know what Ketogenic Diet is, it's actually very simple.

It's a type of diet that basically tricks your body into thinking that it's fasting. That happens because you've almost completely reduced the intake of food that your body has been feeding off.

So basically...

The KETO DIET is:

• Low carb diet
• 75% fat, 20% protein, 5% carbs
• The body stops using carbs as energy source
• The body starts using fat as energy source
• Because it uses fat, it is rapidly burnt and you lose weight

Different names for it: low carb diet, low carb high fat(LCHF), very low carbohydrate ketogenic diet (VLCKD), the ketosis diet...

Ok, now that we got that out the way, let's dive a little deeper and see how this works.

But first, a short history of this diet (seriously short..)

Before the early beginnings of the 21st century, the ketogenic diet has been feared by many health industry professionals.

They all thought that a high-fat diet would cause tremendous increases in cholesterol levels and that it will definitely cause heart diseases.

However, during the past 20ish years, the ketogenic diets has, through lots of research, been proven to benefit the body in so many ways, even causing REDUCED levels of cholesterol and LOWERING chances of heart diseases.

And now let's see how it works...

So what happens when you eat lots of carbs?

When you eat lots of carbs, which is what we all do, your body uses those carbs as its primary energy source. That is because your body produces glucose and insulin from carbs, and glucose is the easiest molecule for the body to process and use as energy. And insulin takes that glucose and processes it throughout your body through your bloodstream.

Because your body uses carbs, the fat that you also insert in your body regularly becomes basically useless. And your body decides it's going to put it away 'just in case'. You know, if you happen to run out of carbs to use as energy so that you don't die.

How do you start using that fat then?

It's pretty simple. You just stop ingesting so many carbs. 

Then, when your body sees that it doesn't have any more carbs to use, it's going to look for another fuel source. That fuel source is going to be those fat deposits that the body put away for backup.

When your body starts doing that, you enter a state called KETOSIS.

This is actually part of the body's survival mechanism. When faced with an immense shortage of carbs, it uses all available means to keep the body alive.

Now in this state, the body starts doing something wonderful. 

It starts producing KETONES.

What are those?

Well, ketones are a byproduct of liver breaking down the fats your body is using for fuel now that you're in the state of 'ketosis'.

Those are your energy source now, instead of glucose from carbs.

And all that energy comes from fat. If it comes from fat it means less fat in your body as it is being rapidly spent. And that means a slimmer body.

Now all of this doesn't mean you should starve yourself. This a common misconception that people have when they hear a word 'diet'.

This just means you can eat basically everything except carbs. In fact, you MUST eat lots of fats to keep yourself alive and equipped with enough energy.

And that means: 'Butter and bacon here I come!'.  And how can that be a bad thing!

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Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet

The Ketogenic Diet doesn't benefit just your weight and appearance. It is good for all sorts of other health reasons, which also includes your mental health.

This is what I wanted to elaborate on in this post.

So let's see what health benefits the Ketogenic Diet actually contains.

Weight loss

Well, I practically covered how this works already, but there's still something I have to say about this.

An important thing about the Ketogenic diet is that when in the process of a ketogenic diet, the blood insulin levels decrease. This is important because insulin prevents your body from using fat as energy source.

And when insulin is gone, the fat escapes from its cage.

Also, in the early stages of the ketogenic diet, the body starts releasing lots of water because the low insulin levels make the kidneys start getting rid of excess sodium.

All that means rapid weight loss in the first couple of weeks of the diet.

And compared to other diets, for instance, the low-fat diet, the keto diet shows that people lose more weight without being hungry.

Ketogenic diet leaves you feeling full for a much longer period of time, compared to low-fat diets, which in turn makes you generally eat less. And if you eat less, you will weigh less. Just how things are.

Epilepsy and other mental disorders

The ketogenic diet has actually been invented to treat epilepsy about 100 years ago.

There have been many cases throughout the years where children have been completely cured of epilepsy after the keto diet, and many have reached a point of 90% reduction in seizures.

Sugar from carbs can actually affect your brain in a negative way and cause plaque buildup.

When the body starts using fat as energy source and producing ketones, the brain benefits from it because ketones actually help protect brain cells, as opposed to sugar which can be harmful to the brain.

Also, a great benefit of the ketogenic diet when treating epilepsy is that it requires less of other medications for epilepsy treatment.

And it is not just useful with kids. In the latter years, it showed a beneficial effect on adults as well.

Keto diet can also benefit people with Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, brain cancer, autism and more.

Energized body

During the Keto diet, you're giving your body a BETTER fuel source by giving it fat instead of carbs. By better, I mean fuel your body can run on for a much longer period of time.

In fact, your body never really runs out of fat, as opposed to glycogen from sugars which you have to refill so very often.

So as a consequence of all that, your body stays energized for a long period of time, with some high-quality energy.

Mental benefits

The ketogenic diet is a great way to increase your mental focus because of the production of ketones as well as decreased spikes in the blood sugar level. These spikes, when eating plenty of carbs mean that you don't have a CONSISTENT energy source and therefore you quickly lose focus.

Well, maybe not very fast, but much faster than on a keto diet. 

Having ketones as your energy source means you can stay focused much longer because ketones last much longer and are a much more stable energy source.

Also, increased level of fatty acids in your diet has a beneficial effect on your brain.

Cholesterol & Blood Pressure

Keto diet increases your cholesterol levels. Wait, what?!

Hold up, hold up, it's actually a good thing.

The keto diet increases your levels of "good cholesterol" or HDL. 

This is actually not cholesterol but protein that carries the cholesterol through your body.

The difference between LDL ("bad cholesterol") and HDL("good cholesterol") is that the "bad" one carries it from the liver into the body, and the "good" one carries it from the body to the liver. And once it's in the liver it can be processed for good use.

Because keto increases your HDL, your blood pressure decreases and your chances of heart disease are much lower.

Blood sugar levels & Diabetes

When compared to low-calorie diets, the ketogenic diet is a much better preventer of diabetes because of the decreased blood sugar levels in your body as a consequence of the foods you eat.

This is particularly important for those suffering from insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance can be very dangerous and it can lead to diabetes.

It is a condition when the cells don't allow insulin to affect them and they don't bring down the blood sugar levels.

With keto diet, blood sugar drops, insulin levels drop, and risk for development of type 2 diabetes drops.

Acne

There is a great possibility, backed up by research, that eating lots of carbs can cause acne to appear all over your body.

If you have that problem, then the low-carb, ketogenic diet can be of great benefit to you.

In addition to that, the keto diet is anti-inflammatory, and that can fix all sorts of health issues, including acne.

Cancer Treatment

The keto diet has been shown to improve the condition of people with cancer because of the change in the body's fuel source.

Cancer cells feed off of glucose.  When transferring to the keto diet, the cancer cells have to switch from feeding off glucose to feeding off fat.

And those cancer cells are having a hard time switching from using glucose to using fat as food, so they stop progressing. 

In fact, they are unable to use ketones for energy, and therefore stop multiplying and can even be reduced.

So as you can see, the ketogenic diet is a lot more beneficial than just for losing weight. 

Try it and see the effects for yourself!