Is the ketogenic diet simply another ‘fad’ diet? Supposedly, the answer would be a big NO, because it has been giving amazing results lately! The KETO diet is basically a super low carb diet, and you should be aware of the fact that there is a serious threshold if you are willing to execute this diet plan.
Some studies say that in a ketogenic diet, the carb intake should be below 50gms but when it comes to the practical implementation, it has been found that a person can be truly on a keto diet if his carb intake is *BELOW 20 GRAM*. Yes, that’s the harsh truth!
There are many people who think that they are on a ketogenic diet while in reality, they are simply on a low carb diet, and there is a big difference between a low carb diet and a keto diet! Implementing this diet makes it mandatory to account for every single thing that you are eating.
If you want great results then you need to adhere to it well, while being truly fastidious. By, stating fastidious I would like to mention that you’d even have to measure the pods of garlic that you’ll be putting into your food. Furthermore, there will be no room for any kind of fruit or junk food and it is imperative for you to consume simple home-made food which should be ideally prepared by you.
Again, the golden rule is to stay below 20gms of carb per day and you need to make sure that you barely get any sugar from all the carbs that you are having. To undergo ketosis successfully, even foods like onions, tomatoes and bell peppers should be avoided- as they slightly have a high sugar content.
SCIENCE OF THE KETOGENIC DIET
Your body’s favorite source of energy is carbohydrates. The body breaks down the carb and stores the glucose as glycogen in your muscles. So, when you are cutting off this primary fuel source (i.e carbohydrates), there is no glucose for your body to derive from the carbohydrates.
Thereafter, your body begins to break down its own fat stores and converts it into ketones.The ketone bodies are basically tiny fuel tanks which do the same job as glucose which is obtained from the carbohydrates. In fact, 1gm of ketone gives you more energy than 1gm of glucose. This diet is the most effective fat burning diet as it changes the environment in your body and makes your body utilize fat for energy.
DOWNSIDES TO KETO
1) TEMPORARY STRENGTH LOSS
As it is a cutting diet where you lose weight, you will consequently lose some amount of strength.
2) CANT PUT ON MUCH MUSCLE MASS
This diet is primarily meant for those who are essentially willing to LOSE WEIGHT( just cutting fat in general).
3) THE KETO FLU
Well, the ketogenic diet has a bad name in some places because of this reason but in reality, it is not that bad. It is not an actual cold that you will get, but instead, you will either feel nauseous, get a headache or feel a bit fatigued.
You should remember that this is happening just because your muscles are draining the glycogen. One can easily reduce the duration of the keto flu by simply working out, as the glycogen in your muscles will run out fast and you will enter ketosis faster. But if you don’t workout then the keto flu will last for 4-5 days
ALLOWED FOOD ITEMS
1) Protein rich foods like red meat, chicken, eggs or fish
2) The great thing about ketosis is that you can consume fats from various sources like ghee, coconut oil, butter, animal fat ( FAT IS FLAVOUR!)
3) You need to eat a lot of veggies and also you need to be very selective about the vegetables that you choose.So, what you can have is anything leafy like spinach, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, and zucchini but others like carrot, beetroot etc should be avoided
FOODS TO AVOID
1) Processed cheese
As it has a lot of carbs, it will simply put you out of ketosis immediately
2) Dairy
Avoid all dairy during ketosis if you want to execute this diet in the best possible manner
3) Nuts
Nuts are a great source for super healthy fat, but in addition to that fat it also has a substantial amount of carbohydrates and that will impede your progress during the diet.
THE IDEAL DISTRIBUTION TO FOLLOW
CONCEPT OF REFEED DAY
Every 10-14 days you need to take up a refeed day where you can afford to go up to 400 or 500 gms of carbs, but simultaneously make sure that none of it comes from sugar.
Last Updated on by Himani Rawat